Jay Kline

9.1

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 2005 pours a deep garnet/purple with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of ripe and dried fruits: blackberry, black cherry, plum, pipe tobacco, purple flowers, cocoa, leather, organic earth and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin (integrated) and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium. If you ever had an itch for some Right Bank Bordeaux, this will scratch that itch. Drink now through 2035. — 11 days ago

S Wood

9.3

Scratch and sniff orange peel. — 4 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.3

OG California Field Blend Goodness… inky black with waves of Ripe blackberry bramble, cherry, and a touch of smoke. I fell in love with these hyperbolic field blends 30 years ago. Rice, ripe, smooth, with s hint of green stem and leafy forest flooor. I forgot just how these wines scratch my zin/oak/mid-weight itch. I am making my response to find more… — 4 years ago

Peter Sultan

9.0

I still scratch my head about the low Delectable scores. Yes, it’s all rounded edges, black plum and blackberries, but rather effortlessly in balance.it’s easy to drink and thus was an official greeter to our new neighbors,& a beautiful sunset — 5 years ago

Aaron Forel

8.9

This is a fantastic Chianti. And guess what, we had it with a home made pizza (from scratch) and it was heavenly meal. I have to get a few more bottles of this Chianti. — 6 years ago

Eric

9.3

Spiced cranberries and orange peel. Great for scratch. — 7 years ago

Jennifer Saville

9.0

Buttery Chardonnay — 7 years ago

Matthew Czechowski

10

Date night with Erik. Lemon chicken made from scratch. Yumm! — 7 years ago

Paul J

9.3

Drank over a few days. Very light gold color, which is surprising after smelling and tasting it. Very rich nose of sweet apples/pears, lychee, and subtle perfume. Smells like a scratch and sniff book :). Similar on the palate but more refined. Medium depth and finish. Pretty darn good for $30. Probably gets better with age, but ready to go now. — 2 years ago

with Brooke

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

I adore this wine. Elite Bordeaux blend from a Italy for not much scratch. Nose is closed but some black plum, red plum, cassis but barely peeking through. But palate is a banger. Juicy, fresh and so linear with such fine tannin! Wow this is dynamite. So fresh and precise with flavors of plum and cassis and such refinement. What a finish. This is outrageous and been open for 10 minutes. Wow. I expect the nose to really go off soon. Now the nose after 4 hours is smokey, with sweet incense and pure black plum. Terrific high quality subtle sweet oak and tons of earthy notes. So complex and unique. Ethereal and subtle. Concentrated and refined but has a bit of Tuscan grittiness that just adds to the allure. Long with an earthy sweetness on the finish. Exceptional and classy and just so Tuscan. The finish lingers for so long and there is a creamy opulence that develops after 4 hours. The balance between the Cab Franc and Merlot is terrific. This is Tuscan St. Emilion. — 3 years ago

Adriana Fabbro

8.9

Chianti Classico is exactly what one needs with spaghetti & quick-from-scratch sauce from ripe garden tomatoes (+ garlic + basil). Simple, classic and hits the spot.

Red plums and cherries (ripe and stewed), fresh herbs. Vanilla and cloves. More depth and roundness than your average Chianti Classico. Probably the warmer vintage + judicious use of barrique + bottle age to soften the rough edges of the Sangio tannins and acid. — 5 years ago

Stanton

9.5

Delicious cab. Entire winery has good stuff. — 6 years ago

Severn G

9.4

Nose has ripe plum, ripe blackberry, over-ripe strawberry, (light) anise, (light) sous-bois, dark chocolate bar, prune, year-old hay and moist leather.

Palate has chalky plum, dark chocolate, dried cherry, dried rose petals, autumn leaves, black tea, (light) cedar shavings and licorice on the very long finish. Outstanding.

Decanted ~2 hours. Purchased 30 December 2005, and carefully cellared until this day. Paired with a scratch made thick, rustic tomato sauce, sweet+hot sausage from a local, recent partial pig purchase and great campanelle pasta. Oh man, great paring, last bottle 😞.

Anyone holding this wine could until 2020+, based on the amount of tannins still present, this wine certainly has some years prior to decline. — 7 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Served blind alongside what was eventually revealed to be the 1971 Mouton Rothschild. This almost had me leaning Napa by a classic producer due to the gorgeous fruit and generous, scratch that, lavish use of new French oak. After careful deliberation with those at the table with more experience drinking Mouton both young and old, I was able to come alongside the others that this was indeed young Pauillac. All the cassis, cigar box, tobacco and baking spices ones heart could desire with some of the loveliest acid. Speaking of, the structure still has quite a grasp of this one but with all the lovely fruit, everything is in brilliant balance, even at 18 years young. Given that, I expect this wine to drink well for decades to come, particularly since secondary characteristics have hardly entered the chat. Definitely a wine I hope to enjoy many more times over the years but so grateful I got to try now. — 3 years ago

John Kwarsick

8.9

This wine is essentially one of our “house wines”. House wine is not very expensive, it is very drinkable and also flexible with different cuisines. Tonight we made fish tacos from scratch. Beautiful, mango salsa with halibut. This wine paired up very well. It picked up the cilantro and avocado overtones of the food. Some pear, charcoal, and earthy flavors. A bit dry, not too much and can stand up to spice. — 4 years ago

Jan de Weerd

9.6

On to the 2012 Pontet-Canet from Paulliac paired with grilled lamb chops and made from scratch boulonese sauce. Fantastic. The wine expressed it selves very well after a good hour and half of decanting at about 60 F. The earthy umami flavors of the food propelled the wine above its weight. But the absolute best ever tasting quartered, seasoned potato wedges/fries from our guests brought the wine into outer orbit. The duck fat tasting fries revealed herbaceous floral notes on the mid palet and created a soothing long finish. With smooth fine grained tannins. — 4 years ago

with Skip and Tammy

Eric

9.5

Landed like a scratch behind the ear tonight. Flowers, ash, black fruit, and menthol. Terrific body and balance. — 6 years ago

Karen DeLand

9.0

Delicious. Mom liked it a lot. — 6 years ago

Eric

9.3

Can’t argue the quality. Definitely opened to early IMO and I think this will get much better starting at age 10. There’s a sweetness to the 2014 vintage that I’m not a fan of, but it’s balanced nicely by earth gravel and mint. Not sure it’s worth the scratch but will be way better down the road. — 7 years ago

Gil Krakowsky

8.9

100% Sciaccarellu, a grape that underperforms in Italy, shows impressively in Corsica, and who’s primary characteristic is apparently to make wine nerds scratch their heads. Fresh black plumb, lavender, English breakfast tea. Also showing notes of alpine strawberry, red berries, blood orange Medium bodied, and light on its feet; refreshing but only medium acidity; with the complexity coming from nuances of fresh fruit flavors. Not Transcendent, but infinitely drinkable, unique, and tasty — 7 years ago