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

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

"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

Rob Chen

9.5

Drinkable now or lay down. Plum, leather, dark cherry. Jordan cabs are classics and always reliable. What got me hooked on wine. — 9 years ago

Keith Herrick

9.7

I've been looking forward to trying this producer, and I was not let down! I can only imagine the price will lee going up... gamey, herbal, spicy, refined, elegant. So good! And 2012 is decilous now, though I'm sure will only get better! — 9 years ago

Logan Allin

9.1

Grassy, earthy, a lot of funk and great year for Margaux. Solid year to drink now or lay down. — 9 years ago

Rocket Rod

9.1

Lovely balance and long finish. Classic "Grange" characteristics with better QPR. Drinking nicely now but lots of fun to come down the line. — 9 years ago

Keith Levenberg

9.5

This is one of the most impressive Gonons to taste on release that I can recall. The sheer amount of stuff going on here puts it in the same league as that jawdropping first vintage of the V.V., although this is not as tannic and therefore more accessible and sweetly fruited. But there is so much stuff here - olives, cracked pepper, barbecue smoke, dark wild-berry fruit given a kick in savoriness with succulent salted meat flavors. And plenty more I can't even try to attach a name to. Leftovers are much dryer and showing the structure, so this'll likely close down at some point, but if you've got some lying around now, don't miss it. — 10 years ago

Jim McCusker

9.5

Fantastic pinot from Maggie Harrison at Antica Terra in Oregon. Bright cherries on the nose and subtle, earthy notes on the palate. Incredible balance. Can be drunk now or laid down for several years. Awesome effort from one of the best wineries in the Willamette Valley. — 11 years ago

Christine Havens

9.3

Honeycomb, dried apricot, fresh ginger, pineapple upside down cake, orange marmalade. Cloves on the back palate, nice viscosity, medium weight and acidity, quite a treat. Drinking beautifully now. — 12 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

Brian Tuite

9.3

Now I lay thee down to sleep. Big, structured. — 8 years ago

Greg Gregory

9.6

This was a baby. Nose totally closed at the beginning and took an hour to blossom. In general this is a wine that's just shut down right now and still needs a few years before you try. — 9 years ago

Andrew S

9.1

Tasty fun fast-ball-down-the-middle Napa cab. Nice QPR as well! Drink now or later — 9 years ago

John Skupny - Lang & Reed Wine Company

9.3

Choice stuff - starting open up & blossom! Could own 4or5 of these or one bottle of Rougeard, I'll take the Baudry and enjoy now and down the line! — 9 years ago

Meg

9.6

This Abreu always impresses me - has so much depth and is so so smooth. I just love it. These have been aging well....but it got me thinking, and I went down a wormhole again. What's the fulcrum point? When and where should you open up a special wine? I wait on some for that special occasion, and then sometimes wait too long (which is such a bummer!!) I have a couple bottles of each of these - opinions on now or later welcome: Grace Family '02 and Bryant Family '01 — 10 years ago

Holly Orchard

Certified Sommelier, President of Savvy Cellar Wines Inc.

8.9

Really good, but on its way down, so drink it NOW if you have it! Black currant, blackberries, a touch of bell pepper, violets, cocoa, vanilla, wet stone, and a touch of black pepper. The years have made this a more subtle wine, by California standards anyway. Enjoyed it with a filet mignon, and buttered green beans with sautéed shallots. — 11 years ago

Steven Foster

Wine buyer Belmont Wine Exchange

10

Best young Grenache from sine qua non. So fruity and deep. Needs some time in glass but ready now. — 11 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

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

Bob McDonald

8.9

Crimson in colour. SA Cabernet aromas of black fruits turning a little savoury at 18 years. Finally the tannins have settled down and are now fine and dry. A quality Cabernet but not overly complex. — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.3

Old school...talk about label wear!

"1989...the number, another summer...get down...
Sound of the funky drummer!"

Still in the driver seat, this is gorgeous and yes it's old but the wine blossomed after 30 minutes and now at 2 hours open its singing and going strong.

1989 Joseph Phelps "Insignia", Napa Valley

Ruby-garnet edges, a deep core of red color.

The nose started out super funky, but blew off to a nose of mature cedar, forest floor, dried red cherry and cassis. The palate is old, but like the nose gained strength with air, it gained depth and concentration. Mulled spices, red fruits, plum, cedar and red fruit skin.
#josephphelps #insignia #napavalley — 9 years ago

Erik Nordman

9.4

Anniversary Jacuzzi suite bubbles 😎 this was in a really great place and was really singing; I could smell it intensely just from pouring it. Rich and redolent of bruised yellow apple as well as caramelized apple, lovely fresh brioche, starting to show a bit of pleasant oxidative nutty character reminiscent of glazed pecans, a bit of baking spice, English toffee, and chalk dust. Almost like a nutty, toffee apple pie or something, Just really delicious. Acid is still nervy and provides a strong backbone but has had a bit of time to integrate in the mix with all the other elements and is in great balance right now; not punishing like some younger blanc de blancs can be. Fine bead provides a rich, creamy mouthfeel that's just delightful. First Grand Cru Champagne and it lived up to expectations. Serious value as well when it comes down to it, I paid like 55 bucks for this thing. That's pretty impressive for a vintage Le Mesnil Grand Cru, I'd say! — 9 years ago

Jon Maxwell

Founder Veritas Wine Consulting

9.2

Huge material and great potential, but no surprise, far more potential than what it's giving right now. Was fairly open at first, but closed down after an hour or so. Knew this would be way too young, but a great treat nonetheless. — 10 years ago

with Brett and Michael

Sarah Milsow-Guenther

9.6

Really good Pinot. Lots of flavor. Could drink now or lay it down for a few. I would recommend letting it breathe for a bit before you drink. — 10 years ago

Rick VanSickle

9.2

Sensational Cabernet from the land Down Under and in a very good place right now. Rich, concentrated with earth and oak spice and a generous splash of acidity to keep it poised and vibrant on the finish. Getting better with age. — 11 years ago