David T 
Vilmart & Cie
Grande Réserve Brut Champagne Blend
Vilmart is a producer that I don’t see posted often. I visited this property in 10/22. Ate the fruit they left behind two- three weeks after they picked the Pinot Noir in their Clos des Goisses vineyard. So bloody delicious. Once you’ve had a steady diet of vineyard grapes, you can no longer eat table grapes. The thing to know about Vilmart, they embrace neutral wood barrels. It’s what makes their cuvées so complex…the wood & air. This is one of their entry level cuvées.
Tonight is a four-course…finishing w/ apple tart from the farmers market. Pairs nicely. The palate is; golden & green bruised apple, Bosc pear, tropical fruits-green melon, kiwi, pineapple juice, lemon & lime flesh, tangerine hues, saline/sea spray, toast, brioche, vanillin, cream, touch of ginger, moist, fine chalkiness, grey volcanic minerals, beautiful acidity, yellow lilies, jasmine, well balanced and polished finish that lasts minutes. From 375ml. — 15 days ago
Billecart-Salmon
Brut Rosé Champagne Blend
Champagne has gotten expensive lately. This is no different. But, it is my go to N/V Rosé. Seems I’m still willing to pay the large increase for it.
Tis the season for garden tomatoes. So great with Burrata topped with olive oil & Tondo balsamic, (find it, the best), basil, served on olive oil brushed, broiled crostini’s made from Simple Sourdough made by Companion Bakery. From 375ml. — 15 days ago
Williams Selyem
Foss Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013
Simply one of the 5 top CA Pinot Noir producers with this kind of vintage and age. They also possess consistency bottling to bottling - vintage to vintage for the most part.
The fruits are; bright, fresh, floral, candied & juicy. Dark cherries, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, plum, poached strawberries, boysenberries and blueberries all around the edges and pomegranate over the top. It is glorious over the palate. Black steeped tea, light nutmeg, dark Asian spices, cinnamon stick, vanilla, mid berry cola, red & black licorice, limestone, black rich soil, dry herbaceous notes- bay leaf up front, endless lighter, mid dark, red & blue florals framed in violets, cool summer rain acidity with great balance, getting their evolution & integration, nice tension & structure and an even finish fruit and earth that lasts beautifully for minutes.
Wine candy that will tame & improve over the next 5-8 years, hold a few and start a slow decline. @D&SLounge. — 9 days ago
Turnbull Wine Cellars
Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 2007
I remember having this wine in 2017 and realizing this wasn’t even close to be ready. Still angular. Tonight, while not at its peak, still really good. Best in 5-7 years.
The fruits are ripe, lush, ruby; blackberries, black plum pudding, black raspberries, dark cherries, poached strawberries,raspberries, some boysenberries with raspberry hues. Velvet, dark, meaty tannins. Dark Asian & Indian spices, dark chocolate cooking bar, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanillin, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, notes of dry herbs & eucalyptus, black tarriness, black licorice to anise, crushed limestone & grey volcanics, dry tobacco, dry barrel shavings to cedar, dark, purple florals framed in violets & lavender, excellent acidity, finish for days that still shows some tension, excellent structure, balanced fruit and earth wire to wire elegance. Pushes 94 really hard.
2007 grand vintage! — 12 days ago
Williams Selyem
Eastside Road Neighbors Pinot Noir 2013
I get why people who generally always review this producer as just good consuming it young. This is ten years from birth, eight years in bottle and it is still not at its peak. it has ten years and perhaps more properly stored. Very good tonight but better things ahead. It takes this long and longer for WS Pinots to shine.
The palate is, juicy, ripe, rich, a bit lush; blackberries, dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, purple fruits, hues of blueberries, plum and ripe to dry strawberries with a pomegranate overlay. Then, dry earthiness, top soil, crushed rocks & powdery limestone & chalkiness, dark spices, some black pepper, dry brush, eucalyptus, tree sap, sun tea, black and red cola/licorice, drier tobacco, barrel dust to shavings, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, vanilla, touch of dry herbs-bay leaves & sage, bright red, pink, blue, purple florals framed in dark slightly withering florals, rain shower acidity, the finish is; well structured & balanced in fruit, earth & flowers, some more tension than I like but will soften & fade nicely in 3-5 years. But, wire to wire really even and stunning. Evolution & integration is good but needs 3-5 years to be its best. Coravin glass.
