Alvaro Bustillos

9.5

Tasting night @element 47 — 7 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.5

90° at 7pm calls for more Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
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Cloudy Bay was founded in 1985 by David Hohnen of Margaret River’s Cape Mentelle along with its first winemaker, Kevin Judd, who would go on to spend 25 years there before creating his own label, Greywacke. Judd is widely considered as the pioneer responsible for elevating New Zealand wine to its current status. Judd also happens to be one of the best wine photographers in the world (I highly recommend his ‘The Landscape of New Zealand Wine’).
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According to Master of Wine Bob Campbell “the genesis for Greywacke Wild Sauvignon was Cloudy Bay Te Koko; a funky, barrel-fermented sauvignon blanc that bent all the rules when it was made in 1992 and initially sold only through the cellar door. Greywacke Wild Sauvignon is a blend from 10 different Marlborough vineyards which are machine-harvested at night. After pressing the juice is settled before being pumped into mostly old barrels and fermented using indigenous yeasts (about 15-20 different strains). The wine undergoes a partial malolactic fermentation and lees stirring.”
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Incredible aromatics... an almost vibrant herbaceousness... red bell pepper, grapefruit zest, tangerine, apricot, and cucumber, with a silky smooth mouthfeel unlike most Sauvignon Blancs. Extraordinary. — 8 years ago

Shun Kikuchi

9.2

Complex. sweet ripen black fruits (overripen?) and greenish aroma from whole cluster fermentation create seductive aroma. dry, mid acidity, silky texture. powerful beauty. Distinctive style from acidity driven cool climate PN.ABV13.6% — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

8.9

A glass of wine to finish up the night...good age, nice evolution and an extremely good value at $25. Recent direct Chateau purchase. While the 1998 Bordeaux vintage was panned by the critics as a whole on the Left Bank, Pessac-Leognan shined better than most on the Left Bank. It was Right Bank Saint Emilion that had the great year. This 98 Haut-Bergey is not quite the wine the 98 Haut-Bailly is. However, it is delicious for $25. Nose of; blackberries, dark cherries, cherries, strawberries leather, cedar, tobacco leaf, dry stones, vanilla, dark moist soils and fresh red florals. The body is medium to lean. Tannins are completely resolved. Ripe, lean, shining; blackberries, dark cherries, strawberries & cherries. Black moist earth, touch of funk, soft chewy leather, stones, crushed dry rock powder, cedar, tobacco leaf, steeped fruit tea, cola, dry underbrush, fresh & dry red florals, liquid violets with raining acidity. The finish has lean, bright mid red fruits, earth and dark spices. Nice wine for the $. While this will hold another 3-5 years, it's not going to continue to improve. So, drink em. Photos of; the Chateau, barrel room, view inside the Chateau and their shiny stainless steel fermentation tanks. — 9 years ago

Heidi Harrison

9.0

@elementwinery soft, pretty body, cherry, cola, thyme, sage, black pepper, lovely #fingerlakes #syrah — 9 years ago

with Philip

Craig Stanfield

9.3

Fragrant with exotic spice. Purple flowers, sour cherry, blackberry, a woodsy element but not like toasted vanilla. Interesting, balanced and delicious. Good tannin and acid structure to hold up the generous perfumed fruit. — 9 years ago

Christine Havens

9.2

I tasted through several Corison Napa Valley Cabernets with legendary winemaker, Cathy Corison and fellow wine writers Elaine Brown and Meg Houston Maker. 2012 was the youngest vintage we sampled, as expected it's quite youthful and fresh. Saturating aromas of black cherries, steeped blackberries, violets, and incense. In the mouth the fruit is plump, as is typical of the 2012 vintage, but this element is nicely balanced. It has the structure and stuffing to age, with lovely hints of baking spice and black pepper on the finish. — 10 years ago

bobinaction

8.9

a killer surprise of natural fermentation — 10 years ago

Richie Mello

9.7

Been getting busy with sours/Bretts as of late and I have to say that this is the most impressive I have had thus far.. Tart but not too, simplistic and bares an edge of decisiveness. The barrel age is on point! — 11 years ago

with Fallon

Nicholas Livingston

9.5

Champagne Pierre Callot Grande Réserve Premier Cru Blancs de Blancs | Bought through ArtisanVineyards.com | Notes on the bottling disgorged in July 2013 | 12.5% Lovely fragrance of membrillo quince paste, fresh raw coconut, brioche, and tangy citrus peels, this champagne also scratches that itch for pastry notes without heavy oak. Partial malolactic fermentation calms some of the Champenoise flex and leaves a fresh fragrant apple lift on its round finish. Delicious at every turn. — 12 years ago

