Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Have not had since 2019. Nose is brambly with a cherry melange. Very earthy. Some wood shavings. A bit aromatically closed for now. Palate is juicy, very concentrated and sappy with great purity. Really long but also seems backwards. But terrific fruit and intensity. Very very sappy. Needs a few more years but you can the low yields of 16 gave this wine density and tons of material.

After an hour this has softened up and is super juicy and the tannins have calmed down. 9.2 to 9.3. Lavieres is such good terroir. — 4 years ago

Ian Hamel

9.4

2021/3-4. Really lovely - at 20, it is indeed Burgundian in its open, red fruit character, but it still has that hot-stone Chateauneuf character. I’m so glad I kept a few of these - I now have just one more left. Considering the price has doubled, I don’t know how many more I’ll get to lay down, so I’ll look forward to that last bottle of 2001 with a mix of excitement and sadness. — 5 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

I bought several bottles and opened this last one about 3 years later. Nice aromas of green and stone fruits with a citrus notes. The palate shows apple, peach and pear, still crisp with good balance, fresh and lively. The finish shows nutty earthy tones. I met with the distributor, Pasternak Wine Imports a while ago who indicated this wine can be enjoyed now, but put it down for a few years, the age will benefit the wine greatly, he was right! — 6 years ago

Pete Tulyathan

9.6

Deep dense Ruby in color with a tinge of garnet at the rim. The 14% Merlot is hardly recognizable when I took a whiff, with the 85% Cabernet clearly dominating the nose, but in a sort of mellow, tantalizing kind of way. The outstanding scent was the strong scent of pencil shavings, indicating high minerality. After a couple hours, I picked up a scent of cured leather, damp earth and old leaves that are quite persistent. I think all that new oak is quite well integrated now. A sip of the Mouton '05 left a sense of a lush and silky black fruit texture. There was a hint of chocolate in the second layer. The tannin level was just right. The acidity has already started to mellow down. The aftertaste lasted three full minutes. This wine is now in the early stage of it's drinking window. Mouton '05 is powerful and fund to drink, yet a very complex and elegant wine. Worthy of above 95 scores. — 6 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.7

Taken from a near perfect vintage in Sauternes, the 2007 Chateau Climens is a show-stopping effort. The nose strikes up ripe lychee, pineapple upside down cake and nutmeg infused bananas foster, showing an exotic edge. The palate shows tremendous weight and poise, carrying an unctuous character. Ripe pineapple, nutmeg, lychee and candied mango creme brûlée flavors all marvelously combine. Impeccably balanced, this shows marvelously right now but has an exceedingly long life ahead of it. Drink 2020-2055- 97 — 7 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured; consumed over two days. Day 1 this was precocious. The nose was wild with the smell of tandoori chicken (tell me I’m wrong!), brambles, and garrigue. Like the 2015 I had a few weeks back, this was a little out of sorts on the palate but there’s loads of undeniably deliciously pure fruit. Tongue smacking tannin. Day 2 showed very little in the way of evolution. The tandoori had relaxed and left a more generic spiced meat character in its wake with brambles and Herbs de Provence. Looooooooong finish; well over a minute. The tannin is even more pronounced today but there’s so much stuffing that it kinda works now and I’m certain it will be firing on all cylinders and everything is more integrated down the road. IMHO, this is performing just a step behind the 2015 at the moment but both vintages are outstanding and will be for many years to come. — 7 years ago

Andrew Lam

9.2

Takes time to open up, could use more time laying down, but drinking nicely. Interestingly I think 2011 is already better now. — 8 years ago

with Liz

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.3

Way to young. Needs at least 3 more years. Everything is there the herbs the fruit - on the edge volatile acid - Dark cherry, Raspberries Mexican limes, crushed marble. Down the road this will be brilliant. Now a little bit of an expert only wine - sorry I do not want to sound arrogant. — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Sergio Zenato and his wife Carla began to produce quality wines from an indigenous varietal, Trebbiano di Lugana, and passed down through the generations. A blend of 80% Corvina, 10% Rondinella, 10% Oseleta and Croatina. Medium Ruby with aromas of dried berry fruits, sweet and smoky notes with pleasant herb spice. On the palate flavors of ripe currants and sweet blackberries with cacao, spice, oak and nutty tones. Fine tannins, long complex finish ending slightly creamy with cedar notes. Starting to drink well now, enjoy over next 4-5 years. — 4 years ago

Paul T HB

9.8

Back up to par, the bottle I had last year seemed shut down compared to the earlier bottles.
Jeb 💯, the nose takes some time to come around but its drinking great
Very difficult to find this vintage now, so if you see it under $100.00 buy it.
Found these last 4 bottles for $75.00 — 5 years ago

Will Stanley

9.2

First of a case of this Guigal St. Joseph ‘Lieu-dit’ 2015 that I recently bought. I knew this would appear youthful, but my god is it so. I’ve experienced this austere, closed-down nature with young Bordeaux before but never Rhône. This is a superb wine in the making, phenomenal in its presence on the palate, less so on the nose at this stage. A formidable amount of tannin, acidity and fruit with a lasting finish. 92 points is duly conservative for now, but I shall leave my next encounter with this wine for another few years and expect this score to increase.

