Lyle Fass 
Domaine des Roches Neuves (Thierry Germain)
Les Mémoires Saumur-Champigny Cabernet Franc 2018
Beautifully expressive Cabernet Franc nose of red currant, sour cherry, cassis, moss, lavender, thyme and an enormous amount of rosemary. The palate initially offers glorious, creamy red fruit, excellent purity, freshness and ripe, melting tannins, with remarkable precision for 2018. That first open-bottle preview is seductive, but air brings a firmer, chewier and more tannic structure, while a small alcoholic seam becomes increasingly pronounced. Still juicy, vibrant and unmistakably Cabernet Franc, but less seamless than the opening suggested.
Day two is the better showing. The nose is deeper, with more cassis and the same nervous herbal energy. The palate has rounded out, gaining a touch of opulence and a gorgeous creamy texture, while the alcohol has largely integrated and the balance is now excellent. Beautiful wine. — 3 days ago
Weingut Familie Hansruedi
Adank Pinot Blanc 2024
A ridiculously stunning Pinot Blanc and the leanest, most tensile vintage I have tasted from Adank. The nose is pure and beautifully articulated, with apples, pears and subtle mineral complexity. The palate is breathtaking, with crystalline purity, unbelievable concentration and density, nervous acidity and monumental linear architecture. It has the structural authority of a great twenty-year-old Pinot Blanc, yet remains so juicy, elegant and alive that it practically dances across the palate. Mouthwatering, deeply sapid and driven entirely by finesse, with a finish that lasts nearly a minute and a half. One of the greatest Pinot Blancs I have ever tasted. — 7 days ago
K.H. Schneider
Domberg Spätlese Riesling 2023
Gorgeous classic Nahe nose of white cherry, confectionary fruit, apricot skin, vulcanized rubber and a distinct slate-like note. The palate is ripe, round, pure and extremely juicy, with beautiful sweetness, a Riesling-creamsicle texture and enough tension to keep everything balanced. The acidity is clearly lower than in 2021 and the wine does not have that vintage’s superstar energy, but it gains freshness after the first sip and shows lovely elegance, finesse and concentration. Very good now and likely to open further — an hour ago
Weingut Günther Steinmetz
Neumagener Rosengartchen Von den Terrassen Riesling 2022
The nose is utter madness and already operating at a perfect level. Lanolin, hand lotion, plantain, sweet lime juice, lemon zest, complex pear, apple, wild mint, birthday cake and an almost Northern Rhône-like richness, all filtered through the crystalline atmosphere of the Mosel. Unbelievably deep and complex, yet elegant enough to feel like vapor. The palate is stunning, with much more acidity and freshness than when I tasted it in summer 2023, along with tremendous purity, grip, juiciness, finesse and perfect balance. The finish is extraordinarily long. Still showing some inverted architecture and clearly needs time to fully open, but the raw material is monumental. The nose is a 10, perhaps more. The palate keeps the wine at 9.8 for now. — 4 days ago
Günther Steinmetz
Kestener Paulinshofberg Riesling GK 2016
Glorious and fully expressive, with a perfumed nose of flowers, lime zest and slightly confectionery citrus. Beautifully mature but still completely alive. The palate is pure and elegant, densely concentrated yet entirely driven by finesse, with gorgeous minerality, vivid fruit and that crystalline rainwater effect. It dances into a place of perfect balance. Beautiful wine. — 8 days ago
Josetta Saffirio
Comune Monteforte d'Alba Barolo Nebbiolo 2016
Gorgeous, classically Nebbiolo nose of dried roses, violets, purple fruit, dark cherry, melting road tar, desiccated leaves, chestnut and Christmas spice. The palate begins elegant, juicy and concentrated, but the 14.5% alcohol quickly takes over. Prickly heat becomes increasingly dominant, the tannins swell with air, and even the nose begins showing alcohol. Fifteen minutes only makes it worse. This is exactly why I have moved away from so much modern Barolo and Barbaresco. The Langhe is too hot, and Nebbiolo at 14.5% rarely works for me. Very disappointing. As this aired it got more alcoholic and more stewed. Down to 8.6. — 2 days ago
Winzerhof Thörle
Saulheimer Kalkstein Spätburgunder 2023
Quiet but very good nose of sour cherry, spice, flowers, a touch of reduction and something faintly like malted milk balls. The palate is where the wine lives, with huge acidity, tremendous tiny-berry concentration, real savor, density and all-red fruit. There is a Burgundy 2023-like chord progression to the fruit, with sweetness building through the mid-palate and a long, energetic finish. Powerful and impactful, almost GG-like in scale, but it lacks the finesse, polish, balance and purity of the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Very good, but not one of the great vintages. — 6 days ago
Günther Steinmetz
Dhroner Hofberg Pinot Noir** 2022
A haunting, old-school nose that somehow combines 1960s Cantemerle with forty-year-old Roty Marsannay. Ash, charcoal, ancient wood spice, moss, cranberry bog, red currant, sour early-season cherry and strange purple florals all come together with remarkable depth. The palate begins stern and structured, with hard, old-fashioned tannins that recall mature Bordeaux crossed with the Marsannay and Fixin of thirty years ago, but air brings seduction, sweetness and increasingly gorgeous red fruit. Excellent concentration, entirely red-fruited, with cranberry and sour cherry carrying through an extraordinarily long finish. A true wine of terroir, brooding, feral and deeply compelling. — 6 days ago
Michel Naddef
Vieilles Vignes Fixin Pinot Noir 2023
Deeply red-fruited, meaty and sauvage, but also precise. The palate has real Burgundy velvet, with extraordinary tiny-berry concentration, sweet ripe tannins and tremendous fruit intensity. There is noticeable new wood, placing it stylistically somewhere in the Méo-Camuzet or Lucien Le Moine camp: luxurious, polished and sheerly delicious. Less transparently Fixin than the Philippe Naddef bottlings, but outrageously compelling Pinot Noir. I drank it more than I tasted it, which says everything. Retasting tonight. — 9 days ago
Lyle Fass
Founder Fass Selections
The nose is still somewhat restrained but clearly dense, with orange marmalade, tangerine, caramel, clean botrytis and the faintest touch of saffron. The palate is gorgeous: juicy, ripe, honeyed and citrusy, with beautiful botrytis complexity and a round, hedonistic texture. It does not have the acidity of 2019 or 2021, but the balance is excellent. Elegant and featherweight despite the concentration, with tremendous purity and a long, delicious finish. Really beautiful. — 40 minutes ago