Ensemble Cellars
Alain Gras
Saint-Romain Pinot Noir 2017
Delicious red fruit, fresh and almost mineral, good balance, delicious and great price too.
Comme toujours un beau rapport qualité prix, frais, fin, fruits rouges délicieux, acidité appuyée avec des tannins assez fins, bel ensemble, très bien. — 4 years ago
Écluse
Ensemble Lock Vineyard Petit Verdot Blend 2015
The 15’ bottling sees Petit Verdot leading this Bordeaux blend at 32%, with 26% CS, 26% Merlot, 13% CF, and 3% Malbec.
Complex and deep nose of blackberry, cassis, fig, dry pine cone, dark soy source, butterscotch, thyme, black pepper, with hint of violet. The palate, while delicious and smooth, lacks the depth I expected. Finely grained tannins lead to a long peppery finish.
377 cases made. — 5 years ago
Domaine Louis Boillot et Fils
"Les Evocelles" Gevrey-Chambertin Pinot Noir 1er Cru 2017
Nice elegant nose of dark fruit, some spices and some earthy tones. The palate has nice and pure slightly tangy fruit, medium bodied with tannins that have an elegant touch to make it a delicious balanced wine, enjoyable now but will get better with a few years in the cellar.
Nez agréable de fruits assez noirs, des épices, un peu terreux. La bouche a ce fruit juteux, très pur et assez finement acidulé, de corps plutôt moyen avec des tannins de texture fine, mais assez de structure pour en faire un bel ensemble. Assez bon maintenant mais surement meilleur avec quelques années de cave. — 5 years ago
Château Léoville-Las Cases
Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1978
Jean-Marc Vincent
Les Hautés Auxey-Duresses Chardonnay 2017
Delicious 2017 with aromas of hazelnut and white fruit, crisp acidity, a sense if richness but everything is harmonious and balanced, really good. 90-91
Excellent CDB 2017 encore une fois, fruits blancs, noisettes, acidité vive avec une certaine richesse de texture pour un ensemble savoureux et harmonieux. — 4 years ago
Azienda Agricola Brovia
Villero Barolo Nebbiolo 2008
This bottle was also part of the really fun ensemble of Barolos, generously shared and curated by our friend Tim.
Again, served blind after a lengthy slow-ox and we knew we were drinking Barolo but that’s it. No obvious signs of age. On the nose, bright red fruits, herbs, dead flowers and tar...but was all knees and elbows, even with all of the air it was given. Abundant structure. This had to be a classic case of yet to be realized potential.
The shroud was pulled and...I’ll be damned, a 2008 Brovia “Villero”. I’m sort of surprised how much of an infant this wine seemed to be. I have little doubt these will age gracefully for decades to come. — 4 years ago
Copain
"Tous Ensemble" Mendocino County Rosé of Pinot Noir 2018
Nectarine, white peach, a bit herbal. Decent acidity. — 5 years ago
Domaine Bachelet-Monnot
Chassagne-Montrachet Chardonnay 2017
Copain
"Tous Ensemble" Mendocino County Chardonnay 2015
Lovely traditional style Chardonnay. — 8 years ago
Copain
"Tous Ensemble" Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Cinnamon, cherry, rich — 4 years ago
Bookcliff Vineyards
Ensemble Red Blend 2018
Tasting menu sample of local Bookcliff Vineyards Ensemble red from 2018 with special take-home meal. Balanced, delicious Bordeaux blend. Paired perfectly with shortrib entree. — 4 years ago
Fratelli Monchiero
Barolo Nebbiolo 1985
This bottle was the third part of a really fun ensemble of Barolos, generously shared and curated by our friend Tim.
Once again, served blind after a lengthy slow-ox; all the while knowing we were drinking Barolo but that’s it. This bottle had rather obvious signs of age with loads of sediment (though most was decanted off) and a rather pronounced orange rim. On the nose, there was tar for dayzzzz! Secondary characteristics were dominant with dried cherries, balsamico, earth, and truffles. The finish was savory and delicious.
