Ryan Merkley

9.3

Gorgeous. Funky. Mind bent. — 7 years ago

Roman Sukley

9.9

2005 Sine Qua Non “The Petition” white blend. 15.8% alcohol. “If All Else Fails.” The perfect day in Chicago. It's a still life water color, of a now late afternoon, as the sun shines through the curtained lace, and shadows wash the room. And we sit and drink our SQN (as Simon & Garfunkel & Sukley might say). Gorgeous yellow gold hues paint the glass. Brioche and buttered popcorn on the nose. Buttered burnt toast and petroleum along with stone fruits and waxy apricot on the palate. A viscous and unctuous masterpiece. Lingering finish. Good Lord I love these SQN whites! What else compares? I can’t think of another white I decant for several hours. 12 years young and evolving. I need to stockpile these wines. People drink em way too young. I sincerely believe his whites will rival Manfred’s reds in longevity. My favorites: The Bride, Twisted & Bent, The Hussy, Rien Ne Va Plus, HooDoo Man, Pearl Clutcher, and whatever comes next. The best of the best. — 8 years ago

Rajiv Ayyangar

10

This is a knockout wine, a stunner, a pitch-perfect expression of love for wine in general, and Loire Cab Franc in particular. It's wild in all the right places, and impressively refined where it counts.
Medium ruby color. Arresting and straight-up delicious nose that has a certain choreography to it. Specifically it reminds me of Jiří Kylián - finding freedom within a melange of classicism and visceral impetus. Exuberance in wine is rare enough, but exuberance with such focus and intention?
The classicist bent was my first impression - a correct nose of stewed bell peppers and coffee grounds (pyrazines), earthy dog fur with slight clove (brett), and a savory blackberry-cherry fruit compote.
Tasted blind, you would guess Loire, but you might wonder at the shifting nature, at how occasionally the bretty flavors rear up in a flourish, only to be overshadowed a second later by a warm, pure fruit. There is something haunting about the fruit here - it seems to contain memories of many different wines. The wildness is complex - dried leaves, dog fur, toasted mushroom, spiced clove, moist earth. The pyrazinic aromas have uncommon depth and character - stewed bell pepper, coffee, and nascent tobacco.
On the palate, the wine dances with an elegant 12.6% alcohol frame, vibrant acidity, and satiny tannins - the medium on which the finish is printed. There is a moment, mid-palate, where the individual components come together seamlessly - a strong argument for structural-aromatic integration in the Clark Smithian sense. On the finish, the flavors subtly unravel, then persist like a vocal ensemble with synchronized vibrato.
Get this. — 8 years ago

Karen Ferguson

10

A dark, medium-bodied ale full of rich coffee and roasted barley tones. Beer AND coffee... what could be better than that?
— 9 years ago

Rose’s Cafe

8.9

Very inexpensive Merlot; under $4.00 at Sherm's. Very nice for every day consumption. 👍 — 9 years ago

Gus Johnson

8.9

Tasted great thru 3 days. Just enough of an AFWE bent to keep my satisfied. — 9 years ago

Randy Fuller

8.9

This pink wine looks more like a red, its brilliant ruby color tinged with a bit of orange. The aromas are fresh, with red cherry - stems and all - joining a floral note. Flavors seems bent more in Tempranillo's direction than Pinot's, cherry in front, spices and fantastic acidity in hot pursuit. There is a late hint of tea that hangs on into the finish, which is lengthy. — 10 years ago

Eric Breece

9.1

Bent Brewstillery's first spirit, Ghost Gunner "Navy Strength" gin. First batch, bottle 17. Nicely put together botanicals and smooth. — 10 years ago

Nosh Rivera

9.7

5 star desert treat — 12 years ago

Peter Wassam

9.2

Fantastic example of winemaking the right way. Of a natural bent but none of the bullshit that goes along with it. Clean and beautiful ripe fruit- pomegranate, red cherry, raspberry, violet. Also some crushed rock and damp dirt. High acid into a soft bed of tannins this got it going on. Also a steal, better than some village Msd at twice the price — 7 years ago

Robert Torretti

8.9

Interesting Oregon Pinot Noir. Light, bright red color and a very clean appearance. Tried it at room temperature and then chilled it. Stood up well to the chill. Nose has a classic bent to it with some earth. Fruits on nose include strawberry, cherry, and maybe some melon or honeydew. Palate of strawberry jam. Clearly made with neutral oak. High acidity in its youth. Note that earlier vintages seem to have lower alcohol (11% or less). The 2015 is 12.68% (gotta love the precision). — 8 years ago

Esther Garcia

10

Amber, orange hue. Complex, creamy texture with quince notes. — 8 years ago

Kete

9.0

Veel lichter dan je gewent bent van rapatel. Maar doet zeker niet onder. Klein aards onder toontje — 8 years ago

