Tree Kilpatrick

9.7

Smells like a forest and nice apples. Flavors are dynamic, spices, sweet marjoram, nice cranberry sauce, and dried cherries. Plus chocolate dusted truffles. Dry, but juicy. The tart, tannins and fruit are nicely balanced. Also a meaty streak. Wow this is bright and lovely stuff. — 5 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Pulled the cork on another ‘18, and it’s just great! Blend of 96% Sauv Blanc & 4% Sauv Gris adding an interesting dynamic to the wine & distinctive aromas. Medium lemon color, citrus, tropical & floral aromas. On the palate peach, melon, herb & earthy tones, well balanced with acidity, smooth yet robust on a long finish ending rich with wet stone character. Good value! A Fav!! — 5 years ago

Conrad Green

9.4

Dark gold and a whiff of golden corn on the nose. The palate is fresh, strident and gorgeous. Real drive and acidity but a sweet edged ripe fruit, mint and lovely slatey balance. If I had more bottles I’d check in soon as these could possibly be at the start of premox, but right now this is lush, dynamic and strident. Very good. — 6 years ago

with Aaron, Walker and 1 other

Conrad Green

9.3

Bright dynamic fruit. Punchy and zesty with great presence and sweetness in the mid palate. Long and sweet. Excellent — 6 years ago

with Bex and Naoko

Conrad Green

9.6

A beautiful lucid nose. Really dynamic and enticing. Oyster shells, limpid lemon and bright drive. Wonderfully balanced in the palate. Intense but light with a long and complex finish. Amazing stuff — 6 years ago

with Major-General, Jean-Francois and 1 other

Conrad Green

9.6

This is a very vivacious wine. A kaleidoscopic nose of bright red fruit, herbs, green olive, bright wood. A lovely dynamic palate- real tension and huge complexity. This is really young, but the peacock is starting to unfurl. Great. — 7 years ago

with Howard, Tony and 1 other

Adam Usdan

8.9

Medium body with citrus flavor and dynamic finish. Very good — 8 years ago

Daniel M

8.9

Violet, cherry, a bit of an earthy thing too. As usual this is nice and inviting. The palate is great with a nice cherry note all along and a spicy note, a great acid drive, a nice width with a vivid, dynamic mouthfeel. There is a bit of a tannic feeling, very subtle, in midpalate which disrupts nicely the overall drive of the palate and helps creating a very nice, a little complex, finish with cherry, this spicy note and violet too. This is again great! (but I'm not impartial here 😊) — 5 years ago

Angelo Casagrande

8.9

Excellent wine. Nose smells of an old wine cellar: grapes, must, little earth and sweet. This is a 50/50 Sangiovese and Montepulciano. Sangiovese is not as dynamic here as in Tuscany. But the Montepulciano is awesome here, and it’s such an underrated grape. The blend is seamless and is so good. With tomato..mmmmmm! — 6 years ago

Conrad Green

9.5

Wow. Really powerful, lifted and intense. This is serious stuff. Really focused essence of citrus and a gorgeous driving mid palate. Fresh and dynamic and long. Wow — 6 years ago

with Bex and Major-General

ADAM STROMFELD

9.5

Thank you Dr. Frank! What a treat at lunch. Soft old Barolo nose. Dirt barnyard. Wow! You Gotta be kidding me on this 50-year-old! Talk about a gem. The fruit is still there. Sweet sour cherry absolutely dynamic continually changing quickly.  — 6 years ago

with Chris, Bob and 1 other

Jason Gelman

9.5

Special new year’s eve selection. Contemplative wine that gets more interesting and dynamic with each sip. The dominant flavor is a smooth balanced coffee note that is just beautiful, with tobacco, leather, cedar, some light red fruit as well. Exceptionally long finish, like 10 minutes long. A treat to drink. Happy new year! 🎊 — 7 years ago

