Willie Carter

8.9

A remarkably pretty gleaming gold color with persistent bubbles. Everything about the nose is natural, fresh, and alluring. Apple is dominate in the beginning with lemons and limes developing. Brioche, chalk, and a hint of spice round things out.

It’s truly amazing just how ready all of these 2012’s are. They are all shining like diamonds immediately. Grower producers are working magic. 60/40 CH/PN, this is a very traditional champagne but elevated. The acidity is wild and beautiful at the moment and will calm down with time. Even on day 2 this retains that freshness and refinement.

The palate showcases some really nice, vibrant citrus fruit. Grapefruit, cherries, and wild strawberries up front. Peaches and cheese with minerality and a little smoke. Definitely ready now but built to last. Precise and creamy. Very nice.
— 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

Generally regarded as New Zealand’s best expression of a left bank Bordeaux blend. This is a dense Ruby red in colour. Aromas of cedar, cassis, mint, leafy and a menthol note - generally classic left bank descriptors. Quite balanced - a medium plus weight palate - medium tannins and acid. Still a good future into the late 20’s or early 2030s. Sam Kim, who is a NZ wine taster and commentator described this wine on release as the greatest wine ever released in New Zealand which was a big call at the time. Bob Campbell MW said “Coleraine doesn’t get much better than this. “ — 5 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

Tasted blind. Dark brown gold with notes of warm orange sauce and spice. Flamboyant and rich. Long finish. A perfect finish to the wines tonight. Guessed mid-70's d'Yquem. — 5 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.5

In case anyone is wondering, "S" means Selection... And where might this selection be from? Aulerde. So another declassified GG from the maestro, KP! How does it taste? Pure liquid gold. Drinking so well now. Acid integrated right in, just the right amount of tdn to fruit ratio, playful on the tongue, and that texture. I would say this could do with even more lay time. It's quite primary really... The fruits are quite ripe and sweet (candied). I really love the dried flower element here and the minerality... Bwah! So good. Honestly, the true success here is how fast we reached the bottom of the bottle without even realising it. Another class act from KP! — 6 years ago

Matt Sterr

9.2

This is what affordable American Lager should be. It doesn’t taste like corn syrup, which is a plus as well as a rarity these days. Light enough that you can drink a bunch of them with the flavors I imagine the myriad of independent regional American lagers of the ‘50’s and 60’s might have exhibited. Loved this one. — 7 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.4

Mein Gott is this good. Deep gold color. Nose oozes honeyed, petrolly minerality and peach pit. So much dry extract here. Zingy acids buoying up very stone essence minerality and pithy fruit. Wow. — 8 years ago

with Lyle

Mike Saviage

9.3

Light straw gold. Succulent nose with bright fruit... apricot, lemon, clay, marzipan and spearmint. Rich and round in the mouth. Nice structure that weighs on the fruit side more than the acidity. Really nice juice. One of the better 06's that I recall tasting or drinking. Can certainly improve but nice now. — 8 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.2

Good enough for Covid Oscars...bright, limpid gold, round, creamy, soothing attack! Starts pushing out the ripe, red apple, dripping juicy pear.... really nice with the runny triple cream and the crumbly, salty, crystallized Pecorino. I think this wine deserves another point... maybe point and s half. Lucious glass of bubbles! Cheers! — 4 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

Tasted blind, from two combined bottles. Dark gold color. Hazy in the glass because our host wanted to include the fine sediment in the pours. Great nose. Notes of apricot, petrol, rocks and stones, some spice. Sweet impact in the mouth, packs a wallop with its still present light acidity. Guessed 60’s-70’s German. Over the evening this grew and grew, delivering some Wow moments for everyone. — 5 years ago

Conrad Green

9.0

Light gold. Slight bubbles. Probably 80’s. Pretty white flowers and apple noes with honey and pin pricks of acidity. Pretty — 6 years ago

with David, Walker and 2 others

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. — 7 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.1

Light gold. Slightly heavier and deeper color than the D&S (Coche) Meursault. Tropical nose of apricot, sweet ripe fruit and vanilla. In the mouth its rich and glycerol with more weight. A little heat too. Longer finish. Side by side I like the Coche more. — 9 years ago

Sarah Stierch

Food & Wine Editor Sonoma Valley Sun

9.5

Pinot, Syrah and Semillion make for a funky as heck sparkler with s beautiful gold-orange hue. 🍾👌🏻 — 9 years ago

David L

9.6

14’ d'Yquem "Y" 75% SB 25% Semillon.
Let this warm up & open up in the glass for a good 30+ minutes. Medium gold color. Yellow/green apple, apricot, white peach, pear, hint of honey. wrapped in light/medium acidity. Everything plays together beautifully. Wonderfully made wine.

Want to thank Ronnie for not just picking up this wine and throwing it into his wine cellar for the last year +. Just being an all-around great guy. Thanks again for everything. @Ron R . Wanted to give this a proper post from last nights dinner. — 5 years ago

Daniel Taub

9.4

Deeper gold than some of the other 14’s but drinking quite well — 5 years ago

Andrew Holod

National Sales Grapes of Spain

9.3

Pale gold. Fresh crushed ivy leaf, golden fruits, pineapple. Seems dry but probably a few grams r/s in entry feels just off dry. Great w charcuterie. — 5 years ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.4

The wine maker is Leon Gold the importer is Lyle Fass. A Pinot in a Riesling bottle. I know Lyle will not be happy this wine needs time to rest but I expect these 15’s to be robust. Very dark. Cherry nose touch Cardamon. In the glass flat out like a 1er Cru Burgundy. A German Gevrey Chambertin at 33% of the price quite spectacular. I hope I bought the 16. Boy this is really really good. Earthy in the glass but also 🍒 touch cinnamon and a spritz of Mexican lime. There is really no need to pay 100$ for Burgundy if you can get this. Wanne by the way means tub. So this is probably a warm well protected site with plenty of sun. I will visit this winery for sure. — 7 years ago

with Lyle

Mike Saviage

9.2

Tasted blind. Medium gold color. Looks older. Notes of dried apricots and beeswax. In the mouth it's nicely rich, but there's no significant acidity to balance against the fruit. We are all convinced this isn't Chardonnay. I guess 70's Bordeaux Blanc. No, its (old) CA Chardonnay. Interesting data point. — 7 years ago

Bruce McKillican

9.0

Tastes like Christmas — 8 years ago

Eric Egan

9.5

Phenomenal Auslese from this out-of-the-way Staatsweingut Trier vineyard. Pale green-gold sheen of a very young wine. Beautifully pungent yet delicately nuanced nose of raw unripe grape juice and pips, peach kernel, Chinese gooseberries, dragonfruit, and dandelions; stunning concentration of flavours on the palate with crushing layers of musky fruit and incredible knife-sharp acidity. This excellent example of the '83 vintage just goes to show how nowhere in the world even comes close to the M-S-R! — 9 years ago