IMHO, one of the outstanding CA Pinot producers. Walter Hansel gives them a run for the money at their fantastic price point. — 15 days ago
Buccella
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
A great follow up to the 05 Joanin Becot which was amazing. Bordeaux and then Napa with AB Cover Ribs. The right order. Overall the 2010 Napa vintage is so much better than critics gave it young. An amazing night of friends, environment, music, food and wine. The wines were are outstanding. @ChateauIsbel — 23 days ago
Vilmart & Cie
Grande Réserve Brut Champagne Blend
I am not sure why I don’t see this producer posted on Delectable. They make excellent cuvées using neutral barrels, which makes for more complex wines. Yet, they do not push the oxidative characteristics too far for my palate. They were an excellent visit last October.
The palate leads with juicy lemon pulp, pineapple juice, lime zest, kiwi, green & golden apple, some haunting Bosc pear, inside of the banana peel, ginger, saline, powdery & crumbled chalkiness, biscuits, baguette crust, some yeast, limestone minerals, vanilla, caramel, cream, yellow flowers, jasmine, excellent co2 and acidity with a well structured & balanced finish that lingers a minute & a half and does not fade. Excellent 375ml valve.
Derived from the 2017 vintage and complemented by reserve wines from 2015 and 2016, it was disgorged in 2019 with nine grams per liter dosage. 30% Chardonnay – 70% Pinot Noir classified Premier Cru. Aging ten months in oak barrels, no malolactic.
@D&SLounge — 9 days ago
Château Belle-Vue
Haut-Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend 2008
There are good steak wines and then there are steak WINES! Not that this is the best wine or steak wines I’ve had. It was simply birthed for steak. Allen Brothers Strip Steak. Seasoned with coarse Garlic Salt/ Pepper and Napa Valley Rub from wholespice.com. If you haven’t had your steak this way, my highest recommendation. The fat & gristle are perfect w/ the 08 Belle-Vue. If you olive oil, heavy coarse salt & pepper your bake potato at 475 for an hour & a half, you’ll discover how great, crispy/crunchy/complex a potato shell can be. Older Bordeaux can be good on its own but with beef or lamb, it’s just a marriage made in heaven. Here’s the rub for my friends & I, we can’t find a steak better than we make. That’s what the Covid years firmed up for us. The 08 vintage was saved with late good weather. It sits somewhere between the good and very good vintages. Drinks better earlier than great to grand vintages. Slightly over achieving its young critical reviews.
The palate shows; drier dark currents-blackberries, black raspberries, black plum dark, not quite ripe cherries, raspberries edges. Dark chocolate baking bar (that’s what French oak does), lead pencil shavings, dark rich earth with dry leaves, limestone powder, dry river stone, dry tobacco, chewy leather, dark, intense spices, nutmeg, some cinnamon, vanillin, caramel hues, saline, fresh & withering, dark, purple flowers with lavender hues, nice acidity with a well structured & balanced, rounded meaty tannin, floral finish that lasts minutes. Medoc is always the place to look for nice wines with value…even better in excellent vintages. Even better in 5 years.
It has another 10 years plus of good drinking ahead properly stored. — 15 days ago
David T
Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator
If I put this in a blind red tasting, I’m pretty sure that many would not call Bordeaux. Rarely do I call perfectly ripe fruit. This is 05 fruit is perfectly ripe. I would say this 05 is at its peak it is so good but it truly isn’t. This D’Issan has 12-15 years left of good drinking with a 5 year slide after. 2005 Bordeaux’s are drinking exceptionally as it was perceived when they were birthed. Three hour decant.
The wine glides effortlessly & beautifully over the palate. It is delicious. Ripe, floral, not quite candied fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherry kirsch, black plum, strawberries & blue fruits. Mid berry cola/licorice, black tea, softened lead pencil, dry crushed rocks, dry river stone, limestone, mostly fresh tobacco, firecracker, flinty spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, just moist, dark turned earth, drying clay, volcanic stones & ash, loaminess, dry to slightly fresh mixed herbs, sandstone, sandalwood, some black pepper, red, purple, dark, blue florals framed in violets, Hawaii waterfall acidity with a well polished, balanced, nicely tensioned & structured finish that lasts minutes. Wire to wire outstanding.
It is interesting reading the multiple RP reviews after my notes…from 90-92 young by Neil Martin to his 94 later & then Parker himself in 2015 a 96. Not surprising that time in bottle is constant evolution and worth the wait in proper storage. @D&SLounge — 9 days ago