Ode Couple
Olga Raffault
Les Picasses Chinon Cabernet Franc 2014
Worth a check in at 10 years. Always an outstanding nose. Needed hours of air and still pretty shy, fruit in particular is closed. Paired with NY strip tonight. Have half a case left of this vintage and will check in again in a couple years. — 9 months ago
The Mascot
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Huge pedigree on this one, being from the younger vines of Harlan… not a true second label. Rich Oakville flavors. For the price point you can do better. Also could have improved with a couple more years in the bottle I think. — 7 days ago
A. Rafanelli
Unfiltered Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2006
I pulled this from the cellar on Father’s Day; toasting the year I became a dad. Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a couple hours. The 2006 pours a deep ruby color with a near opaque core and a magenta rim; medium+ viscosity with faint staining of the tears and lots of fine sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with powerful notes of tart dark fruits: brambles, montmornecy cherries, tobacco, dry earth, and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and zippy with tongue smacking acid. The 2006 Rafanelli Zinfandel is in a seriously great spot right now and well stored examples should hold in this position easily through the rest of this decade. Great with pizza. Drink now through 2031+. — 5 months ago
Château Palmer
Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005
The 2005 Palmer, picked from September 9 to October 10, remains deep in color. It has a lovely, intense bouquet with blackcurrant pastilles, raspberry, violet and juniper. It blossoms in the glass, gaining vigor. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, structured and dense, strangely Pomerol-like in style, with touches of black pepper and truffle furnishing the finish. Robust and muscular, it lacks a bit of flair and precision (like many wines of this vintage). I would afford this another couple of years in the cellar. Tasted at the Palmer vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, August 2023)
— a year ago
Château Lynch-Bages
Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2001
Very nice but not quite at the same level as the one we had a couple years ago. Certainly extremely Bordeaux in terms of typicity. Paired with some La boite peppercorn blend crusted wagyu filets from Allen brothers. Definitely ready to go, opened with cork pop for 3.5 hours and decanted for 1. — 3 months ago
Clos des Papes
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 2015
Over three years since I opened up the first bottle. Still young-ish but much easier to drink after a quick decant of half an hour. All the typical scents and taste of C9DP. Very balanced. Clearly from a warm climate but retaining ample freshness. Like it a lot. Hope I can keep my hands off it in the coming years to check in on the remaining bottles every couple of years — 9 months ago
Château Pontet-Canet
Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2000
Celebrating with a couple of nice bottles tonight
2.5 hour decant(lots of chunky/fine/cloudy sediment). An astonishing dark purplish magenta color. On the nose: expressive notes of plum, cedar, worn leather, musky earth, floral, and smokey vanilla. Taste: smooth, creamy, rich wine with plum, cedar, tobacco wrapper, burnt earth, and a white pepper- strawberry-graphite long finish. YUM!! Comfortably in its drinking window(with decant) and more years to go. — 2 years ago
Bruce Dunbar
Rose in October? Rose with ‘age’? Yes and yes, especially when it’s in the mid-70s in New York and it’s the ‘21 Bedrock Ode to Lulu. This wine gives you plenty of Bandol for the buck, based on old vine Mourvedre from premier vineyards. With another year in bottle, it was darker hued, subtler and perhaps even a bit sturdier than on initial release. A great wine for what feels like an endless summer. — a month ago