Sipping Fine Wine

8.9

Founded in 1877 in Nuits-Saint-Georges, a little village the heart of the Côte d’Or by Jean Bouillot, a wine and spirits merchant. A blend of Chardonnay and Aligoté from both northern & southern Burgundy. Pale yellow with fragrant aromas of stone fruit and some biscuit notes. The palate shows apple and pear flavors, lemon zest with nice texture. Tangy long finish, vivid acidity, champagne like, pleasant, ending with fresh yeast character. Tasting Sample. — 7 years ago

Scott E. Becker

9.0

[Tasted on September 19, 2018 at Home]

Purchased at winery tasting held at Midtown Wine and Spirits. Blend from three vineyards. 96% Sauvignon Blanc, 4% Semillon. 50% stainless steel, 25% seasoned French oak, 25% new French oak. Green apple, lime, pineapple, peach with a hint of vanilla. Zippy acidity and stony minerality. Wine paired beautifully with Mahi Mahi. — 8 years ago

Jordan Wardlaw

9.2

Easily the most enigmatic wine of this morning’s tasting. Briny, savory, ever-changing and shifting as I keep coming back to it. Everything from golden apple to tropical to green herbs and white flowers and dash of honey. The sum of its parts only merely suggests Riesling- I’ll admit I would have called this Loire Chenin. Beautiful wine with a unique identity and sense of place, produced from some of the oldest Riesling vines in the country. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

I bought my first vintage from this producer & terroir beginning with the 2010 vintage and what a vintage to start. I bought four bottles for right around $50 or a little less. They were so amazing, I drank through them in no time at all. For those of you that read my posts, that’s not normally what I do. I like to drink one & age the rest. Since then, I have looked & looked for more. I’d finally given up hopes of finding more until recently I struck gold. I should have bought all nine bottles but a calmer head prevailed. It’s definitely changed since having it fresh. On the nose, the fruits are slightly macerated. Heather honey, beeswax, golden & green apple, pineapple upside down cake, slight orange citrus blend, mango, glazed nuts, soft, delicate, chalky minerals, a touch of jasmine & yellow lilies. The body is much rounder & thicker than when it was young. Waxy. So, beautifully layered across the palate. Much of the palate matches the nose. Heather honey, beeswax, golden & green apple, apricots, peach, pineapple upside down cake, slight orange citrus blend, mango, slight molasses character & glazed nuts with citrus blossoms, yellow lilies & jasmine. The minerals are much more grippy & bold as they cut across and set on the palate. The acidity round & phat. The texture is amazing as is the length, balance & beautiful, rich, long finish that lasts two-minutes plus. So glad I found more of this wine! Hubert Lamy seriously over deliver the terroir & the price point by a country mile. If you are not buying this wine on pre-arrival, you are missing great wine and excellent value. Can’t say enough good things about it. Especially, the 2010. I expect the 15 to hold similar quality. Photos of; Olivier Lamy, Olivier working in this vineyard, barrel room and their Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Vineyard. Producer notes and history...There have been Lamy’ s growing vines in St-Aubin since 1640, today it is run by Olivier Lamy. Olivier is a new breed of Burgundian grower keen to progress. He trained Méo-Camuzet & made a number of vintages before taking over in 1996 from his father Hubert. Hubert Lamy used to sell fruit to négociants, but that stopped in 1997. He grubbed up and sold off peripheral vines, keeping only the best and oldest sites. Currently he is experimenting with different planting densities in a quest to capture even greater expression of terroir. The Domaine produces both reds and whites and now has 16.5 hectares of vineyards, mostly in St-Aubin but also own a few parcels in Chassagne-Montrachet and a tiny plot in the Grand Cru Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. Yields are kept low and recent innovations have been introduced with selection tables in the cuverie to ensure that only the healthiest and ripest grapes are used. His more recent move to reduce the amount of new oak with the introduction of demi-muids 300-600 liter barrels have also helped to improve the wines. Vinification is traditional and the wines are matured with only 20-30% new oak for 12 months before minimal filtration and then bottling. The quality is very high and is often superior to many wines from much more prominent villages that sell at twice the price or more. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.0