Kyle Groombridge

9.0

Fun ultra-nerdy semi sweet sparkling wine from just west of Savoie. Ancestral method bubbles; meaning they bottle before fermentation is complete. Fermentation finishes in bottle, naturally stopping after a couple of months. No dosage, but natural sweetness from the unfinished fermentation. I agree with a couple of others who said this drinks like a sparkling Kool-Aid.. raspberry/strawberry punch with a streak of minerality. Some mustiness on the nose. Crack this bad boy open whilst grilling burgers poolside for optimal enjoyment. — 7 years ago

Luke Stanko

9.3

Beautiful alpine and red fruit with a savory/stem element that brings it all together. Pallet is fresh with bright acid and firm structure. — 8 years ago

with Amanda

Cindy Milton

9.1

Very nice and light. No dry after taste. — 8 years ago

Emily Anderson

9.0

A little funk, apple cider like, lower acidity, easy drinking — 8 years ago

Craig Williams

9.3

Citrus honeyed aromas covey a depth that is realized upon tasting the wine. The late, wet harvest brought about conditions favorable for Botrytis but AT exercised great care sorting the fruit before fermentation. The result is a lovely, youthful CH with compelling length often found in similar CH vintages in Burgundy.
— 8 years ago

with Gavin and Maureen

Jorge Sierra

9.1

Like a delicious salami in a wine — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

On the nose, dark minerals, muted dark currants, fresh & dry dark florals, violets, dark cherries, strawberries and red licorice. On the palate; ripe bright fruits on first entry, lean & soft tannin structure, dry crushed rock powder, volcanic minerals, notes of a woody quality, leather & underbrush. Lean & ripe; dark cherries, cherries, blackberries, black raspberries, raspberries, touch of graphite, nice acidity, good structure with a beautiful, long finish. Barrel tasted the 2016 vintage at the Nickel & Nickel Entrecôte. Photos of look as you walk up out of their cellar and the old Nickel & Nickel truck. I'm not a vintage car expert but it looks like it comes from the later 1920's — 9 years ago

Simon Weston

9.0

Had this at a lecture on ancient fermentation, its a sweet honey mead, props to Dogfish for trying this, love the hint of saffron. — 9 years ago

TheSkip

9.1

Again. Amazing that he can get that much creaminess without malolactic fermentation. Every time i try Nils Venge wines, I say I want to try his higher lanes, but I always forget! — 9 years ago

Jeffrey Long

9.0

Galaxy hops is always nice, but could be more prominent. Makes being surrounded by annoying Seahawks fans slightly more tolerable. — 10 years ago

Manuela Bürger

10

spontanious fermentation - excellent! — 11 years ago

Brett Pallesen

10

Beer from Mr Gavenat — 12 years ago

Andrew Lampasone

Owner Wine Watch Selections

9.3

This wine was made in the mid 1990s this is the oldest block of the vineyard barrel fermented wild fermentation slow on lees for 19 months. — 12 years ago

