Château Musar
Hochar Père & Fils Bekaa Valley Red Blend 2012
This wine needed some opening, and afterward gave me hints of tobacco, baking spice, a little funk, and coffee on the nose. It pours red with hints of amber, showcasing its age. The palate is nice. The tannins are holding up nicely, and you taste cherry, fig, mushroom and cedar. It reminds me of a super Tuscan, or maybe some capacious mix between a Bordeaux and a Sicilian Pinot Nero. Over all, for my first Lebanese wine, I’m very, very happy. — 7 years ago
Gratavinum
Silvestris Priorat Garnacha Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
2017 vintage is, unsurprisingly purple and inky. Olives come first on the nose, maybe with leather. Earthiness giving way to blackberry jam and baking spices.
This wine grips at your mouth. The palate shows indistinguishable berries and spices, tons of minerality, followed by sweat, or, if you prefer, leather. It ends with vegetal notes. It’s glorious, but will be better in 2-3 years or more.
— 6 years ago
Pilizota
Dry Plavina 2015
High acidity, thin body, mineral forward, with hints of cherry. Would have been even better with food. A steal for the price, too! — 7 years ago
Domaine Rolet
Tradition Arbois Poulsard-Trousseau Blend 2009
Slight amber and beautifully translucent out of the gates, cherry and forest floor with pleasant funk on the nose, tart and zippy with more cherry and then mushroom on the palate. Drinking beautifully. — 7 years ago
Kozlovic
Teran
Pours deep, dark ruby with undercurrents if amber out of the bottle. On the nose: bandaids, lavender, potpourri, earth, lactic acid and cigar box. Mouthfeel is a bit weak at first, but not bad. Upon first taste, it’s a little wild: Black currants, yeasty with a touch of minerality, cutting acidity, stone fruit, tobacco, chocolate. After sitting, notes of tomato leaf and fruit emerge, tobacco remains, a crisp acidity and tannic structure come to dominate the wine, such that it resembles a pleasant—if humble—Chianti or super Tuscan found on the other side of the Adriatic. Over all, a great wine for a Monday night spent critiquing a thesis. — 6 years ago
R. López de Heredia
Viña Bosconia Reserva Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2005
Tasted blind, in a brown bag. Cherry on the nose after first opening leads to mushroom. Beautiful burgundy in color. On the palate, cherry, tobacco, mushroom, ending with that quintessential Rioja barnyard that comes with beautiful aging. A gorgeous wine, all around. — 7 years ago
Seth Merritt
This wine is forest floor on the nose and meat in the mouth. Tannic, acidic, balanced, beautiful. — 5 years ago