Vanessa

9.5

Let’s talk about SAVENNIÈRES!!!! 📣📣

Savennières is a small but mighty appellation (AOC), located in the Anjou subregion of the Loire Valley, France and specializes in still, dry Chenin Blanc wines. 🇫🇷

Its growing environment is apt for producing concentrated and ripe fruit, translating into wines with strong aromatic and flavor intensity and higher alcohol potential. 💪🏻 It’s no wonder this appellation is all about Chenin Blanc; Chenin has naturally higher acidity, which can help lend structure and balance to the final wine. ⚖️ 🙌🏻🙌🏻

The combination of these factors sets the stage for winemakers to produce some truly powerful and age-worthy whites that can improve, gaining complexity (and softening) with some time in the bottle. 🤔 🧐 Savennières has a reputation as a more serious, cerebral wine that is meant to be savored, especially when paired with a creamy seafood dish like Coquilles Saint-Jacques! 😋 🥘

🌿This particular wine is the Nicolas Joly, Clos de la Coulée de Serrant AOC (2019) hailing from the prized enclave of Coulée de Serrant AOC (within Savennières AOC), owned exclusively and farmed biodynamically by the renowned Nicolas Joly.

This wine is surely capable of aging for decades but tonight we opted to sip this golden wine during the golden hour with unseasonably warm, summery temperatures here in Minnesota.

🐝 🍯 In the glass, we found concentrated, layered notes of honey, beeswax, yellow apple, ripe apricot, quince, chamomile, dried & crushed white rose petals, toasted almond, hazelnut, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, acrylic paint, wet stones, salted caramel, & butterscotch.

It has texture (and finish) for days and a coating mouthfeel.

🫣 Its alcohol by volume clocks in at 15%!!! But it’s well-integrated and balanced by a crisp acidity and robust aromas and flavors. 👌 — 4 days ago

with Deked1

David Koenen

9.5

Glue in the smell. Big, complex and delicately sweet. Long, and very rich in botrytis. Beautifully dramatic. Almond flavour, canned peaches. Honey all over. Great. — 10 months ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.5

Still bubbly! This 50 year old champagne is amazing! Almond, brioche and citrus finish. — a year ago

Tom Garland

9.2

2nd annual harvest luncheon. Favorite Napa Valley Chardonnay. YUM!

Wines
2019 reisling
2006 chardonnay
1996 chardonnay
2020 chardonnay
2013 chardonnay
2019 cabernet sauvignon
2012 cabernet sauvignon
2019 semillon

Lunch:
Pickled strawberry salad
Miso marinated NY Strip
Grilled organic vegetables
Meyer lemon almond cake — 3 years ago

with Brenda

Pamela Taylor

9.5

Underripe pomelo, lime pith and crushed gravel on the nose, such a silky yet bright and citrusy mouthfeel with a graceful almond skin minerality!! So refreshing! — 4 years ago

Iwan

9.0

My first time drinking a white wine from Lopez De Heredia and it’s unlike any wine I’ve ever had before. Very fragrant and a lot of different tastes coming to the forefront. Bruised apple, quince, beeswax and honey. Some almond, slight oxidation and salinity like a fino sherry. This is a big and unusual wine. Not something I would drink daily, but enjoyed it as much on a taste as on an intellectual level. — 5 years ago

Clarence Poh

9.0

hampagne Dom perignon 2015, across 3 days

Day 1
Nose is tight shows citrus, yeast, white flowers,
Palate citrus, lemon, lemon peels, grapefruits, roasted nutty finish, such as hazelnuts, almonds, honeysuckle, yellow flowers, pastry
Structure 
M Body, M+ acidity, M+ finish

Day 2
im getting more pronounced fruits, like peach and apricots, orange, tangerine, strawberries, pastry, butter, toast, salinity, wet stones, honey toast, creamy, roasted hazelnuts and almond, jasmine flowers, peony flowers
structure
Dry
M +Bodied
M +Acid
Long persistent finish

Day 3 
baked orchard fruits, orange, peach, necatrine, with jasmine flowers, rainfall, wet stones, cream, butter, brioche, roasted hazelnuts, almonds, pineapples, melon, smooth and integrated, rich creamy, buttery, nutty, savoury
M+ bodied,
M acidity,
Long finish — 5 months ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.7

Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2023 – Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé de Graves. BDX, France 🇫🇷

Overview
A masterclass in precision and balance, delivering crystalline clarity and architectural tension from a Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon blend. Layered citrus, stone fruit, and mineral tones unfold with seamless flow, showing absolute control from entry through the finish. Everything feels calibrated, pure, and intentional, a wine that operates at peak efficiency without excess weight or distraction.

