Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut NV – Champagne AOC, France 🇫🇷

Overview
One of Champagne’s enduring benchmarks, Special Cuvée combines approximately 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, and 15% Meunier, with a significant portion of reserve wines contributing depth and consistency. Rich, layered, and unmistakably Bollinger, it delivers remarkable complexity at a price point that remains accessible compared to many prestige bottlings.

Aromas & Flavors
Golden apple, ripe pear, citrus zest, baked brioche, roasted nuts, and subtle spice unfold in layers. Notes of fresh bread dough and orchard fruit intertwine with hints of honey and toast.

Mouthfeel
Vibrant and energetic with a creamy mousse and impressive depth. A delicate kiss of yeast adds texture and contrast, while the wine’s concentration and freshness remain beautifully balanced through the finish.

Food Pairings
Lobster, seared scallops, roast chicken, truffle dishes, aged Comté, oysters, or simply enjoyed as a celebratory aperitif.

Verdict
A richly textured and multi-layered Champagne that continues to justify its reputation as one of the region’s benchmarks. Complex, expressive, and consistently rewarding, it offers a level of sophistication that punches well above its category.

Did You Know?
Unlike many large Champagne houses, Bollinger ferments a portion of its wines in old oak barrels and maintains an extensive reserve wine program, helping create the signature richness and depth that define Special Cuvée.

🍷 Personal Pick
Few non-vintage Champagnes deliver this combination of richness, complexity, and value. The layered fruit, subtle autolytic character, and vibrant texture make Special Cuvée one of my favorite benchmark Champagnes and a bottle I never hesitate to revisit. — 22 days ago

Jeff Ryan

9.2

Honey right off the nose. Pleasant minerality soon follows — 4 months ago

Damian

9.4

First glass is fresh, driven by acidity, toast and orchard fruit. After some the acidity fades and gives way to creamy notes, caramel, hazelnut and honey. It also gave me a note of Werther’s Original candy. On the other hand the Chardonnay provides plenty of mineral and chalky notes. — 5 months ago

David Koenen

9.5

Glue in the smell. Big, complex and delicately sweet. Long, and very rich in botrytis. Beautifully dramatic. Almond flavour, canned peaches. Honey all over. Great. — 7 months ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.8

Royal Tokaji – 5 Puttonyos Aszú 2016
Tokaj – Hungary 🇭🇺

Overview
A classic Tokaji Aszú, made from grapes affected by Botrytis cinerea (noble rot), then macerated with must to create Hungary’s legendary sweet wine. The 5 puttonyos designation signals a rich yet balanced level of sweetness, around 120 g/L residual sugar. (Educational note: “Puttonyos” refers to the traditional baskets of aszú berries added — the higher the number, the sweeter and more concentrated the wine.)

Aromas & Flavors
Lush apricot, honey, and candied orange peel at the forefront, layered with quince, dried fig, and lemon curd. Hints of saffron, ginger, and toasted almond bring exotic spice and complexity.

Mouthfeel
Velvety and lusciously sweet, balanced by vibrant acidity that keeps it lifted. Full-bodied yet precise, with a long, honeyed finish that leaves both richness and freshness.

Food Pairings
Perfect with blue cheese, foie gras, or fruit tarts. Also excellent with roasted nuts, crème brûlée, or simply savored on its own as a meditative dessert wine.

Verdict
A benchmark Tokaji — rich, layered, and perfectly balanced. The 2016 vintage of Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Aszú offers indulgence and structure, proving why Tokaji has been called “the wine of kings.” 👑🍷

Did You Know?
Tokaji Aszú is one of the world’s oldest regulated wines — protected since 1737, nearly a century before Bordeaux’s 1855 classification.

Collector’s Rarity 📌
Royal Tokaji’s Aszú wines are globally sought after, and a 5 puttonyos 2016 bottling represents both a collectible dessert wine and a piece of vinous history — 9 months ago

Ron Siegel

9.5

Amazing Champagne! Can’t see this getting any better than its showing now. So rich, balanced showing green apple & pear notes of brioche, mineral with a touch of honey & apricot. — 4 years ago

Roberto Carli

9.6

Damn! It opened up with liquorice (sic.) and had just everything else in it. Mushrooms, turned earth, a touch of burnt honey and finally hiding just a hint of caramelized pineapple that lingers till the end. Sweetness only shows up for the grand finale in an jaw dropping show if how of how 95 g/l looks after 40 years — a month ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2014 vintage. From a 375ml effort. Tasted after being open for 1.5 hours and in the 48-50 degree range. Heavy bod. Plenty of candied orange fruit and unfiltered honey/mead. Just starting to get “interesting.” Needs another decade to add the ole pizzazz. 3.21.26. — 3 months ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.5

Château Suduiraut, 2023, Sauternes BDX, France 🇫🇷

Overview
Premier Cru Classé Sauternes delivering pure botrytis luxury blend of 80% Semillon, 15% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Sauvignon Gris with remarkable tension and precision. Lush honeyed richness balanced by vibrant acidity and a beautifully layered texture that feels both decadent and weightless. Sensual, polished, and deeply expressive, this is a dessert wine that seduces rather than overwhelms.

