Annual Report
Abreu Vineyards
Cappella Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2010
Château Angélus
St. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend 2019
The 2019 Angélus has a Cabernet Franc-driven nose, touches of Earl Grey and ash infusing the almost sultry black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, taut and crisp, quite a fine arching structure that delivers wonderful tension and mineralité on the finish. Serious. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, February 2023) — 3 years ago
Château de Beaucastel
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc White Rhone Blend 2020
One of the bottles from my annual WWC hosting. I opened this as a side by side to a 2019 Saxum White as the makeup is fairly similar.
80% roussanne/ remaining a mix of Grenache Blanc, Clairette, piquepoul blanc, picardan and bourboulenc.
Nicely expressive at pop, it then faded and hid in a shell for a few hours before coming back at last glass. At 80% roussanne, I expected a more consistent expressive profile (honeyed tropical fruits, some orange) and for the acid to show a touch, but it was a roller coaster. More melon and light fruits vs bigger/more tropical. Medium bodied but not as rich as expected. It’s clean and shows some floral and mineral/stony nuances, but I’d spend the extra and take the Roussanne VV to get more complexity and flavor. — 6 months ago
Château Léoville Barton
Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1988
Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.
Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 2 years ago
Chateau Montelena
The Montelena Estate Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.
A treat to try this next to the ‘88, and also against a mini-flight of Leoville Barton. This ‘14 was shockingly odd…unbelievably high toned, sharp, and bing cherry driven aromatically. It actually has this weird cherry reduction profile but also a malic/butter note that needs time to blow off. Crème de cassis and red licorice on the palate with a small amount of graphite. A lot of Calistoga cabs for me show the warmth of the region and this evidently is in that vein, but it’s very Montelena-esque at the end of the day. I’d hold another 5-7yrs. — 2 years ago
Taittinger
Comtes de Champagne Grand Crus Brut Blanc de Blancs 1996
One of the best bottles of champagne I’ve ever had. Annual one for Valentine’s Day - 2 left from a case we bought years ago. Getting better each year. Has a bit of a caramel apple mixed with lemon curd thing developing now. Very fine bubbles. Just fantastic. — 3 years ago
Tyler Felous
F yeah!! Bought this aged as a way to decide whether to keep buying/cellaring the annual releases. No further witnesses, your honor — 4 months ago