Vanessa

9.3

“La Côte” of Domaine de la Côte is a DREAMY Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills AVA of California’s Central Coast region.

Here pacific coastal breezes stretch inland and cool the sun-soaked vineyards. Domaine de la Côte has a collection of 6 vineyards on the western edge of Santa Rita Hills. On the back label you see a map of several of their vineyard blocks, including “La Côte” which is organically-farmed and nestled on a steep southeast-facing slope, where it absorbs the radiant sun during the growing season.

The grapes that went into this wine were harvested by hand, cluster-by-cluster, affording a gentler handling of the fruit with reduced risk of oxidation and microbial spoilage.

This wine was then fermented in a concrete vessel using 100% whole clusters (stems and all) thanks to the process of wild, ambient yeasts in the vineyard, winery, and on the skin of the berries…

The result is a positively perfumed and pristine berry-fruited profile with concentrated notes of black cherry, strawberry, raspberry, boysenberry, hibiscus, rosewater, cherry blossom, and anise balanced by a firm backbone of acidity and reserved alcoholic profile (13.1% ABV).

Following fermentation, this wine matured for 10 months in oak (30% new oak), lending delicate secondary notes of vanilla, clove, and cardamom.

The Domaine de la Côte “Bloom’s Field” was among the wines featured in the Somm 3 movie; it was blind tasted next to other French and California wines in a 2018 retake of the 1976 Judgement of Paris that culminated in a tasting of wines by a panel of luminaries of the wine world: Fred Dame, Jancis Robinson, and the late, great Steven Spurrier, who organized the Judgment of Paris back in 1976.

It is a captivating wine and has the structure to age, though we are loving it in its current state. It’s a delicious pairing with the herb-crusted salmon, roasted asparagus, and crème fraiche / chive mashed potatoes.

Cheers!

— 7 days ago

with Deked1

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.4

Truly genuine wine
Dark plumpy fruit, spicy, deeply intricated complexity. Lovely tannin and a promise to improve year by year for long time.
A wine to love and wait to understand its magic though already extremely enjoyable — 3 years ago

Jeroen Koenen

9.1

The Wine Pontiff has been a bit too harsh on this one, IMHO...

Plummy fruit, licorice, grilled vegetables, mocha, touches of toast, leather and forestfloor characterize this lovely, genuine, trustworthy and affordable Pomerol.
Medium body, medium length.l, I quite liked it. — 4 years ago

Sarah Klompstra

8.9

Decent weekday red blend — 4 years ago

"Odedi"

9.0

Ruby in color with a wide reddish rim and medium intensity.

Fruity nose with red fruits, light oak and chocolates.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with cherries, currants, raspberries, spices, chocolates, tobacco, bitter herbs, oak, light earth, light vegetables and black pepper.

Medium finish with soft tannins and tangy raspberries.

This is a very tasty Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma county. Easy drinking and smooth. Elegant and fruit forward.

Showing nice complexity with a soft, smooth mouthfeel.

A very interesting Cabernet Sauvignon. light and spicy. Drinks more like a California Pinot Noir.

Good right out of the bottle, and didn't change much after 90 minutes in the bottle.

Good by itself as a sipping wine, and paired nicely with a Charcuterie board of meats and cheeses.

14.2% alcohol by volume.

90 points.

$70. — 9 months ago

Stefan Dolhain

8.9

1990 vintage. An under the radar Pomerol, bought in 1961 by the grandfather of current owner Nathalie Despagne. He also owned La Tour Figeac in Saint-Emilion and La Rose Figeac is just across the Saint-Emilion border. The 4,56 hectare vineyard consists of 9 parcels (all within 500 m of each other) on gravelly sandy soils and is planted with Merlot (90%) and Cabernet Franc. My bottle had a near-perfect level and as the smell was a bit musty upon opening, but there was still good fruit in the mouth and the colour looked very solid, I took the risk to decant it. It turned out to be a wise decision as the wine evolved positively, even if the tannins remained a bit rustic. On the other hand it still has lively fruit and freshness, it is a testimony to the ageing potential of Bordeaux wines and an attractive food wine. Abv. 12,8% . — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.4

