Vanessa

9.2

Peach-salmon hue. Tiny bubbles dancing in the glass. Red grapefruit, strawberry, raspberry, dried rose petals, toasted almond, freshly baked sourdough, yeast, ocean spray, chalk.

Beautiful conclusion to our anniversary weekend. Never stop celebrating the good. Thank you @Kate ADK for the delicious gift 🙏

NV Champagne. 12% ABV. #celebratethegoodthings — 6 years ago

with Kate and Deked1

Matt Nason

9.4

Beautiful acidity with green apple and almond skin. — 7 years ago

Karen Benish

9.1

Love the almond smell of this wine. Taste is drier than expected but very enjoyable. — 7 years ago

Meg Herring

9.0

Creamy mouthfeel, fresh acidity, and notes of lemon, almond, pear, candied ginger, chamomile, and salted butter. 🤤 Has a few more years left in it. — 8 years ago

Matt Perlman

9.2

Rich and complex—almond pastry, mandarin orange, Meyer lemon, red apple skin and herbs, and probably some other yummy things too — 8 years ago

with Steven

Delectable Wine

Follow to learn about our favorite wines & people.

9.7

The 2014 d'Yquem has a complex bouquet with buttered toast, almond, honey and peach skin aromas. It opens with greater zeal than its peers, there is more immediacy here. The palate is very well balanced with crisp acidity, a finely tuned and satisfying Sauternes with style and grace, evincing great tension and mineral drive towards the finish. Superb. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2018) — 9 years ago

Kenta Hayashi

9.4

This is a special wine for me. Not only because it was eye opening, but it elevated my interest in wine. To try it again and see it's evolution was truly a privilege. An opera of secondary aromas. Nutty, especially walnuts and almond with biscuit notes. Intense ripe apples, while beautifully textured. Bubbles were not boisterous, but were soothing and gentle towards the end. A wine that makes you think. What a memorable moment. — 9 years ago

Chris Vactor

9.1

Starts out floral and citrus with a long anise and bitter almond finish. Evolves into saline minerals with a pleasant acidity and aromas of green apples. — 10 years ago

LM Archer

8.9

Pale golden robe; dry toast, almond nose; tiny beads, elegant mousse; citrus notes, bright acids. — 10 years ago

Jose Menendez

9.5

Medium Amber color. Tiny and perfect bubbles. Not very yeasty dough, green apple, quince, almond. Good minerality and acidity. Still very fresh and young taste. Looking forward to retasting in a couple of years. — 11 years ago

Please Dont Sell My Data

9.5

Please had this 12 years ago

Jakub Kalinowski

8.9

Piemonte tasting #1
Fresh yet quite serious with structure before fruit. Nice breadth on the palate with spicy acidity, shy apricot and an slightly bitter almond finish. A nice serious effort, that showcases Piemonte is not the white wine country. — 6 years ago

J Freeman

9.0

Quite almond forward and sweet. Good for dessert or mimosas. — 7 years ago

Shengli Hu

9.1

Smells like an oloroso Sherry.. Baked apple/pear cinnamon, Marcona almond paste, caramel. High acid, pronounced intensity, long finish with pronounced minerality. — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Masterclass in San Francisco with Saskia De Rothschild, Chairwoman DBR Lafite. Chateau Rieussec is another property that the Rothschild’s own.

1997 a difficult vintage for reds in Bordeaux. The upside is, when the reds lag, the whites almost always shine.

The nose shows; marmalade, dry peaches & apricots, pineapple, citrus blend, fresh orange peel, burnt almonds, almond cake, nut skin, burnt toffee, honey, caramel, beeswax, waxiness, toast, limestone, gravely stones, fruit blossoms and yellow florals.

The body is thick, gluey and rich. The mouthfeel magnificent. There is almost a dry tannin presence but it is it’s dry, gritty volcanic minerality, marmalade, dry peaches & apricots, pineapple, citrus blend, fresh orange peel, burnt almonds, almond cake, nut skin, burnt toffee, honey, caramel, beeswax, waxiness, toast, limestone, gravely stones, fruit blossoms and yellow florals. The acidity round and splendid. The finish is rich, well balanced, elegant, polished and delicious.

All wines arrived weeks ago directly from the Chateau.