I was sure this was old but I wasn’t sure how old. Revealed as a 1985 Fratelli Monchiero, a producer I was unfamiliar with. Our host mentioned that it came across DOA when the cork was pulled but his experience with old Barolo proved this had a chance to come around; I’m so grateful he showed the patience necessary. A lovely experience. — 4 years ago
Copain
Tour Ensemble Mendocino County Rosé of Pinot Noir 2018
Raspberry, cranberry, pomegranate, sour fruit and acidic finish. — 5 years ago
Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin
Valmur Chablis Grand Cru Chardonnay 2016
A beautiful nose of yellow orchard fruit, honeysuckle and a touch of sea shells and salin texture. The wine is rich, a nice roundness and slightly less crisp than the usual Droin style, but still with enough backbone and acidity to make it harmonious, balanced, classy, elegant and with a lingering delicious finish. Great bottle. Un nez magnifique sur les fruits jaunes, pêches et un petit côté chèvrefeuille et une touche de coquillage. La bouche est sur le même registre, un côté plus riche et ample que le style Droin habituel, mais non dénuée de colonne et d’acidité qui en font un ensemble harmonieux, frais, pur, équilibré et avec beaucoup de classe et une longueur impressionnante. 93 pts aisément — 5 years ago
Mossik
White Rock Vineyard JouJou Cabernet Franc 2011
This is a knockout wine, a stunner, a pitch-perfect expression of love for wine in general, and Loire Cab Franc in particular. It's wild in all the right places, and impressively refined where it counts.
Medium ruby color. Arresting and straight-up delicious nose that has a certain choreography to it. Specifically it reminds me of Jiří Kylián - finding freedom within a melange of classicism and visceral impetus. Exuberance in wine is rare enough, but exuberance with such focus and intention?
The classicist bent was my first impression - a correct nose of stewed bell peppers and coffee grounds (pyrazines), earthy dog fur with slight clove (brett), and a savory blackberry-cherry fruit compote.
Tasted blind, you would guess Loire, but you might wonder at the shifting nature, at how occasionally the bretty flavors rear up in a flourish, only to be overshadowed a second later by a warm, pure fruit. There is something haunting about the fruit here - it seems to contain memories of many different wines. The wildness is complex - dried leaves, dog fur, toasted mushroom, spiced clove, moist earth. The pyrazinic aromas have uncommon depth and character - stewed bell pepper, coffee, and nascent tobacco.
On the palate, the wine dances with an elegant 12.6% alcohol frame, vibrant acidity, and satiny tannins - the medium on which the finish is printed. There is a moment, mid-palate, where the individual components come together seamlessly - a strong argument for structural-aromatic integration in the Clark Smithian sense. On the finish, the flavors subtly unravel, then persist like a vocal ensemble with synchronized vibrato.
Get this. — 8 years ago
Mario Vaillancourt
Flash decant this time as usually I open up the “Reynaud wines” a few hours in advance. We started drinking slowly but right away the aromas were very expressive and they opened up slowly to reveal multiple layers of red fruit, spices. I can discern some Grenache to my Burgundian palate but brely, the wine is powerful but approchable at this toung stage, nice freshness and great texture of tannins with an impressive length for a “vin de pays”. 90-91
Ouvert et donné un petit coup de carafe sans ménagement, nous avons commencé à le boire lentement. D’habitude j’ouvre plusieurs heures à l’avance les “vins Reynaud”. Un nez typé avec cette signature tellement envoûtante, expressif dès le départ et a continué à s’ouvrir avec le temps, des fruits rouges de toutes sortes, des épices, plusieurs couches d’arômes s’y développent. La bouche est très fraîche, une trace de Grenache à peine est décelée à mon palais très Bourguignon, le vin est assez puissant mais avec une telle fraîcheur et texture de tannins qui en font un bel ensemble très approchable, même s’il est encore très jeune. Une longueur impressionnante pour le rang et toujours un rapport qualité/prix fort avantageux. 90-91 — 4 years ago