Aromas & Flavors
Orange blossom, acacia honey, apricot confit, ripe peach, saffron, candied citrus peel, subtle vanilla bean, almond paste, and a whisper of ginger spice. Floral lift intertwines with botrytis-driven sweetness and fresh citrus brightness.

Mouthfeel
Silky, viscous, and coating without heaviness. Glycerol richness glides across the palate while acidity keeps the wine lifted, focused, and endlessly drinkable. Long, luxurious, and caressing finish.

Food Pairings
Foie gras torchon, blue cheese (Roquefort or Stilton), apricot tart, almond pastries, honey-drizzled chèvre, citrus-based desserts, or simply enjoyed solo as a contemplative finale.

Verdict
Sublime, sexy, and impeccably balanced. A masterclass in tension between sweetness and freshness, delivering pleasure, elegance, and emotional impact in equal measure. A benchmark nightcap wine.

Did You Know?
Château Suduiraut sits adjacent to Château d’Yquem and shares similar gravelly terroir and noble rot influence, often delivering First Growth-level finesse at a more approachable price point.

🍯 Personal Pick
This wine feels like a French kiss, seductive tension, velvet weight, and honeyed decadence wrapped in electric freshness. The viscosity caresses the palate while the acidity keeps everything irresistibly alive. — 5 months ago

Tom Garland

9.4

Pop and pour. A majestic lite gold color. On the nose: crisp apples, lemon, almonds, floral, and honey. Taste: creamy, beautiful texture and nice acidity wine with apple, pear, lemon zest, saline, flint, and a minerally lime peel medium plus finish. YUM! Maturing gracefully and time to go. — 8 months ago

with Brenda

Conrad Green

9.2

Amber in color, limited bubbles. Pretty stuff- apricot, honey, some sherry notes. Toasted brioche. Definitely aged but lovely and balanced. Probably would have been oak a few years back — 3 years ago

with Tony and David

Conrad Green

9.6

Beautifully composed. Certainly aged with lanolin, gentle honey but still fresh, poised and beautifully balanced. Long and pure. Exceptional — 3 years ago

with Bex and Naoko

Amanda Drazka

9.6

This beautiful Sauternes offers a sweet nose of dried apricot with a full body on the palate. It has notes of tangerine, honey and spice with a velvety, long finish. — 2 months ago

Hermes Cuello

9.1

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2015 is a legendary South African natural sweet wine, crafted from Muscat de Frontignan. Rich and opulent, it offers layers of honey, apricot, orange peel, and exotic spice, balanced by vibrant acidity. Lusciously sweet yet fresh and elegant, with a long, refined finish. — 3 months ago

Conrad Green

9.4

Light amber. Showing secondary notes- dried apricot, honey, brioche. Good tension still and reasonable fizz. For my palate slightly past the best bottles I’ve had of this — 4 months ago

with Paul, Matt and 1 other

Damian

9.4

Fresh but with some unexpected oxidative notes. Citrus, toast, white flowers, white pepper, stone fruit, precise and mineral driven — 6 months ago

Louis Martin

9.3

Liquid honey. Paired perfectly with a chocolate tart — 7 months ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.3

Vintage age 2018 | yesterday tasted with Coravin, today with more air. That gives the wine an extra dimension - so eventually decant it. Smell: Turkish Fruit, hay, impression of honey and melon. Well balanced taste, well rounded taste ( in Dutch: mollig) high in bitters. Became a real treat with a sushibol as first course and Cantonese cabbage with shrimps afterwards. — 10 months ago

John Willison

9.3

Raspberry, plum, cream, toast. — 3 years ago

Vasanth Balakrishnan

9.2

#sauternes so sweet and balanced. Third of three bottles for my wife’s 40th birthday. We saved the best for last, as it turns out. Honeyed layers as this gently warms in a Burgundy bowl - caramel, marzipan, toasted almonds, some petrol, apricot jam. Tastes exactly how it smells with the acidity taking a step back from the honey sweetness swirling around a luscious oily mouthfeel. Touch of orange pith bitterness on the finish - lovely wine. Indeed it pairs well with Indian food but the force of this wine could have easily matched even spicier dishes. Beautiful wine and what’s amazing is it seemed this wine could easily go another 20 years. Good Sauternes is ever youthful. — 5 years ago