Ely Cohn

9.2

This incredibly unique semi-carbonated Lambrusco is all about Red Delicious apples. Pretty crimson murky red with a tinge of copper on the brim. It’s completely dry with a bitter note reminiscent of apple skin. Tart cranberries and spiced cherry flavors formulate into a Dr. Pepper and nutmeg elixir. So unusual and so perfect for this time of year.

And more surprises - an odd cone shaped knobless Champagne cork that requires a corkscrew. It comes wrapped in a personal paper note from the winemaker about wine quality. — 7 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

A deeply green Loire Chenin. Laser precise, electric, and acute. I love Becky Wasserman’s take: “punk rock violence, yet of Bach-like logic and profoundness.”

Aromas are subtle. Baked lemon, flint, chalk, baking spice, a whiff of smoke. Flavors of star fruit, kumquat, passion fruit, lime, and Meyer lemon.

Table melting acid. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.2

Wild spirited and structured at once. Hazy pale yellow and completely unfiltered with aromas of skunky sour dough on a very dank nose of lemon and ginger. Fine bubbles. Flavors of high pitched baked lemon, honey, pear, and a dry finish of chalky limestone and spicy ginger notes. Always on hand - a staple. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.2

Tami’ is overseen by the much lauded Arianna Occhipinti. It has ample fruit, strong ties to the earth, and an approachable structure low in tannin. It has aromas of strawberry, sandalwood, clove, and salty sea air. Fruity and light with strong acid and flavors of wet slate, it has a cool drapery in lieu of anything abrasive, tart, sour, or crunchy. Strawberry licorice kick at the finish. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

Cab Franc can sometimes overwhelm the palette with excessive pyrazines and bell pepper. Romaine Guibertau’s Rouge, though, is a good example of how de-stemming, introducing little or no oak, and relying instead on minerals, earth, and the right amount of fruit can form a really terrific finessed wine.

This entry level from the masterful Loire winemaker has a high toned whiff of Serrano pepper followed by earthier damp notes of gravel, minerals, green strawberry, and sour plum. Clean and pure, it is chalky dry and beautifully constructed. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.5

The Trebbiano in Paolo Bea’s Arboreus see extended skin contact and are joined in the vat by semi-dried grapes of the same variety. The finished wine is spectacular. Complex, deep, polished. Beautiful copper orange color with mile deep aromas of apricots, peach, orange, and vanilla bourbon. The texture is surreal and nonlinear. At first it’s dense and rich but then quickly slips into a medium tannic acidic body. Flavors of sweet honeyed orange, subtle notes of vanilla spice, and creme brûlée stick around for a long welcomed while.

Start this at cellar temp and drink slowly as it warms. Where so many orange wines are a novelty, this is an expertly assembled wine of purpose. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

If you like snacking before dinner, this 30 year Amontillado will bring your aperitif game to new levels. Think about toasted hazelnuts and aged tan Gouda with the calcium crystal crunchies. The mahogany color is stunning and suggests extreme depth. The nose confirms with complex aromas of sweet dates, caramel, walnuts, vanilla, and toffee and probably twenty other notes that aren’t registering.

Aromas suggest sweet but it’s completely dry - salty, nutty, and slippery with a little bite. Sharp flavors of caramel apple and roasted cocoa nibs. — 7 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

A stunning rich dense glass of ripe dark fruits in a ruby red robe. Aromas of violets, black plum, blackberry, red table grapes, Vietnamese cinnamon, cocoa, and strong chalky minerals. Flavors are fruity and also very ripe. Sweet blackberry and black cherry stewing in cinnamon and mocha. Time in neutral oak provides structure but not flavor. Built for food. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.5

Cornas wines are a gem that I need to seek out more. They are bold, unsubtle expressions of what could be the world’s greatest red grape - Syrah. The best examples are extraordinary. As a friend recently observed, my generation could embrace Cornas the way my parent’s generation has embraced Bordeaux.

Domaine Lionnet is a tiny two person operation with just 2.2 tiny hectares. Terre Brûlée is something dense and rich, spectacular, and completely unostentatious and pure. The nose has generous blackberry and violet. The palette is supported with strong tannin and upfront flavors of blackberry and raspberry and with an underlay of meat, olive, and iodine.

The balance is what makes the beauty. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

Pierre Cotton is one of the new generation of talent from Beaujolais and comes from a family with lots of winemaking history in the region. His Brouilly sits comfortably between equal parts earth and fruit. Like much of Brouilly, his cuvée is very cool with a plush, soft texture and absent tannins. Aromas here are generous with bing cherry, raspberry, banana, clove, and earth. So good. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.2

My advice is to sniff the bouquet for a while before you take a first sip. This wine has two distinct personalities - a hybrid of Silvaner and Riesling. On the nose it’s crisp green. It might remind you of Sancerre - with aloe, lemongrass, and jasmine notes. But it doesn’t taste like Sancerre - not a bit. Theo Minges Rieslaner is rich and round with flavors or lychee, sweet mango, and honeyed peach. It has a strong acid backbone that matches a good dose of residual sugar. I assume the vegetal nose takes from the Silvaner and the sweet honeyed flavors from the Riesling. Correct me otherwise. Either way this wine of two faces sings. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

This is a spectacularly good cool climate South African Shiraz blend from the highly talented Duncan Savage (formerly of Cape Point Vineyards).

It pushes fruit over iodine and has an appreciated light handed restrained extraction. Color is youthful translucent ruby with aromas of brand new leather gloves, graphite, and juniper. High acid dark plums and blackberries envelope perfectly grippy tannins and a mouthful of minerals, coffee, and violets. As elegant a Shiraz as I’ve tasted — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.2

So so good and not at all reflective of the $15 I paid (on clearance). Sweet rieslings are a hard sell for wine shops and I’ll continue to take advantage until the public eventually comes around. These wines are so misunderstood.

Meulenhof is a beautiful golden color and has a spectacular nose of petroleum, cinnamon, passion fruit, and baked lemon. Voluptuous and sweet with explosive fruit flavors. Think lemon verbena, lychee, honey, and orange marmalade.

Another treasure sourced from Terry Thiese. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

The brothers Brand are a two man operation making refreshingly straightforward unadulterated natural wines. If you love German Pinot, and even if you don’t fully subscribe to Pet Nat, you should try this sparkling rose’. It smells and tastes like Spatburgunder. Herbs, earth, wet moss, mushrooms, dark berries, and celery. All very lean - sitting on about 11% ABV. Pleasantly unfunky, yeasty, or tart. It’s good natural wine aiming for nothing more than just that. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.1

A unique natty style Greek wine from the grape Mavrodaphne, which is typically used for sweet reds. The Orgion is bone dry but riddled with notes of sweet aromas - vanilla blackberry, red rose petals, milk chocolate, and balanced oak. It has a medium body with medium plus acid and fully integrated plush tannins. The flavors remind me of steakhouse desserts. Ripe plum, blackberry, boysenberry, chocolate ganache, and vanilla. — 8 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.3

Thierry Germain makes an unmistakable Loire cab franc in a beautiful biodynamic expression of the land. Les Roches is elegant with perfumes, fruit notes, earth components, and roasted bell pepper qualities and without complications from overpowering pyrazines. Grapes are 100% destemmed and so it is a softer wine with subtle smooth edges and well integrated acidity. It needs some time to open so either decant or be patient. I drank over three days and days two and three were best.

PS. I love the drawing on the label. Think and drink. Always. — 8 years ago