Lyle Fass 
Domaine du Tunnel (Stéphane Robert)
Pur Noir Cornas Syrah 2017
Domaine Vindiou
Saint-Joseph Syrah 2024
Very sweet, confectionary nose with attractive fruit and plenty of aromatic charm. The palate is pleasant and well made, but ultimately more good than exciting. Nice wine, just doesn’t quite have the same spark as the nose. — 4 days ago
Scarpa (Antica Casa Vinicola Scarpa)
Tettimorra Barolo Nebbiolo 2021
Magnificent, deeply traditional Barolo. The nose opens with burning embers, campfire, road tar, dried roses and a huge range of savory exotic spice, then grows more loamy with air, bringing in wood shavings, old library books and classic Nebbiolo earthiness. The palate is dazzlingly concentrated but beautifully controlled, with exquisite red fruit, layers of cherry, superb linearity and wonderfully articulated tannins. Dense without heaviness, elegant despite the power, and architecturally complete. The finish is extraordinarily long and saturated with fruit, tannin and mineral detail. Already a superb Barolo, with obvious 9.7 upside as it continues to open.
After an hour and a half, this has gone to another level. The nose is now wildly floral and almost four-dimensional, with extraordinary depth and perfume, easily 9.7 to 9.8 aromatically. The palate has become even more beautiful, juicy and seamless, with velvety, sweet tannins and incredible tiny-berry fruit intensity. The structure is still serious, but everything is now more integrated and complete. 9.6 to 9.7. — 3 days ago
Garaudet Père et Fils
Bourgogne Chardonnay 2023
Gorgeous, Meursault-like Bourgogne Chardonnay with sweet lime zest and flesh, a touch of butter and beautifully judged framing oak. With air the nose turns increasingly airy and mineral, with excellent clarity and purity. The palate is rich, ripe and unctuous, with an almost icing-on-cake texture, terrific density and chew, but enough freshness and salinity to keep everything lifted. Very sappy, very well constructed, with a long, mouthwatering mineral finish. 9.4 upside — 3 days ago
Rivera
Riserva Il Falcone Castel del Monte Rosso 2020
The nose was initially the best part of the wine, with red plum, spice, leather, tree bark and woodland berry, but even that faded significantly on day two. The palate never came together. Juicy enough, with decent freshness, but the alcohol keeps poking through from every direction and overwhelms the fruit and structure. Drying tannins, enveloping heat and a messy, disjointed shape. Not a good wine. — 4 days ago
K.H. Schneider
Marbach Riesling 2016
Gorgeous mature Marbach, showing a much more severe, mineral side than it does in youth. Sweet lime zest, pulverized rock dust, rock candy, wet moss, wild mint and a little porcini, with just a hint of secondary development beginning to creep in. Bone dry, dense, steely and incredibly mineral on the palate, with crazy 2016 acidity and a finish that feels like licking a rock. The confectionary Marbach character is still there in the inner-mouth aromas, but this is doing almost Domberg things now. Geeky, structured, terroir-driven Riesling. Could get to 9.6 with more air. — 6 days ago
Lyle Fass
Founder Fass Selections
The nose is intensely ripe and liqueur-like, with kirsch, cassis, blackberry and other dark fruit, along with spice, potpourri, leather, graphite and camphor. There is a polished, expensive-smelling quality to it, but everything feels blurred and overworked rather than focused. The palate is concentrated, juicy and very long, with big tannins and plenty of material, but the alcohol sticks out everywhere and the ripeness keeps pushing the wine out of balance. It tastes expensive, but at the moment that feels more like a facade than substance. I’m absolutely willing to let this improve with air, especially given the wine’s reputation, but right now 8.8 is where it is.
With more air, this has improved from 8.8 to 9.1. The nose is still remarkably blasé and unfocused, basically generic red-wine aromatics without much identity or finesse. The palate has come together considerably, with less obvious heat, better balance, good freshness, serious length and massive tiny-berry fruit concentration. Still highly extracted and overdone, with enormous material but essentially zero finesse, yet at least now it feels like a coherent wine rather than a complete mess. — a day ago