Enjoyed of an evening with the old man. Food pairing was lamb shoulder, followed later by black bomber cheese that - worthy of note - was superb with this wine. — 6 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Still a baby. Tasted alongside the 2009 Rafanelli Cab and while both were killer, the Rafanelli seems to have the edge right now. This was still pretty wound up and seemed to have more to show down the road. Cassis, pencil shavings, earth. Tannic. Drink now with some patience or a decant. Will be best after 2025. — 7 years ago

Bill Bender

9.1

Not shut down but not really very expressive right now. Some graphite, purple fruit and obvious stuffing but relatively dormant and still undeniably youthful. — 7 years ago

Craig Stanfield

9.4

Really stellar Brunello that you can enjoy now with a short decant. It’s pretty acidic on opening but settles down quickly. Really delicious. — 7 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2016 vintage. Still banging. 4th bottle in the last three months. Medium body. Nose has improved and has a deep, dark funk going down with earth, cedar, paint chips (yes please), currant and salinity lurking about. A little bit more on the medium-dry finish finally showing now…composed with plenty of dark cherry, herbs, mushrooms and black plum. I think this was my last bottle. Time to pick up another half-case. — 4 years ago

Shay A

9.4

This is definitely the most tropical expression of Kongsgaard’s Chardonnay I’ve ever had. Without getting in to all the nuances of vintages, I thought the 2016 had more lemon cream and the 2015 had a more bright profile. Lots of opulence here at an early stage.

Light golden hue in the decanter and so much tropical influence. The aromatics are really pretty...caramelized pineapple, marzipan (something I associate with Aubert), only a hint of lemon cream (something I ALWAYS get with Aubert), and powdered lemon bar. The complexity of Kongsgaard’s palate is always so intriguing to me...the depth and richness (14.1ABV) while still being able to flex a nervy and vibrant wine is hard to come across elsewhere. This is a full throttle chard up front before it turns quite elegant. The palate is loaded with lemon...grilled lemon, lemon cream, lemon scone, but has an orange marmalade and stony vibe down the middle. Obviously young, it’a delicious now with an hour or so in the decanter. — 4 years ago

Paul T HB

9.8

Glad I held a couple bottles for more than 6 months or whenever the 17 was released. It’s setting down now,
1 bottle left to do a blind tasting with Davis Estates Chardonnay — 6 years ago

"Odedi"

9.5

To celebrate 15,000 followers on Instagram, here's a beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dark ruby in color with a short purple rim.

Extremely fruity on the nose with blackberries, blueberries, raisins, figs, vanilla, cedar, toast, graphites, earth, spices, peppercorn, leather, smoke, chocolates, mocha, coke and coffee.

Full bodied, smooth and bold, with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry and extremely fruity on the palate with blackberries, black currants, cherry pie, raisins, vanilla, cedar, leather, chocolates, tobacco, licorice, peppercorn, spices, earth, mocha and dark roast coffee.

Long finish with round tannins and tangy raspberries.

This is a wonderful Napa Cabernet. Still young, but drinking very nicely now, with lots of fruits and nice complexity.

Good right out of the bottle and better as it opens up (2 hours). After 3 hours, big tannins come in.

This should lay down for another 10 years, to be appreciated even more. At this point it might be too fruity for some. Aging it for 7 to 10 years will do the trick.

I paired it with cheeses and light appetizers.

Drunk from a 1 liter bottle.

14.8% alcohol by volume.

95 points.

$80. — 7 years ago

Shay A

9.5

Celebrating my mother-in-law’s birthday. She prefers champagne over red wine (and she really enjoys red wine) so this was definitely a perfect bottle. Awesome, creamy mousse. Roasted almonds, brioche, and rich key lime pie. This is definitely on the young side, but extremely enjoyable now. Very little tart notes here. Yeasty and chalk driven. Bubbles go forever. I enjoy the more oxidized style champagnes, and while this is maybe more reductive in style, there is an awesome savory/sea salt note steak down the middle of the palate here. — 7 years ago

"Odedi"

9.0

Deep purple in color with a short purplish rim.

Fruity nose of blackberries, blueberries, sweet cherry pie, wood, vanilla, licorice, light vegetables, chocolates, tobacco, beef jerky, earth, vinaigrette, spices and black pepper.

Full bodied and smooth with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with blackberries, black currants, plums, cooked strawberries, oak, licorice, cloves, chocolates, earth, vanilla, spices, alcohol, tobacco, light vegetables and peppercorn.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cranberries.

This is a great red blend from California. Well balanced with nice complexity and mouthfeel. The palate was much more interesting than the nose.


Peaking now, and good right out of the bottle, but much better after 2 hours when the tannins come in and bring in more structure. I had it last year, and now it's much better. The tannins calmed down and it is much more balanced.

Wine Enthusiasts 88 points.

A blend of Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache. A yummy blend with a nice mouthfeel.

15% alcohol by volume.

90 points.

$16. — 7 years ago