Vanessa

9.1

Time to explore this Clos Mogador ‘Com Tu’ Garnatxa Negra de la Figuera (2019).

It’s made with 100% Garnatxa Negra (Grenache Noir) grapes coming from the small village of la Figuera in Montsant DO in the broader region of Catalunya, NE Spain.

Montsant DO neighbors and surrounds Prioriat DOQ with similar macro environmental influences (warm, dry, sunny), making it a great place to produce ripe and powerful wines.

Com Tu started as a side project and has since become part of the iconic Clos Mogador portfolio.

This is a quintessential, and elevated, summer barbeque wine! It’s medium ruby with aromas and flavors of ripe, juicy red and black cherry, red plum, boysenberry, stewed strawberry rhubarb, blood orange, dried prune, violet, black licorice, crushed stone, and leather.

It is dry, with medium acidity, a full body, high alcohol (14.5% ABV), medium tannins that are ripe and a medium(+) finish. It’s lovely and could pair well with a variety of grilled or smoked meats and vegetables.

Cheers to Clos Mogador and delicious Garnatxas from around the globe! — 2 years ago

with Deked1

Ericsson

9.3

A top Pinot from the bottom of the globe. The color is medium ruby with strong scents of red fruits: strawberries, cherries, raspberries, some floral aromas as well. The fruit persists on the pallet with big bursts of cherries and raspberries; medium acidity and light earthy spices. Very smooth wine with delicate tannings and slightly fruity lingering finish. One of the best, if not the best, Pinot Noir from the region with great aging potential as well. — 6 years ago

Emily Kresie-Harrington

8.9

2017 vintage. Surprisingly good and lacking any of the oxidation that sadly plagues whites from this part of the globe. Chamomile and orchard fruits on the nose, also on the palate. Perfectly ripe pear, yellow and green apples, white nectarine, lime flesh, a little mineral phenolic bitterness, dandelion and chamomile flower, nondescript light herbal note. — 6 years ago

Michał Ptaszek

9.0

Dinner with Trotter — 7 years ago

Severn G

9.4

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our full cast of conductors include Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. The beautiful and vocally talented Audra McDonald is our host for the evening along with Midori on violin and Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

This will likely be an evening to remember for some time. Program notes from the BSO "Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close."

We're revisiting some producer bottles from our late Spring France vacation earlier this year.

Nose of sweet grass, wet minerals, apricot skin, spring rain on flowers and ripe lemon. Palate has curious light, sweet citrus notes, tropical yellow fruits, this bottle is alive!

Photos of Jean Jacques thieving the 2017 Puligny-Montrachet out for us to sample, the modest sign indicating you've arrived at the most interesting biodynamic place in Saint Aubin and our bottle of the evening.

24hr Update: Sweet, fermented tropical fruit. Honestly I believe this will be even better in another day. — 8 years ago

Paul Weil

9.0

This is Helios Penley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, from Coonwarra, AUSTRALIA. Really good stuff, almost Rutherford-linke in its dusty tannic goodness. I actually picked this up at a specialty shop in London, but ended up packing it back to the US and cellaring it until now. I suppose this bottle has thereby circled the globe! — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

