Pray Tell

Château Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2007

No formal notes . Medium deep ruby . This seems a bit more advanced . This is a bit harder and more structured on the palate , more tannin , less velvety and a bit more astringent . More spicy , drier on the palate . This needed more time to open . This was quite difficult to judge , I wasn’t 100% convinced about this bottle as it just seemed a little oxidative, however it did actually seemed to come together better after an hour or so , but still quite hard and astringent in comparison to the others (especially La Mission) . Showed a touch more mineral and grafite on the finish too after a while. This needed time , and I would imagine another bottle might tell a different story . — 8 hours ago

Anthony, Andrew and 2 others liked this

Opus One

Overture Napa Valley Petit Verdot Blend

First impression: You can tell it’s from a top producer. It’s very refined and deliberate. Not delicate, but doesn’t hammer you. Velvety, with smooth tannins playin wayyy in the background. Like the bass line in jazz. The nose is there, but it it’s not all THAT bold, with notes of blueberry, dark rose, black cherry, and dark chocolate. Color is a deep red with purple melded in the middle. Surprisingly medium/light body, with light tannins, more to the rim and background but the flavors are surprisingly restrained, like there’s a hole in it. Good, but not great. — a year ago

joelcanz liked this

Château Pavie Macquin

Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1994

Bright fruit (blueberry, lingonberry) with mild vegetal notes and tannins. Had @Natasha Bray stumped on this one! Hard to tell what vintage it was. Good structure. — 3 years ago

Natasha Bray
with Natasha

Caymus Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Drinking a 3L from 2013 in late ‘24. Love the big format bottles and aging potential. This could go a lot longer I think but is also fine to drink now.

Standard Caymus flavors and aromas that made the brand known. Dark inky crimson color. Blueberries and blackberry fruit mixed with vanilla alongside the tell-tale signs of wet band-aid. Great tannins, medium-to-big acidity, good long finish. Really nice.
— a month ago

Jillian Varner
with Jillian

McPherson

Don't tell Gary Shiraz 2020

Vintage 2020 | Licorice in smell, cherries, blackberries, I thought it to be pinot noir because it has a certain frivoliy. Wine with a story. Good effort. — a year ago

Eric, Paul and 9 others liked this

Mas de Boislauzon

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2019

McCarthy & Schiering, $50

Bittersweet occasion and went way above my budget to celebrate my birthday and also mourn Grandma Julie's passing. She loved CdP so thought I'd splurge on one. I've only had a couple but have loved every one I tried. This was a bit different, I'm used to bright fruit forward but this was very muted cooked dark fruit with a lot of emphasis on the baking spice and earthy tobacco notes. Incredibly complex - licorice, coffee, clove, tobacco with an underlying subtle dried/cooked dark fruit. Crazy smooth, but I'm comparing it to sub $20 wines that I'm used to, and you can barely tell that it's 15% alc. Nice tannins but I think it would benefit from a touch more acidity. I'm being picky since I paid so much for it but in summary it's one of the best made wines I've ever had, but not among my favorites. But it's still a great experience and I don't regret the purchase
— 3 years ago

Château Raymond-Lafon

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2008

This delivered the goods ! Half as apéritif and another half two weeks later on a vacuvin closure. Excellent Sauternes on the more elegant side. Plenty of years ahead, you can barely tell the age. — 9 months ago

Adriana PaglianoJose Roberto Palazzo
with Adriana and Jose
Adriana, Ira and 3 others liked this

Herman Story

Late Bloomer Grenache 2017

In magnum. Still one of my faves from Russ and always fun to tell the story (wine club gets to submit grade school photo and if you win, you get to be on every bottle for the vintage). lol. 100% Grenache from Paso. 15.8% ABV so drink responsibly. — 10 months ago

Eric, Doug and 21 others liked this
Austin Hohnke

Austin Hohnke Influencer Badge

Incredible competition.

Domaine A. et P. de Villaine

La Digoine Côte Chalonnaise Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2019

Second time and agree with the first, can’t tell the diff vs the Les montots, both to me come up short; perfectly pleasant but not distinctive — 3 years ago

Ted, "Odedi" and 7 others liked this

Emidio Pepe

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2010

Still..... way....WAY too young to thoroughly enjoy. Even 11 years in, it has the concentration and tightness of black, syrupy cough medicine. I really wouldn’t approach this for another 10 years (yes...literally). You can tell what it WILL be, but not drinking well now. — 4 years ago