Per Sempre
Alessandro e Gian Natale Fantino
Laboro Disubbidiente Per Terra Madre Vino Rosso Barolo Nebbiolo 2016
Long Shadows Vintners
Poet's Leap Columbia Valley Riesling 2021
The 2021 Riesling Poet's Leap is decidedly green in character, wafting up with notes of lychee, lime zest and crushed green apple. This flows across the palate with grace, displaying a pleasant inner sweetness, as tropical citrus and saline-minerals add a lovely tension throughout. This tapers off with young mango notes accentuated by a salty flourish through the long and crisply refreshing finale. The 2021 is so balanced and refined, just 12.5% alcohol, and at just under one gram of residual sugar per liter. (Eric Guido, Vinous, March 2023) — 2 years ago
The Standish Wine Company
The Relic Shiraz Blend 2004
Happy Valentines Day!
If you have not looked for this wine on WineSearcher.com or other, you should. Dan Standish has no American Importer. However, you can mail order off his list. Good luck with the Australian/United States import costs. Very prohibited.
Most quality Barossa wines take 15 years in bottle to show their ultimate beauty. Dan’s wines are no different. His Estate vines are 100 years old and produce 500 pounds of fruit per acre...very concentrated. Contrast that to extremely expensive & high quality Napa fruit, those Napa producers are at 2,000-2,500 pounds per acre.
We visited Standish in April 2017. We found Dan to be extremely talented & definitely marches to his own drum. He is salt of the earth and has traveled & worked in many of the world wine regions honing his craft and landing as Torbreck’s Winemaker in Barossa before starting, “The Standish Wine Company.”
As good as the 04 is tonight, it has 15 years of good life ahead...properly stored of course.
The nose is very intoxicating. It is a nice blend of purple, black & blue fruits. Mulberries, olallieberries, boysenberries, black plums, plums, blackberries, dark cherries, deeply extracted raspberries, some baked strawberries, black licorice to anise, dark fruit cola, black olive skin, medium dark spice, black pepper, charcoal, graphite, dry tobacco & underbrush, some bay leaf, alluvial soils, grey volcanic minerals/limestone with fresh & only slightly withering, purple, dark, blue florals framed in violets & lavender.
The body is full, rich, ripe, lush and creamy on the palate after a two-hour plus decant. The structure, tension, length and balance are a little short of its peak and will hold there for 5-8 years. It’s a glorious glide on the palate. The fruits are ripe & lightly baked. Mulberries, olallieberries, boysenberries, black plums, plums, blackberries, dark cherries, deeply extracted raspberries, some baked strawberries, cherry kirsch, red & black licorice to anise, dark fruit cola, black olive skin, the dark spices are heavier on the palate & bring just the right amount of heat, sweet, dark tarriness, black pepper, used, dark expresso roast grounds, charcoal, graphite, dry tobacco & underbrush, some bay leaf, alluvial soils, grey volcanic minerals/limestone, moist clay, with fresh & only slightly withering, purple, dark, blue florals framed in violets & lavender. The acidity is round, flush & perfect. The long finish is a unique even balance of; lush fruits, spice, herbs and earth that persists on the palate for minutes.
Photo on the left of Sofia’s 2 dozen long stems. Love you so much!
@Oswald — 5 years ago
Agrapart & Fils (Pascal Agrapart)
7 Crus A Avize Brut Champagne
The NV Brut 7 Crus is a very pretty, entry-level wine in this range. Bright, mineral and intensely vibrant, the 7 Crus is all energy. All the elements are so well proportioned. A blend of 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir, this captures all the house signatures with tons of energy and better overall balance than in some previous editions. White flowers, chalk and citrus linger. Dosage is 6 grams per liter. Disgorged: June, 2023. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, November 2023)
— 2 years ago
Black Hills Estate Winery
Per Se Red wine 2013
Unbelievable wine, the typical Okanagan flavour profile that has balanced out over 8 years. Well worth the wait. — 4 years ago
Bohème Wines
Taylor Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay 2016
Darker yellow appearance, very light aromatics, minimal oak, lemon, high acid, medium + minerals, 13.9% EtOH
2016 crop of Wente Selection Chardonnay hand-harvested on 9/23 with a yield of 1.05 tons per acre. Whole-cluster pressed and cold fermented in seasoned French Burgundy barrels. 147 cases produced. — 5 years ago
Marcel Lapierre
Morgon Gamay 2014
Sempre good — 5 years ago
Philipponnat
Royale Réserve Brut Champagne Blend
The NV Brut Royale Réserve (base 2018) is a very pretty, entry-level offering from Philipponnat. Crushed flowers, green pear, spice and a touch of chamomile all grace this soft, open-knit NV Champagne. The blend is 69% Pinot Noir, 28% Chardonnay and 3% Meunier, with 26% reserve wines. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. Disgorged: November 2022. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2023) — 2 years ago
Guffens-Heynen
Le Chavigne Mâcon-Pierreclos Chardonnay 2004
A day opened from another dinner, and shared during our cheese course. Honestly didn't focus much on this wine after the insane Comté and 13' Les Chalasses Marnes Bleues pairing. Plus, let's not forget about the battering of Rieslings that came before. One taste and I knew this just didn't have a fighting chance during the night. Too rich and creamy to match the energy of the Rieslings, yet not quite rich enough to match the 09' Lafon Perrieres. Nothing wrong per say, but it was just so average among the other wines of the night. Another one to look into again on better circumstances. — 3 years ago
Château Cantemerle
Haut-Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend 2015
One of the great values in the left bank. Tobacco, cedar, pencil shavings, cassis, and blackberries. Very much classic old world Bordeaux, but with some more expressive fruit. Good concentration and length, per usual. — 5 years ago
Ron Siegel
Another enjoyable btl that was consistent with my prior note 2 wks ago — 3 months ago