Is there anything better than Ribeye & Claret? From my perspective, no. This is the second wine from one of more prestigious Chateaus in St. Estephe. Bordeaux rule number 2, buy the hell out of good producers second wines in very good vintages, like 2005. You’ll get great wines at more affordable prices. Providing, you exercise patience; which is rule number 1. Decanted for 3 plus hours. On the nose, ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, baked strawberries, black plum & cherries pull up the rear. Incense, herbaceous character, anise, scorched dark earth, burnt ambers, anise, baking spices dominated by vanilla, black tea, black cherry cola, loamy dry soils, dry & fresh red florals with violets for days. It’s in a great phase with many years ahead. The body is full and round. The texture has you wanting more. It’s velvety and ripe. Tannins soft and powdery, around 65-70 resolved. The fruits are ripe & ruby...showing the excellence of the 05 vintage. Blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, baked strawberries, black plum & cherries pull up the rear. Incense, herbaceous character, anise, scorched dark earth, dry stones, leather, cigar with ash, burnt ambers, anise, baking spices dominated by vanilla, black tea, black cherry cola, loamy dry soils, dry & fresh red florals with violets for days. The acidity is dead on. The length, structure, length & balance is harmonizing like America on the album, “ Horse with No Name.” The long finish is; ruby, rich, elegant, round, beautiful and lasts a minute plus. Beautiful wine. 9.4 with the steak. 9.2 on its own. Photos of; Chateau Cos d’ Estournel, hosting/tasting area, private wine stock and barrel cellar. Producer notes and history...Chateau Cos d’Estournel has a long history in the appellation of St. Estephe. Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, gave his name to the estate after founding it in 1811. It only took a few years before Chateau Cos d’Estournel became famous with wine lovers and royalty all over the world. In the early days, the wines of Cos d’Estournel were not sold through the Negociant system. The owner preferred selling his wine directly to his customers. In fact, Chateau Cos d’Estournel was exported to numerous countries across the globe, with a large portion of the production being sold to India. It was that connection to India that inspired much of the unique, east Indian design we see at Cos d’Estournel today. Chateau Cos d’Estournel was one of the first Chateaus to bottle, label and sell their own wine. This practice continued until the death of Louis Gaspard d’Estournel in 1852. After his death, the estate was purchased by an owner that sold their wines on the Place de Bordeaux, using the negociant system. If the Chateau had not been selling their wines through the negociant system, it would never have been included in the 1855 Classification! Chateau Cos d’Estournel was sold to the Charmolue family, the owners of the neighboring Chateau Montrose. They continued to own the estate until 1917, when it was bought by Fernand Ginestet. The purchase was the next major step in the development of Cos d’Estournel. The next era in the development of Chateau Cos d’Estournel took place in 2000, when Chateau Cos d’Estournel was bought by Michel Reybier, who made his fortune in the food industry. Michel Reybier hired the son of Bruno Prats, Jean-Guillaume Prats to manage Cos d’Estournel. Things improved with the efforts of Jean-Guillaume Prats who helped design the most modern wine making facilities in the entire Bordeaux wine making appellation at the time. A complete renovation of Cos d’Estournel took place in the winemaking facilities and cellars. The wine making facilities are completely modern, using 100% gravity. On October 15, 2012, Jean Guillaume Prats announced he was leaving Chateau Cos d’Estournel to join LVMH. Jean Guillaume Prats was replaced by Aymeric de Gironde. Following the departure of Aymeric de Gironde in 2017, the owner, Michel Reybier took over managing the estate. In 2018, the estate released COS100, produced from their oldest Merlot vines that were 100 years of age. It was limited in production to a 100 Jeroboams, (3 litres) and 10 Balthazars (12 litres) and a few other sizes were produced from only 2 barrels of wine. The proceeds from COS100 go to the charity, Elephant Family, that is devoted to protecting and nurturing Asian elephants in their own, natural habitat. Cos d’Estournel’s new cellar is a joint reflection by the technical team, the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and Jean Guillaume Prats. It’s a marvel blend of simplicity and modern technology. Cos d’Estournel is unique to Bordeaux and the rest of world. What makes this special is that the cellars of Cos d’Estournel are entirely operated by gravity. There are no pumps of any kind to force the wine. The purpose is to allow a gentleness to the wine and improve its purity allowing for expression of their special terroir. It set a new benchmark for cellars not only in the Left Bank, but in all of Bordeaux. The new cellars at Chateau Cos d’Estournel include 72 isothermal cone shaped stainless steel vats. The vats are specifically designed for thermal inertia. The 72 vats have a wide range of capacities to correspond with the needs of each parcel of vines. The vats range in size from as small as 19 hectoliters all the way up to 115 hectolitres. 12 of the smaller vats that are designed to handle between 19 and 60 hectoliters that have two levels in each vat. In other words, this offers the technical equivalent of 24 separate vats. Each of the vats are double lined, which allows for more exact and temperature control. None of the vats use interior heat coils. Perhaps the most inventive part of the cellars is the four 100 hectoliter lift tanks or wine elevators that replace the pumps used in the traditional pumping over and racking off processes, which introduce air and often destabilize the marc. From the moment the grapes arrive, everything travels by the flow of gravity. Jean Guillaume Prats called this process a pumpless, pump over. What takes place is, the wine is released from the main vat where the skins remain. By gravity, the juice is then moved into smaller vats which are on wheels. These small vats are sent to the glass elevators where they are moved up one floor and returned back into the vat by gravity to cover the skins. At this point, the process is still unique to Chateau Cos d’Estournel. The wine production of Cos d’Estournel is labor intensive starting the moment the grapes enter their new facility. The berries travel through a tunnel that instantly lowers the temperature of the fruit to 3-5 degrees Celsius. This sudden chilling stops the loss of juice while also slowing oxidation. Next, the grapes are cold macerated at 7-9 degrees Celsius for about a week. Pump overs are done by gravity recycling. The juice from the top of the vat moves to the bottom of the vat entirely by gravity. The fermentation takes place at low temperatures to avoid over extraction or harsh tannins. The 91 hectare vineyard of Chateau Cos d’Estournel is planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is located close to the border of Pauillac and Saint Estephe at the southern tip of the Saint Estephe appellation. The vineyard has cultivated 84 hectares of vines. Even though the vineyard has been expanded over the years, the grape varietals planted here have remained consistent. The vineyard, located on the hill of Cos, has gentle elevations of up to 20 meters. On average, the vines are 35 years of age. However, the estate has very old Merlot vines as well, which date back more than 100 years. Part of the terroir is situated on the hill of Cos, which is at a high elevation for the Medoc at 20 meters. Cos d’Estournel is translated from old Gascon speech; which means the hill of pebbles. It describes the terroir along with clay, gravel, sand and limestone soil. However, there is a unique aspect to the soil at Cos d’Estournel, as you find more gravel and less clay here than you do at other neighboring vineyards. Because the fruit is grown close to the Atlantic ocean in a cool climate, Cos d’Estournel is often among the last of the properties in the Medoc to harvest. The vineyard is managed by teams and each team member is given 45,000 vines to look after. The vineyard, which is almost one large block, can be further divided into 72 separate parcels. — 8 years ago

