Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.7

LOVE when this shitty app eats an almost 500 word tasting note. I love it. Anyway. This nose is inane. Meyer lemon that is pure, clean and crystallized in a way that is just next level. It’s so focused and pointed. There is a lemon sweetness on this nose that is just super elite. The background is all minerals but this nose floats. There’s an almost Mosel Rieslingesque affectation here. Like Weiser-Kunstler. The wet earth, which this cuvée is known for needs some hours to come out but when it does, and it will, the nose will go from 9.7 to 9.9, just like 21 and 22. The powdered minerals really is channeling dry Mosel or even Nahe. That palate is just insane. Unreal orb like insanity and then detonates with the lemony intensity of a thousand mini perfect Meyer lemons all exploding at once. It’s so intense. Like stop you in your tracks. The lemon sweetness is just incredible. It’s so pure. Like Icelandic glacial water runoff pure. The opulence balanced by the electric acidity makes this conscious on your palate. Crazy inner mouth aromas. Elegance is top and the finish is long and winding. Wow the lemony intensity with flesh, pith and sweetness is just insane. This is genius wine. 9.7 for now but air will tell the story. The sap and extract on the finish is just insane. After 24 hours this was crazy. It got richer, but kept that acid line firm and had the most insane texture. — 11 days ago

John Asbury

9.6

Wet stone over honeysuckle flowers and crisp apples make for a nose that really bloomed on the second day. As a matter of fact, with this type of Old-world French appellation, taking 24 hours to fully open is not unusual. This value-conscious Chablis boasted depth and clarity of flavor you’d expect in wines with twice the price tag. We paired it with grilled eggplant and roasted chicken casserole. It was delicious! — 4 years ago

Natasha opfell

9.0

Good on hot day very light, earthines, not sweet — 4 years ago

Jeremiah Diaz

9.0

Medium salmon in color; strawberries and grapefruit on the nose; high acidity; low tannins; tastes like cherry jolly ranchers, grapefruit rind, and saline with a long finish. Nellie and I like it. — 6 months ago

with Nellie

Jason Keefer

9.1

Herbaceous, chocolate cherry, cedar. Just an outstanding cost conscious rioja! — 3 years ago

with Natasha

Francisco Perez

9.0

This wine shows that Texas is now producing fine and complex wine. The grape is Tannat used a lot in wines from Uruguay and Chile. Full bodied and beautiful crisp red velvet color. Pleasant to the nose and palate. Best when it breathes. Texas wine makers are increasingly conscious about terroir and planting grapes that fit it. Nice and well structured that complements a rib eye grilled quite nicely. — 3 years ago

Byron C Mayes

9.0

100% Pinot Noir. Brilliant carnation pink. Abundant , slightly musty nose of earthy red cherry. Medium palate echoes the nose with a bit of cinnamon candy (without the heat) and red apple peel layered in. Medium plus acidity runs through all of that fruit. More rustic than its cousin under the Samuel Robert label, making it a bit more of a food wine, but it will do well as a summer sipper. Drink now. — 4 years ago

Natasha Langton

9.2

This wine was described as meaty and chewy and I can honestly say that it was! — 2 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.1

This wine reflects a conscious effort to buck the unfortunate trend of too ripe, too alcoholic, too jammy Zins. It’s got a lively, nose of pomegranate and barely ripe blackberry, some spice, and a bit of crushed rock minerality. In the mouth it’s lean and bone dry, with black cherry fruit and lots of stony minerals. Great acids and a framework of fine-grained, chalky tannin. While I love this effort, ideally I’d like just a teensy bit more ripeness to allow the Zinfandel spicy blackberry/black raspberry fruit to shine and a tad more density. — 2 years ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.3

There are sinful, delicious things that we rarely make time for (in our health conscious, earth conscious, super productive busy lives) like T-Bone steaks and 15% ABV Priorat. And while restraint and abstinence are good practices 95% of the year, at least 5% indulgence is necessary for good living, and the final days of a birthday week are fine times for gluttony.

The appropriately named “stairway to heaven/the gods” opens with intense, hypnotic aromas of anise/licorice, garrigue, wet slate, camp fire, beef blood, incense, mushroom, cedar, red currant, black currant; black cherry, strawberry jam, spiced red plum, and more slate (who says 15% abv wines don’t express terroir?!?!? )

My only complaint is that the palate isn’t nearly as captivating, deep and varied as the nose. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got a lot going on, it just lacks the mid palate weight and length I was hoping for after such a promising first impression. — 3 years ago