Rebecca Hopkins

PR Folio Fine Wine Partners

9.7

1999 vintage. deep brick red fading to pale brick rim. Wet charcoal wet graphite with textured layers of savory spice and black fruit. Tannin profile terrific with long chain polymer tannins. Milk chocolate cocoa milky tannins leading to a silky finish. Still youthful and vibrant. — 8 years ago

Benjamin Hickey

9.4

Tannins selection program wine. Long chain tannins, extremely subtle tannins but lots of power and concentration behind them. — 8 years ago

Ryan Mullins

9.6

Dangling of the fucking chain! Damn! — 9 years ago

Francesca Tornambe

10

This is smooth, full of flavor and just wonderful to drink with or without a meat and cheese board. The price is fantastic too! — 9 years ago

Michael Byars

9.0

Blend of 3 traditional Portuguese varieties. Big bold tannic smokey cigar box. Leave it to breath otherwise the short chain tannins will bite you — 9 years ago

Chris MacLean

9.2

Bottle 1 of 8 in our 2012 Napa cab tasting at Chain Bridge Cellars. One of my favorites of the night. Lean, fresh, angular. 14.1% alcohol. — 10 years ago

with Gabrielle, Alessandro and 1 other

Matty Daddy

9.2

Sultry. Kinda like a chain-smoking flapper girl ordering prime rib and two fingers of whiskey at a roadhouse in Moline, Illinois. Fruity, oaky, medium-bodied and nicely balanced. The wine was good, too. — 10 years ago

Scott Barber

Wine Educator Meadowood Napa Valley

9.2

At the top of the food chain in Napa — 10 years ago

with Desmond and Christopher

Steven W Alexander

9.7

Off the chain good. One of the best Muscadets ever. — 11 years ago

Paul Mabray

Founder VinTank

10

Great to see our local grocery chain, Vallergas, carrying one of my favorite wines. — 12 years ago

with Angelica, Alex and 2 others

Bill McNavage

9.9

Wine at Colleen and Jeremy's house — 12 years ago

Matt D

9.4

Had the 2014 was great — 8 years ago

Ryan Mullins

9.6

Dangling of the chain — 8 years ago

UGAWineDawg

9.5

Man oh man, this was da bomb - part of the wine pairing this evening at Per SE and Sean killed it - smooth as butter and paired well with the venison - I'm looking this bad boy up and looking down a dose of this fine mamma jamma.
Spice, blackberry, dark fruits and smooth cassis - unbelievable nose and the finish was what you would expect in an off the chain fine California Cab — 8 years ago

Doug Hengel

9.3

From tasting of Produttori wines at Chain Bridge Cellars. Second of the more Barolo-like crus. Structured and rather tannic. But core of dark fruit comes through. Should be great in a few years. — 9 years ago

with Alessandro and Eli

Drew English

9.0

Well rounded and easy to drink. — 9 years ago

Christanna Honer

9.2

Bright, nay, brilliant fruit- tar and roses are soaring out of the glass upon opening. Rich with black licorice, menthol, and almost a truffle-bomb. $65 on a highly marked up chain restaurant wine list--and worth it! Magical with eggplant parm and gnocchi w/ meat sauce. — 10 years ago

Steven Foster

Wine buyer Belmont Wine Exchange

9.2

Merlot from Heidi Barrett's own winery. This is a serious Merlot with an artistic label changing each year. Love the fruit and tannin chain on this one. So light with some serious flavors of cherry and raspberry and cedar wood. Will age for some time. Bring it on. #pnv15 — 10 years ago

Matt Young

8.9

Nice and easy. Bold finish with a hint of spice but otherwise pretty melow. Pretty damn good for $9. Not sure but I think it's a blend. — 11 years ago

Kieran Coyne

9.9

Off the chain Riesling. £46.50 mind. Super long sexy finish of honeyed apple and luscious grass. — 12 years ago

Robbie Haigh-Mclane

9.7

I love this wine. So smooth and sophisticated. Beautiful. One of my favourites and its in a chain of restaurants. — 12 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.5

Exceptional balance. Rich, but so fresh. Pears, orange, flowers, lemon curd, cream, brioche, nut. Long, powerful palate, underlined by a driving acidity.

Some thoughts: In my eyes, RMs tend to fall into "extreme" categories e.g. Laherte - austere, Egly - rich (lees), Agrapart - rich (oak), Selosse - oxidative; but this wine doesn't fit here. NM-like, but not (I think of Chartogne-Taillet when I say this). Compare to Krug's Grand Cuvee, the Grands Vintages is definitely richer and broader (fair comparison, given how both wines are constructed).

From Chain Bridge Cellars:
As the name suggests, Eric Rodez’s Grand Vintages is a rich, powerful and very much “grand” wine in the tradition of Krug (where Eric learned his craft). This year's release is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay from seven great vintages going back to vintage 2000. Eric ages all of these base wines in used oak and blocks malolactic fermentation to maximize freshness and vibrancy. Then the carefully crafted blend spends 8 full years on the lees before being disgorged this October. The dosage is ultra-low - 2 or 3 g/l - so this could be labeled "Extra Brut," but there's so much richness and depth here that "Brut" seems more appropriate to Eric.

