Ager Falernus
Château Haut-Batailley
Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot Blend 2015
Janotsbos
En Créot Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Chardonnay 2017
A great wine. Nose is god like mineral perfume. Crushed rocks. Lime zest. So mineral. Wafting. Confectionary lime rock candy. Layered. Palate is dense and chewy with terrific elegance and superb structure and concentration. Amazingly pure. Such balance. Incredible depth and a tight mineral core that will make this a great ager. Unreal explosiveness and complexity. So juicy and refined. Amazing length. Just a stunning wine. Superb mineral sweetness on the finish. This is elite as it gets in St. aubin. — 4 years ago
McGah Family Cellars
Scarlett Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
First vintage where i prefer myriad, quivet, and becklyn over the scarlett. Not big tannins so probably not an ager but it’s tight on opening that gives a sense of thinness. Double decanted it back in the bottle and it has more viscosity. Tastes pretty good now — 5 years ago
Cordero di Montezemolo
Monfalletto Barolo Nebbiolo 2017
Pretty good for a ‘17, avoiding sharp tannins and astringency. Nose has a lot of forest floor notes, spice, plummy fruit, lots of dry stony gravel. In the mouth it’s soft on entry, and well-managed tannins assert themselves on the back half of the palate. Macerated ripe cherry fruit and crushed stone flavors, with old barrel/old library notes. Medium acids. This will soften further over the next few years but doesn’t strike me as a long ager. — a year ago
Hermann J. Wiemer
Seneca Lake Cabernet Franc 2017
This is Cabernet Franc in a Beaujolais style. Nose of this wine alone is worthy of 89. Bing cherry, brambleberry, oregano, white flowers, honeysuckle, full of cheer! Entry is medium bodied. Touches acidic for about 0.2 seconds and then goes to a brambly mineral dense red cherry fruit and wildflower. Gets quite a bit more brambly in the middle. Finishes with a candied cherry minerality almost like a dusty Luden's cough drop. Would have almost expected some bitter notes here but it never went that direction. Really quite a complex wine for the price paid. Although I don't really think this is a long term ager, it did require about 2 hours to fully express itself. Really neat wine. — 6 years ago
Marchesi Antinori
Pian delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese 2017
2017 vintage. Plummy, summer oak woodlands/forest nose. Medium body. Slightly more fruit-driven than the excellent 2016 that was sleeker with a little more acidity and a long-ager. This effort is still really nice and another beautiful entry into the historical, Antinori wine library. 4.5.23. — 2 years ago
Weingut Schätzel
Nierstein Kabinett Riesling 2018
Another new or rejiggered bottling by Schätzel. What a wine. Step up in refinement and subtlety over the Kabinett bottling. Bottle is a bit taller as well. Nice detail. Nose is unreal. There is a distinctive Nierstein vibe here which to me is the “Mosel of the Rheinhessen.” Lifting aromas of fresh herbs and limestone with huge deep and delicate citrus and apricot fruit with an exotic hint of papaya or persimmon. That hint turns it from very good to very great. Also a confectionary sugar aroma. Just “extra” as the kids like to say these days. Gahhhh. This is beautiful. Juicy and dripping with lime infused apricot and juicy citrus fruits with sweet green apple. Great energy and gorgeous purity here. Just a perfect Kabinett with great concentration and raw materials. This is an ager and just so epic. Will age 20 years. Exceptional . — 5 years ago
Tom Casagrande
A classified growth Bordeaux is not normally my Thursday evening tipple but for some unknown reason I felt a little like celebrating. This is drinking quite well right now. Nose opens with just a little air to show cassis and blackberry, leather, moist gravel, and a subtle graphite note. In the mouth, it’s got medium concentration, with soft but abundant tannins in the background and surprisingly good acids. In the drier side. Not a blockbuster or long ager, but quite elegant. — 6 months ago