Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.1

2018 vintage. Decanted and tasted after 15 minutes and 2 hours. Medium-heavy body. Polished, pretty and present. No particular component/part of the experience catapulted this into whoa territory today. 2.13.26. — 5 months ago

Ellen Clifford

9.0

Exclusively from their vineyards in the northern part of Vinho Verde, Monção and Melgaço. I’ve been there! That’s where I accidentally got up two hours early cause my clock switched to Spain time and I thought that meant I'dn need to get up an hour early. Contacto has a little more skin contact than average, turning up with a slight texture and friendly bitter bite. On the nose, it’s fresh lemon zest, wet stone and whetstone, with a bit of white flower. The palate is utterly thirst-quenching, veering into dried apricot territory and a bit of (as I said above) fun bitterness countering the fruit. It all wraps up with a sluice of salinity. Fun, fun, fun! — 2 years ago

David D

9.0

Dolcetto d’Alba Superiore
Grown in Barbaresco territory and aged in old oak casks – a meatier Dolcetto. Angular with really bright acids, tart raspberry, steely tannins. From Astor Wines. 05/03/23 — 3 years ago

Shay A

9.3

This bordered on “really good” and “exceptional”. With being so young for a white Rhône, I’m sure this will push in to exceptional territory rather easily within 5-10yrs.

A producer I don’t know much about, but being a fan of all things northern Rhône, I wanted to roll the dice. 100% marsanne. I opted to open this early as I have the opportunity to buy a few more bottles, so I wanted to check in.

The aromatics and palate are quite different. Channeling a kiss of that nutty and rich profile on the nose up front, but the palate sports quite a bit of bright lemon zest and almost more reductive like notes (smoky) before the finish fans out with honey roasted cashews, almond skin, and some wax. Orange blossom type notes are here, but faint.

This changed immensely with 2+hrs of air in the bottle, so the rollercoaster is just beginning. Delicious. — 4 years ago

Vinoland.com

9.6

Barbaresco of a beautiful vintage, 2008, coming from a, we can say it, grand cru of Barbaresco, the Montestefano, completely exposed to the South, good component of blue marl in the subsoil.
The wine after two hours of opening is expressed with intense balsamic sensations of gentian, liquorice, dark chocolate and dark tones such as underbrush, musk and mushrooms and hints of ripe fruit.
Tannin still tense and alive, significant that would still be able to age very well.

Great Barbaresco with a complex and rich sip, fully representative of the territory.

Very little sulphur and intervention both in the vineyard and in the cellar.

Highly recommended — 6 years ago

Por La Vida

9.2

A well made wine with 16 years of age? An extremely enjoyable experience. Shows the textbook signs of aging with beautiful faded coloring, sophisticated and round nose, and firm tannins. Despite its medium body, it’s relatively big and full bodied on he mouth. It has moved beyond the fruit that typifies CDR Village and onto more dry, refined, chateau Neuf du pape territory. Thoroughly enjoyable and drinking well now. — 7 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.4

Reticent at first, but it gains serious intensity and minerality with air. The fruit is lush, concentration quite remarkable, yet astoundingly weightless - a real lesson in tension. This is clearly treading into 1er territory. — 7 years ago

GaryWEdwards

9.3

I'm in new territory and I really like the offering here. Nice smoked meat and big dark berry . Fairly approachable out of the gate and will only improved with time. — a year ago

Carlos Burger

9.2

Whoa. Spices. Reductive. Getting to white burg territory texturally. Slightly oxidized? Is that intentional? Super good but also weird! — 3 years ago

Ivor

9.0

Beautifully ageing into tertiary territory. Red fruits, cinnamon, caramel and tea leaves. Some time left but missing the 05 magic I really love. — 3 years ago

Iwan

8.9

Firmly in tertiary territory at first, with mushroom and soy sauce on the nose and palate. After 20 minutes or air time fruit came to life, still with good acidity and chewy tannin. Has plenty of life in in but very tasty right now. — 4 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

These are night 2 notes. (I thought I entered notes on Night 1, but they weren’t there, so Night 2 it is. And that’s a bonus for this wine because it’s better on Night 2.)