Past releases have earned plenty of critical praise, including 17.5/20 points from Jancis Robinson, 93 from Vinous, and 92 from Wine Advocate. This year’s release is explosive on the nose and palate, pumping out big notes of lemon curd, caramel, toasted nuts, baking bread, crushed chalk, and more. The flavors just balloon out to fill your entire palate and finish with layer upon layer of mouthwatering pie crust, lemon curd, hazelnut, crushed stone and salty caramel flavor. Try holding some for even more richness! — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Pale Ruby. Amazing intensity on nose and palate for such a pale coloured wine. Sweet AND Savoury with mushroom and Beetroot notes. Loved this wine - delicious and different with a nod to Burgundy. Philip Murphy is the son of Dan Murphy whose name is famous for being the largest wine retailer in Australia. The liquor chain is owned by Woolworths, Dan died in 2001 and Philip went off with his inheritance after many court battles never having cordial relationships with Dan who was 83 when he died. — 9 years ago

Doug Hengel

9.2

From tasting of Produttori wines at Chain Bridge Cellars. Barolo-like, needs time. Deep, forest floor notes. — 9 years ago

with Alessandro and Eli

Evelyn Marin

9.4

Top of the food chain as far as Copain Pinots go. Impressive, as are most of Wells Pinots. — 9 years ago

Sean Turner

8.9

2006 vintage. Good hearty earthy blend of Shiraz, cab and Merlot. — 10 years ago

Marybeth Prince

9.5

Marybeth had this 10 years ago

John T

9.1

A great little wine for 12 bucks — 11 years ago

Steven W Alexander

9.6

Off the chain good. First vintage I believe of this Mavrotragno. Just a few rows of vines. Reminds me of old Piemonte wine and aged way better than most 03' Barolo... — 11 years ago

Hannah Greensmith

9.8

Located in Cote de Beaune, south of Volnay and north of Puligny Montrachet. Meursault ("Murr-so") has historically been Burgundy's center for white wine production. In fact, nearly all of the 2.5 million bottles produced from 440 ha (1,090 acres) are whites. The soil is a mixture of marl and chalk and is perfectly suited to the production of chardonnay. Meursault wines are known for aromas of hazelnuts, honey and vanilla for its aromas and creamy, almost olive oilllike texture. There are no grand crus in Meursault, though Les Perrières, Les Genevrières and Les Charmes produce remarkable wines. Further, some of the most well-known vineyards of Meursault such as Narvaux and Limozin are not premier cru but Villages-classified vineyards. Recent top vintages include 2008, 2007, 2005, 2002, 1999, 1996, 1993, 1990.


With 437ha. of vineyards dedicated to Villages wine or Premier Cru, Meursault has the largest area permitted to be planted in white wine in the Cote-d'Or. Furthermore, despite the fact that the village lacks even one grand cru, Meursault has historically been Burgundy's center for white wine production, in the past even more so than Puligny-Montrachet or Chassagne-Montrachet. While much of those two villages had in the past been planted to red grapes, Meursault has always been white wine territory. In fact, the modern day vineyard of Les Combettes in Puligny-Montrachet, which forms a continuous chain with the premier crus of Meursault, was once considered part of Meursault and not Puligny, where the many nearby vineyards produced red wine. There are several important factors that determine the reputation of Meursault. Primarily, the soil throughout most of Meursault is perfectly suited to the production of chardonnay; it is a mixture of marl and chalk, that when combined with a largely east or southeast exposure creates healthy grapes that are full of character. Another factor correlates to geology, though in a very different way. Meursault's high water table allows its residents to carve deep, cold cellars "perfect for the production of wine" into the chalky, stony soil. So, while large negociants from Beaune dominated the production and marketing of Burgundy throughout time, Meursault remained a wine of its own citizens. Contributing to this, since red wine has been more prized throughout time, these same negociants looked elsewhere for sources because the wine of Meursault has always been white.

What makes the wine so special? The most common descriptors attached to Meursault are hazelnuts, honey and vanilla for its aromas and creamy for its texture. However, this simplifies things quite a bit. In most cases, Meursault despite an almost olive-oil texture is countered by a precise mineral character, stoniness and a more refined overall palate than, for instance, Chassagne-Montrachet. It's the unique stony/mineral character that often gets lost when tasting Meursault, as many concentrate on the ripe, hedonistic primary flavors and aromas. It's the bipolarity of the wine, the interplay of both factors, that makes Meursault one of the most sought after white wines in the world. As mentioned above, there are no grand crus in Meursault, though many would argue that Perrieres, Genevrieres and Charmes can attain these lofty heights in the hands of the best producers. Further, some of the most well-known vineyards of Meursault such as Narvaux and Limozin are not premier cru but Villages-classified vineyards, though again, the best examples are clearly of higher quality. source: http://www.burgundywinecompany.com/wines/display.php?subregion=Meursault — 12 years ago