web bond

8.9

Elevage is seemingly heavy handed, forced. Great fruit concentration, but not seamlessly coupled, integrated, with oak. — 8 years ago

Matt Sanders

9.1

Open me up and crush me! Fucking delicious, juicy goodness — 9 years ago

with James

Erik Nordman

9.1

Solid, textbook Chablis Premier Cru. Incredible tension and focus while still having a touch of richness from ML, partial neutral oak elevage, and lees action. If drinking now, decant, and preferably wait a couple years; this stuff needs a bit of air and/or time to unwind and right now it shows a little too reductively right out of the gate. Also, the acid is a bit intense even for an acid freak like me. Pours a medium (-) straw-gold hue. Nose of tart Granny Smith apple, lemon curd, smoky crushed chalk and sea spray, slightly underripe starfruit, and a hard cheese rind leesy character. On the palate, it's incredibly linear and with laser sharp focus; with more lemon curd, crushed chalk and oyster shell, underripe starfruit, Granny Smith apple skin, and hard cheese rind lees notes abound. Absolutely screamin' acid and bone dry with medium (-) body that is offered a bit of oily, soft texture from elevage on fine lees with partial neutral oak. Nice length. Intense wine; begs for oysters on the half shell or a bright seafood dish like a scallop crudo or something. — 9 years ago

web bond

8.9

Pleasurable, elegant, stylish, but not a stunner. Fruit is receding, and elevage stamp still present. Many Sangiovese Grosso wines outperform this bottle for half the price. — 10 years ago

Melissa Sorongon

Co-Owner of Piedrasassi winery, Provignage winemaking consulting company

9.0

We had it fairly chilled. Needs some diligent decanting as there is a prodigious amount of sediment. This wine had a fair amount of new oak on it at fermentation and elevage, so I was expecting that oak to still be an overwhelming mask on the wine. Not at all. There is definitely the presence of oak and a higher alcohol level than what we produce today, but there is still savory finesse in this wine--particularly in the mouthfeel. — 10 years ago

web bond

9.0

Well done. Sure, wine shows generosity of California and enthusiastic elevage, and still well done. — 10 years ago

Christof Ellinghaus

9.6

2002! no sulfite! 6 or so years of elevage! oxidation as an artform. slightly alcoholic yet fresh and expressive. no sign of fatigue! just amazing stuff!! — 11 years ago

Heidi Fornalsky

8.9

Very good on the 2010. Some black pepper and other spices. Nice balance on tannins vs acidity. I feel much better than most Argentinian malbecs of the same price point. Drinking prime about now — 11 years ago

Kaitlin Ohlinger

9.2

Slays. Can I have another favorite from the #oregonchardonnaysymposium? This one really pops. Go Ribbon Ridge. — 12 years ago

This One Goes To Eleven... This Is Not The Account Of Spinal Tap!

10

This had this 12 years ago

Benoit Duhamel

8.9

Loin du typique Chambolle en finesse. C’est du sérieux ce vin.... fruits noirs, encore austère et un elevage encore présent. Je dirais qu’il faut attendre mais pas certain qu’il sera meilleur... — 8 years ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.2

Lovely creamy blend. Great elevage. Dégorg 2/15. — 9 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.7

Gonon's spinning some seriously unreal Syrah! Youthful, but showing so much after a quick 30 minute decant. Lively dark berries, olive tapenade, lavender, meat, herbs, black pepper, anise, mushroom. Dense, owing to the vintage, with grainy tannins and a remarkably solid acid drive. I could drink a lot of this wine 😍

Note (from CWS): While still considered within the Saint Joseph appellation, the brothers choose to bottle this younger vine syrah separately from their flagship cuvée because the vineyard location on flatland close to the bank of the Rhône does not possess the same granite base as is typical of their more historic hillside sites. Vinified with about 80% of fruit de-stemmed and undergoing a shorter elevage of 12-14 months in 600 Litre demi-muids casks. — 9 years ago

with Michelle

Loren Gesinsky

9.2

Ouille Elevage comparator at 2/28/17 Rouge Tomate Salon Series on A Natural History of Wine — 10 years ago

web bond

8.9

Good fruit; heavy handed elevage. — 10 years ago

Scott Taddeo

9.3

Elevage in cement tanks has really seen the freshness of this wine take centre stage with aromas of tart red fruits, some dried cranberry, blackcurrant pastille, some leafiness with slight orange zest and Campari like bitters coming through too. Delicious on it own but with that perfect pitched acidity and leathery tannin profile go at this with wild boar Ragu for extra pleasure 🍝 — 10 years ago

Betty Hedrick

9.4

I like it alone, with steak and with cheese. But not one to drink before it is decanted. — 11 years ago

