Andrey V Tyutin

9.2

Very nice rounded, mild, soft and silky malbek. Tanins are so soft, you can think its a supertoscana or smth. — a year ago

Jalyn Warren

9.2

Smooth. Love it! — 5 years ago

Youngcheul Kim

9.1

#various flavor #flesh — 6 years ago

Richard Turner

9.8

Fab. Buttery Chardonnay. — 7 years ago

James Forsyth

9.1

Ever consistent. Once the disrupter in the beer scene, a pioneer of the craft movement. Now ubiquitous. Hoppy, floral, slightly better but rounded contours. Can't go wrong. — 8 years ago

Fraser McKinley

9.7

A fantastic tasting and homage to the late and great Auguste Clape this evening. Twelve great friends and twenty bottles which displayed the beautifully original Clape style with little fluctuation in quality. 1980, 1995, 1999, 2010 & 2015 all being table favourites with the three 2004s all showing beautifully despite the challenging season. A rare treat and a pleasure. Rest In Peace Auguste, you were a gent, a pioneer and a champion. — 8 years ago

Chris Wachter

9.5

20 year old Syrah? From A wine pioneer? I’m pairing it with a giant Del Frisco’s steak.
it’s still tart and assertive but the age brings out earthy herbal notes that counter-balance nicely. Glad to have enjoyed it! — 9 years ago

Andrey Zubarev

9.0

Классика нового света с ярким тоном маракуи и других тропических фруктов. — 9 years ago

Clay Bullwinkel

9.2

Minerals, smoky, herbal… pioneer with Ribolla Gialla in CA — a year ago

Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7

9.5

If Sassicia is 💯 points for 2016 you had to figure their other wine was good as well, give it another 5-10 years without any issues. 2016 was a great year over-there. This at $45 or 2016 Sassicaia at $400.00 if you didn’t buy at $175.00 early
Wine Advocate 94+ review as follows,

This wine is showing exceptionally well in this classic vintage. The 2016 Guidalberto (Cabernet Sauvignon and a smaller percentage of Merlot) opens to a full and generous bouquet and a beautifully rich and velvety appearance. This edition of Tenuta San Guido's mid-level wine offers a bigger aromatic profile, more texture and more volume as well. Dark cherry and blackberry segue to spice, tar, leather and sweet fruit at the end. The mouthfeel is elegantly shaped, silky and nuanced. This may well be the best vintage of Guidalberto I have yet to taste—and you can get this wine at a great price too.
Just south of Livorno, Tuscany, lies the Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC, and the Tenuta San Guido estate, where Sassicia is produced. The estate was originally owned by Marchesi Incisa della Rocchetta, and has been managed since WWII by his son, Niccolo. A true pioneer in the Italian wine industry, his experimenting with the introduction of non-native varieties to Italy, resulted in the world-famous Sassicaia. In Italian, Sassicaia means "the place of many stones" and is used as the proprietary name for the estate's Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The vines of the Sassicaia vineyard were originally planted with cuttings from the prestigious Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. The wines of Sassicaia were so instrumental in creating the "Super-Tuscan" sensation that 1994, the Italian government granted Sassicaia its own DOC status in a sub-zone of the Bolgheri DOC. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats, and the wines are then aged in French oak barrique for 18 to 24 months prior to release. Sassicaia produces a second label called Guidalberto and recently released a third wine, Le Difese, that is virtually unavailable in the U.S.
— 4 years ago

Jodi M

9.0

Dark colour, black fruit notes, delightfully smooth. — 8 years ago

Blue Dee

9.2

This is actually the regular wine, not the dry. It’s lovely!!! — 8 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Founded in 1977 by English businessman Peter Newton and his Chinese wife Su Hua. Newton was already a pioneer of winemaking in Napa, having founded the Sterling Winery in the 1960s. Clear light golden color with aromas of stone fruits and sweet notes. The palate shows basic stone fruits of peach and apple with a touch of honey and oak. Crisp, good balance, medium finish, slight mineral and oaky on the soft ending. Good value. — 8 years ago

