Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

For me, there are a lot stories associated with this little brother to Leoville Las Cases. Made by the same technical team, but certainly a different terroir.

Older vintages that were brought in by Clyde Beffa at K&L Wine Merchants kept me from opening my more expensive-younger Bordeaux in my collection. Starting w/ the 97 vintage well after its original release, I believe they sold through two lots of 5,000 cases over different years. A vintage crushed by critics. But with some long time cellar, value & quality. Magic!

This has always shown me QPR and to be a great fatty steak wine- Ribeye or Ribcap.

The 2007 Bordeaux vintage, critically not well reviewed. With basically 16 yrs plus in bottle, more special.

This has really come around and still ascending. Ripe, elegant, lush; dark currents, blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherry skin, black plum skin, poached strawberries, black, rich, turned earth with dry leaves, moist & dry clays, graphite, tobacco w/ ash, slightly used leather, dry river stone, limestone minerals, dry top soil, pepper, some sweet tarriness, mix of fresh & dry herbs, mid, dark spices, clove, nutmeg, some cinnamon & understated vanillin, dry, withering, dark & red florals, nice acidity with good tension, structure, finally balanced & elegant finish that lands squarely on soften earthiness, some spice and lasts two-minutes.

This still has 15 years plus of life ahead.

Paired with Costco Prime Ribcaps. — 8 days ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.6

The follow up to the 03 Leonetti. @Paul T- Huntington Beach & I have been telling readers about older Jones Family Vineyards for some time. If you haven’t had or not tried this producer it will be the last time I try to entice to you to try this producer. Talking about it more will only drive up the prices on the secondary market.

This 09 is damn beautiful after nearly a four hour decant but it is still fairly youthful.

It is ruby, lush, gorgeous, ripe fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum with skin, dark cherries, plum, hues of purple, blue fruits & raspberries, poached strawberries, black licorice, mixed, dark berry cola, steeped black tea, dry crushed rocks, limestone minerals, dry top soil, dry herbs, hints of eucalyptus, dry clay, dry tobacco, new leather, spice, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon & vanillin, withering red & dark florals framed in violets & lavender, beautiful round acidity, beautiful; balance, tension, structured, smartly polished finished that lasts minutes.

Still needs another 5-8 years to show its best self.

The Jones Family vineyard is located off Bale Lane in Calistoga and was planted to all five Bordeaux varieties by David Abreu in the early 1990s. Heidi Barrett made the wines until 2008, and Thomas Rivers Brown now makes the wines. — 2 years ago

Samuel Sabori

9.1

Drank with a farmer in Kenya, his eyes lit up. We are talking smallholder value. Perfect bottle for the moment. — 6 months ago

Dmitri Abramov

8.9

Enjoyable zinfandel. I'd buy again. — 9 months ago

Jiyoon Seo

9.0

The distinctive oak flavor makes it a material for chardonnay taste tests — a year ago

Paul T HB

9.7

Tasted & immediately looked up what I had bought, $50.00 but so worth it.
K&L notes,

This is no cheap rosé, it's true. But consider, for a minute, that this is no simple quaffer of a pink wine. It hails from Palette, one of the smallest appellations in all of France. It is, in a sense, a sort of Provençal monopole, since Château Palette owns nearly all the acreage in this tiny 23-hectare zone. Their vines are old, too. In some cases, more than 100 years old. The red grapes are the usual suspects for this part of France: Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah with small amounts of Cinsault, Carignane, and other local varieties. But at Simone, they translate into a rosé unlike any other. We're talking power here, and a certain something serious. The rosé is fermented in small foudres and is then racked into barriques and left on the lees until the following spring. Rich with raspberries and herbs, this mouth-filling rosé holds onto its natural acidity, as it does not undergo malolactic fermentation thanks to the very cool cellars of this historic chateau. This wine costs as much as many reds. Fortunately, it has the concentration and complexity to go along with the price. Serve it with serious food and be prepared to broaden your appreciation of what rosé can be.
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— 4 years ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.6

Vintage 2016 | Eiswein is a real treat. When tasting and talking about this wine that has an awesome balance and excellent acidity to balance the sweetness it occurred to me that the word ‘Heaven’ was used many times 😇. — 7 months ago

Cole Smoot

8.9

Smooth straight out the bottle — a year ago

Luis Arguero (@winefromAtoZ)

9.2

Tenuta Il Falchetto Bricco Paradiso Barbera d’Asti Superiore DOCG 2019: Medium-bodied. High acidity. Approachable tannins. Dark fruits. Spice. Oak. Flavorful long finish. Had this wine a few weeks ago at the Slow Wine SF event and I am still talking about it today: The color! The taste! The nose! Such an exceptional wine. Hands down my new favorite Barbera! Great weekend to all! Cheers🍷 — 3 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.3

Nose has warmed strawberry, tangerine, apricots and wet roses. Quite expressive tonight, marked improvement from our prior several months earlier.

Palate has under-ripe strawberry, cool Clementine slice, (light) fresh cherries and wet slate. Nice acidity and refreshing finish. Decanted 90m.

Truly, Summer in the glass on a beautiful evening.

+

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the the Boston Pops Orchestra. Our Conductor Keith Lockhart is leading an all John WILLIAMS program, with Mr. Williams (hopefully) sharing some of his wonderful stories to accompany the scores.

The program includes selections from..Superman, Heidi, Jaws, The Towering Inferno, Memoirs of a Geisha Oliver, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Olympic Fanfare & Theme, JFK, Schindler's List, The Witches of Eastwick, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Empire Strikes Back, The Force Awakens and...Star Wars. So to say we're going to be well versed into the JW catalog will be the understatement of the evening for sure!!! — 4 years ago