The 2021 Riesling displays spring flowers, crushed green apples and ginger spice. Soft textures and ripe tropical citrus tones appear on the palate, while kiwi and candied lime nuances linger. At 1.27 grams of residual sugar per liter, it maintains a lovely balance of sweetness and energy. $14.00 (Eric Guido, Vinous, March 2023) — 3 years ago
See previous note from 96 weeks ago where I said that I would drink the last one when my son Hugh was home from NY (born 1987) which came to pass last night. Overall not as impressive as the previous tasting but retains its silky tannin structure. Very dark in colour - opaque. Notes of cassis and pipe tobacco - overall dusty without the depth of fruit of the previous tasting. Just medium bodied. Tasting Book recommend a drinking window till 2035 which I would not agree with. Leads me to think I will be drinking my bottles of 86 Mouton sooner rather than later. — 4 years ago



The 2008 Cheval Blanc is one of the go-to wines of the vintage. Now at 15 years old, it has retained the energy and focus it displayed from the outset: black fruit, crushed stone, wilted violet petals and touches of forest floor cohere wonderfully in the glass. The Cabernet here is more expressive. The palate has a slight chewiness on the entry, but it "relaxes" in the glass. It shows off its delicate lattice of tannins and perhaps a bit more backbone than I have observed on previous bottles. It's very intense on the finish where, as before, the Cabernet Franc takes charge. Superb. Keep it another three to four years if you can. Tasted at the Lia's Wings/book dinner at Medlar restaurant. (Neal Martin, Vinous, December 2023)
— 2 years ago
Starting to fall in love with these Montepulciano reserves. This is a great one. Dark penetrating extracts of prune and dark tart cherry that unfold in your mouth like a 500 page book. Subtle, fine grained tannins carry the wine for a 3 minute lingering finish. Montepulciano wines are made from a special Sangiovese selection called Prugnolo gentile, a smaller berry with thinner skin than the larger berries from the Sangiovese grosso selection used in Brunello wines from Montalcino. Destiny flavor, needs a bit of an acquired taste , but once adapted they become addictive. — 3 years ago

This was an evening out in Raleigh while in town for a wedding. We had a glass of the Nine Hats Red Blend. Medium purple with a nose of blackberry jam, strawberries, vanilla, and a slight hint of sweet tobacco. Very much a fruit forward wine on the palate. Full bodied, this is a crowd pleaser. We had this by the glass at Vita Vite in Raleigh, NC. At $20 a bottle this is a great value. — 4 years ago


[Half bottle] This lovely 17-year-old Banyuls has finally knitted together into a very fine example of Dr. Parce Banyuls (old vine Grenache made in the same way as Port), earlier bottles were terribly disjointed and lacking balance and sweetness). Served with Viennese Sacher Torte my wife made for dessert!
Our first Dr. Parce was the 1967 “Vielles Vignes” which was fantastic and is still my reference point. We had that in 1987 at Pierre Gagnaire’s restaurant in St. Etienne, before he moved on to Paris, his staff was kind enough to comp us a bottle — blind — while my brother and I embarrassed ourselves trying to identify the wine!! That bottle was tried with Pierre’s famous “chocolate soup” dessert, the recipe for which was in Patricia Wells’ “Food and Wine Lovers of France” book from the mid-1980s — memorable combination!!! — a year ago
Color of dark purple. Nose of dark fruits, like blackberry and ripe blueberries, minty, sweet vanilla, and nose is plenty. Taste is quite dry, mouthful with bitter graphite, mature and still bold tannins, oak and cedar wood, some more vanilla and hint of dark fruits. Aftertaste shows a bit peppery, oak, and some more bittersweet note. I think she has peaked. — 4 years ago
Somm David T
Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator
My two-day Pork Chop marinade. I have found the Long Shadows Poet Leap to be the perfect pairing.
Here is the recipe. Try it sometime.
4-6 thick cut bone-in pork chops
- 1 cup hoisin sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of Tamari soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
- 2 scallions chopped
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of Lee Kim Kee brand chili sauce
-1 1/2 teaspoons of ginger finely chopped (I triple this)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic finely chopped (again.
I double this)
- 3/4 cup of cilantro finely chopped (no stems)
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
— 4 months ago