Paul J

9.3

I love Petit Verdot! Nice dark purple color. Very dynamic nose. It's musty, with lots of barnyard odors and hints of Macintosh apples and tomatoes. A little high in OH at 14.7%, but nice fruit, which is on the sweeter side. Surprisingly short finish. Definitely at the tail end of the drinking window. I'd buy more and will! — 8 years ago

with Brooke

Andrew Lohse

8.9

Ripe green apple. Baked pear. Herbaceousness? Wonderful salinity. High minerality and a dynamic, complex finish. — 8 years ago

J. Kim

9.4

This has a fantastic Barbaresco aroma, wide-ranging, balanced and dynamic, but the body is slightly less solid than the 2016 vintage. It can use a firmer definition but overall an exceptional wine. — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

For all of you that drink; SQN, Cayuse & Horsepower, if you haven’t tried a well aged Rostaing, you are missing the best aspect of Syrah.

Côte de Rôtie translates in English into Roasted Slope. That’s exactly what this wine defines.

The Ampodium is a blend of 7-8 different Rhône vineyards. 2010 a dynamic vintage in Northern Rhône.

I bought this recently at auction and it has been decently stored but not quite ideally stored.

The nose reveals; roasted chestnut, stewed; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries on the high nose & backend of the fruit, used coffee grounds, soft leather, dry tobacco, savory meats, dark, moist soils, anise to black licorice, fresh sage & bay leaf with candied; dark, red, blue, purple florals in a field of lavender.

The palate is; fresh, ripe, juicy, elegant and nicely resolved. The structure, tension, balance and length are perfect. It is for the palates that love elegance & beauty, not brawn & ABV. Roasted chestnut, stewed; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, raspberries, dark cherries, juicy, ripe strawberries backend of the fruit, used coffee grounds, soft leather, dry tobacco, savory meats, smoke, dark, moist soils, anise to black licorice, light purple cola, fresh sage & bay leaf with candied; dark, red, blue, purple florals in a field of lavender. The acidity is round & stream like. The finish is in perfect balance, harmony that settled softy yet speaks volumes.

Paired with the Cardiff Chipotle Tri-tip. The best Tri-tip we’ve had. You can order at CardiffCrack.com. Not inexpensive though. The best never is!

Photos of; me in the La Landonne Vineyard, Rene Rostaing and our tour with Pierre Rostaing in their La Landonne Vineyard. What an afternoon!

Producer notes, Pierre (son of Rene & now Winemaker) uses up to 100% of the stems - believing they contribute to Côte Rôtie’s ineffable perfume. Macerations last from 7 to 20+ days, and the wines enjoy a long élevage in a mix of barrels and time-honored pièce for aging, so that no more than 15% of a given vintage sees new wood. — 5 years ago

with James and Christina

Charlie Spencer-Davis

8.9

2008 vintage. Strong with the booze at first, but had a great dynamic flavor on the tongue. Very drinkable — 6 years ago

Conrad Green

9.3

A lovely fresh dynamic nose. Lemons, oyster shells, chalk. This is vital, poised and pure. Very good. — 6 years ago

with Walker, Tony and 2 others

J. Kim

9.3

Old-school, not as transparent and dynamic as Joblot, but equally persuasive. — 7 years ago

Peg Hanssen

9.8

Preparing for our adventure to Portugal Surdyks’ Recommendation:
(Douro) Portugal is a prolific wine country, best known for its sweet dessert wine - Port. World famous in its many styles, Port is sweet and fortified, prized for its rich flavors and lush texture. Portugal also has fabulous dry red wine. Dow’s “Vale do Bomfim” is made with the same grapes and sourced from the same historic Douro Valley that produces Dow’s great Ports. Portugal’s indigenous grapes – Tinta Barroca, Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, and Tinto Cão – are names that should pique your interest and draw you to this imported discovery. Picked by hand and manually sorted with great care, the grapes are fermented in small vats. The resulting wine has complexity and style. Portugal’s Douro Valley has consistently good climate and growing conditions almost every year. The flavors are dynamic and the tannic structure is soft and silky. This is a really good wine for all occasions, with an affordable price and value.
$8.49 Spring 2017 ($14.49) — 8 years ago