Medium gold, shiny and bright. Beautiful actually. Opened with a burst of pineapple, with time, on the palate, turns to just ripened grapefruit, peach, and honeysuckle. A sprinkle of white pepper on top. To backtrack, it's perfectly balanced for my taste: dry, medium plus bodied, medium minus acid, and medium long finish of toasted caramel. Spectacular wine.
93 points — 4 years ago
2/25/19
Renz sprinkle party for Sloan — 6 years ago
So. Damn. (Elegantly). Crushable. Rangpur lime, a petrol-y olive oil, memories of a summer fruit pie, a sprinkle of tarragon, crisp mineral-y tang that fades into a beautiful calcium carbonate lime zest finish and a hit of aromatic joint…oh, wait… — 2 years ago
Like a crash course on what a natural wine should be...beautiful deep orange color, funky, earthy nose with an orange blossom surprise. Then lots minerality, bits of apricot, some tartness and a sprinkle of salt to keep it interesting. — 4 years ago
Vivacity + stems + sprinkle of natty + channeling Prieure Roch and we get awesome wine! This is burgundy worth buying! — 6 years ago
Color of purple, quite dark and thick. Nose of dark fruits plus vanilla and milky chocolate, a bit hickory and minty, and raisin. Nose is pretty decent. Taste follows the nose with sweet note plus tart, good mellow tannins, more vanilla chocolate and dark fruity notes, and sprinkle of zest. Aftertaste shows some more warmth and oaky note. Clean and tasty overall. — 2 years ago
I'd still prefer wine after a dry run, but this whiskey sure did hit a spot. The balance and complexity of the Machir Bay is just undeniable, evident from the score achieved here. Fresh, zesty fruits are starkly juxtoposed with pastry-like nutty, creamy vanillin notes. The peat straddles the line between salinity and camp fire smoke. A rockstar finish that just lingers with sweet, malty flavour and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. Needs a little air to sort out some initial aggression, but once that settles, I felt nothing was out of place. Best entry-level Islay for me! 2019 bottling here. — 3 years ago
15’ Aubert Ritchie. Best Ritchie I’ve enjoyed from Mark to date? 🤷🏻♂️ Medium + bodied. Beautifully balanced Chardonnay. White peach, splash of pineapple core, apricot, white toast, sprinkle in a bit of floral spices. 3 favorites from this vineyard are Château Boswell- Arista- Aubert. Cheers. -at BLT Honolulu, Hawaii — 5 years ago
Jakub Kalinowski
Opaque dark with barely any ageing in the rim. Still very tight in the nose, youthful, with shy black currant & black cherry, pencil shavings, a tiny bit of cigar leaf. Nice austere purity here. Powerful yet v. restrained.
On the palate this is more open & evolved. Amazing quality of tannins, so finely polished, so velvety, coating & juicy. Black currant jam with a hint of plum, a sprinkle of savoury herbs. Finishes off on the dry, herby side, not too long.
I was expecting a bit more depth on the mid palate & a bit more length.
Will it improve over time…?
9.0 (mainly for the amazing tannins)
— a year ago