David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Second Sauternes pairing with my homemade Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Didn’t use the additional crushed pineapple this time. Both preparations are very good. I think I prefer it w/ less pineapple.

In 2014 I attended the Bordeaux En Premiere. One of the six days, we toured 8 Chateau’s tasting multiple vintages at each in Sauternes & Barsac. Then, went back to Chateau Guiraud for dinner. Before the dinner, Bill Blatch then arranged for a Sauternes tasting after tasting at 8 Chateau’s in Saternes & Barsac. We tasted 50 Sauternes in basically in 60 minutes. After that, my hand was like Winne the Poo in the honey jar from dumping. After, my wish wasn’t necessarily for the forthcoming dinner, but rather wished to go to a Dentist for a teeth cleaning I had so much RS in my mouth. None the less, dinner was fantastic and started with warm Foie Gras & gravy. Perfect as is w/ the Pineapple Upside Down Cake tonight.

This 05 is everything that you taste in the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Perfect paring. Newly a quarter century and no fading in its evolution.

Dry; stone fruits, pineapple, orange citrus, pineapple. Marmalade, caramel, saline, limestone, honeycomb, beeswax, coconut, vanilla, saline, round acidity with yellow florals, toasted nuts with round acidity for days. Elegance, balance, structure and round, rich polish that goes in and on. Coravined from 375ml.

Bill Batch (who worked for Cristy’s & owned his own negotiate company) has somewhere around 5,000 bottles of Sauternes. He does a Sauternes & Sausage party bi-annually. Good luck getting a well sought after invitation. There are more people in Bordeaux who want to attend then there are available invitations. — a day ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

Deep Ruby color with aromas of red fruits, cedar and baking spice. On the palate flavors of cherry and raspberry with toasty notes and cinnamon spice. Aged in French oak (about 50% new). Full-bodied, fine soft tannins, long finish ending with fruit, toasty oak and an earthy character. Nice! — 18 days ago

Conrad Green

9.4

Lovely bright tart mineral fruit. Great structure and balance — 10 days ago

with Jean-Francois, Tony and 2 others

Tree Kilpatrick

8.9

Classic NZ label. Smells funky. Lawn just cut or a piece of fresh grass in the teeth. And lemon citrus peels. Flavors are complex and very audacious. Bombastic even. Plenty of citrus, but something else as well. Shells? Like the calcium carbonate in those. Also big gooseberries. This is a good example of how NZ Sauv Blanc differs from the other styles out there. This wine packs a punch. — 3 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.5

Medium lemon yellow , persistent fine perlage . At first quite shy , needs a bit of time to get going . Then buttered pastry , confit lemon and roast nuts , quite bold and rich , just a hint of chalky minerality . On the palate the richer , deeper theme continues , those pastry and buttery notes , confit lemon and a creamy mouthfeel . Long balanced finish , the chalky acidity really helping to cut through richer , mouth filling profile . Coming back to this at the end of the meal , having sat 6 hours in the glass , this still shows remarkable freshness and life. This seems young to me still , certainly has everything for a long life ahead , better in 5 years perhaps and will show well a further 10-15 perhaps . — 8 days ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

Another great 07 floral, elegant showing beautiful red cherry, aromatic spices, underbrush, earth, mineral with fresh picked roses & violet — 16 days ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.0

Medium ruby color. Aromas of cranberry, cherry cola and herbs. Bright cherry and smooth black tea finish. — 16 days ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of two days. Significantly better on Day 2 as the wine completely opened up. The 2021 Amador County pours a pale yellow color with medium+ viscosity and no signs of particles or gas. On the nose, the wine is clean; developing with notes of golden apples, quince, lemon verbena, white tree flower, lanolin, and wet stone. On the palate, the wine is dry with super sneaky, high acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+ with a woolly texture. Lovely stuff. Drink now with patience and a lot of air otherwise better after 2026 and should be great through 2035. — 21 days ago

Jay Kline

9.4

A buddy brought out this bottle of 2010 Clos de la Coulée de Serrant to help toast a great achievement this past weekend. One can probably imagine my excitement as I’m a massive fan of these wines by Nicolas Joly. However, I feel compelled to admit that these wines are not for everyone. They vary wildly from one vintage to the next and there can often be quite a bit of bottle variation to boot. None of this has swayed me from my position; that these are amongst the most exciting, singular expressions of a place that I have ever experienced.

Popped and poured. The 2010 pours a deep golden color with medium+ viscosity and no signs of particles or gas. On the nose, the wine is redolent of white tree flowers, desiccated apples and apricots with orange marmalade, honey, lanolin, marzipan and light clove. On the palate, the wine is dry with borderline high acid that is somewhat masked by the equally high alcohol (15%). Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and remarkably rich with wooly, unctuous texture. The high alcohol only becomes apparent as the finish lingers but there is so many other more fascinating things for me than to get distracted by it. Is it oxidative or not? That’s an argument that other people can have. I’m content to simply appreciate these wines for what they are. You can drink these now but knowing how these react favorably to air, it’s probably best to open it well in advance and probably even better to decant. Otherwise, I would expect sound, well-stored examples to live through 2040. — a month ago

Devin B

9.4

Lots of tropical fruit! What a great wine from our anniversary Russian river valley wine trip. — 10 days ago