Evan Griffith

9.2

Ethereal. Strawberry fairies performing a ballet on floating rose petals and raspberry dreams. — 6 years ago

Hetty Forsyth

9.2

“That is where everything begins, where everything is settled and their ideal is as simple as ABC: "a wine to drink over and over again", a subtle wine, with fruit hints, harmonious and vigorous at the same time and which would ideally gather rugby men and ballet dancers, sweet dreamers and loudmouths, curious amateurs and picky aficionados.”
Jacques Maigne, « In Vino » N°6 — 7 years ago

with Nick

Joe Lucca

9.2

Californio dreamin’. The elegance of the Hyde vineyard shows through here. A bull wearing ballet flats. Beef jerky, roasted meat juices, raspberry, vanilla, and charcoal. Really lovely. — 7 years ago

with Diana

Jennifer Craig-Ford

9.6

My favorite style rosé. Not sweet. Not too tart. And I love the almost ballet slipper pink color instead of bubblegum pink. Staple in my home. — 8 years ago

Thomas Brenner

8.9

Like the 1920s Yekaterinburg ballet portraying an airy, gravity-free choreography, while unsupressably bound by the tethers of the Bolshevik revolution. Yearning to soar, yet their ascension be grounded by relentless snowstorms, breezing across the tarmac upon which your vessel must remain.
Tastes like buttered toast with honeyed apricot jam displayed on a woolen table cloth. — 8 years ago

Olya S. Troxel

9.2

Ripe black cherry, blueberry jam, violets, espresso, bitter sweet chocolate, menthol. Big ripe aromas on the nose, great intensity. Well integrated tannins, med+ body. Baking spice and explosive dark fruit on palate. Good complexity. Pairs very well with ballet on Saturday night! — 9 years ago

James Jory

9.0

Pre-ballet dinner. #bliss — 9 years ago

with Courtenay

Jeremiah Allen

9.0

Wearing that strong delicacy. But more of a dude that dances ballet. Color was amazing. Really vivid and reflective, it was fully translucent and ruby nearing the edge — 6 years ago

Norma Normington

9.4

Nose ... honeysuckle. Like a ballet dancer on my tongue; do very light but tasteful with hints — I get — of strawberries and rhubarb. Delicious and could pair with anything. — 7 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.0

Oh hey. This Comptes talks. It says “I am here” the way landing a proper tours jete feels good I probably messed that ballet spelling. But this wine was lovely and lively and precise. — 7 years ago

Andrew Kern

9.1

Apple pie, raisins, sweet. Great dessert wine with tart desserts — 8 years ago

Sybaritewino C.Lawrence

9.0

Just enough botrytis to be sexy without being slutty and a bang on palate of Alsatian Riesling electrical ballet. — 8 years ago

Paul H

9.3

This has beautiful aromas of plums , dark cherries and pepper plus maybe a little cedar. All of that exploded in your mouth with touches of tobacco, leather, ripe dark fruits and a bit of licorice that mix with wonderful tannins and dance a ballet in your mouth. Smooth and sexy finish. I can't wait to revisit the 2010 in five to seven years to see how it develops. — 9 years ago

with Kim

Mason Balistreri

Sommelier, International Wine Guild; Balistreri Vineyard; Sales, Joy Wine and Spirits

9.5

Winemaker Alex Sanchez is about as nice of a guy as I could imagine. So nice in fact, he brought this amazing decade old Cru Barolo from his personal cellar to share with us... Yet again, like all of his wine, the age hardly shows. Confident and elegant, there's so much dance in this wine. It's athletic and full of finesse, but feminine and timeless. If I knew anything about ballet, I would make a ridiculous comparison to a famous ballerina...good thing I don't. — 9 years ago

with Raymond

Roman Sukley

10

2005 Sine Qua Non "The 17th Nail in My Cranium" Sta. Rita Hills Syrah
Buckle your chinstraps folks because tonight we’re headed to the wine world equivalent of the summit of Mt. Everest. The absolute pinnacle in the Universe of wine for yours truly. The “it just don’t get any better than this” moment as far as grapes are concerned. Let me begin first with the name of this magic elixir. If memory serves, it was derived from a combination of the fact that this was the 17th Syrah produced in the Garage d’Or otherwise known as Sine Qua Non, and, in that same year, Manfred was felled by a rogue barrel requiring several staples to close the gash to his cranium, hence... "The 17th Nail in My Cranium"
The wine is a blend of 96.5% Syrah and 3.5% Viognier which was aged 38+ months prior to bottling. % alcohol. 4 hour decant at cellar temperature. Achromatic Raven black motor oil in my Zalto. Undoubtedly, the wines I find most compelling are of the “swirl, sniff and contemplate” variety, and this one might just set the benchmark. Explosive aromatic potpourri of blackberry jam, roasted coffee, fresh ground black pepper, graphite and spice with a faint floral arrangement lurking somewhere in the background. On the palate, sweet cherry compote and black currant with undertones of roasted game and black olives. A big, full bodied wine that’s light on its feet. A tightrope walker. A powerhouse with impeccable manners. Elegant and lithesome. A ballet dancer. Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov in his prime. Complex, with layers of flavors in beautiful, perfect harmony. Crosby, Stills & Nash singing “Suite Judy Blue Eyes.” The Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations.” Perfect balance. Pure, silky mouth feel. Immeasurable finish. And I mean that literally, as in it just continues on and on. Just utter perfection. A wine that is in fact so entirely perfect as to eliminate the need for a search for an alternative. The last word. To paraphrase The Bard, this wine “might (just) be the be-all and the end-all.”

— 7 years ago

Casey Hatfield-Chiotti

9.1

The color of ballet slippers with strawberries on the nose. The taste is a tiny bit fruity; (I get berries like strawberry and raspberry) but it ends with crispness and minerality. — 7 years ago

with Justin

Kristin Stein

9.5

Semi sweet white, great balance, — 8 years ago

Dayne Janisse

9.0

My ballet babes are back yay — 9 years ago

with Levi

Donna Adams

9.0

Drank this at Old Vinings Inn with Kelly Cannon, Beth Murphy and Amanda Morton before the ballet. Very crisp and smooth. Tastes like a Sauv Blanc should. — 9 years ago

Dock Hooks

9.1

Surely the patina among the pennies, this thing is anything but green. It pours deeply dark, but brightens with first light (a flickering candle) to a crimson going burgundy. As I hit it and breath in, its natural yet well-earned elegance and light forest musk coupling blueberry mash speaks softly as she pirouettes onboard like a post-show back-stage ballet (think Dan Fogelberg's Dancing Shoes; if you haven't take a listen) danced just for the moment, while I measure this fine wild flower, or is it the wine measuring me...? Like the dance, the tannins are firm but other than overbearing, instead holding, not tightly, but convincingly "dazzling, dancing, half enchanted..." The wine slow dances blueberries and Bing cherries down my throat whispering that she wants to go all night... I'm a little low on jam and she could use some some acid, but damn, dance on...🍷🕶👣🌀 — 9 years ago