Nose is gorgeous, with sweet, sultry cherry ooze, Graham cracker, some moist humus, and a dark florality. Very soft and enveloping in the mouth, great fruit on entry, good mid-palate density and ripeness, and a long finish that tails into savory territory. Really fine value. — 5 years ago

Martinez

9.0

Sometimes dismissed as Burgundy’s lowliest category, Passetoutgrains - which loosely translates to “all grapes allowed”- is a type of field blend made with at least one-third Pinot Noir and no more than two-thirds Gamay, traditionally planted and fermented together. In a territory prime for Pinot Noir, where this grape often reaches astronomical prices, however, Gamay is however gradually being pullet out, making Passetoutgrains an increasingly rare find. This juicy, quaffable blend is two-thirds Gamay from Gilly-les-Citeaux and one-third Pinot Noir from Chambolle-Musigny. — 6 years ago

Scott Taddeo

9.2

Having tasted some of the worlds best Cabernet all day I had my doubts as to how this would hold up, turns out I needn’t worry. Laced with violets and eucalypt lift supported by fresh black currant, black currant pastille, plum skin, pencil shavings and toasty oak. Just avoids going into full bodied territory, but the swathe of tannin and fresh acidity keeps the wine in balance. Still a baby. — 7 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2011 vintage. Difficult vintage for Napa and environs to be sure. Usual mountain suspects seemed to fare better than valley floor stuff. All that said, more than a few properties re-releasing 2011's out into the wild and they are, generally, drinking very well. Not improving but reaching the top of their respective bell curves. This is one such story. No baby fat left. Serious mineral/earth influences throughout. The nose takes this into hello! territory. The finish signs the deed to the property. Hit this in the next 3-4 years for maximum enjoyment. 02.26.25. — a year ago

Aaron Tan

9.1

The last and probably the best bottle from a lot of four purchased from our local importer. There was quite a bit of bottle variation in our Malaysian importer’s 19’ Envinate release - the Migan’s and Palo Blanco’s were quite the rollercoaster ride - but the Vinas de Aldea seemed to have gotten the good side of the container. Like the last bottle, this was full of floral elegance and tangy energy. Super complex aromas of violets, ripe cherries, sweet herbs, pepper, and a touch of coffee and flint. All finesse on the palate, but has depth too. Sweet red fruits, bittersweet herbs, umeshu, and an absolutely lovely, Mosel-esque slatey minerality; finishing sharp with grippy, chalky tannins. For me it was firmly in that red kabinett territory, and downright perfect with our fatty Angus picanha. Loved it! — 3 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2020 vintage. Plenty of spice and fruit…needs a little more tannic structure to vault it into must-have territory. Still delish. — 4 years ago

Ivor

9.1

Good barolo on the verge of breaking into the tertiary territory. Concentrated lush fruits, sticky tar, asphalt and softening tannines. I prefer them a step further down the road so I’ll revisit in two years. — 5 years ago

Joe Weinberger

9.1

Cuvée N - Lapierre’s non-sulphured Morgon. The 2019 vintage is very accessible now, but I think could give even more pleasure with some short to medium term aging. Lapierre certainly has a “house style” and this fits squarely into a similar structure as past vintages. The fruit is very high toned (almost verging on VA territory), and there is ample acidity that should carry this wine for years to come. — 6 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.4

@Dominik SonaYou're the best! Walks off into the cellar, comes out carrying a massive bottle in a sleeve that could barely cover the label. I just love how ridiculous magnum riesling bottles look! I mean, we could see that it's a Koehler-Ruprecht for sure and the table shot straight to a warm vintage on the first sip (warm finish). Didn't take long for Franzi to identify the vintage and the rest of the pieces fell together subsequently (the body = spatlese, forget identifying the "R"). Guess making wines at the winery itself helps 😂

What to say about this wine? It's pretty intense, but the acidity and minerals kept it in check. Finely strung with pitch-perfect tension. This is the kind of wine that needs very little to push it over the edge into the hedonistic territory. Begs for time (like other 09's), as it's true elegance only revealed itself with air (bring on the crushed rocks and chamomile!). The nose is deep, with exotic fruit aromas, flint, toasted almond, florals, and that classic KR funk. Immense palate with lots of lychee and grapefruit, plus superb minerality with air. Creamy and long finish. Yes, the wine finishes a little warm and could be touch more focus, but it's a real class act for 09'! Power without weight, if you ask me. — 7 years ago