Shay A

9.3

My first Prevost La Closerie “&”. After enjoying many bottles of the regular La Closerie the last few years, I’ve had this as a bottle to try for a while. A portion of the wine comes from Prevost's Béguines vineyard (as does the entirety of the “regular” Closerie), and the rest comes from other sites in the village of Gueux.

LC21 (‘21 vintage); 100% Pinot meunièr, 2.5g/l dosage; disgorged Sept ‘23

Enjoyed side by side with the LC20 La Closerie. Although different vintages and slightly different fruit, you can see the similarities easily. Both have the typical Prevost deep champagne color and jump from the glass with ginger, spiced pear and caramel apple. The mid-palate continues similarities with the nutty and espresso profile but this takes a turn away from a noticeable oxidized profile to a more typical fruit-forward meunièr profile (brighter citrus, not as heavy). The finish isn’t as lengthy, however, after a few hours of being open, this drank nearly identical to the regular La Closerie (the oxidized notes came out and the finish bulked up in richness). No natty-vibes here.

Enjoyable side by side by arguably the master of Pinot meunièr. — 4 days ago

Shay A

9.2

An underrated producer, in my opinion, though my first time with the Heri-Hodie cuvée.

100% Pinot meunièr; perpetual reserve in stainless since 1995; 3g/l dosage; disgorged March 2023

I’ve said it before, but meunièr can really strut its stuff via perpetual reserve/solera style. The natural fruit forward tendency of the grape with the oxidative character of the aging profile marry really well. My benchmarks for this style are Mousse Fils L’Or de Eugene and Delouvin’s Perpetual…both of those show a bit more richness and spiced cider, whereas the stainless steel here provides a brighter lift. Needed a few hours in bottle to open, lots of red apple, yellow citrus and orange zest, and cinnamon aromatically. Trending toward golden apple and pear on the palate, this has a kiss of honeyed richness on the mid-palate before the limestone mineral takes over at the finish. Tasty. — a month ago

Shay A

My contribution to a special Bordeaux event. While I don’t own many first or second growth Bordeaux’s, it was a treat to enjoy this along an ‘89, ‘98, and ‘00 Haut Brion, ‘88 and ‘90 Latour, ‘03 LaMish, ‘85 Margaux, and many others (as well as ‘01 Rieussec and Suduiraut).

Zero experience with wines from this vintage, though obvious victims to the hype of ‘82. Low-neck fill. Decided against double decanting and simply removed the cork for 30mins to let it breathe, followed over a few hours.

Surprised at the minty/high-toned aromatic that jumped from the glass (ended up staying there the entire evening), with added red florals/potpourri, earth/herbs, leather (not Brett), and pipe tobacco. It still sports a classical Margaux profile on the palate with elegant red and black berry fruits accompanied by nice structure (at 41yrs!) as well as cassis, and mushroom. Still retaining acidity and tannin.

To my surprise, the profile above held strong all evening. While the ‘85 Margaux was better in taste, I’m happy that this was still showing well, and checked off the “exactly what it should be” box. — a month ago

Shay A

9.3

Every time I have a wine from Pierre Gonon, I know it’s going to hit every note I’m looking for. These wines are absolutely delicious and are exactly what I love to drink.

First time with a slightly older bottle of Iles Feray and I’d say this is in the perfect zone. Very much in the vein of the StJo with the dark florals and herbal aromatics (just stemmy enough to show it’s there, but not as much as the StJo). Peppered raspberries and blackberries, green stems on the mid-palate. Great texture/weight. Granite and iron show early on. Tannin structure is in the middle ground…holds everything together but isn’t a beast. Not as layered as the StJo, but still so enjoyable to drink when wanting a beautiful, pure expression of Syrah.

Followed over a few days and stayed consistent. I’d buy a bunch of this if prices for these wines weren’t as high as they’ve been the last few years. — 6 days ago

Shay A

9.2

First time checking in on the 244. I enjoyed the 242, thought the 243 was a step down, and this seems to be in-between.