Photos of; the Crown Room on the 23rd floor of the Fairmont where the Masterclass was held, glass of 1997 showing color, Saskia De Rothschild, Chairwoman DBR Lafite presenting and another view of the city of San Francisco/Bay and the Golden Gate Bride in the background.
— 7 years ago

Baby Checks

9.3

Almond, tiny bubbs, delicious delicious delicious — 9 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.3

One of the best deals around I reckon. $20 for a single vineyard sherry! Highly complex. Rich, yeasty, briny, nutty nose, with hints of fresh green notes. The palate bringing in all that salinity again, almond, lemon zest, caramel, raisin, olive, and oddly enough unripe durian, especially on that bitter textural finish. At that price, use it as a mixer or forget it in the cellar - there isnt much to lose.

Notes from TWM:
There are many reasons why Valdespino's benchmark Fino stands out from the Sherry crowd. First are the grapes, which are sourced from a single vineyard, Macharnudo Alto, in High Jerez. Then there is the traditional fermentation, which takes place in large (600-litre) American oak barrels. Finally, there is the solera system, where the wine spends between eight to ten years, going through 10 stages (criadera) where most Finos have 3. The result, said the Top 100 judges, is "a wonderful weight of flavour with lots of body, fresh acidity and a really clean finish." — 9 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

Perfect condition btl opened for 5 hrs. Light yellow gold. Nose has lemon, almond paste, stone. Rich and glycerol in the mouth. Really nice fine grain acidity and very long finish. Great wine. — 10 years ago

Tony Muto

9.5

Excellent flavor and taste. Almond very distinct and pleasurable. — 11 years ago

Maxence Guilluy

10

Almond pastrie, creamy and soft, apple — 13 years ago

Andrew Holod

National Sales Grapes of Spain

9.1

ID 314057 (just off one digit from pi)
Golrious balance. Cork was compressed and showing age, though I stored this in my cold cellar. Nose of yellow fruits and flowers. All of a piece, though feeling a bit spendy.
Happy Mother's day to my wife, paired w almond croissants and truffled eggs. — 6 years ago

Severn G

9.2

Quite consistent with my notes from ~6 months ago:

Nose has over-ripe apricot, almond oil, marzipan, meringue cookie and cold butter.
Palate has warmed apricot pie with extra flakey, buttery crust, sweet sand, white flower honey and mango.

Admittedly I love Sauternes and have many bottles, yet it's a rarity on opening and posting to the Community. We paired this bottle with a hard, smoked goat cheese from a local, Hudson valley producer, a solid match of sweet and salty. — 7 years ago

Austin Hohnke

9.1

Lots of vanilla and baking spice with peach skin, almond, and golden raisin. Palate isn’t as full or fleshy as the nose suggests and the finish proves to be long with salty minerality. This is delicious now but in it for the long haul. Would love to try again in five+ years. — 7 years ago

Andrew Schirmer

9.0

Dig. Brilliant gold color, good complexity on the palate, beeswax, funky brett, almond/citrus accord. — 8 years ago

with Alsu

Severn G

9.2

Ok, this bottle is super tight/young, so we're decanting to help the process.
Interesting pineapple/honey/almond-like nose. Palate has ripe stone fruits with a great acid balance, fresh. I'm thinking this is going to need many hours to reveal its true self.

48hr Update: Nose is quite mellow today, noticable honey and almond aromas, faint sweet pineapple lingers still. Palate has abandoned most of the acidity, a white pepper-like spice or equivalent is now present, still has a bit of fresh peach. I think this bottle needs lots of air and at least two more years before it fully connects. — 8 years ago

Charlie Tapp

9.3

Almond, sherry and orange peel. Jura funky from Spain. Unique. — 9 years ago

Julia Zhu

9.3

Beeswax crushed stone minerals ripe golden apples orange peel almond skin — 10 years ago

John Willison

9.2

Mineral, lemon zest nose. Lemon zest, almond oil, minerals. Love white burgundy. And this is it. — 10 years ago

Sean Trapani

Founder/Educator Wine Fluent, Consultant ABC Fine Wines & Spirits

9.5

Pear and green apple on the nose, almond butter, and caramel glazed toast on the palate. Beautiful. — 11 years ago

Kuan Lim

9.1

Fabulous !!!
A very underrated white wine that will age gracefully.
Floral, citrusy fruit, mineral, almond, hazelnut, oily texture and finishing like a key lime pie Cream Brûlée
It is like drinking an aged white burgundy and Chenin Blanc — 11 years ago