romo

9.5

Another mule from Barolo. Captivating nose of sweet cinnamon. Layers of earthy gooey sap funnel into a tingling snow globe. Not even done yet. Wow. — 3 years ago

with Chris

Ryan Vento

9.5

Absolutely incredible bourbon with an equally as impressive backstory 🥃 Aged aboard a marine wildlife research vessel operated by nonprofit Ocearch, this bourbon has gone through rapid aging due to the constant movement that characterizes time spent at sea, and has accumulated a host of complexity and oceanic tasting notes in the process; a gift from Poseidon, no doubt. This technique of aging bourbon has now been conducted for 22 unique voyages around the globe, this bottle being from the most recent voyage. Drinking like a gorgeous union between bourbon and rum, this spirit offers a litany of desirable and exotic notes like salted caramel, roasted nuts, toasted coconut, glazed figs, molasses, and savory winter spices. This is super good. — 6 years ago

Daniel M

8.9

Mineral nose with chalk at first. Some hay too and discreet lemon notes along with withe flowers. I would have had issues placing it on the map blind. The palate is rather round and easy going. Some acid in there, some lemon but a round matter that litteraly reminds of a globe in mid palate. Some grip and a bit of silk in there. Rather short finish with white flowers and a lasting hay thing. I like this as an aperitive wine, by itself. — 7 years ago

Amy Rodriguez

9.2

“Globe Theatre” by another name — 8 years ago

Severn G

9.4

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our full cast of conductors include Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. The beautiful and vocally talented Audra McDonald is our host for the evening along with Midori on violin and Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

This will likely be an evening to remember for some time. Program notes from the BSO "Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close."

We're revisiting some producer bottles from our late Spring France vacation earlier this year.

Awesome bottle, so mineral driven, toasted brioche spread with quince jam.

Photos of C-L champagne bottles resting with their temporary closures, resting 750's of their Cuvée Jadis rose and our bottle of the evening. — 8 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.0

Poppin’ corks and savin’ whales. Iron Horse gives $4 for every bottle of their Ocean Reserve Blanc de Blancs to National Geographic’s Ocean Initiative, establishing marine protected areas and supporting sustainable fishing practices around the globe. The 2006 shows a mix of bergamot, citrus peel, baked apple, and some yeast. — 8 years ago

Frank Rotello

9.1

Can really taste the grape. Light bramble spice and full fruit aroma. Tart fruit and hint of carmel on the palette. Smooth tannins. Paired well with pig trotter fritters, rabbit gnocchi and lobster risotto. — 8 years ago

aik

10

dense dry tea leaf, dried red berries.
14 % abv, but lifted, and shape like globe.
etherial, high acidity lingering to the finish.

honey like flower sirup add heavyness. — 4 years ago

Patrick O Driscoll

9.6

This wine is absolutely sensational I would highly recommend this as it will become a legend from Napa with the Rupert & Rothschild overview this will go on to make ground across the globe — 4 years ago

with Daniel

Severn G

9.0

Chenin Blanc, much like Chardonnay, truly exemplifies a sense of place. The environment, particularly soils, play a strong role in development of the wine. I adore Chenin from all corners of our globe, from sweet to mineral-driven, it almost has as much diversity as, dare I say, Riesling.
A solid buy at $14, prior notes apply; Chenin I always say I need more of you in my life... — 6 years ago

Randy Fuller

9.2

One of the grapes in this blend is a Spanish original, the other is common over much of the winegrowing globe. The mixture here makes Viura the star. Intense minerality is at the forefront, with superb aromas of lemon and lime zest. Acidity is racy, while the Chardonnay brings tropical notes into the palate. I'll bet a plate of oysters would pair up nicely, or pasta with olive oil and pepper. — 7 years ago

Severn G

9.4

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our full cast of conductors include Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. The beautiful and vocally talented Audra McDonald is our host for the evening along with Midori on violin and Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

This will likely be an evening to remember for some time. Program notes from the BSO "Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close."

We're revisiting some producer bottles from our late Spring France vacation earlier this year.

Nose of under-ripe tropical fruits, banana skin, light oak touch. Palate has yummy papaya, under-ripe peach, tangerine and sweet oak.

Photos of the Jadot (Update, Bouchard!) Chateau with its beautiful colored slate roof (to the left of the chateau its the conservatory where we had an epic lunch during our visit and they used to overwinter their citrus trees in here many, many years ago), pictures of the first room of the most amazing library cellar in all of Burgundy (the subsequent rooms are even more amazing) and our bottle of the evening.

24hr Update, sweet oak and fermented tropical fruits just stunning today, last bottle. ☹️

OMG Update: somehow I grabbed pics from our Bouchard visit, argh! The only Jadot thing in the collage is the bottle, so sorry! — 8 years ago

Severn G

9.2

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our full cast of conductors include Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. The beautiful and vocally talented Audra McDonald is our host for the evening along with Midori on violin and Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

This will likely be an evening to remember for some time. Program notes from the BSO "Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close."

Love this bottle, strawberry and citrus, so tasty! — 8 years ago