Big Six

3 Months Aged Bourbon Barrel Zinfandel

Manda D

9.0

Intense, with a big flavor, but smooth and delicious. — 3 days ago

Willamette Valley Vineyards

Barrel Select Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2023

Jan de Weerd

9.1

Nice subtle Pinot. A bit over weight of red fruit with a lactic acid undernote that throws the wine a little of balance. Smooth finish. — 2 months ago

with Tammy

Austin, Bob and 3 others liked this

Beringer Bros.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Red Wine Blend 2021

D Horn

9.1

Bold and fruity, nice bourbon finish — 3 months ago

Cloud Break Wines

Black Cloud Barrel Reserve California Red Blend 2022

Dean Rogers

9.1

Aunt Dean’s wine after the election — 6 days ago

1000 Stories

Small Batch Bourbon Barrel Aged California Zinfandel

Dmitri Abramov

8.9

Enjoyable zinfandel. I'd buy again. — a month ago

Marc Hébrart

Special Club Brut 1er Cru Champagne Blend 2018

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.

— 2 months ago

with Deked1

Deked1, Vin and 16 others liked this

Vanessa

@David T Isn’t that interesting considering it has more than doubled in membership since then and seems to be a successful venture. Do you why the other founders left?

David T

In no way did I mean to lessen SC bottling’s if it was interpreted that way. There are producer ego driven personalities intermixing here and that accounts for the fair amount of change. I believe there are still 29 SC producers.

Vanessa

@David T Oh I was truly just curious! It is an interesting fact. 😆 🥂 Thank you for sharing it.