Eric Linderman

9.1

Nice wine, soft almost grenache like — 8 years ago

Sandra Larson

9.1

Loved the soft nose and tannins. Great sipping wine but enjoyed it more with pork roast & veggies. Drank 2014 last week. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I have a six-pack of this 05. I thought after 10 years in bottle, it would be interesting to check in on its evolution. While tasty, I’ll wait another 8-10 to open another. Even after 2-3 hours in the decanter, it’s still a very young adolescent. On the nose, slightly sour blackberries & dark cherries, dark currants, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, anise, whiff of spice, steeped tea, dry stones, dry crushed rocks with dry top soil, caramel, vanilla with fresh & dry red florals. The body is thick & full. Tannins are starting to round out. It’s velvety on the palate. The fruits are; bright, fresh & ripe and really show the greatness of the 05 vintage. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, baked strawberries, cherries, raspberries on the long set, dark spice, clay & loamy dry top soil with crushed rocks, dry stones, cigar with ash, graphite, dry stems, slight herbaceous character, mint, used leather, clove, caramel, vanilla, fresh & dry red florals with violets. The round acidity is about perfect. The structure and length are still strong. The balance is in harmony. As for the long finish, it’s lush, ruby, rich and well polished. Photos of; Chateau Brane Cantenac, large wood vats, Henri Lurton and Estate vines. Producer notes and history...Chateau Brane Cantenac began in the early 17th century. At the time, the estate was known as Domaine Guilhem Hosten. Even that far back, wine was produced from the property. In fact, the wine was so highly regarded it was one of the more expensive wines in Bordeaux. It sold for almost as much money as Brane Mouton. This is interesting because of who went on to buy the vineyard in the 1800’s. The Baron of Brane, also known as “Napoleon of the Vineyards”, purchased the Chateau in 1833. At the time of the sale, the estate was called Chateau Gorce-Guy. To get the funds needed to purchase the Margaux vineyard, the Baron sold what is now called Mouton Rothschild, which was at the time of the sale, known as Chateau Brane-Mouton. Not such a good move with hundreds of years in hindsight! In 1838, the Baron renamed property taking his name and the name of the sector where the vineyards were located and called it Chateau Brane Cantenac. The Chateau later passed to the Roy family, who were well-known in the Margaux appellation in those days, as they owned Chateau d’issan. Moving ahead to 1920, the Societe des Grands Crus de France, a group of merchants and growers that owned several chateaux located in the Medoc including; Chateau Margaux, Chateau Giscours, and Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien, purchased Chateau Brane Cantenac. Five years later, M. Recapet and his son-in-law, François Lurton, took over Brane Cantenac along with Chateau Margaux. Lucien Lurton (the son of François Lurton) inherited Brane Cantenac in 1956. Today, the estate is still in the hands of the Lurton family. Brane Cantenac is owned and run by Henri Lurton. After being given the responsibility of managing Brane Cantenac, it was under the direction of Henri Lurton that large portions of the vineyard were replanted. Vine densities were increased, the drainage systems were improved and the plantings were also, slowly changed. The vineyard of Brane Cantenac is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and .5% Carmenere. Carmenere was used for the first time in the 2011 vintage. The only other Chateau I know that still uses Carmenere is Clerc Milon. The 75 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Brane Cantenac is essentially unchanged since it earned Second Growth status in the 1855 Classification. At least that is the case with the 45 hectares used to produce the Grand Vin of Brane Cantenac. Those 45 hectares are planted surrounding the Chateau. Those vines are located just in front of the Cantenac plateau and are the best terroir that Brane Cantenac owns. They have other parcels, which are further inland and much of those grapes are placed into their second wine, Le Baron de Brane. Those additional hectares can be divided into 3 main sections. Behind the Chateau, they have 15 hectares of vines on gravel and sand, 10 hectares across the road with sand, gravel and iron and a 13 hectare parcel with gravel called Notton, which is used for their second wine. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,666 vines per hectare on the plateau and up to 8,000 vines per hectare for the vines located behind chateau, in their sandier soils. The higher levels of vine density are always found in the newer plantings. The terroir of Brane Cantenac consists of deep gravel, sand and clay soil. Experiments in the vineyards are currently looking at becoming more organic in their vineyard management. Today, more than 25% of Brane Cantenac is farmed using organic farming techniques. It is expected that over time, the amount of hectares farmed with organic methods will be increased. Brane Cantenac has gone through 2 relatively recent modernization’s in 1999, when they added began adding the first of their smaller vats to allow for parcel by parcel vinification and then again in 2015 when they completed a much more complete renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. While Brane Cantenac is a traditional producer, they are no stranger to technology as they were one of the first estates to embrace optical grape sorting machines. In very wet vintages, they can also use reverse osmosis. To produce the wine of Chateau Brane Cantenac, the wine is vinified in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional, 22 oak vats, 18 concrete tanks and 20 stainless steel vats that vary in size from 40 hectoliters all the way up to 200 hectoliters, which allows for parcel by parcel vinification. 40% of the fermentation takes place in the oak vats. The oldest vines are vinified in vats that are selected to allow for separate parcel by parcel vinification. The younger vines are vinified more often together in the same vats. However, the Carmenere is entirely micro-vinified, meaning that those grapes were completely vinified in barrel, using micro-vinification techniques. This can also happen because the amount of grapes produced is so small. Some vats can be co-inoculated, meaning they go through alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation simultaneously. At Chateau Brane Cantenac, malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak tanks and barrels. The wine of Brane Cantenac is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The initial 2 months of aging is done with the wine on its lees, which adds more depth to the wine. There second wine is Le Baron de Brane. Le Baron de Brane is not new. In fact, previously, the second wine went under the name of Chateau Notton, which took its name from one of the main parcels where the grapes were planted. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, having a second wine was important as the estate declassified 3 vintages, due to extremely poor, weather conditions in 1956, 1960 and 1963. Production of Chateau Brane Cantenac is about 11,000 cases per year. — 8 years ago

Andrew Brenner

9.0

Another surprising glass from @Christopher Bates at dinner this eve. The most Chinon-esque Cab Franc I've had from the Finger Lakes. Pepper, earth, nice. — 9 years ago

Christopher Bates

Master Sommelier, Owner/Winemaker Element Winery

9.1

I'm really happy with this. Not much made, but really pretty. Excited to see how it develops! — 10 years ago

Richie Mello

9.1

Yes Yes Yes! If this wasn't a Stout it'd be a damn Port! — 11 years ago

Adam Jesberger

9.6

Much more napa typicity than the 03 estate. Big ripe black berry, black currant, raisin and cranberry notes on the nose. Massive methoxypyrazine presentation, bell pepper vegetal overload. Not in a bad way. It is enveloped by a bitter dark chocolate element that compliments spicy brown sugar oakiness. The palate is big and bold. Full bodied black fruit expression. Big vegetal notes. Solid oak elements with a long satisfying finish. Went super well with short ribs! This wine is very good. — 11 years ago

with Jenelle