I'm pretty sure I paid $18.99 or $21.99 for this private label Cab at K&L Wine Merchants. If you are not buying this wine by the 1/2 case or case...then, holding it for 4-5+ years, you are missing a great QPR opportunity. It's a great everyday wine and at it's price and it doubles as a quality wine to serve and impress friends on the weekend. This is a $50+ Napa Cabernet tonight. The details on Kalinda is K&L buys juice from quality producers or has a quality producer make wine for them under their private label. It's a wine to buy year in and out! When you have it 5+ years later, you'll sip it with a smile thinking how good it is and feeling even better about how little it cost you. It's easy to pay a lot of $ for a good wine. The real trick is to find an affordable quality wine that's worth 2-3 times what you paid for it. A bit of 411 on K&L. The staff at K&L as a whole are amongst the best in the country, if not the best. They experience very little turnover and they been doing wine & spirits for around 40 years. They have awesome relationships with all the wine regions and are greatly respected by producers and vendors alike. They have been traveling to all the major wine regions multiple times a year for a very long time. Good knowledgeable people who are very personable & accessible. — 10 years ago

Caroline Margiotta

9.5

Truly an excellent value wine, highly drinkable, and one I love to keep on hand. This Bourgogne Blanc has high acidity, a crisp mouthfeel, and refreshing minerality, with some lovely floral notes, hints of apple, citrus, and other crisp fruits. It's a lovely complement to fish, bratwurst and sauerkraut, French country-style vegetables, and a whole host of other dishes, and is quite lovely on its own as well. — 11 years ago

George Catallo

9.0

Sweet brandy notes with subtle oak, vanilla, caramel, dried plums, baked apple, and a light corn sweetness dominate the nose. The palate has a wine like acidity and viscosity packed full of sweet corn, caramel, dried fruit, and even more brandy influence. Oak, sweet vanilla, and dried fruit round out the finish. — 11 years ago

Paul Balsom

9.0

Crisp. Dry. Refreshing. Paired with caprese salad. Also, garlic crackers, apple/cranberry jam, and country pate (pork liver).
— 12 years ago

Severn G

9.3

Micro-bubbles galore, Yum! This might be close second for a Friday evening standard for @David T but tonight it is flowing into glasses on the complete opposite side of the Country. A wonderful Blanc de Blanc Champagne.

Nose has freshly scrubbed lemon, grapefruit peel, sliced Granny Smith apple, wet chalk, cold brioche and Gardenia blossom in a breeze.

Palate is fresh orange peel, grapefruit peel (like really wow), tart green apple, fresh walnut, crunchy brioche with a little hint of sweetened butter and a splash of acidic ocean water.

Finish is intense, yet elegant and lasting for many minutes. We are quite looking forward the the evolution of this bottle across the evening, as it warms from 46°F and gains air time.

Thank you @David T @Sofia Jalilie for allowing us into your week closing tradition. The next bottle should have us closer together. — 7 years ago

GabWine

9.2

Color : White
Wine estate : Louis Bovard
Designation : Lavaux
Name : Salix - Chenin Blanc
Country : Switzerland
Vivino : 4.5/5
Note : Louis Bovard makes bio-dynamic culture and has introduced in the Lavaux new grape varieties such as Chenin Blanc. The name of Salix comes from the Latin word meaning the willow, with which one braided the branches to make baskets of vintage. A golden yellow straw robe with a nose of citrus, pineapple and mineral. Once in the mouth, the explosion of flavor with a nice acidity and a taste of citrus and apple. The final is excellent, it remains in the mouth and perfectly accompanied a fish.
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Louis Bovard fait de la culture bio-dynamique et a introduit dans le Lavaux des nouveaux cépages comme ce Chenin Blanc. Le nom de Salix vient du terme latin signifiant le saule, avec lequel on tressait les branches pour faire des paniers de vendange. Une robe dorée jaune paille avec un nez d’agrumes, ananas et minéral. Une fois en bouche, l’explosion de saveur avec une belle acidité et un goût d’agrumes et de pomme. Le final est excellent, il reste bien en bouche et accompagné parfaitement un poisson.
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👍🏻Vivino, FB : GabWine | IG : gabriel_dvl 🥂 — 8 years ago

Matthew Steilen

9.3

This is wine from Steilen country.

Layers of fruit. Cantaloupe, banana, apple, honey. Petrol, lichen, forest floor. Funky, old. Yes!! — 8 years ago

Daniel Argandona

8.9

Eponymous wine from Basque country . Slightly effervescent bracing minerality/peaches/green apple/underripe pear. Delicious and should be great counterpoint to light basque stew with chorizo and clams tonight....so I'm told — 9 years ago

with Alexandre

Pierre Idiart

9.3

Fine line ghost peach color. Short toasted nose with a beautiful fresh strawberry palate dancing into a memory ( like biting into a red delicious Washington Apple, over plump and perfect, on a country side road) : A Structured, elegant rose, with razor wire nerve: Wish I'd had another bottle — 9 years ago

