Clos Bel Air

Ridge Vineyards

Monte Bello Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2014

Yes—exactly that kind of wine: timeless, composed, and quietly authoritative.

It smells so good on first pour. Damp pine forest floor and clean mountain air register immediately. Everything else unravels from there; but that initial pop-and-pour sniff is pure magic.

On the palate, blackcurrant, cedar, graphite, and dried herbs unfold with control, carried by freshness and finely etched tannins in a medium body.

So classic, so intellectual, and deeply mesmerizing. Drink now or age.
— 5 months ago

Ted, Sagee and 9 others liked this

Château Bel-Air Lagrave

Cru Bourgeois Moulis en Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend 1995

JKT
9.0

Balance and soft textures thirty years! Say ten years after acquiring from JR whose email says matriarch passing freed up this library holding back then. — 8 months ago

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Needed some air , after that wonderful and typical LB perfume. Not super long finish — 2 years ago

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend

Held up well over the 21 years. Complex red and dark fruits, smoke, white pepper. A little Brett that eased with air and ended up adding to the complexity. — 5 years ago

Château Villa Bel-Air

Graves Red Bordeaux Blend

What a great find! Received the 2000 vintage bottle via an exchange in the Bay Area & couldn’t be more thrilled. Usually a North snob, this Product of the Boudreaux region is simply a treat. Not too many in the states left where I shop, so I was able to savior this special number 🙏🌎 — 6 years ago

Château Gruaud Larose

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1999

More power w air. — 7 years ago

Peter, Shay and 4 others liked this

Château Villa Bel-Air

Graves White Bordeaux Blend 2015

Honey and flowers. Well-integrated oak. Rather lovely. — 7 years ago

Alsu Shakirova
with Alsu
Keith, David and 1 other liked this

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1989

1989 vintage. Last tasted 3 years ago (9.6). Nice fill. Durand used to open. Cork 95% saturated with extensive bottle rim cleaning involved before pouring. Not decanted. Tight, minty nose throughout along with a decided, lingering zinc note under the tongue at the finish line. Tasted 2 hours after opening. Power but without delineation. Just a consistent, forgettable push. Nothing wrong with the wine...it just needed more air/time and a decant but it wasn't my call. Feel like the zinc flavor would have dissipated/blown off with more time. Good but more memorable for what it wasn't vs what it was. Pity and an entire wasting of what could have been. 11.21.25. — 6 months ago

Tom, Paul and 16 others liked this
Pinotman /// Andreas

Pinotman /// Andreas

Very interesting and diplomatic note.
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego Premium Badge

@Pinotman /// Andreas Had to bite my tongue.

Château Bel Air

Lussac-St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

Liked it with and without food, had a bit of a bite. S actually said he liked it (he tried it on the second day it was open) — 4 years ago

Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé

Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Musigny Grand Cru Pinot Noir 1990

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny. Nose is closed and not yielding much. I get cranberries, some cherries, iron and stones, some wood. Has a high pitched character to it. Has some pucker in it yet. Tight with ample acidity. I guess 97 Vogue Bonnes Mares. In my experience this wine has had some variations in its performance. Today it was better than most, but suffered by not getting ample air before it was served. — 6 years ago

Martin, Tom and 20 others liked this
Alan Weinberg

Alan Weinberg

too Cabernet-like. Not a fan past 30 years.
Mike Saviage

Mike Saviage Influencer Badge Premium Badge

@Alan Weinberg Try the 98... Their harvest was well timed that year and the juice is great

Domaine du Bel Air

les Vingt lieux dits Bourgueil Cabernet Franc 2017

Wine club selection October 2019, tastes like a crisp cold fall day - nice tannin, rich with a light peppery dark fruit taste — 7 years ago

Bow and Arrow

Air Guitar Cabernet Franc Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

This was perfect with dinner at Olympia provisions. Such an awesome blend that drinks well on its own but is magical with food. Beaujolais meets Loire meets Portland. So good! — 7 years ago

Goedhart Family

Bel' Villa Syrah 2020

Inky in color with short purple rim.

Strong nose of black currants, plums, oak, tar, licorice, spices, charcoal and light blood notes.

Full-bodied and bold with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with black currants, black plums, dark chocolates, oak, spices, licorice, tobacco and peppercorn.

Long finish with round tannins and tangy cherries.

This is a delicious Syrah from Red Mountain in Washington State. Rich and extracted, yet not in your face kind of wine.

This Single Vineyard Syrah is well balanced with nice complexity. Fruit forward and spicy.

I had the 2022 not too long ago, and it definitely gets better with age. Will continue to age nicely in the next 7 years.

Good by itself as a sipping wine. A New world Syrah on the nose and palate.

100% Syrah grapes were aged for 18 months in 50% new oak barrels. 80% french and 20% American oak barrels. A small production of only 3,000 bottles. Unfiltered.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$40.
— 6 months ago

Andrew, Sagee and 6 others liked this

Dominus Estate

Dominus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2003

Served alongside beef short rib, xo sauce, pickled mustard seed, cumin stir-fried asparagus. Yes, the 2003 Dominus is big. However, it is also balanced and showing classic Napa typicity with beautifully ripe and some slightly wizened black and red fruit, tobacco, cocoa, some purple flowers and baking spices. I found this to be quite balanced after all the air it saw. Wonderful structure for continued aging as well. Drink now through 2043. — 2 years ago

Ira, Jan and 18 others liked this

Bel Ormeau

Les Hérits Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2015

This was # 4 of 4 from a Costco package. I think the best of the 4. Smooth, jammy and full. Not to dry. Too bad I can't get more.... — 4 years ago

Alice et Olivier De Moor

Bel Air et Clardy Chablis Chardonnay 2018

2020 spring / summer. Really nice - I hadn’t had any de Moor in a while but this was at least as good as I remembered. Honeyed and savory, lots of chalky minerals — 6 years ago

Bel Colle

Monvigliero Barolo Nebbiolo 2010

Truly special! — 6 years ago

Trent, Lyle and 1 other liked this

Clos Ste. Magdeleine

Bel-Arme Cassis Blanc Marsanne 2017

One of three new wines from Clos Sainte Magdeleine. Oh my. Nothing in the world like standing in that vineyard, then tasting their lineup, then going for a swim in that cove afterward. What a day. — 7 years ago

Iwan, Keith and 1 other liked this

R. López de Heredia

Viña Tondonia Reserva Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2026

Had about 30 sec to pick a bottle as store was closing - Saw the familiar wire mesh and knew I had a winner. Needed some air to shine, but improved steadily over three nights. — 7 years ago

Severn, Arden and 13 others liked this