Steve Anderson

9.0

Just ok wrt expectations. With the exception of La Doriane, not getting much joy from Guigal these days. — 4 months ago

Christina

9.6

Fantastic! — 6 months ago

Jan A

9.5

Already drinking very well but still quite some potential for further development. Hold 5+ years — 7 months ago

Scott Kahn

9.3

Beautifully balanced with pronounced red fruit and distinct tannic structure. Only purple, red color with a nice acidity to complement red meat. A great wine now that can easily cellar for many years. — 8 months ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Gorgeous and spicy. Pure fruit- deep plum and roses and a hint of leather and marmalade. Very pretty and poised. Gorgeous — 8 months ago

with Chris and David

Rufus King

9.1

Smooth, crisp white Côtes du Rhône blend, served with lobster gnocchi at anniversary dinner at Ocean restaurant in the Cape Arundel Inn, Kennebunkport, ME — 9 months ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

A blend of mostly Nero d'Avola adding some Petit Verdot, Syrah and a few other grapes. Deep Ruby with aromas of dark berry fruits, sweet notes and spicy scents. On the palate flavors of blackberry and black cherry, currant like, with notes of cacao, licorice and sweet spice, well balanced with acidity. Fine tannins, long finish, ending with fruit, tobacco and sweet earthy character. Very nice! — 3 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.4

Boudignon with oysters. The nose is lively, plush and full. But my still great tension over the gums. — 6 years ago

with Mark and Matt

William McVicker

9.2

Great wine at a great price! — 7 years ago

Narelle Burke

9.5

A beautiful desert wine to finish off the evening. — 10 years ago

Max Coane

9.1

Dark fruit. Bacon. Delicious. — 12 years ago

Nikole Souder-Schale

9.1

Delicious with Pizza. — 4 months ago

John Howard

Harvest production at Hirsch and Cobb Wineries

9.2

Outstanding as usual. Great value. — 6 months ago

Tom Kohli

8.9

Nice smooth lighter red. Would buy again. — 6 months ago

with Anna

Lyn Farmer

9.1

Smokey black cherry, strawberry, blackberry and forest floor. Starting to show tertiary character with leather and meat. Elegant tannins ands a lovely balance of fruit, acid and alcohol. Very good quality and delicious drinking now. — 7 months ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.4

Love these wines! So allocated it's been a long time since I've had the Pialade from Emmanuel Reynaud and the Rayas estate! There can be lots of bottle variation but this was a good one. — 8 months ago

Robert Adair

8.9

Rich in tannins,, beautiful and perfectly paired with marinara sauce and pasta with Italian sausage. Finish is full with red cherry.  — 8 months ago

Kamall

9.2

Big, masculine Barolo. Drinking well but more nuance will come with age. Literally garage wine. From vines in Bussia to the garage in Monforte. — 2 years ago

Robert Rothfield

9.0

Needed a good couple of hours to open up...rustic but nice — 4 years ago

Vinod Peris

9.0

Nice and smooth Spanish red blend. It’s juicy but not fruity. I like it. — 6 years ago

Matt Duncan

9.0

Rather oxidative at first but opened up in to a meaty, citrus quality. Best with food. — 8 years ago

with Yianni

April Wetherington

10

Wow! My current fave — 11 years ago

Mark S.

9.0

Good. Silver is much better. serragghia fanino catarratto e pignatello @, fruit, 241221 — 4 months ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.4

Exceptional. Heady orange blossom perfume and orange taffy. Cointreau. Very concentrated. — 6 months ago

Aaron Tan

9.9

One of the best evenings of wine I’ve had this year, and it was just focused on this duo. Opened as inspiration for this year’s red pick at Miao Lu (a name to remember for those reading. I’ll say it here first - some of the best Pinot’s and Chard’s in the world will be coming out of this project high up in Yunnan!), and they both gave great context to the task.