Aromas & Flavors
Lime zest, white grapefruit, green pear, white peach, crushed chalk, wet stone, subtle white flowers, faint almond cream and whispering oak spice.

Mouthfeel
Medium-bodied yet remarkably concentrated, laser-focused acidity, perfectly knit texture, seamless mid-palate density, and a long, ultra-clean, high-definition finish that snaps into perfect alignment.

Food Pairings
Oysters with mignonette, scallop crudo, sushi and sashimi, turbot with beurre blanc, citrus-poached lobster, delicate herb-driven dishes.

Verdict
An elite reference-point white Bordeaux showcasing extraordinary precision, balance, and purity. The finish alone separates this from the pack, energetic, exact, and endlessly refined. A benchmark wine for understanding modern Pessac Blanc at its highest level.

🍷 Personal Pick
This is the kind of wine that makes you stop mid-sip and recalibrate your internal benchmark. Effortless power, surgical accuracy, and zero wasted movement l, pure elegance at full throttle. The Max Verstappen of whites: dominant, composed, and ruthlessly precise. — 9 months ago

Austin Hohnke

9.1

Almond butter. — a year ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

8.9

Big and broad. Some tartness, meyer lemon, almond, hint mandarine. A little hot 14%. — 3 years ago

Ryan Guy

9.6

Fresh apricot, glazed almond, nutmeg, and cardamon spice. Layered with honeysuckle, pear, and green apple. There is a short crust, pear tart character on the nose. Still so grab and lively on the palate. Stone fruit, orchard fruit, toasted almonds, and Danish butter cookies. Linear acidity with bright, zesty finish with pithy lemon notes and tart apple. Lingering finish with a touch of warm spice. Waited a while to pop this one - it was well worth the wait! — 3 years ago

John Malcolm

10

Fabulous bouquet. Deep, rich, and full- bodied. Silky smooth, sexy, and elegant. Citrus, honey, and mandarin, with a bit of toasted almond and pear. Stunning! — 5 years ago

Pamela Taylor

9.2

Inky garnet in the glass. Smoky bing cherry, clove and baking spices on the nose. Silky on the palate with vanilla and ripe raspberry, very fine tannins. Perfect pairing with Salmon in a Honey, Soy, Garlic and Dijon glaze! — 5 years ago

Winton Sweum

9.6

Yellow straw with a green tinge; nose is very giving of ripe orchard fruit, white flowers, oranges, almond and limestone; palate is ripe and zesty, nicely grippy, sapid, and even a little Burgundian while finishing with saline minerality. At L’Angolo Divino wine bar, Rome. — 6 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.0

Not the champagne I had in mind for tonight, but sometimes circumstances play their part.

This is pleasant enough. It will go well with my almond tart later.

The mouthfeel shows nice mousse, somewhat lively acidity, bruised golden/red/green apple to apple sauce, bruised pear, white citrus blend-grapefruit w/ pith leading, quince, touch of brown sugar, some yeastiness, baguette crust, graham cracker, volcanic minerals w/ clay, white spice, caramel notes, vanillin, sea spray, grippy, grainy chalk, sea fossils-oysters, limestone marl, withering lilies, spring flowers, nice acidity and a well balanced, good length, elegant finish that lasts nearly 90 second and lands on mid intensity minerals and spice.

Photos of; the champagne house of Veuve Clicqoit and the widow herself. You see her under the metal gage and plated over the cork.

#DSLounge — 8 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2006 pours a deep straw color with a persistent mousse. On the nose, the wine is developing with lovely notes of slightly bruised apple, white flowers, lemon curd, brioche, slivered almond and a mix of chalk and limestone minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and creamy. I wish I could drink this all night long. Alas, only a single 750mL and not a Methuselah. Drinking well now and will only be taking on more secondary and tertiary character. But if that’s your thing (and I can get down), this will deliver well past 2036. — 9 months ago

John Willison

9.2

Lemon, almond oil, great minerality. — 2 years ago

Carolyn Patrone

9.6

Wonderful nose, toasted almond, sherry, lemon, ripe pear. Oxidation is just right- not overwhelming, but adds to complexity and character. Slightly orange color, full bodied. Would love to know actual alcohol, label says 11-14%, but tears indicated higher alcohol, but very well balanced. Disgorged 14 November 2019. — 3 years ago

Vanessa

9.6

We cannot get enough of these bubbles. Vibrant acidity and layered complexity with notes of apple, pear, white peach, white blossom, dried white rose, hazelnut, toast, roasted almond, marzipan, brioche, pastry, and biscuit. — 4 years ago

with Deked1

John Willison

9.1

Lemon, lemon zest, almond oil, crushed stone, decent acidity. — 5 years ago