Bob McDonald

9.5

We had this a few days ago and I misplaced my notes. Citrus mineral and intensity I recall. Probably committing infanticide drinking this now but there were good reasons to. Firstly our son and wife plus our daughter home for Christmas from New York and secondly my retirement after 53 years at McDonald Group. — 25 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.6

Aromatic notes of rose and violet. Great depth of delicious flavour on the medium bodied palate. Red fruits - savoury and rich. See previous note for the 2014 - always excellent but 8 years of cellaring has enhanced this wine. To have won the Jimmy Watson Trophy for the Best One Year Old Dry Red at Royal Melbourne and still starring now at 8 years of age shows this is a wine for all seasons and all years. Should be a regular purchase. A Winner. — 2 years ago

romo

9.3

When your wife says the neighbors like old cabs, make sure they didn’t say “bold” cabs. — 4 years ago

KJ McManus

9.0

Wow! Super suprised! Wife got this for Mother's Day from our daycare. I enjoyed it. Super easy to drink! Definitely could get drunk on this easily even though it is 5% ALC by VOL. Almost like a wine spritzer. Very tasty. Would recommend and will get again. Has a light rose flavor and floral scent. — 5 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Bruce Phillips and his wife were pouring their 2021. Talked w/ him at length. Very nice couple.

The 2021 showed well young with room for improving with 10-25 years in bottle and beyond. It showed some evolution, wasn’t all primary. Elegant, very well balanced with excellent structure and finish. Drink 2033-45 properly stored.

The general Napa consensus on 2022 vintage will be a story of did you pick before or after the 6 days of extreme heat during the harvest window. One producer told me his would add 5% of 2023 to some of his 2022’s, which is allowed. He mentioned that he was going to add 15%. But, I think he just misspoke? Get ready for an amazing 2023 vintage from Napa. It was a cooler, not hot-hot, which was a near perfect growing season for long slow even ripening. Some say a vintage of a lifetime and others would only say exceptional.

The Saturday-Sunday Pavilion tasting at Pebble Beach Food & Wine is an excellent four hours to taste a lot wine, taste curated dishes from chefs from all over the country and meet the people behind the bottle. These short ribs were one of the top two or three things I tasted at the Pavilion Saturday. — 9 months ago

Shay A

9.5

Consumed as a pop-and-pour, as my wife decided she wanted to drink it ASAP instead of decanting, ha. My previous thoughts hold true that Aubert’s Hudson is consistently the most approachable of the portfolio in its youth.

Yellow-gold in the glass with the slightest tinge of green. Everything about this is undeniably Aubert…aromatics of tropical fruit (pineapple), white peaches, nutmeg, and honey roasted cashews. I find Hudson fruit to normally be big/juicy with an abundance of ripe yellow fruit, and this has it in spades. Aubert’s signature waves of lemon cream with marzipan and spiced green apple on the palate. The acidity seemed more pronounced here than previous vintages at this age, which added a nice backbone to the hedonistic style profile of the wine. Great now, likely great in 5yrs, but this seems ready for corks to be popped! — 2 years ago

Ron R

9.7

My wife to the left, David’s wife to the right. This is drum tight. 11 years in. Superb. Abreu pips this, but still excellent. — 4 years ago

with Mike, Diana and 3 others

Vanessa

9.1

Burgundy 🇫🇷 is renowned for its Chardonnay, but did you know that Aligoté is the second most planted white grape in the region? 👀

Some of the finest Aligoté comes from ‘Bouzeron,’ an appellation in the Côte Chalonnaise region (north of Mâconnais, south of Côte d’Or).

In a land of Pinot Noir & Chardonnay, Bouzeron AOC is 100% dedicated to producing Aligoté 🙌🏻. In fact, it first became a legally-recognized AOC in 1998 thanks in part to the efforts of Aubert de Villaine, the winemaker behind this beautiful bottle. 👏🏻

Interestingly, Aubert is also a co-owner & co-Director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) (and, as an aside, was on the tasting panel for the 1976 Judgement of Paris 😆)…

Yet, instead of devoting himself exclusively to DRC — one of the world’s most famous and prestigious estates — he and his wife, Pamela (a California native), were enchanted by the possibilities of Aligoté, and terroir of Bouzeron, where they put down roots through “Domaine de Villaine”.

This wine is Domaine de Villaine Bouzeron AOC (2019). It has a shimmering lemon robe and bouquet of white blossom, just-ripe white peach, yellow apple, pear, citrus, fennel, and wet slate notes. It’s remarkably fresh on the palate with mouth-watering acidity balancing the warm (14% ABV) and fruit-driven profile. It’s positively delicious!

We’re pairing it w/ pan-seared sea scallops, roasted asparagus, & lemon-herbed farro…

Cheers to nurturing the diversity of Burgundy in all of its splendor! 🥂
💙🤍♥️ — a year ago

with Deked1

Brandon Boesch

10

Wow! Tasting wonderful at 40 years. Wife and I birth year for thanksgiving. From magnum. Tons of pepper black and green. Plums, cherries, stewed fruits, but acidity and tannins still there. Some baking spice, earth, currants as well. Shocked at how good this is. — 3 years ago

with Randy

Pooneet K

9.2

Krug is always most welcome, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. This is edition 169. A bit more yeasty and slightly less acidic than previous versions, to my taste. But if you like the Krug style - which we do very much - it hits the spot per usual.

My wife used to work with Fritz Hatton, proprietor of Arietta wines and auctioneer for Zachys. Fritz always says to have a half bottle of champagne waiting in the fridge in case you need a “midnight snack”, and I have to agree with him! — 4 years ago