Phil Stice

9.0

Lovely rustic version. Stem inclusion, 20 month elevage — 11 years ago

Jörgen Lindström Carlvik

Owner, Brix Wine Consultants

9.2

Weird and very personal but positively restraint aromas and flavors of verbena, grapefruit, soft spices and candied peaches. Naked finish where its natural elevage becomes obvious. Feels older than it is (2011 vintage), but I'm still intrigued to revisit this one in another few years. — 11 years ago

Jeff Sidwell

Owner Bon! Gourmet

9.4

Best i have tried in a while elevage on the lees under cork not bottle cap so a little oxidation and slight maturity ready to drink now very full mouth — 12 years ago

Michelle Moser

9.5

Sophisticated summer in a bottle... Lovely bouquet of flowers, peaches, vanilla, carmel and almonds- reminded me of peach cobbler. I was grateful for the long clean finish as I did not want it to end. Lovely! — 13 years ago

Erik Nordman

9.3

Killer Chablis 1er Cru. An absolute lightning bolt of a wine, linear and acid-driven to be sure. Drinking awesome right now, the fruit is still quite primary but has obviously integrated a bit into the whole of the wine. Still has quite a life ahead of it tbh; I would have thought it was only a few years old rather than almost 8 if I hadn’t known beforehand. Bracing and mineral as you’d expect, with a great textural balance between cut and fleshiness.

- Color: bright, medium (-)/medium intensity straw-gold hue
- Nose: just-ripe starfruit, ripe green and yellow apple, an almost smoky crushed stone and chalk mineral character, lemon curd, oyster shell salinity, hard cheese rind leesiness, creme fraiche
- Palate: ripe green apple, ripe starfruit, lemon and grapefruit pulp, wet stone minerality and oyster shell salinity, hard cheese rind, creme fraiche
- Acid: high
- RS: bone dry
- Alcohol: medium/medium (+), not intrusive
- Body: medium (-) body; supple, oily texture from the sur lie elevage
— 9 years ago

with Cassie

Tom Kobylarz

9.2

60% Cabernet Sauvignon 40% Merlot
Vintage elevage can vary, but is mostly 6-8 year old French oak barrels, with a small percentage of new French oak. The team at Sasaacaia do not look at Guidalberto as a second wine, specific plots are destined for this wine from the 10-24 year old Cabernet Sauvignon vines. Merlot does not even make it into #Sassicaia. The nose is serious, with pronounced complexity and density, focused and showing varietal nuances. Excellent grip and structure, fleshier fruit notes turn darker with deeper cherry, red raspberry and cassis fruit, sweet blue and violet floral notes. A sweet core of ripe and velvety tannin, while juicy acidity amps up the the fruit presence, while adding freshness and spine. This is a smart buy almost every vintage and 2015 is no exception. — 9 years ago

Lee Lightfoot

9.2

Like old vine amador zin. Huge dried fruit with dusty leathery character. Really mature probably due to 36 month elevage. — 9 years ago

Erik Nordman

9.3

Awesome Kabinett from the Pfalz. Great finesse and wonderful purity. Nose of mandarin and just-ripe green apple, pure, river stone minerality, jasmine and honeysuckle, and a subtle cardamom-y spice. A bit of petrol and a citrusy sorrel herbaciousness show up as well after it gets some air. Palate echoes the nose, channeled through bracing acidity and just a touch of perceptible RS; less than your average Kabinett but better for it in this case. Great balance. Medium (-) body with nice supple oily texture, guessing there's some elevage on fine lees here but not entirely sure. Have to keep myself from chugging it practically; it's so tasty and quenching. — 10 years ago

Michael Meyer

9.1

Dark blue fruit, mocha, and spice on a taut frame that spins out to a long minerally finish. This should improve considerably with a few more years of bottle age. — 10 years ago

Collin Moody

9.4

4/2/15. Aka sour/old noble King. Very long elevage. Pretty subdued. No longer hoppy. Pretty gentle and delicious. — 11 years ago

Barb Anderson

9.0

Go do the Voodoo that you do. I'll just sip on this! No Sacrifice at all to relish this Viognier! — 11 years ago

with Beckie and Amanda

Jonathan Lipsmeyer

8.9

Hazelnut gelato nose! Lovely round palate that whe attesting to the oak elevage doesn't go overboard, cool character and sneaky acidity. Lovely aged white burgundy ready to go. Minerals locked into the supple waves which really become evident on the glass residuals. Very fair price for the aged perfection. — 12 years ago

John Sherman

9.6

This is pretty awesome. Dry and kind of funky. I love it! — 12 years ago