When I harvested with Klaus-Peter in 2017, the vineyards bore the scars of hail, every last one of them. The damage was manifest in what we came to call "hail berries" (misshapen berries). To my untrained palate, they tasted perfectly fine. Naturally, I asked KP why we were discarding them, and his response, while not entirely unexpected, was still astonishing (paraphrasing of course): "I don't need to know precisely what they do," he said, "but if there's even a chance they might diminish the wine by 1%, they're gone. And these? They look capable of much worse."

That unyielding spirit of his was, I must admit, my torment at Abtserde, the vineyard hit hardest by the hail. We spent an entire day sorting and picking a single row - granted, the rows were long, but the pace was glacial. The true enemy, though, wasn’t the relentless sorting, but the wasps. Those little demons made an already grueling task even more daunting, dodging their stings as we plucked berries one by one, like selecting pearls from a troubled sea. What we ended up with were, quite literally, tiny gems - "caviar" berries of purity. By day’s end, the sight was something to behold. Despite the torment, the hard work was unquestionably worth it. The 17’ Abtserde is my wine of the vintage.

I’ve had the 17’ Abtserde on numerous occasions but this takes the cake as the best (note to self: best to decant a young Abtserde hard). It is a marvel of purity and depth, with its nose evoking Meyer lemon, iodine, chalk, and flint. These aromas reappear on the palate with a nearly overwhelming intensity, blending piquant brightness and mineral-rich concentration. With more air, a floral, bittersweet herbal note very typical of the vineyard appears (smells like the place even). As the evening unfolded, the wine seemed to grow younger, each glass more lively than the last. The final sip was almost painfully austere, like drinking pure limestone, its explosive palate held together by sharp acidity and a palpable, phenolic grip. The finish seemed endless. One of my best Keller experiences this year. — 7 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Served to me double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine appears a deep garnet color with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears and no signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with ripe bramble fruits: a mix of blackberries and raspberries with Morello cherry, roses, tar, talcum powder, dried herbs, and gravelly soil. On the palate, the wine is dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and delicious. Alcohol is medium+. Initial conclusions: this could be Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir or Grenache from Italy or France. Because of the high tannin and talcum powder/tar/roses combo (and the utter lack of staining), my final conclusion is: Nebbiolo; from Italy; from Piemonte; Barolo…from Monforte d’Alba. I chose 2016 because it shows good great balance of structure and fruit. Ooooof…that was too close.

“La Villa” is Fratelli Seghesio’s most precious wine and until now, I can only ever recall drinking their Barolo “classico” and Barbera d’Alba and only on a few occasions. Believe it or not, “La Villa” is the oldest, single MGA bottling from any producer in Castelletto. The name “La Villa” is an old name for an area within Castelletto when it was once a commune all to itself. The distinguishing feature of “La Villa” is the eponymous ridge that runs perpendicular with Collaretto and Vigna Rionda to the east, across the stream of Talloria di Castiglione. The vines facing south are dedicated to their Nebbiolo while the vines facing north are predominately Barbera and Dolcetto. A very tasty Barolo. Drink now through 2035. — 8 months ago

Chris Grimm

9.1

Floral, strawberry, cherry, leather, searing acid, screaming tannins. I see where Nebbiolo gets it from. A beautiful wine, but definitely needs time. — 4 years ago

Keith M

9.0

果実味は明瞭で、重心の低い感じ。それでいて派手ではなくて、朴訥とした印象。
赤い系、黒い系、どちらのニュアンスも混在していて、複雑味もある。
ボルドーグラスだと固い印象。ブルゴーニュグラスの方がまろやかで好き。 — 7 years ago

Clay McLachlan

9.0

This #giuseppemascarello #20011 #scudetto really hits the mark for a #barbera , great! — 9 years ago

Phil Kessling

9.2

2011, MastroJanni, Rosso Di Montalcino, Montalcino, Sangiovese. Ruby with a wide garnet rim. Black fruit and red fruit, with violets, pepper, anise and wet leather. Finishes with mushroom and wet clay. Med plus acid and tannins; medium alcohol. Really well balanced with layers of fruit and savory flavors. Good pair with Korean short ribs. — 11 years ago