Ming L

8.9

The nose shows classic BdM aromas of dried cherry, rose petal, steeped black tea, tobacco, and a whisper of balsamic. Yet on the palate its tart acidity overwhelmed, and the nimble structure is more inline with CC than a BdM.

Not bad, but I certainly expected much more.

— 4 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Always so beautiful. Like Volnay through the prism of Nebbiolo. Dried roses, cherry, dead leaves, spice, chestnut and wild mint. Gorgeous. Palate is so supple and juicy. Clean and pure. Big but ripe tannins and gorgeous cherry fruit. Long, resonant finish. Very elegant. Just a wonderful wine. Really nimble and precise. Such sweet fruit. — a year ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Glorious nose of apricot, kumquat, mineral, tangerine skins, mirabelle plums, persimmon and more! Wide open nose. Incredible spice and depth. Palate is chock full peach, apricot and more. Juicy and lean but also nimble and powerful. A lot going on here. Terrific intensity and purity. Man this is concentrated and deep. Amazing palate presence. Insane! I love the mineral force that is this wine. Epic finish. — 2 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.5

2019 vintage. The excellent 2018 version carried slightly more weight and finished with an intriguing honeycomb flourish. The 2019 effort is no less delicious but much more nimble, flashing plenty of apricot, nectarine, pear and peach flavors. A tad more acidity and just enough unctuous/oily character gives the 2019 the nod-barely-over the 2018. Can think of worse things than a Condrieu vertical/horizontal tho. — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

So nimble. Achingly beautiful. — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

What a nose. Spice, cocoa, earth and very complex. Cherries as well. Super expansive. Leather and wood shavings. Cherry liquer. Wow. Stunning aromas. Palate has energy and purity for days plus awesome sappy texture and grippy but sweet tannins and wonderful sappy cherries. Good freshness and texture and very nimble. This has serious structure and will age very very well. — 4 years ago

Andrew Formi

8.9

2007
Thanks Jack! — 5 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.7

Stunning but young. So nimble and complex. Mint, game, so delicate. So elegant. Sweet but also tannic. So complex. So elegant. No formal notes. — 5 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. — 4 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

This bottle is very reserved. Usually this is a bit more showy. Nose is a bit neutral which means maybe this is aromatically closed? But that palate is all saline, lemon, mineral and huge acid and grip. Like Puligny 1er Cru. Architectural in its structure. Super sappy and dense and so clean. Chiseled. Odd the nose is so reserved. This is so epic on the palate with just enormous density, structure and concentration. Thick yet dry. Let’s see where this goes. Now the nose is starting to show. It’s got that wet earth, wet stones thing going. Huge mineral stank. Now it’s grooving. Nose is all Puligny with flowers and iodine. Brown sugar as well. So elegant. nimble and juicy. Luscious and mouthwatering. Chewy and dense. Unreal mineral sweetness. — a year ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

Delectable ate my first note on this and I am pretty perturbed but the wine is so damn great I will write an even longer note this time. This is the best Swiss Pinot I have had and this guy is the Swiss Brisset. There is no doubt in my mind. Nose is 9.7 or 9.8. Just sick! Floral like nothing else and cross between Chambolle/Volnay and Vosne. Magic. Lifted and bright with mid season cherries, spice and so much lift. But also breadth and complexity. Nose is a 9.8 as it has that elite floral lift only in the best Pinots. Stunning. It’s a nose one can smell all day. This is just magic. No other word. Why I do what I do. Palate is so nimble and ethereal. So elegant yet flavorful and intense. No hard edges and just gorgeous sour cherry and mid season cherry fruit that’s perfectly ripe and cut with the ripest most delicate tannins. So juicy omg. Complex and mineral like nothing else and the finish just washed one’s palate with intense minerality. Wow. Outrageous inner mouth aromas and just decadent but restrained sweetness. So long and delicate. The finish is like a long, windy road down to the horizon. This is genius. My score will go up with air. — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Very ripe nose of cassis and black/red berries. Very intense and deep. Forgot how ripe Bordeaux can get. Some earthen mossy scents as well. That classic Medoc thing under the ripeness. Elegant and complex with substantial structure and freshness. Deep cassis and wonderfully ripe and juicy tannins filled with nimble cassis fruit. A long finish. This is really great and classy. — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.9