Daniel Martinez Cardenas

9.0

High quality French Chardonnay with a good amount of lemon and green apple, nice acidity and floral notes. I had it with fish tacos. French wine, Mexican food in the good Ol' USA? Yeah baby! That's what this country is all about, a melting pot of cultures. www.hitimewine.net — 9 years ago

Thomas Jordan

9.5

This surprise arrived in my office yesterday. Thank you Anna & the country of France for this delicious treat. Apple, butter & vanilla. — 11 years ago

with Anna

Emily Kresie-Harrington

9.2

Super perfumy, as dry Muscat should be. Jasmine, elderflower, white grapes, white fig, green apple, Thai basil herbal interesting note going on. Great acid structure that held up for a few days. Great example of variety with several centuries of history in the country. — 11 years ago

Ryan Mullins

9.0

Lot # 14 Apple tart, salted Carmel and tons of other stuff. American whiskey standing tall! — 11 years ago

Thomas Savre

10

The origin of cider ! Basque Country !!! — 12 years ago

Eric Hwang

9.5

Smooth beyond belief. — 12 years ago

Susan Hanners

8.9

Grapefruit notes, like a Sauvignon Blanc but with body. Green apple notes, no bite — 7 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.1

As usual, this is the one dry Hexamer wine to perpetuate the tradition of Prädikat, and that is done solely to satisfy the Norwegian importer who takes all of it. (All to one country, yes; but this has become a high-volume cuvée by estate standards.) The fruit comes from the Eisendell as well as from a site known as Grosser Stein for the huge stone that marked the boundary between the holdings of the Rheingrafen (counts) and those of the Disibodenberg monastery. Picked nearly a month earlier than was the highly-impressive 2016, this weighs-in at 11.9% alcohol, and that shows in an attractive sense of levity and spring vis-à-vis Hexamer’s other dry Rieslings of this vintage. Fresh lime, apple, piquant aromas as well as a juicy, crisp-edged and pip-tinged presence on the glossy palate serve for penetrating. Subtly bitter but cooling and stimulating notes of melon rind compound the sense of crunch and piquancy while lovely, bittersweet inner-mouth perfume adds allure. The combination of vivacity and refreshment with floral and mineral intrigue renders the buoyant, bell-clear, seriously-sustained finish next-sip compelling. (David Schildknecht, Vinous, April 2019) — 7 years ago

Alexander Vadas

9.4

Apple ice vine from Basque Country! Cider notes. Served with apple sorbet. — 8 years ago

Willie Carter

9.3

What an outrageously beautiful wine. Pale, pale straw color in the glass. Slightly seductive nose of green apple, kiwi, grapefruit, and lime. Medium body with some sexy long legs that go on and on. I don’t hate Sauvignon Blanc per se, but I’ve never loved the varietal. This is a game changer. Stone fruits, lemon-lime spritzer, strawberry, apricot, and honeydew on the complex palate. Long finish with minerality and more tropical fruit. One of the best white wines from one of the best producers in the country. — 8 years ago

Cheryl

9.5

Actually Mary Ruth 2016
Light slightly acidic good for pool or with food not sweet pear apple honeysuckle tones — 9 years ago

Ichiro Kawachi

9.3

Almost a (dare I say it) bubblegum nose. Followed by custard apple tart. Raises the spirits on a dull day. — 9 years ago

Nigel Stuke

9.6

So good, so appley and toasty. One of my favorite spirits I've had in a long time — 10 years ago

MICHAEL COOPER DipWSET

Owner TomeVinos wine shops, WSET Level 3, Blogger www.spanishwinesandmore.com, blog.tomevinos.com

10

What can I say? — 10 years ago

Shane M. Nicholson

9.4

Blue Mountain Cherry Cider from Milton- Freewater Oregon. These guys are THE best in the country. Washington apples are like Michigan cherries.....epic. And guess what? They are smart enough to buy Traverse City cherries for the Blend? Mind blowing combo. AND, they do it right. Fresh pressed. No force carbonation. No added sugars. No added caramel colors. Orchard to bottle. Literally. That's it! Unlike those other brads that buy frozen Chinese apple concentrate, dump some potassium sorbate, and fake bubbles and serve that shitty soda pop as " cider". Frankly that kind of faux" orchard" crap makes me " angry"! Get it?? Ya see what I did there?? :). Truth be told - Uncle Johns, Tandem, Crispin..... You all do a nice job. Blue Mountain........league of their own. — 11 years ago

Caitlin H

9.9

A gin for those who don't like gin. It has a crisp clean taste and is very refreshing. Great with ginger-ale or in a French 75. — 11 years ago

Jonathan Oakes

9.0

Sadly, no pear inside Chris Grimm. — 12 years ago