Taken Wine Company
Domaine François Raveneau
Montée de Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2004
Taken to the Forest Theater in Carmel. Light gold color. Quiet nose. Soft notes of some citrus and sweet fruit. No flaws but overall uninspiring. Seems like Chez Raveneau missed with this one. — 3 years ago
Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1990
Taken to The Pocket in Carmel. Nice dark murky tawny color, opaque. Black fruit nose including notes of blackberries and blueberries, gravel stone, mocha, some menthol and some wood. Tannins are resolved, leaving silky fruit. In a good drinking window. — 3 years ago
Ridge Vineyards
Monte Bello Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1991
Taken to Ridge Vineyards to pair with their Library tasting. Deep scarlet color, almost opaque. Fragrant nose. Notes of blackberry, blueberry, tobacco, earth, saddle leather and some anise. Silky in the mouth like 70s valour. Awesome juice. Served a glass blind to a sr. staffer who guessed it as the 92. Well done sir. — 3 years ago
Taittinger
Comtes de Champagne Grand Crus Brut Blanc de Blancs 1999
Taken to Selby's in Redwood City. Young and fresh with great energy. Notes of citrus, wet stone and some red fruit. Great silky mousse texture. In a perfect spot although still in a youthful stage. — 3 years ago
Domaine Huet
Le Mont Sec Vouvray Chenin Blanc 2020
Probably shouldn’t have opened this so so young. It’s delicious and elegant but still embryonic and thus hard to evaluate. Melon, kiwi and quince on the nose and palate. Very bright, tart, with a touch of sweetness but hasn’t taken on density yet. 9.3 for now
Update: easy 9.4 by day 3… it’s now a full blown freak show of kaleidoscopic fruit. Expect this will be even better with a few years. — 4 years ago
Domaine Leflaive
Les Pucelles Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Chardonnay 1996
Decanted for a few hours and taken to Kochi in Hells Kitchen. Light straw color. Vibrant and viscous in the glass. Old Leflaive petrol and reductive nose. Notes of citrus fruit, lemon crème, wet stones, petrol, tan spice, hazelnut and white flowers. Good balance of rich fruit with still strong acidity. Long finish. Bottles this fresh easily have a decade or more of pleasure in front of them. At peak but still has plenty to give. — 3 years ago
Taken Wine Company
Napa Valley Red Blend 2017
Enjoyable excellent blend — 3 years ago
Cigar City Brewing
Jai Alai India Pale Ale
One of the finest ipa’s available. Smelling it, you might think Seville Oranges, but this is no marmalade. It’s resinous, bitter, but not over the top. You always want more.
Paired with spicy coconut shrimp, ya!
Numerical ratings for beer vs. wine should be taken with a….. — 4 years ago
Delectable Wine
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Tasted from magnum, the 2013 Cristal Rosé is ravishing. Dense, creamy and powerful, the 2013 captures all the qualities of the vintage, specifically the interplay of rich fruit from the warm summer and cooler inflections from a year that started late and ended late with a rare October harvest. Today, the 2013 is deep and beautifully seamless, but it is also young – far too young to be at its best. Dosage is 6.5 grams per liter, a bit less than for the standard bottlings, a decision taken to balance longer aging on the lees and a bit more residual sugar that is always left in the magnums after fermentation. Readers who can find the 2013 in magnum will experience one of the greatest thrills in wine. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, March 2024)
— 2 years ago