Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Back @BalancesRestaurant - Lucerne. Yes, it is that good.

A little backstory on this 2nd wine of Clerc Milon. This was made by my friend Jean Danjoy. He was the Asst. Winemaker at Opus One for 10 years before making the decision to go back to Bordeaux to redesign the winemaking facilities at Clerc and making his first vintage, 2009. A grand Bordeaux vintage to make his first Clerc Milon. He now overseas all the Rothschild properties, including Mouton. He is uber talented and perhaps the nicest human being I have met. He is also the one that showed Sofia & I how to taste & judge vineyard fruit for harvest in 2012.

Jean decided to make this second wine primarily for restaurant lists.

The nose shows brilliant red & dark florals. Dark cherries, poached strawberries, blackberries, black currant core, black raspberries, pomegranate, oak barrel powder, some anise, black tea, gentle baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanillin, caramel notes & dark chocolate, dark, rich, subtle earth, dark withering flowers.

You could make a case for rounding this up to 93.

The fruits are ripe…special. Even glorious. Very soft and rounded M-M+ tannins. Dark cherries, poached strawberries, blackberries, black currant core, black raspberries, pomegranate, oak barrel powder, some anise, black tea, cola, beautiful, round dark spice that long sets w/ the most gentle palate heat, gentle baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanillin, caramel notes & dark chocolate, dark, rich, subtle earth, some fresh & dry tobacco, soft leather, very soft graphite, dark withering flowers. Excellent rainfall acidity with a well balanced, softly structured, elegant finish that last 80 seconds and lands on gentle dark spice, loamy earth and fruit.

Great pair with the Venison. — 19 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2021 vintage. Yeah. Medium-heavy bod. Tremendous richness in the frontal palate finding a durty backstory on the finish to complete the project and destroy the competition. This is one of those "I've never had a" wines that catapults tasters into believers/disciples. Forget the Kool-Aid and pour this instead. 7.17.24. — a year ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.2

I’m kinda over Pinot Gris Ramato and then I come across a wine like this that makes me rethink everything. Yes, it has those classic notes of skin contact Pinot Gris (rose hip, red currant, candied strawberry) but it’s so fresh and clearly comes from a place — in this case the volcanic region of Hungary’s Lake Balaton — it’s flinty, with that volcanic licorice spice / allspice — and clearly from a cooler climate. The story behind the winemaker — a brave man in his 70s who has a former wine director for a Soviet Co-op, who now just wants to make good, natural wine his own way—and the label “Abeles” named for the Jewish family whose abandoned estate he found himself making wine out of before discovering an underground cellar and digging up the history of a family whose members were nearly all murdered during the Holocaust. It’s a just a great fucking wine without knowing the backstory; the backstory makes it profound. — 2 years ago

Doug Powers

9.1

[40% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Cinsault, 10% Carignan, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Counoise] So, quick backstory on this one, the proprietor of Montfaucon and my brother spent a year together at UCD in whatever degrees they each got, but it was Viticulture and Enology, about 35 years ago, which about 20 years ago led to their producer/importer relationship. Anyway, Rodolphe (Rudi) always labeled this as a Côtes du Rhône, but most of the fruit was actually grown within the confines of Lirac. Eventually Rudi decided to join the Lirac grape growers association, and separated this cuvée into Lirac “Baron Louis” and Lirac and Côtes du Rhône. So, bottom line, this 50-90 year-old-vine cuvée (apparently 12 months in small oak barrels, but I’d guess NOT new) Lirac (CdR in this case) has always drank like a mini-CdP, and this 2009 is mature, or close, but still shows great acidity and balance (14% ABV), medium-long finish, very, very fine Côtes du Rhône!! K&L in SF (direct import) and I believe Kobrand on East Coast import these wines!! Finally, for full disclosure, Rudi is a friend, I have NFI, but I do have a lot of his wines in my cellar. Anyway, not sure what vintage was “relabeled” Lirac instead of CdR, but at least starting by 2014 the “Baron Louis” you might see at retail will be “Lirac”!! — 2 months ago

with Jim

David Kline

9.5

26 degree brewing in Pompano Beach, FL. Oktoberfest Marzen Lager.
Auburn amber, hibiscus tea colored marzen with a red-cream head and sharks tooth lacing. Honey-pecan nose also shows molasses and a hint of maple with a bitterness backstory verging on brown bread or coffee rye. Rich palate shows coffee and Brazil-nut, dark roasted almond, root beer, cream soda and chicory. This Marzen brings all the adumbrated beer hall’s charm and rustic gestalt. Thoughtful and authentic.



#26degreebrewing #26degreeoktoberfest #26degree #flbeer #pompanobeach #marzen #marzenlager #beer #bier #biere #birra #cerveza — a year ago

with Courtney

Izzy J

9.0

Great Hungarian backstory about the strength of bulls blood making them strong against the ottoman.
Pleasant wine — 3 years ago

Ted Corvey

9.6

Some backstory, but a bottle I had been after and stumbled into two and couldn’t wait long to open one. Did not disappoint. Lower alcohol - 13% - really suits this wine. Great acidic balance. Always rewarding when a long anticipated bottles hits. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

This was one of those rare nights where I had zero obligations…so I decided it might be fun to grab one of the relative newcomers to my cellar and head down to Mertz, sit at the bar, and share with the staff. Upon arrival, I was met immediately by the incomparable Matt Brown who asked if I would like to sit next to Dan Morgan. “Morgan Ranch Dan Morgan? Uhhh…yuh!” I duly handed my bottle to Matt and he kindly introduced me to Dan. After exchanging some pleasantries, I sat down and suggested we open the Brisset and see what it’s about. Dan was game so we proceeded to enjoy the evening, covering a range of topics from travel to the state of our education system and much more. It should go without saying that we each enjoyed a couple of steaks from his ranch too. I mean, obviously.

Initially, we popped and poured a single glass. It was beautiful, particularly on the nose, but seemed a touch reticent on the palate so we elected to splash decant. We enjoyed this bottle over the course of several hours where it really started to thrill after getting a nice bit of air. The wine pours a deep ruby color with a deep but transparent core; medium viscosity, with very light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with gorgeous, even unctuous, notes of ripe red (and some black) fruits: strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, Bing cherry, red flowers, licorice, warm spices, and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. Wow…such a youthful beauty…and it’s already giving me some sugar. The quality is obvious, almost startling. Drink now with patience but better after 2032 and through 2052+. Thanks for the assist @Lyle Fass

P.S. I should provide the Morgan Ranch backstory. Located in Burwell, Nebraska, the Morgan Family were one of the very first producers of Japanese Wagyu cattle outside of Japan; Dan brought the first herd from Japan back in 1993. They are, to my knowledge, the only Wagyu producer that exports back into Japan. — 8 months ago

Kimberly Sebby

9.3

So good! Red blend with a great backstory — 2 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2019 vintage. The backstory of this wine is essential. The powers that be pushed the A7 highway through Châteauneuf-du-Pape back in the day and relegated this wine/area to Côtes-du-Rhône status. Freeways/highways being the new geographical rivers/mountains/boundaries. Same soil. Same grapes. Same winemaking. The ‘19 vintage not to be missed in Southern (or Northern) Rhône. A “baby” Châteauneuf at roughly a third of the usual Beaucastel CDP pricing. Explosive, dark and dense fruit with particular emphasis on plummy qualities. Some sweetness due to the vintage. Absolutely lip-smacking and undeniably, super-drinkable. — 4 years ago