Joshua Fisher

9.5

It's not the wine in the caption. It's the wrong wine. The automatic computer thingy got it wrong but who cares. Actually it better that way . It's not a Meo. It's always better when you drink a wine and can't explain it. It's better to have your time with it and it be unexplainable. Don't describe it. Let the computer thing get it wrong.
Even if you were good at such things. Deduction and description. Save it for the describable wines that offer easy description. Break those down with adjectives and nouns and leave me alone and this wine alone with nothing more than a hour spent bent over the bar smiling with friends and never understanding whats happening while it happens right in front of you. — 9 years ago

with Chris

A. R.

9.3

Classic Cornas with a modern bent. Olives, bacon and violets with a heavy sprinkling of pepper. Needs to age and integrate quite a bit, but yum. Long long finish I didn't want to end. — 9 years ago

Rose’s Cafe

8.9

Jammy blackberry and a hint of plum. A bit of spice in the finish. Bargain-priced at the local grocers, I like it better than some much pricier ones that I've had. — 9 years ago

Erin Moushey

10

Loval winery in Mason OH with affordable wines at Country Fresh Market and wine tastings — 10 years ago

Tom Wheelock

9.0

Peppery, good with tri tip — 10 years ago

Eliza Moore

9.9

Tried at the Ekka food & wine pavilion, 2013 — 12 years ago

Allison Burns

9.4

Great $4 bottle!!! — 12 years ago

Andrew Holod

National Sales Grapes of Spain

9.1

Family is home, but this solo dinner of arugula pets and baby potato pizza and Carignan, is spot on. Deep purple, slightly elevated (VA? Hints) aromas of mulberry, bramble fruits and distinct leathery old world bent. High-ish acid. — 7 years ago

Aaron Means

9.7

THE. BEST. DOMESTIC. CHARD!!!!!! Yes, yes, yes. I'm blown away. This is the best domestic chard I've ever drank. This particular vintage is killer. I could poor this in a lineup of top notch Meursault and none would be the wiser, that's how good this is. Intense smoke/funk brought on by minerality that most domestic producers could only dream of. A legendary wine in my book. @June's All Day, Austin TX — 8 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.5

The force is strong with this one. Gravity defying ethereality relative to the immense density of flavor and a mouthfeel that pushes 1,000 thread count. Opens with a wild fruit arrangement of cherry, strawberry, and raspberry that comes through in perfect harmony, followed by grilled tangerine peel and baking spices with an earthy bent. The background is filled with a menagerie of orchard fruit, wildflowers, faint smoke, black tea, and rose hip. The balance and weightlessness are a deceptive precursor to the echo of a noticeably lengthy finish. — 8 years ago

Michael Meyer

9.0

Light and refreshing with a strawberry bent. Paired with oysters and a strawberry chili sauce. Heaven! — 8 years ago

Luis Gaza

8.9

2012 is quite nice — 9 years ago

Sardine House

9.2

Deep garnet robe. Weak nose with promised bent notes of blackberries, black currants and dry wood. Sweet, berry flavour with a short finish with a hint of tannins and a warm finish from the alcohol. Lovely wine to contrast with cheese. — 9 years ago

Rich Dreher

9.3

Not the same herbal bent as the descendants but great dark, stewed fruit character. Delicious jam! — 9 years ago

Joshua Fisher

9.5

At last the sun shines in a cloudless sky and drinking today is reserved with Nicolas. At Bottega and we talk on the patio there and choose a Flowers Pinot Noir brought and opened by Massimo the sommelier . We drink that quickly and then choose a Bovio Barolo from La Morra in 2007. The Bovio tastes like how it feels to listen to Nicolas describe his most recent work in Emola Amity. We drink this slowly. It has been made sturdy. It has a taste of work done. The flavor of August to November. Working with Oregon Pinot for four solid months straight through, Nicolas explains, morning to morning, healthy doing all the work , every big and little thing, widely working all the grapes along to a 2015 wine. It tastes like that but only in 2007 in La Morra. Strengthened.
To me it tastes like talking about my lovely wife. And to say I wish I had the money to buy some good land to build her a home closer to the sea. It tastes like what it would do to me to see her there in that hand built home, very healthy and very alive and perfectly situated, at ease, contented in her place, made.
Fulfilled with the taste of maturity and youth together, us together. A wine bent off the vine by two people only.

The Bovio was in a perfect mood, like a friend listening and sharing his life with me. Life in the sun on the patio. The only two there is except for Massimo. These things can taste like that. — 9 years ago

Alex Guildner

9.4

Oh wow. This is a classy drop. Rich and juicy but oh so smooth! — 11 years ago

Adam M

8.9

Delicious, decadent Grenache from famed winemaker Chris Ringland. A smooth, pleasure bent experience. — 12 years ago