Deep ruby in color; black cherries, blackberries, and cigar box on the nose; high acidity; high tannins; tastes like black currant, crushed gravel, and a little eucalyptus with a long finish. It needs to decant a bit longer. Very structured, but delicious. After a hyperdecant, and sitting for an hour, the tannins mellowed a little and everything tastes more integrated. I'm taking off 1 point because the eucalyptus is too strong for me, but I still love this wine! Nellie says it's ok. — 5 days ago
I was disappointed by the amarone before so I popped up this one to find a great reliable pour for the last evening of our guest and best friend from back home (and yours truly last evening before a day off).
What comes to mind is umami. The nose is full on cedar, cigar box, tar, black currant and soy sauce. The palate is massive, wide, grainy, silky, tannic in the rear with a grain, some chocolate and that umami, meat sauce touch that lingers for a very long moment. Bordeaux grand cru classé like you would like it to be every single time. 🥺 — 4 hours ago
Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.
Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 16 days ago
Splash decanted directly prior to service, the 2018 Morey Saint Denis pours a deep ruby with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears. On the nose the wine is youthful with powerful notes of ripe and tart red fruits: red cherries, red brambles, red flowers, some herbs and a healthy dollop of warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and luxurious. A fairly flashy wine and, to my palate, the oak is showing prominently right now. Not out of balance, but close. The alcohol is up there…but it is pretty well disguised. Not wimpy, that’s for sure. While this is certainly full of energy and character right now, I think this wine would enjoy some time in the cellar to show even better. Drink from 2028 through 2043. — 14 days ago
This rating is just my taste. Not a reflection of the quality of the wine. I generally don’t care for the St Emilion region. The wine is just too austere for me. It’s 22% cab franc. It had a slight puckering dried out character without balance to me. Definitely can tell it’s a well made wine. Perhaps with a strong food pairing this would be a better experience for me but it was a wine I didn’t enjoy drinking. — 3 days ago
Lee Pitofsky
Love these wines. Rare to find with some age! 2011 is superb tonight, complexly aromatic wafting layers of dark fruit, olive tapenade, camphor, bacon fat and black truffle. The palate shows excellent density and concentration with balanced acids, melting tannins and a stunningly long finish. Beautiful wine. — 12 hours ago