Wish For (iga)
Heitz Cellar
Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1978
Silver Oak
Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1997
Domaine Lorenzon
Carline Clos des Champs Martin Mercurey Pinot Noir
Côte Challonnaise, the appendix of Burgundys esteemed golden slope, a necessary and much needed resort if you wish to drink decent and representative Burgundy’s without spending a fortune these days. The 2014 Bruno Lorenzo Cuvée is very true to its provenance, where the primary red fruit has just slowly started to retreat to give room for an earthy canvas of damp soil, dried leaves and truffle that we so much love with the true Burgundies. Six years after harvest it still has a long and happy life ahead, eventhough it drinks beutifully in its pre-mature stage as is today. more harmonazied than last encounter in December 2019 I would say.
Successfully paired with pan seared Salmon with red wine jus, and thinly sliced glazed beetroots.
— 4 years ago
Leeuwin Estate
Art Series Margaret River Chardonnay 2011
Typical nose of an Art Series Chardonnay with that dried pear character. On the medium weight palate a nice combination of ripe grapefruit and under ripe yellow peach. Medium minus acid. One can’t help but love this Chardonnay. A wonderful terroir, the Gin Gin clone, great winemaking, and an excellent vintage - ticks all the boxes. At its peak but enough acid for a few more years if you wish. That was my last bottle of the 2011. — 3 months ago
Domaine Olivier B.
Les Amidyves Côtes du Ventoux Grenache Blend 2017
Smells like a spiced pastry
Lively! Red stars dance across the tongue for only a meaty mingling moment, before the tannins start smacking every part of the mouth, up, down, left, right, Jab, Jab, Ka-pow! Those knock out tannins longer on and on.. and on..
Wish I had bought 2 bottles, this needs at least 5 years to relax those teen tannins.
I mean, don’t close your mouth for too long on these tannins, as they act like a vacuum and super glue. You’ll never get your jaws apart.. — 4 years ago
Frecciarossa
Sillery Oltrepò Pavese Pinot Nero
Like a rich Chardonnay. 2021 vintage for $25. Wish I could find more of it. — 3 months ago
Rene Rostaing
Ampodium Côte-Rôtie Syrah 2017
Mostly we were drinking Champagne, but we needed something to go with some meat so we opted for this half bottle of spicy blackberry and black pepper, cassis, flowers, and mushroom umami that made me very happy. Supple, restrained tannins, and of course phenomenal acidity. Wish I had a few bigger bottles of this to age for a few years. — 4 years ago
Shay A
After missing a ‘70s and ‘80s Heitz vertical many years ago, I vowed to seek out a bottle as all the comments from the tasting were astoundingly positive. My last bottle of Heitz Martha’s was the ‘01 (which was great) a few years ago, but at 46yrs, this was quite the experience.
The ‘78 has a bit of a legendary status, so expectations were high. Upon opening, the cork was in good shape (sigh of relief) and the color was unbelievably dark ruby with some bricking (another sigh of relief). The singular signature menthol/eucalyptus began to fill the glass, alongside aromatics of red berry fruits, espresso, some sort of sweet brown sugar/caramel note, and a savory-graphite type note too. Beautifully elegant on the palate with more red fruit, herbs (bay leaf?), and even some pipe tobacco (subdued, not in your face), but it sports the classical old Napa cab profile that is pure. Spectacular wine, and I could simply smell the wine all day…the aromatics were so powerful the entire time.
Open in bottle for three hours and powered through the entire time. Wish I had another so I could have the same experience! — a month ago