Surprisingly, I kinda liked this despite my aversion to overly-hopped beers. The nose is a straight up hop-bomb - floral, citrusy, piney. The palate's also full-on, with heaps of hoppy bitterness, but balanced by malty sweetness and tropical fruit notes (passionfruit and mango for me). Finishes crisp and earthy. Not bad, but not my kind of beer (not an IPA fan basically). — 6 years ago
One of my favs...now avail in can, perfect for walking around London in the spring 😍 — 8 years ago
Floral nose, crisp with long stone fruit like finish
Very nice! — 10 years ago
Hawkes 2010 Alexander Valley Van Sauvignon Stone Vineyard. Fantastic! 93+ points. Will only get better. — 11 years ago
The nose reveals, mashed, sour, candied/liqueured, meyer lemon, very ripe, pineapple, golden apple, lime skin, & green apple w/ almost no skin, fresh, herbal qualities, honey, beeswax, vanillin, warm caramel, limestone minerals, soft chalkiness, wet stone with yellow lilies and florals and mixed greens.
The body is; round, rich, bold, thick & waxy. It is gorgeous over the palate. Mashed, sour, candied/liqueured, meyer lemon, grapefruit pulp, dry & candied pineapple, golden apple, key lime, stone fruit, tangerine & green apple w/ almost no skin, fresh, herbal qualities, honey, beeswax, vanillin, warm caramel, toffee, marmalade, white spice, limestone minerals, soft chalkiness, wet stone, dusty dry rocks, saline notes with yellow lilies, white florals & mixed greens. The acidity is, beautifully, round & phat. The rich, ruby, heather honied, well balanced/polished finish delicious & lingers well.
Photos of; two aspect views of Domaine Leroy & Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy (The Queen of Burgundy) in her precious vineyards. She all about bio-dynamic, lower yields, prunes by hand and sings to her vines. And, who could argue her success. — 6 years ago
Cherries warmish fruit, enjoyable not overly complex — 6 years ago
At first taste- bright, crisp, rambunctious, high-toned citrus. After 20min- rounded and developed, concentrated stone fruits. Very dry, but also rich on the palate. Could go another 20yrs before the youthfulness begins to fade. — 8 years ago
#wsetschool My second bottle of this but a younger bottle on today's tasting. This is a pronounced wine of stone fruits, floral/blossom and orange citrus. It is youthful but with a beautiful perfumed aroma. One third is aged in new oak which gives a nice richness. Medium (-) acidity and a long finish, a very nice white alternative. — 10 years ago
Stefs wedding — 12 years ago
Finger. Lakes. Saperavi.
If this ain’t American winemaking in the 21st century we don’t know what is! 🇺🇸🍷🇬🇪🍇
At least, that’s what we were thinking before reading up on Standing Stone and founders Marti & Tom Macinski. They actually first planted this fascinating Georgian grape here in ***1994*** (just 3 years after Georgia left the USSR, for those keeping score at home) intended for blending.
Increasingly impressed by the quality of the grapes, they offered their first varietal Saperavi in 2010 - as “The Dark Red”, since the grape name was as yet unrecognized by the federal government. Once it was, they became the first American winery to release a wine labeled Saperavi.
Fine tuned to the cold, high mountains of Kakheti in eastern Georgia, it makes sense why it would thrive in the Finger Lakes! The name Saperavi literally means “ink”, a sensible name for a grape with pitch-dark skin AND flesh! 🖤
Marti and Tom sold the winery and retired in 2017. But their enduring legacy may just be budding. We’ve heard of Saperavi planting projects underway in New York, Virginia, and Oregon.
Saperavi’s runaway affinity for the Finger Lakes may have been a bit of a happy accident, but the Macinskis deserve every bit of credit for thinking outside the box, putting it in motion, and bringing it to fruition! 🙌🙌🙌 — 6 years ago
Like a flat sour beer — 6 years ago
2013 - very nice Chenin with some substance and charm. — 10 years ago
Boyz Raveneau tasting. Light straw color. Honeyed nose with light fruit. Soil and stone notes in the mouth to go with lovely Chablis fruit Tight at first but really opened up nicely. — 10 years ago
Mike Saviage

Yellow gold. Good weight. Fruit forward nose. Lemon curd, apricot, white clay, cardamom and powdered stone. Rich and fat. Has the stuffing for many years of future enjoyment. — 5 years ago