Isaac Pirolo

9.4

A dirty, danky, organic and unpolished feel, and all the better for it. Parish has mastered the ability to make core flavor profiles in such a pure and precise manner that the absence of distraction allows in so much secondary depth and tertiary nuance. Bitter, concentrated juice, pine and mint, mango, strawberry, and pineapple, pith and peel, and all with a nostalgic Cap’n Crunch backdrop. Really simple and really stunning. — 8 years ago

R o b M.

9.8

Pure delicious. Great balance, nothing over powering, with a good amount of bite. Definitely will enjoy again — 9 years ago

John Martin

9.1

A really neat concept from Caymus. The time and effort put into the project results in a very natural and pure tasting Malbec from Argentina. The care put into this wine makes it worth the extra dough $33. — 9 years ago

Shawn Thompson

8.9

A nice light bodied, easy drinking red blend, low acidity, peppery at first with a long finish of blackberry jam. — 9 years ago

Bill Bender

9.3

White rose petal and green stems on the bouquet. Seems like this could have been whole cluster fermentation. Sweet red fruits, strawberry jam, nice pure finish. Modern style done right. This bottle, 2 bottles Sandlands, a rose' and a Dirty and Rowdy white blend all provided by fan favorite @Steve Anderson at Lamb Fest hosted by @Dan Blackwell the hobbling host with the most. Nice way to kick off summer. — 10 years ago

with Dan and Steve

Spencer Raymond

9.0

Very fruity and pure. Nothing dirty or earthy. Light in color. Very little tanin. Delicate. Oak picks up with food. Tasteful but not super oak — 10 years ago

S Butterfield

Sommelier Flask Fine Wines

9.4

Super earthy, dirty like the Delta blues. High tones of leather and wet leaves. Good palette punch, brilliant pure berry-branch fruit. The zippy fine tannins give it a long delicious finish. This one can take a bow. — 10 years ago

Keith Levenberg

9.7

My oh my oh my. Let me first try to describe this as objectively as I can before I start babbling in tongues about why it's awesome. So, okay, we'll start with the color, which is somewhere between a rosé and a pale red. That's as good a portent as any for what you get when you taste it, which is this ethereal, gossamer, lacy thing that would probably flutter to the earth even slower than a feather if it were a solid object. It has a sense of freshness and light without being overtly fruity, i.e. it features the freshness and essential perfume of the fruit without the sweetness or fat. It has a minerally element too, subtle (though everything about this is subtle) but clearly reminiscent of gravelly rock pulverized to an ultrafine powder (everything about this is ultrafine). The word "finesse" is a cliché, ditto for "ethereal," but ultimately that's what's so awesome about this. I have had a lot of disappointing German pinot noir, even from highly regarded producers, and they never turn out to be what you think German pinot noir ought to be (i.e., as clear and pure and transparent as riesling, with all that cool-climate lightness). Somehow some of them turn out to be big fat Sonoma pinot lookalikes, which I will never understand. This is not like that. I am really at a loss to think of anything from anywhere to compare this to that so effortlessly pulls off such a vivid personality out of material so fine it only barely seems to have a corporeal existence, and not a flaw or seam to be seen in the way it is all put together. I can think of a Jura pinot that was in the ballpark (the '08 Chais des Vieux Bourg) and the weight and physical presence bring to mind something like Coteaux Champenois or the Dirty & Rowdy reds, but as far as I am concerned this is sui generis. There are aspects that bring to mind all sorts of things but it really needs its own frame of reference. It is profound but not in the same way that grand cru Burgundy is profound; it's a brilliant soloist, not a symphony, almost minimalist in its simplicity and tranquility, best paired with your favorite easy chair and some quiet moments. — 11 years ago

Jordan Gianelli

9.5

Tip top quality. Dark and dirty tones on the nose lead to an eyeopening showcase of depth of flavor carried with such grace and softness. Pure artistry and craftmanship. Homerun, slamdunk, hole in one. — 11 years ago

Boxer Briefs

9.5

Sexy, light, rich, pure raspberry, tight, dirty, extremely interesting. Great #wine — 11 years ago

CS

Sales Amy Atwood Imports

9.3

THIS... is... Seriously. Good. Phucking. shtuff. Surprisingly good...? Maybe. Luckily good..? Perhaps. Unless you've met Dirty: Which most of the wine drinking USA has -but, rather, intentionally fucking good. AND -possibly luckily too -as long as luck has something to do with exceptionally talented farming combined with tremendous desire(s) to make vibrant and ridiculously love-able fermented grape juice of pure integrity and a casually particular design. This wine is that friend you only get to see once a year, that one you cannot wait to see again. The wine is too young to rate with any opinion other than Rawesome, and while I've only had one bottle, I've certainly not had enough to offer an opinion against Rawsome -therefore tasting notes be damned -yet, this can be said: here is a clean wine, lacking brett or VA or other 'flaws'; a bright, refreshing jubilant anthem of untainted wine, an ode to a grape that will likely become California's bastard child once popularity hits and Dirty & Rowdy prices climb to astronomical, near Tempier-like pricing and ficcichlty to come by. (I liked ficcichlty over difficulty since spellcheck kept it purposely so did I.). Oh wait, they're already ficcichlt to come by. Damn it. — 13 years ago

