Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 8 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Flight #3 of our 1997 Retrospective. Presented single-blind; no formal notes. Wine #2 was full of character and the most memorable of the flight. It had great color and a lovely, vinous nose with a splendid mix of fruit and non-fruit characteristics. The structure is still hanging tough too. I called Terraces. The group’s favorite of the flight and to be honest, it wasn’t even close. This is in a really good spot. Drink now and through 2032. — a year ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.5

Served blind, I had it as seriously high quality Vosne, like that of CLB. Its perfect prep of a decant for 3 hours and then back into the bottle for 1 hour before serving bypassed the Domaine’s typical smoky reduction and allowed its fruit purity and floral bouquet to take center stage. At this point, it wafts from the glass flaunting a red fruited and fresh violet profile with Vosne-like spices and an elegant, lifted and palate caressing texture. It continued to beautify and expand itself over the course of the night, never shutting down, and showing just how special Madame Tremblay’s wines can be. Chambolle with Vosne flair 👌🏻👌🏻 — 3 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

No. 3 in the Chambolle Musigny, Vougeot, and Flagey Echezeaux Grand Cru bracket. Tasted blind. Complete, well balanced, indulgent. Some peppery notes....Clos de Vougeot? Minerally, not much ripe fruit here, Hoisin. Those were my off the cuff notes at the time. I have always struggled with the fact that ALL of Clos Vougeot is classified as Grand Cru. If you have ever visited you will know that the plots on the lower flat near the highway are not of GC standard whereas the upper plots near the Chateau over the road from Musigny have no trouble reaching Grand Cru standard. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.3

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

As part of my white wine flight theme, I wanted to compare Hyde and Hudson side by side, then finish with Kongsgaard, since it is a blend of both.

Similar to the Hudson before it, I normally like to drink Kongsgaard on the young side, and also similar to the Hudson, on this day…it didn’t seem to have the typical opulent/massive profile. White peach and apricot upfront as well as sweet cotton candy on the nose. Ripe yellow and tropical fruits dominate the palate with sea salt, ginger and lemon cream. Faint note of butterscotch, but not near the amount I’ve found previous vintages to show. What Kongsgaard does well is have a wine of this profile but somehow find a way to have elegant qualities about it. Decant or hold a few years. — 8 months ago

John Tan

9.0

Gorgeous, flinty nose with hint of barnyard. Grippy tannins. Hint of coffee and soy sauce after 3 hours. Almost Valentini Cerasuolo-ish. Imperial Treasure Teochew Ion with Andrew Dutton.

Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. There I was suggesting that Maume's Mazis-Chambertin 2011 was clearly not the pick from the domaine this vintage and lo and behold, it trumps all in a blind tasting. It has quite an earthy note on the nose with mint-tinged red fruit and black plum unfurling at its own leisurely pace in the glass. Later, this is joined by fennel and rosemary scents, creating an intriguing aromatics profile. The palate is medium-bodied, a touch foursquare on the entry, but with good substance, the texture grainy and quite peppery toward the finish. There is a lot going on in this grand cru and it will be fascinating to see how it develops and if it maintains this stellar quality. RP95, 2011, issued Nov 2014
— 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.0

Served double-blind. Deep, glass staining ruby red with an utterly opaque core. On the nose, decadent, sightly confected, red fruits...almost red rope licorice like...mixed with spiced dark fruits (plums and currants) and cocoa. The palate is more dark fruited with semi-sweet chocolate chips…the ones made with the natural vanilla, and some coffee but there is good acid and the tannins, which are quite fine, are also quite sneaky. Long, satisfying finish. This comes across as a fairly extracted wine and I wondered if there as some residual sugar, possibly some appassimento?? I was totally stumped. Revealed to be this blend of Nerello Cappuccio and Gaglioppo; the latter I had zero experience with but, apparently, related to Sangiovese. This is a wine of intense concentration and proved to be most enjoyable on Day 3 once everything became a bit more integrated. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with Calabrian wines so I’m unsure if this is truly representative or an outlier. I’m intrigued and I think that the quality is certainly there. Paired very well on Day 1 with Osso Bucco and saffron risotto. — 4 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Here we are six years after my last ‘88 Montelena and I’m looking at my old review as if I wrote it about this current bottle! So bright and lively. Gorgeous deep ruby color (darker than the ‘88 Leoville Barton). There is a Christmas spice (maybe more mint-driven) aromatic with bing cherries and floral notes. Red fruit to the core with some spiced blackberries, earthy/herbal savoriness, great acidity and a snappy/youthful finish. Cedar and espresso. Held strong over a few hours open. Not falling off a cliff, but don’t miss this window if you have some! — 8 months ago

Paul T HB

9.5

A steal on auction
I wouldn’t consider it a 🥩 wine but great with charcuterie
Web info
Chateau Valandraud is represented by the passion of a couple: Jean-Luc Thunevin and Murielle Andraud. Following the great success with the wine merchant business in Saint Emilion, they opened their own vineyard to produce their own wine.
In 1989, they bought a small parcel of 0.6 hectare (1.48 acres) located in a small valley near Saint Emilion between Pavie-Macquin and La Clotte. The origin of the wine name is as much geographic (Val: Vallon de Fongaban), as sentimental (Andraud: Murielle’s maiden name). Thus Chateau Valandraud was born.
Little by little, Jean-Luc and his wife purchased several other parcels of vines, and now, the domain represents a total surface of 10 hectares (24.71 acres), located in various areas of Saint Emilion. The diversity of soils and varietals permit the production of 6 different wines: Chateau Valandraud, Chateau Valandraud Casher, Virginie de Valandraud and the 3 de Valandraud (the second wine of Chateau Valandraud and Virginie de Valandraud), Blanc de Valandraud N° 1 and N° 2.
The final blending of the various parcels occurs in the month of March, following a blind tasting with the help of the world famous oenologist, Michel Rolland. — 2 years ago

Mario Vaillancourt

9.2

Tasted blind, 3 very different wines but all 3 were excellent and showed their character well.
A magnificent and very explosive nose almos, changing fast, complex, deep aromas of soices, black and then white pepper, Provence herbs, black currant, a superb nose. The palate is fairly powerful, a good acidity to go with the strong tannins but mostly amlkng delicious finish, impressive length. 91-92

Dégustation en semi aveugle, 3 rouges très différents. 3 vins magnifiques et de style différents.
Magnifique nez excessivement aromatique, très complexe et profond, change énormément, allant du poivre blanc, des herbes, des épices, du cassis, superbe nez. Une bouche puissante mais un peu contenue, une finale surtout excessivement longue avec ces notes d’épices douces et de de poivre. 91-92
— 4 years ago