Matthew Cohen

9.1

Sweet blackberry nose. Palate is quite smooth. Sweet blackberries. Extremely delicious fruit. Some cassis on the finish. Maybe a hint of licorice. A really good Tuesday night Bordeaux with food. I dont mean to damn this with faint praise. It’s an amazing wine for what it is. ... getting better at the hour mark. Blackberry flower aromatics with some savoriness. Not a typical fass selections wine and not a typical Bordeaux but very delicious and interesting. It has a place in a cellar. It’s a wine you want to drink on a night you don’t want complications but you know once you drink a bit you will be open to the suggestion of complexity. — 7 years ago

Thomas Brenner

9.7

Despite being the kind of guy that watches NASCAR for the 🔥 auto crashes, this wine was worth it's praise. As you could tell by the label design, this Cab blend was made in concert with Mr. Harlan for people that have been rumored to pay $100,000 to get their name on this unique blend. A benevolent act of kindness to gift me a bottle of a wine that has been said to beat out Scarecrow in '06. It really really was a great wine — 8 years ago

RHvdG

9.5

Deserves high praise. A ton of aromas from almond to wet iron, raspberry, chocolate. Fizz at the start, depth an hour later. Give it time to breathe, but drink a few sips of the unbreathed stuff right after uncorking too. — 9 years ago

Robert Stackowiak

9.1

A delightful Fume well worth its praise and price - great with chicken. June 2017. — 9 years ago

Eric Guido

9.5

It’s not often that I open a note with a resolute, Wow, but the 2013 Gourt de Mautens deserves such praise. The bouquet opened with an intense display of white pepper, crush mint (or is that basil), rosemary, moist earth and hints of sweet brown spice. On the palate, it was impossibly soft and enveloping to all of the senses, yet vibrant with a display crushed violets, black fruit, and savory olive. Tannins mounted toward the finish as the wine resonated on peppery spices and a resounding note of black olive. I can't wait to see where this wine is going over time. — 9 years ago

TheSkip

9.0

Lots of critical praise for this wine. I have enjoyed the last several vintages. No surprises here.

Green raspberry and cedar in the nose. Blue fruits on the palate. Medium to firm tannins. Pleasant finish. — 10 years ago

Owen Rosenberg

9.1

This wine is opulent , rich, dense and silky. It coats the glass with a wash of red. The nose is of black berry and rich red fruit on palate is dense blackberry ripe fruit with a full luxuriant mouth and hints if chocolate richness. I praise the the addition of Riesling which brings about a much needed acidity and balance ...nice long finish — 10 years ago

Ron R

9.2

Another excellent IPA hailing for Colorado. Bombastic citrus notes, give way to well presented hops. Not for the stiff traditionalists. — 7 years ago

John Asbury

9.4

Deep, rich and enveloped within a delicate creaminess here is a Northern Rhône white that deserves its praise. The fruit is soft and doesn’t overlay the mineral component. I really like this one. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.8

I can’t pour enough praise on Dan and his talents. I don’t give many wines near perfect scores, but this merits one. The nose is a beautifully balanced mix of floral fruits, earth and spice. Blackberries, huckleberries, boysenberries, black plum, black raspberries, plum, black raspberries, poached strawberries, dark moist soils, loamy dry soil/clay, raspberry cola, smoked meats, medium dark spice, vanilla, clove, nutmeg, lilacs, violets and lavender. The balance is incredible...one of the most balanced wines I’ve had. The structure, tension and length are so close to perfect. It’s in the OMG realm. The tannins are nicely resolved but still have teeth. It’s gorgeously lush and rich. Blackberries, huckleberries, boysenberries, black plum, black raspberries, plum, black raspberries, poached strawberries, hues of blue fruits haunt the palate, dark moist soils, loamy dry soil/clay, raspberry cola, black licorice, touch herbaceous, smoked meats, medium dark spice, vanilla, clove, nutmeg, black & white pepper, dry crushed rocks, stones, lilacs, violets and lavender. The finish is heaven all the way around. To borrow Bordeaux terminology, this is First Growth Shiraz. If you don’t seek out Dan’s wines on the secondary market, you are missing something special. Not at all meant to be enjoyed young. This wine is in a very good spot and has another 10 years of life going forward. — 9 years ago

Alex Leonardini

9.3

Well worth the praise, especially for the price point. — 9 years ago

J Levenson

9.0

I enjoyed the 2014 more that the 2015. But for the price, you can't go wrong. That's why it gets the score. Price to value ratio. 😄 Great praise for the wines of Mt Etna. — 10 years ago

Alex Krause

9.0

Very nice. lovely focus and just the right density and structure to support and offer pleasing juicy qualities without getting lazy. Merits the praise. Well done. — 10 years ago

Jon Fine

8.9

'one of the best Canadian wines I've ever had' is totes damning w faint praise, but, well, solid and interesting Riesling and I'd totally drink this again. — 10 years ago

Michael Duffy

8.9

Lovely; lush and creamy but with rippling acidity. Had that lovely wintermint/anise thing I love in muscadet. For $15. Praise the Loire. — 7 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.5

That is exactly what I was hoping for. Thank goodness. Praise the Franc. Praise. — 8 years ago

with Tyson

Carl Fischer

9.4

I’ve seen @Ron R and others post this so many times with such praise, I had to try it. Such a great wine! Deep burgundy in the glass, this fruit-forward wine hits you with massive black fruit, sweet oak, hints of clove. Pop and pour, crowd pleasing goodness. Why did I wait so long to get this??? This may be the best sub-$50 wine I’ve had. Curious how this compares to prior vintages - anyone who’s tried the ‘15 as well as prior vintages please share! — 8 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.5

Exceptional balance. Rich, but so fresh. Pears, orange, flowers, lemon curd, cream, brioche, nut. Long, powerful palate, underlined by a driving acidity.

Some thoughts: In my eyes, RMs tend to fall into "extreme" categories e.g. Laherte - austere, Egly - rich (lees), Agrapart - rich (oak), Selosse - oxidative; but this wine doesn't fit here. NM-like, but not (I think of Chartogne-Taillet when I say this). Compare to Krug's Grand Cuvee, the Grands Vintages is definitely richer and broader (fair comparison, given how both wines are constructed).

From Chain Bridge Cellars:
As the name suggests, Eric Rodez’s Grand Vintages is a rich, powerful and very much “grand” wine in the tradition of Krug (where Eric learned his craft). This year's release is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay from seven great vintages going back to vintage 2000. Eric ages all of these base wines in used oak and blocks malolactic fermentation to maximize freshness and vibrancy. Then the carefully crafted blend spends 8 full years on the lees before being disgorged this October. The dosage is ultra-low - 2 or 3 g/l - so this could be labeled "Extra Brut," but there's so much richness and depth here that "Brut" seems more appropriate to Eric.

Past releases have earned plenty of critical praise, including 17.5/20 points from Jancis Robinson, 93 from Vinous, and 92 from Wine Advocate. This year’s release is explosive on the nose and palate, pumping out big notes of lemon curd, caramel, toasted nuts, baking bread, crushed chalk, and more. The flavors just balloon out to fill your entire palate and finish with layer upon layer of mouthwatering pie crust, lemon curd, hazelnut, crushed stone and salty caramel flavor. Try holding some for even more richness! — 9 years ago

Russ W

9.4

Allow me a beer concession to praise 3 floyds from the mountain tops. — 10 years ago

Yancy

8.9

Somewhere between good and great is where you'll find this wine. Open it and the taste is good. Continue drinking and you'll find this wine is great. High Praise for this attractive Rhône wine.

Price paid - $7.99 NH - State Outlets — 10 years ago