41% chardonnay/33% pinot noir/26% pinot meunier; 15% fermented in oak and 85% in stainless steel; 36% reserve perpetual and 10% reserve wines of the 2012 - 2018 vintage from oak; 7 g/l dosage

Followed out of bottle over the course of a few hours. Right out of the gate, this is intense and borders on brisk. Very mineral (sea salt) and bright (lemon). Razor sharp acidity (the reserve wine hardly shows, though I do feel if it wasn’t incorporated this may rip enamel off). Waves and waves of lemon, lemon cream, lemon tart pastry with a slight note of honey, pear and plenty of chalk/limestone shining at the finish. The texture comes in to play the longer it’s open; vibrant mousse.

Ultimately, this is an undeniably well made and classical style champagne at an attractive price point if you enjoy the big-house champagne profile. Room for a bit of upside here if you’re willing to hold a while as this seems to have serious structure.

91-93 — 21 days ago

Shay A

9.3

Juan Mercado’s Paso project (formerly of Realm). With the new offering out, and having not opened a bottle to try the wines yet, I opted for this as a test. Followed over three days.

75 Tempranillo/ 20 petite sirah/ 5 Graciano

With any new wines I haven’t tried, I like to follow them from pop-and-pour and see how/if they evolve over a couple of days. Right upon opening this had a very Paso-profile to it…big fruit and florals aromatically, but not really Tempranillo-like. Dark blue and black berry fruit, dark cocoa and cassis. Very primary (unsurprisingly). The mid-palate shows great weight and texture but it falls off a cliff at the finish with not much else. Check back-in…

Days two and three showed enhanced profiles of a fleshed out and broad shouldered wine (which wasn’t there on day one). The fruit profile has shades of red, some black pepper spice is on the mid-palate and the finish matches the beautiful mid-palate profile. Structure is well framed. Finishes with a weightless richness that I find in high-end Paso wines. Very enjoyable. — a month ago

Shay A

9.4

Brought out to Napa during our annual trip. While at Charter Oak, I saw another bottle of SamiOdi on a table and when I went to introduce myself to the gentlemen enjoying the wine, it ended up being Tegan Passalacqua! Small world.

An unvintaged assemblage composed of casks from 2022 (49%), 2021 (23%), 2020 (11%), 2019 (8%), 2018 (1%), 2017 (4%), 2016 (2%) & 2015 (2%).

Followed over a few days. Aromatics remained unchanged (still one of, if not my favorite wine to smell) with intoxicating dark florals, high-toned blue and black berries, cassis, plum and sweet espresso. Good bit of tannin the first day but beautifully smooth on the last day. A bit more compact core of dark rich fruits here than previous editions with menthol as well. As usual for Fraser’s SamiOdi wines, these sport Aussie fruit without going too hot or the punch from oak. Fresh and bright, yet powerful. Love it, as always. — a month ago

Shay A

9.2

As a lover of Solera/perpetual reserve wines, this intrigued me…as far as I know, this is the first Solera champagne I’ve had where the perpetual reserve is coming from the red wine (Pinot noir), not the base wine.

50 chard/ 35 Pinot noir/ 15 Pinot meunièr; 7g/l dosage

Faint copper hue in the glass (not a deep vinous style rosé). Initial reaction is this reminds me a bit of Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve Rosé (which I love), but just a touch less layered. Very “big-house” in style. Plenty of toasted croissant, strawberries, and even some sweet spices. More red fruit on the palate but there’s also some apricot. With air, oxidized apple type notes show. The finish has a strawberry shortbread vibe alongside a classical mineral/chalk profile. I’m sure this would still be tasty if you cut the dosage in half, but it works for this wine (and the texture/broad feel on the palate from the dosage show nicely). — 8 days ago

Shay A

9.2

Bought from a local cellar. Label was faded and from a time period I wasn’t sure of, so after reaching out to Roederer, they confirmed it was probably 10-15yrs of age.

Still a respectable amount of spritz after removing the cork. Poured gold in the glass. Faint bubbles. I expected it to be DOA, but I was caught off guard at how lively this was! If poured blind, old champagne would not be a crazy call. Brioche, espresso and nutty/oxidized aromatics, with aged champagne type character on the palate. Great texture. Caramel, toffee, golden raspberries, and distinct truffle honey! Wish they all tasted like this.

This was probably $15 when released? They are a good deal these days around $20, but an insane value with age. — 23 days ago

Shay A

9.5

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