The wines of Roger Sabon have been on my radar for about ten years now and I have always thought the “Prestige” designation was, pound-for-pound, one of the better values in all of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. However, for one reason or another, I never seem to drink them that often. This particular bottle of “Le Secret des Sabon” was a lone singleton resting in my cellar since release. My wife, after an unusually exhausting week of work, said she wanted to drink something “impressive”...which means to me that the juice better not suck. And while “Le Secret” has a reputation for being one of the great wines from the entire appellation, I was taking some risk when I selected this bottle since I had no personal experience with it. As soon as I pulled the cork, it was clear this was going to be a special experience. Glass staining garnet with a touch of color that looks almost brown-ish however, there are no signs of decomposition. There is, however, a fairly decent amount of fine sediment. The fruit...well...the fruit is simply sensational. We’re talking fistfuls of the purest raspberries and cherries with some star anise, slightly burned pie crust and black pepper. This is a wine of tremendous texture and balance. Medium acid and medium plus tannins, the latter of which are so fine and silky. The ABV is stated as 15% but it’s so well hidden you would hardly notice. My only wish was that “Le Secret des Sabon” wasn’t so expensive...but there is no doubt about its quality. Drinking so well now but could easily hold for longer if necessary. — 4 years ago

"Odedi"

9.2

Dark ruby in color with a short reddish/ purple rim.

Full bodied and bold with medium acidity.

Dry and very fruity on the palate.

Showing blackberries, blueberries, black plums, cooked cherries, cedar, earth, vanilla, spices, espresso, bitter herbs, peppercorn, tobacco and dark chocolates.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This is a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa valley. Rich and extracted. Powerful and flavorful.

Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel. Shows nice complexity already.

Good right out of the bottle, and better after 3 hours of airtime.

This young Cabernet Sauvignon will continue to age nicely in the next 10 years. Has good structure, and could become a 94+ point wine. Will be nice to revisit it in 5 years.

14.3% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$90. — 2 years ago

Paul T HB

9.6

Inexpensive enough to pop one straight off the truck after its week long journey from the east coast. Right there with the 16, less botrytis than the 14 & 15 which is what I was hoping for.

VM94
Rated 94 by Vinous Media
The 2017 Viré-Clessé, which will be bottled at the beginning of 2022, has a killer nose with an almost Germanic feel, intense nectarine, melon and damp earthy scents with just a hint of petrol. The palate is beautifully balanced with a line of acidity keeping everything taut and linear. The 2017 is a little waxy in texture with orange rind, stem ginger and white pepper furnishing the very persistent finish. This is superb - a Viré-Clessé with genuine substance and longevity.
Winery
100% Chardonnay. Bongran is Thévenet's original home estate (Domaine de Roally, also in Viré-Clessé, was added later). Cuvée Tradition is its single bottling of dry white wine (in certain vintages, a sweet botrytized wine is made). The old vines are organically farmed and harvested manually and notably late at a very high ripeness level. The grapes are pressed very slowly and gently. After settling, the juice is fermented in tank with indigenous yeasts, very slowly, taking up to two years to finish; there are often a few grams of residual sugar remaining in the wine. The wine is aged in tank only, then in bottle for several years before release. It has an extraordinary richness of flavor and texture along with firm acidity and minerality. — 3 years ago

Melissa Rogers

10

This wine was so special. I know chenin blanc is a bit of a risk, but I had it in mind to pair with salty Chinese food, and found this VERY price-friendly organic bottle at my favorite wine store. It had none of the overt fruitiness or oiliness that sometimes comes with CB; rather, I think it was the perfect combo of the yellow apple richness of traditional CBs expressed in a very lean, dry, tart, wildly acidic sipper with just a hint of ginger spiciness. If you’ve read this far you can see I really loved this wine. 💛 — 4 years ago