Carter Snead

9.1

Dinner with TCA Ladies! — a month ago

with John and Leigh

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2020 vintage. Tasted with the winemaker. The "safe spot" in the current lineup. Verry approachable vintage for Barolo and this effort comes the closest to upholding usual expectations. Medium body. Some earth/dirt. Fruit apparent but not nearly the oodles cascading over the infinity juice pool as from this producer's 2020 Cannubi or Mosconi efforts. Structure solidly in place. Delicious. $80 resto cost. 02.07.25. — 3 months ago

Angelo Casagrande

8.9

Little funk on the nose. Sour cherry, some minerals and a bit of smoke. Little lighter than I expected, some healthy tannin on the back end. Really fine wine for $20 or so. Nice to see Vallana’s around again. — 4 months ago

Steve Anderson

9.0

Just ok wrt expectations. With the exception of La Doriane, not getting much joy from Guigal these days. — 5 months ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.4

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

romo

9.1

Lacked some savory notes to its benefit. More Guigal than C-R. — 2 months ago

David White

9.1

Crimson colour with flavours of sour cherries and brambles.
In a nice drinking time frame.
Integrated tannins with fruit and acidity balance. — 3 months ago

Anthony James Marr

9.1

2007 vintage drinking very well - was almost ready out of the bottle but improved with a few hours in the decanter. Wonderful red fruit on the palate with strawberries, raspberries and red cherries. Alcohol was slightly perceptible. This is in a good place and seems unlikely to improve much, but nowhere near a state of decline. Fruit is still quite primary with nice acidity — 4 months ago

Nikole Souder-Schale

9.1

Delicious with Pizza. — 4 months ago

Mark S.

9.0

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

Christina

9.6

Fantastic! — 7 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

Richard Portes

9.3

17.5 Rich, long, special.. — 2 months ago

Erik Michielsen

9.5

Drinking beautifully - with D & L & Rams — 3 months ago

with Debbie

Timothy Eustis

Wine Director, Red Lion Inn

9.4

Mint is correct. Red fruit and earth and gentle oak. High acidity. Super food friendly. One of the best. 2004 but feels young! — 4 months ago

Sonnie

9.3

Really like — 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