AlexP

9.0

$17 Grape Connection. Med body. Complex. Vibrant. — 8 years ago

Patrick V

9.4

Love it when a plan comes together - cooking chicken fajitas and pesto macaroni for twelve and the loverliest Chard to hop along for the festivities on a hot summer eve. The balance in acidity and fruit is immaculate! Best match of the summer so far. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Finally able to lock down reservations at Magdalena's. They have a unique set up in that they have a set menu that changes every week, and you are notified the week before if there are spots available...they sell out within 5mins! We were lucky to get on the list for their most recent "Supper Club" as they call it.

Based on the menu, we figured 1 white and 1 red was appropriate. After enjoying my favorite Sauv Blanc (the Addax SB), my buddy Luke (who is a big Pinot fan) brought this to expand our knowledge on pinots and see what Oregon has cooking. At pop and pour, this was delicious. Lots of cherries, leather and dates on the nose. The taste was very different than the aromatics. More leather, Bing cherry, cedar and a touch of rhubarb. A very "dusty" Pinot. — 8 years ago

with Luke

Greg Smith

9.8

Love merlot at the moment! Nice and fruity, well balanced, woody. — 9 years ago

Roger Lang

9.8

1986 Leoville-Las-Cases

Still mouth watering tannic acid that's deep and brooding that combines with ripe dark cherry richness to create a boysenberry tang. Nose is at once dusty gravel road as it is cooking sweet cherry pie. Perfect balance front to back. Amazing, mature fruit for sure, but still could last a decade!
— 9 years ago

Ashley Litwin

10

Magical. Used one bottle for cooking and one for drinking. — 10 years ago

Anna Bruce Sweetser

9.0

One of my favorite cooking wines. Inexpensive and tasty. Can find it at trader joe's — 10 years ago

Marc On

Writer Originalverkorkt, Lobenbergs Gute Weine

9.3

Monday cooking went very well. Gonon + Zwiebelrostbraten = Dreamcombo. — 11 years ago

AlexP

9.7

Buttery. not sweet. Nice slight tang. Great stand alone wine. Grape Connection Sam Diego — 12 years ago

Fabien Lainé

Blogger VinDeling.com

9.3

Dry and friendly style, this Marsala from a traditional and historic house deliver nice crafted wine, delicious with juicy roasted chicken or salted and roasted nuts 😀 a nice example that good Marsala is for drinking and not for cooking 😉 — 12 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Is there any meal better than steak (Ribeye) and well aged Claret? This is another 1991 Bordeaux experiment of mine. 1991 was a vintage with horrible frosts and a less than favorable growing season, right? A vintage critically panned. This is my 3rd recent 91 from a good producer. And again, it didn’t disappoint. Like 97 and 07, it’s better with the right bottle age than young. Magic evolution happened in the bottle way down the road. This 91 is in great form with a fair amount of life ahead of it. On the nose; a little ripe fruit funk, wonderful dark & lighter red cassis, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, poached strawberries, plums, hues of blueberries, black raspberries, dry cranberries, vanilla, light cinnamon, rich, black turned earth, cedar, soft leather, dry stones, dry top soil, notes of dry herbs and fresh & dry red flowers. The body/palate is medium, round, ripe & still fresh. The tannins nearly completely resolved. Ripe, floral fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, poached strawberries, plums, hues of blueberries, black raspberries, dry cranberries & half cooked rhubarb. Vanilla, light cinnamon, touch of clove & nutmeg, rich, black turned earth, cedar, soft leather, dry stones, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, notes of dry herbs, a little band-aid and fresh & dry red flowers. The acidity drips over the palate and the long, well balanced, still structured, nice tension, good length finish lasts over a minute. Again, love & appreciate the 12.5% alcohol. What a beauty with and without the steak. Next time you’re in your fine wine retail shop and see a quality producers 91 that’s been well stored, buy it and have it with a Ribeye. Photos of; their exotic Estate, Chateau interior, newer barrel room and their vines as viewed from the front of the Chateau that are across the road. Producer notes and history...Cos d’Estournel has a long distinguished history in the St. Estephe. Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, gave his name to the estate after founding in 1811. It did not take long before Cos d’Estournel became famous with wine lovers and royalty all over the world. In those early days, Cos d’Estournel did not sell through Negociants. The owner preferred selling his wine directly to his customers. In fact, Cos d’Estournel was exported to numerous countries across the globe, with a large portion of the production being sold to India. It was that connection to India that inspired much of the unique, east Indian design we see at Cos d’Estournel today. Cos d’Estournel was one of the first Bordeaux Chateaux’s to bottle, label and sell their own wine. This practice continued until the death of Louis Gaspard d’Estournel in 1852. If you’re at the property, the statue on the bench in the front courtyard is of the founder, Louis Gaspard d’Estournel. The Estate was then purchased by an owner that sold their wines on the Place de Bordeaux using the negociant system. If the Chateau was not selling their wines through the negociant system, it would never have been included in the 1855 Classification. Imagine that! So, it turned out to be a fortuitous decision. Cos d’Estournel was sold to the Charmolue family owners of the neighboring Estate of Chateau Montrose. They continued to own the estate until 1917, when it was bought by Fernand Ginestet. This purchase was the beginning of the next major step in the development of Cos d’Estournel. Decades later, the grandchildren of Fernand Ginestet, Jean-Marie Prats, Yves Prats and Bruno Prats took over ownership and management of Cos d’Estournel. In 1995, Bruno Prats sold the property to the Merlaut family, owners of the Taillan Group. The next era in the development of Cos d’Estournel took place in 2000, when Cos d’Estournel was bought by the industrious and wealthy Michel Reybier, who earned his fortune in the food industry. Michel Reybier hired the son of Bruno Prats, Jean-Guillaume Prats to manage Cos d’Estournel. Things further improved with the efforts of Jean-Guillaume Prats who helped design the most modern wine making at that time. A complete renovation of Cos d’Estournel took place in not only the wine making facilities and cellars, but in parts of the Chateau as well. While the wine making facilities are completely modern with their 100% gravity design, the outward appearance retained the original design and feeling that has always been a part of Cos d’Estournel. On October 15, 2012, Jean Guillaume Prats announced he was leaving Cos d’Estournel to join LVMH (Pichon Baron). Jean Guillaume Prats was replaced by Aymeric de Gironde. Following the departure of Aymeric de Gironde in 2017, the owner, Michel Reybier took over managing the Estate. What makes the remodel special is that the cellars of Cos d’Estournel are entirely operated by gravity. There are no pumps of any kind to force the wine. The purpose is to allow a gentleness to the wine and improve its purity and allow for the expression of their terroir. It set a new benchmark for cellars not only in the Left Bank, but in all of Bordeaux. Perhaps, the most inventive part of the cellars is the four 100 hectoliter lift tanks or wine elevators that replace the pumps used in the traditional pumping over and the racking off processes, which introduce air and often destabilize the marc. From the moment the grapes arrive, everything travels by the flow of gravity. Jean Guillaume Prats called this process a “pumpless pump over.” The 91 hectare vineyard of Cos d’Estournel is planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is located extremely close to the border between Pauillac and Saint Estephe at the southern tip of the Saint Estephe. The Estate has very old Merlot vines as well, which date back more than 100 years. Part of the terroir is situated on the hill of Cos, which is at a high elevation for the Medoc at 20 meters. They also make a second wine called Pagodes de Cos. This is a great wine to buy in very good vintages. Especially, if your budget prohibits you from purchasing their first wine. — 8 years ago

