Vanessa

9.3

This is the 2018 Marc Hébrart Brut ‘Special Club’ – a beautiful bottle of vintage bubbles hailing from a collection of premier and grand cru sites in the Marne and Montagne de Reims regions of Champagne, France.

When you see “Special Club” on the label of a bottle with this distinctive shape, you’re dealing with essentially a prestige cuvée of a grower-producer who’s a member of the “Club Trésors.”

Marc Hébrart joined the Club Trésors in 1985, which is an association of quality-minded grower-producers. Grower-producers operate differently than the big champagne houses (e.g., Veuve-Clicquot) in that they are smaller-scale vignerons who own the entire production process from the vineyard to the winery and cellar.

They have helped raise awareness and appreciation of artisanal champagne wines that speak to a sense of place and personality, unobscured by extensive, widespread blending.

To achieve the status of “Special Club” a wine must undergo a rigorous application process and meet minimum quality metrics culminating with in two blind tasting panels – the first tasting evaluates the base wine after the first fermentation; the second and final tasting occurs after a minimum of three years aging sur lie.

From our studies we’ve learned the 2018 vintage bore above-average fruit; the warm and dry summer paved the way for a riper expression in an otherwise marginal climate. This wine is made with 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.

The bouquet has a medium (+) intensity of yellow and green apple, lemon zest, white peach, gardenia, almond biscotti, nougat, pastry, biscuit, and toast notes. The palate is creamy with vibrant acidity, adding lift, a fine-beaded, persistent mousse and long, elegant finish.

— 21 days ago

with Deked1

Stephen Mandy

9.0

Almost tawny colored and sweet nose but surprising rich fruit though tannins were almost absent. Lovely delicate finish. Drink now — 4 years ago

Matt

9.6

This is gorgeous. Kicked the rating up a notch after tasting on day two. Rich, vinous, old-school minded with its oxidative upbringing. Apparently a cool site with his oldest vines, this has tremendous grace give the ripeness of the vintage. — 4 years ago

Vanessa

9.3

This is a stunning Garnatxa blend from Priorat (Catalonia), Spain!!

It’s comprised of mostly Garnatxa (Grenache), along with Syrah, and, to a lesser extent, Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from three parcels in the sun-soaked village of Gratallops, where Daphne Glorian purchased her first vineyard – Clos Escales – back in 1989 when she founded Clos i Terraces. 🍇

In making this move, she joined equally passionate and pioneering winemakers Álvaro Palacios (L’Ermita) and René Barbier (Clos Mogador) in a rebirth of production practices in the region; as a group (with other similar-minded producers) they altered the trajectory of Priorat’s profile as a source of tip top quality wines rivaling the best on the world stage. 👏🏻

Priorat is one of only two regions carrying the “DOCa” / “DOQ” quality designation (the other is Rioja), subject to various stipulations including regular auditing by a tasting panel. ✅

This particular wine is “Laurel” which is Clos i Terraces’s second wine, next to Clos Erasmus, one of Priorat’s finest and most sought-after wines. Yet it tastes like a flagship wine in and of itself.🫶🏻🫶🏻

It is absolutely beautiful, with a medium ruby hue, medium (+) intensity of ripe and fresh strawberry, red cherry, red plum, violet, black licorice, fennel, clove, baking spice aromas and flavors. It’s dry, with medium(+) acidity, a medium(+) body, high alcohol (14% ABV), and medium tannins that are fine-grained. 😆

This wine vinified and aged in a combination of vessels, including, large oak vats, concrete tanks, second and third fill French oak barrels, and clay amphorae, lending to its texture and complexity.👌🏻👌🏻
— 3 months ago

Owen Mazon

9.0

Single minded but complex. Berries and acid in a nice balance. A straight line with a zag. — 4 years ago

Paul T HB

9.4

Better than my first bottle last June.
Parker 95 Wine Maker notes,


Derek Mossman began Garage Wine Company at a time when there were relatively few smaller, family owned wineries in Chile. He not only started his venture to produce hand made wines on a human scale, but also to buy fruit from and support farmers with great quality fruit throughout the country. Along the way, he also banded together a group of like minded wineries to create MOVI, a platform to promote smaller production wineries in Chile.

Tantalizing aromas of blueberries, violets, orange peel, raspberry leaf and aniseed with a touch of aromatic herbs that provide freshness. The palate is electric, with pulsing acidity, ultra-fine tannins and very good length. Both rustic and elegant, wild and subtle, it has precision, elegance, balance and life. Shows no alcohol nor wood. A fresh, Mediterranean blend from a vineyard that was forgotten, revived, regenerated and today shows what the Maule is capable of. — 4 years ago

Mike Lev

9.0

At $14.99 New Jersey retail, what a QPR steal. Med/med+acidity, red and black fruit, pepper, subtle tannins, absent any overloaded oak notes. 12.5% abv. (This is Bouchon Winery, healdsburg, CA) — 5 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

Popped and poured; no formal notes. As a long-time admirer of Laurence's Cuvée Réservée Rouge, this was my first time trying her Blanc. Admittedly, I have often struggled with white wines from the Rhône as they too often lack the acid I want. This is partly why I haven't made it a priority. However, I've had some very impressionable moments with well-aged Hermitage Blanc so I have remained open minded. Which leads me to this bottle of 2021 Cuvée Reservée Blanc; a blend of mostly Clairette with some Grenache blanc, Bourboulenc and a touch of Roussanne. From the very first smell, I was convinced that I had been clearly missing out. Beautifully perfumed with white flowers, cantaloupe, apricot and just a little citrus. This was so fresh, so sexy. It was equally sexy on the palate where all the notes were packaged in the most delightfully silky texture. The finish was long. It should be noted that we paired with rainbow trout, zucchini, summer squash topped with yuzu tobiko. This pairing slapped. Based off this experience, I would drink these now. That's not to say that they will be undrinkable with a few more years of age but I guess, why wait? The freshness is awesome and super compelling right now. — a year ago

Chris Koupal

9.1

Uniquely ripe and fruit forward for a Brunello. Tannins noticeably absent. — 3 years ago

Ron from VA

9.2

What a delicious $15, 10 year old baby CdP!! Wonderful mix of fresh herbs and dried read fruit. Wish I had a case for all the lamb and Mediterranean minded food. Thank you Mike the golf pro for the tip so long ago — 4 years ago