Mike Evans

9.1

The first sniff is seductive, with pure blackberry fruit and baking spice, it is concentrated without being heavy, with just a little astringent tannin on the finish. The purity is what stands out, and a little more age should hone the tannic edge off, though it is very enjoyable now. — 8 years ago

Alicia Cypress

9.4

Holy moly! This is Heitz Martha's Vineyard on steroids (as @Bobby Gilbane correctly called). I'm in pure heaven. Nose of Andes mints. Dirty finish of joy. I'm in love. — 9 years ago

with Bobby, Art and 3 others

Nico J. Snyman

10

Really expressive, amazing example of Corton, a little dirty in a good way, great complexity/balance/purity, if only more producers could be as pure in the expression of PN. — 9 years ago

Matt Perlman

9.3

Pure crystalline red fruit--collaborative effort from the winemakers at Division, Teutonic and Fausse Piste. Worth raising a fist (and a glass) — 9 years ago

with Marissa

Alison Story

TexaCali Ali - Owner of www.texacaliwine.com & Co-Owner of the upcoming www.smithstorywinecellars.com

9.5

pure magic — 10 years ago

Colin Davis

9.3

Home with Seabring after long day! Not much of one for Australian wines! Excellent...dirty Shiraz...still a bit tight fullll body...fruit fully defined — 10 years ago

Jackie Smith

8.9

Sake-like characteristics with dirty wet wool. — 10 years ago

Fabien Lainé

Blogger VinDeling.com

9.0

A great project from Antonio Maçanita in the Azores - the original Verdelho in a pure style from Pico island on volcanic soil - something to discover, taste and drink if you can #winelover — 10 years ago

Paul Masson

8.9

Dirty earth nose with a pure red fruit palate. 2011 — 11 years ago

Mark Kulpins

9.0

Day 1: Very pure bright strawberry and cherry. Super fresh and weightless.
Day 2: Damp earth, smoke, and spice....same weightlessness.
Two wines for the price of one. — 11 years ago

Wineslikesex

10

Dirty sex, pure and simply. /b — 11 years ago

Daniel Warner

9.6

A blend with sav b predominantly... Tasted like orange blossom — 11 years ago

Aaron Meeker

Sales & Marketing Vine Street Imports

9.3

@TORKenwardWines made this hidden gem - '02 Durell Syrah...great elegance and pure red fruit — 12 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