Holee shit. Best nose of the morning. Smells like a scene in nature. Holy moly. Honeyed apricots. So so insane. Minerals. Peach. So vivid, so precise, icing on a cake. Confectionery but also a scene in nature. Wow. Saffron? Smells sweet like but is bone dry. Juicy and pure, so fresh and so compact. Structured and dense. Crystalline purity. Compact. Stunning. Wow acid. Cheeks tingle and tongue does not tingle. Amazing freshness. This is superb and dense, but so nimble and elegant. The length is endless. This is as brilliant as anything I’ve ever had at fass selections. — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

The nose is psycho. Lime zest, butter, actually brown butter, an airy ethereal quality, maybe some white peach, some citrus and unreal discreetly framed oak that has just made me shake my head how well integrated it is. Like insane. 9.8 nose. All the wet stones one can imagine. Florent is a completely different winemaker than when I started with him. This is super elite. The palate is a masterclass in controlled detonating So opulent yet so nimble. The texture, my goodness the texture. Silk. The finest silk. Extraordinary concentration and so nimble, so sappy and so pure. Unreal density and finesse and ultra concentrated. But so nimble it’s like a breeze on your palate. Acid is on point as is the structure which is architectural. More Gehry than Hadid. It’s got tannin and acid plus extraordinary length. There is real heft and density here but it retains this laser like delineation. Icing on a cake like texture now after some air and silly length. Stunning. With air this got crazy crazy elegant. Brilliant. — a year ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.7

Deep and ripe nose that is totally giving me Corton Charlemagne vibes. Ripe apple, melon, cantaloupe and pear. Gorgeous in its purity. Man this is like white burgundy mimicry. Gorgeous spicey notes and complex smokey tones and amazing mineral notes. Such an enveloping and evocative nose. Palate is so awesome. Rich and textured and so deep and this has those German iodine and hazelnut notes that make you think your in Corton Charlemagne. Ripe and unctuous and so forward and unreal marzipan notes on the mid and finish. Wow does this really hammer you on the finish and not let up. Remarkable elegance and large scaled but nimble. As this airs it gains remarkable aromatic complexity with pulverized stones and barely ripe tropical fruits. So complex. Rich yet tense is the biography of this wine. One of the best 18’s I’ve had from Germany. — 2 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2000 vintage. Decanted and tasted over the course of 1.5 hours. Expected amount of sed. Chunky, unresolved nose. Medium body. Still too youthful. Would try to give it another 7-10 years if possible. Initial tree branches/greenery dipping into morning fresh water morphed into classic graphite/lead pencil after 45 mins in the decanter. There was a slight metallic streak on the finish that appeared about 20 minutes in and still hadn't dissipated after 1.5 hours. More nimble than the og bad boys from this estate ('86, '88, '89, '90) and a bit less weighty. Mostly positives along with a few (mostly) minor quibblings. A ways to go, tho, before hitting the summit this estate established four decades ago. 9.24.23. — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Always so good. Opulent and incisive. Deep nose. Lots of amplitude. Huge limestone. Herbal. So complex. German Chardonnay is so awesome. What a palate. Huge core of apple and pear fruit and stacked with minerals and a malo sweetness. So long and nimble. Gorgeous wine. Almost 9.5. — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Yaaaa this is in a great place. Nose is sick. Huge levels of insanely complex spice. Xmas spices galore. Just wow. Pine resin. Wow. Smells like $150 Burgundy. Palate is juicy, nimble and racy. But also some but not much sweet fruit. Really elegant and has perfect balance. So juicy and insanely fresh. So complex. This is peaking. Wow. Yes. A 9.5 tonight. — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

Holy moly. This is some wine. What a value! Insane, deep nose of dark cherry fruit that is so vivid and so clear. Wow. Tree bark, dusty earth, and just insane clarity here. The palate has incredible sweet fruit. So sappy and elegant! Yes this year this has elegance. Nimble and so red Riesling. What inner mouth aromas. Complex, concentrated and so pure. As this airs it’s like a blackberry jam/perfume with black cherries. What an insane wine! $24.99 is just a joke. Amazing grip and palate presence and what energy. Just sick. 9.49. Almost a 9.5!

Wow, with air this gets suppler and sweeter while the aromas have gotten so precise. Think it’s a 9.5. Wow. — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Such a killer Mölsheim. Apricot, mango, herbs, citrus, very aromatic. All that on a bed of minerals. Just gorgeous. Palate is energy for days and days. Grip, unreal fruit that is tangy and ripe but backed up by incredible acidity. It’s so staggeringly pure. Just delicious and an amazing hot day wine. Unreal texture, volume and amplitude and then gets mineral and nimble on the finish. Terrific. — 5 years ago