Perception

Grattamacco

Bolgheri Superiore Red Blend 1989

Popped and poured; consumed over two days. Today, the 1989 Grattamacco pours a translucent light garnet color with a slightly watery rim. There is some browning around the edges. There is quite a bit of fine sediment (which some might prefer to decant off; we didn’t bother). Medium viscosity; no obvious staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is initially a bit musty, funky cherry and leathery, showing off predominately secondary characteristics. However, after 90 minutes of air it really started to brighten up and after the old musty character has lifted, the wine revealed beautiful desiccated cherries, black tea, mushrooms, leather, dry leaf tobacco, and just a touch of bell pepper. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium/medium+ acid. All of the notes from the nose are confirmed. The fruit is wizened but gives a perception of sweetness that is just lovely. The tannins are completely integrated and the acid gives everything a nice lift. The finish is long and elicits a Duchenne smile. A delightfully aged bottle with obviously super provenance (thank you Tim!). We spent several hours enjoying this wine and it only became more ruddy and seemed to gain freshness with air. Drink now and enjoy. — 2 years ago

Daniel, Brent and 10 others liked this

E. Guigal

Côtes du Rhône Red Rhône Blend

Winston Jones
9.0

Consistent! I’ve tasted several vintages and I’m mostly very pleased. Drinking Very Local. I may be biased, as I am currently living 3 miles south of the winery, sometimes that can cloud your perception. But this stuff is good. The QPR is out of this world. Can’t wait to visit the winery and taste through the lineup. — 4 years ago

Rhonely, Mike and 2 others liked this
Rhonely Boy

Rhonely Boy

From Wine-Searcher “Fifty Shades of Syrah”: Nights in the northern Rhône are cool; acidity levels are good. Only in very hot vintages does more shading, via canopy management, become necessary. But at the same time, Guigal is investing in cooler sites in the north of Côte-Rôtie – Philippe mentions Saint-Cyr sur le Rhône, which was "considered too cold 10 years ago, but we feel that [it] could become interesting to very interesting in the future and in warm vintages".

Need more info, what North of Rotie equates to, New AOC?? Moving into Beaujolais? ... ??

Rene Rostaing

La Bonnette Condrieu Viognier 2015

Tasted double-blind. The nose showed white flowers; sort of a mix of magnolia, jasmine and citrus blossom. The palate came across off-dry with some potential residual sugar. Pastilles and honeysuckle. I thought this was well balanced and seemed to have higher acid. My call was a Chenin Blanc; a Vouvray, demi-sec from a recent vintage. Obviously, I was way off. I’m told the relatively higher ABV in these wines, plus the fact that they are made in stainless steel, give the perception of higher acid. Anyway, it’s nice to drink Viognier that tastes like this. Now I wish I had a dozen oysters! — 4 years ago

Bob, Daniel P. and 9 others liked this

Sequum

Kidd Ranch Zinfandel

This definitely changed my perception of Zinfandel. Incredible character and taste. — 2 years ago

Mönchhof Robert Eymael

Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese Riesling 2014

Andrew Holod
9.1

Pours a surprisingly deep yellow. Nose offers plenty of ripe golden fruit. Palate entry medium sweet and seemingly a bit simple.
Day two paired with German brats braised in caramelized onions/carrots and sauerkraut. The sauerkraut completely changes this wine converting the sweetness to a fresh acid and the flavor profile to an almond tinged white cherry and plum. Very, very interesting food and wine pairing.
Try this with picked/fermented foods as umeshu, kimchi, sauerkraut etc for an interesting change in perception.
— 3 years ago

Ira, Andrew and 2 others liked this

Dr. Bürklin-Wolf

Trocken Riesling 2017

Absolutely stunning nose, classically riesling. Bright, zippy, fresh, and every other adjective to describe the vivacity of this taught and angular juice. Tons of citrus washing over the mineral backbone like a tsunami, this wine is extremely expressive and approachable, even if you dont like riesling because its “too sweet”. This wine will change your perception tout suite. Its fully dry and is fantastic with food ( currently enjoying it with some rouge creamery oregon organic blue cheese, [voted best cheese in the world in 2019!] value wise, I dont think it gets better than this, this wine will continue to be amazing in 10-20 years, hopefully some of it lasts until then — 4 years ago

Jiménez-Landi

Cantos del Diablo Méntrida Grenache 2004

Effusive and elegant. Poached black plums, macerated black berries, spicecake, clove, dried rose petals, Ceylon cinnamon, star anise, cool herbs, moss, fir, gravel, leaves, leather and a kiss of cured meat. Big time deliciousness right here, just enough heady richness balanced by wonderful whole cluster perception of tannin and acid. Love the development, in the zone for my palate. There’s some serious wine in the glass right now. — 4 years ago

Josh liked this

Domaine du Vissoux / Pierre-Marie Chermette

Les Garants Fleurie Gamay 2019

Beautiful transparency, but also very ripe with great fruit density. Raspberry and brambley herbs, slight perception of sweetness. Clean as a whistle. — 2 years ago

Andrew, Tom and 20 others liked this

Guillaume Gilles

Cornas Syrah 2017

Blue flower perfume. Anise seed. Dusty minerality, granitic. Delicate tannins within a supremely long, tart, palate of purple raspberries. Elegant and juicy body and finish, with a firm mineral spine. Fantastic. Such elegant wine. Subtle and pretty. Nice perception of sweetness. Will only get better. — 3 years ago

Severn, David and 41 others liked this
Lyle Fass

Lyle Fass Influencer Badge Premium Badge

15 is when this cuvee started to get very serious.

Taylor's

Vintage Port Blend 1970

Lovely older Porto, seems consistent with my perception of Taylor as big structure, and a tad drier style, only nit might be that it seemed initially like the spirit and Porto were no longer in total harmony, but still really fine! — 4 years ago

Jim Powers
with Jim
Severn liked this
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

Lovely older Porto, seems consistent with my perception of Taylor as big structure, and a tad drier style, only nit might be that it seemed initially like the spirit and Porto were no longer in total harmony, but still really fine!
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

Lovely older Porto, seems consistent with my perception of Taylor as big structure, and a tad drier style, only nit might be that it seemed initially like the spirit and Porto were no longer in total harmony, but still really fine!
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

Lovely older Porto, seems consistent with my perception of Taylor as big structure, and a tad drier style, only nit might be that it seemed initially like the spirit and Porto were no longer in total harmony, but still really fine!