AlexP

9.0

Grape connection $25 Eileen says just as good as Kendall Jackson. — 9 years ago

Riccardo L.

8.9

Smells like blackberries. Tastes like last night.... "Do you smell.... what the Rock is cooking?" — 10 years ago

Mike Anderson

Owner/Winemaker for MTGA Wines

9.5

Paloma is definitely a benchmark for Napa Merlot and this '07 was a ringing endorsement of that. Rich black fruit, plenty of smooth tannins hanging around and it kicked ass with the deep fried ham we were cooking up. — 11 years ago

Jeremy Agnew

10

The owner has no internet connection, no phone, nada! Good luck buying from the source unless you make the journey! — 11 years ago

Joshua McCasland

9.2

One of my all time favorite "drinking while cooking all day" wines — 12 years ago

Brent Suriano

9.7

Amazing grape from Napa. Rombauer family (Joy of Cooking) turns to the Joy of Wine making. Favorite Chardonnay. — 13 years ago

Tom Hunter

9.3

Susan used this for cooking wine. — 8 years ago

Norma Munoz

9.0

I agree with the other comment about this being a good wine to sip on while cooking. I'm waiting for take out. It's good for that too. — 8 years ago

Julie DeGraaf

9.0

Very good! — 8 years ago

Omar 'Nacho' Campos

9.0

Ripe red fruits and sweet spice on the nose; medium to full body, high acidity, med+ tannins, flavours of red + black fruit, stone minerality, cooking spice and meaty notes; lovely red fruit on finish — 8 years ago

Dan Rickershauser

9.2

Light, crisp, great for seafood cooking! — 8 years ago

Brendan Moody

8.9

Cooking juice — 9 years ago

Reed Boehringer

9.0

cooking with mom. dark berries, tobacco, leather. tannins. — 9 years ago

with Deb

Margery Barr

8.9

Degustibus hands on cooking class — 10 years ago

Christanna Honer

9.3

A+ for gulp ability. Great "I'm gonna drink this while I'm cooking" wine. Dangerously tasty. Plus they're so much fun! — 11 years ago

Kristen Bowler

9.0

Bought for cooking, but good to drink! Sweet and smooth! Nice especially for the price! Will buy again. — 12 years ago

Petra Thieriot

Owner/Importer Dee Vine Wines

10

Zum Krug Hattenheim satisfies the need for 20-year-old #WEIL #Riesling Spätlese and kick-ass cooking--welcome to the #Rheingau! — 12 years ago

with Dade

Colleen Kirkpatrick

9.2

Keith used it cooking w beef and potatoes — 13 years ago