On the nose, it's pure elegance. Kirsch cherries, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, plums, poached strawberries, raspberries haunt the background, vanilla, very light and soft spice, candied moist black earth, fresh violets and liquid, fresh, slightly perfumed red/dark florals. The full body is smooth, sexy and silky elegance. The tannins are round, beautiful and 65-70% resolved. The dark cherries and cherries roll the eyes back in the head. OMG! The fruits are simply garden of Eden beautiful. Poached strawberries, creamy black and regular raspberries, ripe black plum, overly extracted pomegranate, dry cranberries, soft, delicate top soil/dry clay, limestone, crushed dry rock powder, dry stones, black cherry cola/licorice, hint of anise, light notes of dry herbs, fresh tobacco leaf, sweet, dark, moist, turned earth, lead pencil shavings, rich, round mouthwatering acidity and a rich, elegant cherry driven finish that doesn't stop and I will not forget. Cheval Blanc is not a classified First Growth but on my palate it qualifies as such. Glorious bottle! I've had the 05 & 10 early. It will certainly out do this 2001 but not today. Photos of; the historical Cheval Blanc; which I prefer. I love the Bordeaux history. The new and modern 20 Million dollar addition. Shots of the cellar...the new concrete and stainless state of the art fermentation tanks. Producer notes and history...The name Cheval Blanc translates into white horse. The Chateau's history in St. Emilion traces back to 1832. It was the year the Ducasse family purchased land from Chateau Figeac. Prior to it being know as Cheval Blanc, the vineyard was better known as Le Barrail de Cailloux, which loosely translates into "barrel of tiny stones." Of course, the inspiration from the terroir's unique gravely soils. The original vines purchased from Figeac became what many people think is the best wine of St. Emilion, Chateau Cheval Blanc. For the most part, I agree with that. Back in 1832, Chateau Figeac was owned by Countess Felicité de Carle-Trajet. At that time, Chateau Figeac had grown to a massive 200 hectare estate; which is huge by St. Emilion standards. It was the Countess who decided to sell portions of their holdings. The breakup of the larger Figeac estate helped create a myriad of new St. Emilion wine making estates; which explains why so many Chateauxs include the word Figeac as part of their name. However, the owners of what was to become Cheval Blanc wanted to establish their own identity that was separate from Figeac. In 1838, the Ducasse family purchased what was to became the majority of Cheval Blanc. Some of the vines were previously part of Figeac. They began buying more St. Emilion vineyard land to create Chateau Cheval Blanc. In 1852, Mille Ducasse married Jean Laussac-Fourcaud, she came with a dowry that included their recently acquired Bordeaux vineyards that included 2 of the 5 gravel mounds running through the vineyards of Cheval Blanc and Figeac. Pretty amazing dowry! The Laussac-Fourcaud family built the chateau that is still in use today. The Laussac-Fourcaud continued to add holdings and increasing the size of the Cheval Blanc vineyards. By 1871, they accumulated a total of 41 hectares of vineyards in Saint Emilion. Chateau Cheval Blanc remains that same size to this day. A number of years ago, Cheval Blanc spent a boat load of money on updating and renovating to a modern facility in a true modern fashion that drastically departed from its original existing historical structure. Cheval Blanc has always tried to be innovative. Around 1860, when the chateau for Cheval Blanc was being built, extensive work was also being done in the vineyards. In fact, even then, Chateau Cheval Blanc was at the forefront of vineyard management techniques when they added a vast network of drains in their vineyards. Chateau Cheval Blanc was probably the first estate in the Right Bank to install this type of drainage system. At first, Chateau Cheval Blanc sold their wine under the Figeac label. Once Chateau Cheval Blanc began winning medals for the quality in their wine, they changed their label. That change included placing pictures of their medals on the label, which is still featured on their label today. More importantly, the wines were now sold under the name of Chateau Cheval Blanc. Cheval Blanc continued gaining in popularity by producing some of the best wines in all of Bordeaux during the 1920’s, 1940’s and 1950’s. In 1998 Cheval Blanc was purchased by Bernard Arnault and Baron Albert Frere for a 135 million Euros. They asked Pierre Lurton to manage the property for them. Today, Pierre Lurton also manages their other estates, Chateau d’Yquem, Chateau La Tour du Pin and Quinault l’Enclos. 1991 was one of the most difficult vintages in Bordeaux history, Cheval Blanc did not produce a wine. #RESPECT! In 2009, LVMH purchased the shares owned by Bernard Arnault in a private transaction. There was no official announcement of the price. However, rumors placed the price at close to 15 Million Euros per hectare (€615,000,000), making this the most expensive transaction yet, on a per hectare purchase price in the history of Bordeaux. 2000, 2005, 2009 & 2010 were near perfect or perfect vintages for Cheval Blanc and again in 2015, they produced candidates for wine of the vintage. In that same year at an auction held by Christie’s, a scarce, six-liter bottle of the legendary 1947 Cheval Blanc, (Probably the only real bottle in existence) sold for a record setting price of $304,375 dollars! In 2011, with the help of famed architect and Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, Christian de Portzamparc, Chateau Cheval Blanc completed a major construction and renovation project. This remodeling included; building a new winery, barrel cellars, vinification room, tasting area and efforts with the landscaped gardens. Even though the structure is modern in design (sigh), this new cellar cost over $20,000,000. The 39 hectare vineyard of Cheval Blanc has a complex terroir that consists of 3 different soils. Even though the vineyards are in one large parcel, this can be divided up as follows: 40% of their soils are gravel over multiple types of clay, including blue clay. Another 40% of their terroir has deep gravel soils, while the remaining 20% of their soils consists of sandy clay in the soil. The vineyard of Chateau Cheval Blanc is planted to 49% Cabernet Franc, 47% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon today, but the goal is to return to the original mix of 55% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The vines at Cheval Blanc are old, averaging 45 years of age. They have 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc planted in the 1950’s. However, some of the older parcels of Cabernet Franc are close to 100 years of age, as they were planted in 1920. Cheval Blanc vinification takes place in 52 different temperature controlled, cement vats that vary in size, due to the needs of specific parcels to allow for each parcel being vinified in its own tank. Malolactic Fermentation takes place in tank. The wines are aged in 100% new, French oak barrels for close to 18 months before bottling. @ FL Yountville — 8 years ago

Andrew Torrens

9.6

Pure peach juice. — 10 years ago

Lance Anders

8.9

Tasty blend. — 11 years ago

with Danielle

Peter N

9.0

Bright and light lemony yellow. Pure semillon aromas with some beeswax. Fresh, sleek texture.; lemon shortbread comes to mind. Long @olmsteadwine — 11 years ago

Roger Carrillo

9.1

Pure cassis, firm and dusty tannins, bright acidity, would be great with a steak but needs a little more bottle age. Nice project from Roger Rosenblum. — 11 years ago

Christine Havens

9.0

Founded in 1996, Ca'Marcanda is an offshoot project of GAJA. That being the case, my expectations were high—I was not disappointed. The 2000 opens with sumptuous aromas of violets, saddle leather, dust, cherry and red currant. Poised and elegantly textured, fine, velvety tannins encase a core of pure fruit. This sensational Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc blend is just beautiful now. Finishes with notes of bouquet garni, sweet tobacco and baking spice. — 11 years ago