Matthew Cohen

9.4

A rough day. So which wine will never disappoint? Dampt Cote de lechet.

Nose: lovely. A green apple skin mineral perfume. White flowers get this to 94.

Palate: sweet green apple. Salty. Mineral. Utterly delicious. This is not the acid driven hammer that 21’was but it’s in the range of being as good.

Fass selections. — 2 months ago

Eric Grasser

9.4

Loads of verve. Driven by lemon zest, salinity, mint and dried rocks. Just beautiful tension that elongates the wine to a long, lingering finish. Second-favorite vineyard for Chardonnay in California that encapsulates the very best the state has to offer. Top class. Paired with lemony shrimp scampi — 6 months ago

Vanessa

9.1

Burgundy 🇫🇷 is renowned for its Chardonnay, but did you know that Aligoté is the second most planted white grape in the region? 👀

Some of the finest Aligoté comes from ‘Bouzeron,’ an appellation in the Côte Chalonnaise region (north of Mâconnais, south of Côte d’Or).

In a land of Pinot Noir & Chardonnay, Bouzeron AOC is 100% dedicated to producing Aligoté 🙌🏻. In fact, it first became a legally-recognized AOC in 1998 thanks in part to the efforts of Aubert de Villaine, the winemaker behind this beautiful bottle. 👏🏻

Interestingly, Aubert is also a co-owner & co-Director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) (and, as an aside, was on the tasting panel for the 1976 Judgement of Paris 😆)…

Yet, instead of devoting himself exclusively to DRC — one of the world’s most famous and prestigious estates — he and his wife, Pamela (a California native), were enchanted by the possibilities of Aligoté, and terroir of Bouzeron, where they put down roots through “Domaine de Villaine”.

This wine is Domaine de Villaine Bouzeron AOC (2019). It has a shimmering lemon robe and bouquet of white blossom, just-ripe white peach, yellow apple, pear, citrus, fennel, and wet slate notes. It’s remarkably fresh on the palate with mouth-watering acidity balancing the warm (14% ABV) and fruit-driven profile. It’s positively delicious!

We’re pairing it w/ pan-seared sea scallops, roasted asparagus, & lemon-herbed farro…

Cheers to nurturing the diversity of Burgundy in all of its splendor! 🥂
💙🤍♥️ — a year ago

with Deked1

Shay A

9.2

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

Fun to do a side by side with the ‘88, and also check in against the Montelena. Profile wise, this leans ripe and modern stylistically. There is a kiss of brett that takes you to Bordeaux but it’s mostly red and black fruit driven with a vanilla pipe tobacco sweetness, leather, cassis and a little bit of a floral note, especially aromatically. Big structure for the vintage, but open for business now if you can give it a few hours in the decanter. — 2 months ago

Daniel M

9.1

After a month off of any type of ethanol content to prepare for a marathon that I ran and finished earlier today, it's about time for me to come back on here. My first entry post break and race is a celebration post. And what better way to celebrate than with a proper bubbly?
The nose shows some reductive notes of sour apple, along with green apple, brioche and croissant. It's very inviting. The palate is very dry and acid driven but shows again these superb notes of croissant and some lemon curd too. The bubbles are subtle and complement the pastry notes very well. The finish is fresh, lemony, zingy and quite long. It's really a great champagne and it's been a while since I last tasted such a quality one. Great stuff and perfect way of celebrating a sport achievement ✌🏻 — 9 months ago

Raun Kupiec

9.0

Last nights comparison. Both were very much cherry driven fruit, but more acidic sour cherry in the 2013 at first while an almost cough drop deep cherry in the 2014. I found the 2013 had a more earthy nature while the 2014 seemed more rounded and had more deep fruit. — 3 years ago

with Barbara

Alex Lallos

Owner No Limit Fine Wines, Private Wine Consultant

8.9

I remember tasting this en premieur in 2011 it almost seemed lush and fruit driven back then (which is a complete 180 if you know this chateau) now 13 years it’s true to form, bretty, austere and tannic. By no means do I dislike it but I was expecting something different based on what I tasted a decade ago. With that said, it is typical cantemerle with lots of green notes . — 5 months ago

Ivor

9.1

Lovely nose of fresh see breeze, shell fish and blossom. Palate of intense lemon, crème fraiche, hay and again oysters. Very mineral driven finish. Wine improves with air and slightly higher temps. — 7 months ago

Brooke Gannon

9.2

Steely, mineral driven, some apple, lemon zest, a nice long finish. — a year ago

with Joseph

Lee Pitofsky

9.5

MDT side by side I’ve always wanted to do! 😍

François Raveneau “Montée de Tonnerre” 2013- Now for Raveneau’s MDT where the Domaine has always particularly excelled. Similarly floral and elegant in its bouquet, it is more powerful than the Dauvissat, and there is additional emphasis on its freshness, salinity and crushed oyster shell minerality. The palate shows excellent depth, texture and waxy yellow fruit that’s driven home by a racy citrus inflicted acidity that leads to its long and vibrant finish.

This was a much closer “race” than I anticipated, and only a slight overall edge goes to Raveneau for its power, vibrancy, depth and texture. The Dauvissat is more open, requiring less time to show all that it can be, but that wasn’t a surprise so the Raveneau was given a bit more air. The Dauvissat may even be a bit more complex at this stage in its life but the Raveneau seemingly will be longer lived. (Although still an early drinking vintage especially by Raveneau standards). Most importantly it was a great side by side that I hope to do again! 🙌🏻 — 3 years ago