Willie Carter

9.8

Well, here we are. Selosse Initial. What is there really to say? Is it good? Is it great? Is it delicious? Does it live up to the hype? Did it change my life?

Yes.

A beautiful golden hue in the glass with profuse perlage. There’s no need for traditional notes here, we already know. Wonderfully electric, saline, and textured. Depth, personality, and romance.

Nothing I say here matters. Go get as many Selosse champagnes as you can. Then get a few more. And enjoy life. — 24 days ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.4

Opus One 2011
Napa Valley, California, USA 🇺🇸

Overview
A Bordeaux-style blend from one of Napa’s most iconic estates, co-founded by Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The 2011 vintage was a challenging, cool year in Napa, producing wines of lower alcohol, more restraint, and higher acidity compared to the opulent, sun-soaked vintages before and after. Blend typically centers on Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.

Aromas & Flavors
Opens with blackcurrant, cassis, and dried cherry layered with graphite, violets, tobacco leaf, and hints of cedar and espresso. As it evolves in the glass, notes of leather, savory herbs, and cocoa powder emerge.

Mouthfeel
Medium-bodied compared to more powerful Opus vintages, with fresh acidity and fine-grained tannins. Elegant and balanced, showing more finesse and structure than richness. The finish lingers with red and black fruits, spice, and a touch of earth.

Winemaking Notes
Aged in French oak for 18 months. The cooler season resulted in smaller yields, but a style closer to classic Bordeaux restraint rather than plush Napa ripeness.

Food Pairing
Beautiful with herb-crusted lamb, grilled duck breast, wild mushroom risotto, or aged cheeses like Comté.

Verdict
A vintage that divided critics due to its lighter profile, but for those who enjoy elegance and classical structure, the 2011 Opus One is a refreshing outlier. Drink now, though it still has a few years of graceful life ahead. Cheers!
— 9 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Been a while delectable family. Flu then covid and only 3 wines in that period. Well I am back and smell and taste are as they were before all of this. Nose has peach skin, some ripe peach flesh but not too ripe, confectionary aromas. Loads of wet stones and pulverized shale. Super aromatic. Like a cross between Pfalz/Alsace. Palate is lean and precise. Really clean, balanced and so pure. Fiercely mineral. Lovely peach flesh, skin and sap on the very long finish. Really juicy and engaging. Delicious! — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Tons of floral, wild dark berries and spice on the nose. Mid season cherry. Palate is so good. Rich, elegant, deep, gritty and nimble. Some nice amplitude in the mid palate and great tension and red fruits on the finish. Needs mega air so I can only assume score goes higher tomorrow. — 3 months ago

Seth Masterson

9.5

While I love my local Chardonnay this guy is the hands down best domestic Chardonnay I've had in 2025. It has everything you could ask for - elegant fruit, balanced acid, silky texture without being insipid, and deep stone and mineral like you just dunked your head into a glacial stream. This is awesome stuff and I recommend you seek it out. — 7 months ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.5

The sleeper vintage, one at this time I bet to be even more showy than the illustrious 2000. It’s simply just ready to go after a short decant wafting from the glass with layers of cassis, black truffle, violets and licorice. This is a wine of texture and elegance, as Margaux should be—It’s liquid cashmere in the mouth with melting tannins and a black truffle and mineral inflicted finale that keeps on going. Superb showing tonight, with still a long life ahead. — 9 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

The first of my small tranche of 2019 Cuvée Reservée’s and I figured it would be fun to share with the Tasting Group. Popped and poured and presented double-blind. The wine pours a translucent, deep ruby with magenta rim, near opaque core, medium+ viscosity. On the nose, the wine was clean with macerated raspberry, cranberry, and pomegranate fruits. There were purple flowers, some black pepper and rocky minerality along with a slightly gamey note which was quite charming. Both the fruit and non-fruit characteristics were confirmed on the palate. The wine finishes dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. There’s a compelling sense of power and energy in this wine. Everyone was in the Rhône but most were in the North; from Saint Joseph to Cornas, citing that they believed this was Syrah. However, two in the group called Châteauneuf du Pape and one actually called producer (!!) but missed on vintage (2016). Universally, the wine was fawned over and the dude who called Pagaü thought he actually favored the 2019 over the 2016 he had a while back. While I’m not sure I would go that far, the 2019 is truly quite stunning already and seems to have the guts to see a very long and wonderful life ahead. These are currently enjoying their customary early drinking window however, that window will likely close within a year or so and then I could see this shutting down pretty hard until 2025 — 4 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I will say straight up, I am very disappointed that LVMH bought this historical Napa property. I imagine that Joseph isn’t happy about that. What was the family thinking? First guess, is they lacked their fathers passion & just wanted the money. Maybe, future climate played apart? 🤷‍♂️

I have had the 95 a couple-three times. Again, sounding like a broken record, these are good young, but not great until they are 13-28 yrs in bottle. I’ve had plenty of older JP’s to know.

Once again, I count bottle yrs, not from vintage creation. Human life doesn’t is not counted until birth. Wine for me is no different.

The nose shows slightly brambly fruits, blackberries, black raspberries, black cherries, both plums, baked strawberries, hovering raspberries, mid berry cola, anise to black licorice, black tea, soft leather, dryish tobacco, dry twigs, softly layered baking spices-cinnamon, clove, nutmeg & vanillin, understated, dry spice-sage/bay leaf lead, dark, rich, slightly sweet forest floor w/ dry leaves, dark, fresh/withering, dark, red, flowers, red roses framed in lavender.

The palate shows resolved, mushy, thick tannins, insanely fresh, ripe, juicy, brambly fruits; blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, both plums, baked strawberries, hovering raspberries, mulberries, goose berries, red to mid berry cola, anise to black licorice, black tea, soft leather, dryish tobacco, dry twigs, dark, rounded spices, incense, softly layered baking spices-cinnamon, clove, nutmeg & vanillin, understated, dry spice-sage/bay leaf lead, dark, rich, slightly sweet forest floor w/ dry leaves, limestone powder, dry crushed rocks, dry river pebbles, moist, grey volcanic clays, dark, fresh/withering, dark, red, flowers, red roses framed in lavender and liquid violets, insane, summer rainfall acidity, the balance, length are off the charts, soft spoken tension is still apart of this cuvée with lush, elegance for days that lands gently on fruit, clay and spice.

This 95 is not tired and, just, and, I mean, just the other side of its peak with a very drinkable decent over the next 5 yrs.

Glorious evolution & style! 94+ a bit. Cork near perfect and some sediment. — 3 months ago

Keith Ward

9.3

Beautiful Cab Sauv from a stellar year in Napa! Can’t beat Montelena for structure, balance and a long shelf life. The only comparable wine (I’ve tasted) from this vintage is Shafer Hillside Select. This wine was fruit forward, mid pallet of aged leather, tobacco, nice tan is and a finish that lasted until the next sip!! Drink now, but would still be a very nice wine 10+ years from now!! — 3 years ago

Will Stanley

9.5

Decanted for around an hour, the recently released 2013 Grand Vin from Chateau Musar is an enormous wine at present in its youth. Gradually, it opened into a gorgeous, exotic and utterly unique product of this unlikely corner of the wine world. There’s plenty of Bordeaux-like character in the form of dark fruit and cigar box, but there are notes too of cranberry, liquorice, clove, mandarin and five spice. The mouthfeel, as a whole, has a quasi Brunello quality to it, with its bright cherry fruit and mouthwatering acidity. But woe is anyone to compare this wine to any other, for it is incomparable. One of Serge Hochar’s last vintages before his passing in 2014, and one that will doubtless have a long life. — 5 years ago