M B

9.5

Excellent...very smooth Chardonnay. 2014 bottle. — 8 years ago

Juliana Leite

10

Na melhor companhia do mundo! 💖 I love him! @MisturaFusionCocina @Colombia 🇨🇴 — 9 years ago

Ming L

9.1

At age 9, this shows remarkably young. Aromatic and refreshing on the nose, with lime, Asian pear, shishito pepper, and fresh cut grass - no tropical fruits I usually associate with Kiwi SB. Flavors echo the nose. Sharp acidity with round edge. Light salty minerals on the long finish.
The Cash Block is named after the owner, whose last name is Register, of the vineyard the grapes sourced from. — 3 years ago

Pip Davie

9.0

Warm smooth delicious! Great with garlic & rosemary lamb — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

There is nothing like taking a $31 bottle of Napa Cabernet and turning it into liquid gold. All you have to do is buy a good producer’s decent vintage or better and hold it in bottle for nearly 10 years or longer. Bottle age can’t be accomplished in a decanter, no matter how long you decant it. It simply will not round out the wine, make the tannins well resolved, integrate all the flavors that equate to a nice complex wine.

I was saddened to see a quality Napa Valley Pioneer recently sell its winery. I am sure somewhere Joe Heitz is beside himself. However, nothing stands for forever. We’ll see what the new owners do with it. Certainly, the last free quality free tasting in Napa Valley is gone forever. To be continued...

The nose reveals; dark currants, ripe, ruby, slightly candied fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, blueberries and cherry kirsch. Sweet tarry notes, black, rich, turned soil, anise, steep fruit tea, limestone minerals, dry crushed rock, underbrush, soft leather, hints of dry herbs, moist clay with candied, bright, dark, red, blue florals and violets for days.

The body is full, very round and gorgeous across the palate. The tannins are about 80% resolved but, still showing some teeth. The structure, tension, length and balance have hit the top of the bell curve and will hold there awhile longer. There is nothing in this wine that bites back or is astringent. Dark currants, ripe, ruby, slightly candied fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, blueberries, raspberries on the high palate and long set with cherry kirsch. Sweet tarry notes, black, rich, turned soil, anise, steep fruit tea, caramel, some milk chocolate, limestone minerals, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, underbrush, soft leather, touch of graphite, hints of dry herbs, moist clay with amazing candied, bright, dark, red, blue florals and violets for days. The acidity is like a palate waterfall. The long finish is; delicious, gorgeous, ruby, well balanced, elegant with polish that persists nicely for minutes.

Photos of; Heitz vineyard, tasting bar/room on Hwy 29, sitting area outside the tasting room and Heitz winery and Estate vines. — 7 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.5

90° at 7pm calls for more Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
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Cloudy Bay was founded in 1985 by David Hohnen of Margaret River’s Cape Mentelle along with its first winemaker, Kevin Judd, who would go on to spend 25 years there before creating his own label, Greywacke. Judd is widely considered as the pioneer responsible for elevating New Zealand wine to its current status. Judd also happens to be one of the best wine photographers in the world (I highly recommend his ‘The Landscape of New Zealand Wine’).
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According to Master of Wine Bob Campbell “the genesis for Greywacke Wild Sauvignon was Cloudy Bay Te Koko; a funky, barrel-fermented sauvignon blanc that bent all the rules when it was made in 1992 and initially sold only through the cellar door. Greywacke Wild Sauvignon is a blend from 10 different Marlborough vineyards which are machine-harvested at night. After pressing the juice is settled before being pumped into mostly old barrels and fermented using indigenous yeasts (about 15-20 different strains). The wine undergoes a partial malolactic fermentation and lees stirring.”
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Incredible aromatics... an almost vibrant herbaceousness... red bell pepper, grapefruit zest, tangerine, apricot, and cucumber, with a silky smooth mouthfeel unlike most Sauvignon Blancs. Extraordinary. — 8 years ago

James Forsyth

8.9

Raspberry, pepper, slightly heavy but still a rich and tasty Pinot. — 9 years ago