Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

Holy moly. This is psychotic. What a nose. Deep, penetrating, wild cherries, forest floor, so so perfumed. An earthy sweetness is just overwhelming. Amazing. So elegant and delicate. Yet so deep and vivid. Best young Probstey Pinot nose ever. Just ridiculous. Palate is sweet, dense and so clear. The clarity on this is bananas. Sweet, silky and super deep. Velvety tannins and so much energy. Terrific wood spice on the nose. Adds so much. Complexity on fleek. Almost painful concentration. Amazing cherries. A literal tiny berry fruit cherry explosion. Genius. Finish is all limestone, sweet cherries and velvet. A masterpiece. — 4 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.1

I literally gave up on domestic Chardonnay...but I love the flavor profile—Tart, juicy Granny Smith and ripe sweet pear. No discernible oak, light crisp acid/ fruit balance and ABV under 13. What a food wine! Every time I pop an Enfield, I congratulate myself on my perspicuity and good sense. It’s not hard to drink well, just ignore the big names and hype. — 5 years ago

Kapyrick Wine

9.2

V15. Very nice. Soft toast and citrus nose. Creamy, stone fruit. Smooth, wet rock finish. Well balanced — 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

A real find from Argentina, fermented 50% in cement, aged for 12 months in used French oak. Light red with purple edges, aromas of fresh red berry fruits and notes of floral spice. On the palate cherry with a touch of raspberry flavors adding in fresh spices, soft integrated tannins giving a great balance. Lingering finish ending with fruit and mineral character. Nice delicate Pinot! — 6 years ago

Swii Yii Lim

9.2

Quite mentholated, with wild thyme, Sicilian oregano, and winter savoury over the earthy fruit. Coming out of the sulky teenager phase, but needs another 5 years to fully open up. Evolving well from what it was upon release. — 7 years ago

M Gandalf

9.0

Very nice cab, good fruit flavor. Has some good complexity, and a fairly decent finish. Good value at $25-$30 if you can find it. For my taste though, it is a bit on the raisin side, with a touch of smokeyness in the finish. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Nearly 12 years later and I'm smiling with near laughter as to how good the 05 is tonight vs. the price I paid for this in 07/08. I think around $28. The wine is singing. The nose is macerated sour dark and mid red fruit with dry dark perfumed florals. The fruits on the palate are; dark cherries, cherries, ripe blackberries, black raspberries, huckleberries, pouched strawberries, ripe/juicy spiced black plum and are ridiculously elegant & beautiful. Followed by; soft spice-box, caramel, vanilla, black cherry cola, sweetened black tea, rich, semi-sweet black earth w/wet crushed rocks, brambly, relaxed volcanic minerals, a puff of smokiness, suede soft leather, violets & wild dark florals. The balance is perfect as is the length. The structure and tannins are perfectly resolved and the acidity pours over the palate. The finish is elegant and delicate. It's right around it's peak. Such a steal when you hold a well made $28 wine and nearly 12 years later it's better than a $75-$100 bought today and enjoyed within its first 5 years. The take away is you don't always need to spend $100 plus on a bottle of wine for it to be good. You just need to exercise some patience. 👍 — 9 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

A very rare bird almost impossible to find where the production on their 9 plots only amounts to a total of 9000 btls. I discovered their wines when I attended a Bizot tasting & lunch at Marea in Feb 2020 where I found their whole cluster wines had this beautiful purity of fruit & transparency. This btl was no different offering up an amazing nose of red cherry & berry fruits, lush & pure on the palate with baking spices, floral & mineral notes. A wine that is so good now you can drink young but will reward time in the cellar. — 4 years ago

Matt

9.8

Instense and saturated with roasted black plum and mulberry fruit, tar, grilled porcini, espresso bean, pork blood, curing salt, hoisin, smoked meat, leather, hot iron, metal, apricot confit, grapefruit oil, talcum, roasted herbs de Provence, whole cluster spice like pepper and almost mustard seed, Absolutely wild in its length, complexity, and elixir-like headiness. Some people hate, but this is arguably one of the most unique terroirs for Syrah on earth. — 5 years ago

Zach Demers

9.3

First time having Bosconia. Wonderfully supple but still a babe at 13 years. Delicious red fruit, cocoa/milk chocolate, wild herbs and warm baking spices on the nose. Nicely integrated, medium body, excellent clarity and finish. Plenty of tannic structure and rich fruit, like all LdH this will go for ages. — 6 years ago

Douglas Braun

9.0

This is a 2013 Mondeuse lotta fun funkiness coming out wild fruit and spice — 7 years ago

Greg Koslosky

9.7

Elegant vineyard driven with excellent minerality, red and blue fruit wild flowers complex and long really opened up with aeration superb! — 8 years ago

Kevin Cahoon

9.1

From magnum, this was a bit muted and restrained with a shy nose of red cherry, blackberry, allspice and mint notes. Lively entry with Sangiovese’s austere tannins. Red cherry, cranberry and cassis fruit in the mouth. Lacked the density I expected. Paired really well with the wild boar ragu and pappardelle. — 8 years ago

Kristin Marcou

10

Black cherry, wild berry fruit, and notes of chocolate and oak. Rich texture lingers long with a bright, fresh finish — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

If you have not had this producer of Shiraz from Barossa, you are missing out on some special wines from very old vines. In the case of “The Relic” 100 year old vines. We walked the Standish Estate vines w/ Dan in April 2017. They yield a paltry 500 pounds of fruit per acre. Normally, very high quality wine are around 2,00-2,500 pounds of fruit per acre. So, his wines are from small concentrated berries.

You won’t find his wines in the US except on the secondary markets. He doesn’t have or need a US importer as he sells everything he makes through his mailing list. However, worth seeking out. Also, his wines need to age and you can find them this old. I have numerous times.

Dan started out in Barossa and then gathered much of winemaking knowledge working his way through Europe for several producers and a majority of them in France.

When he returned to Australia, he became the Winemaker at Torbreck before starting “The Standish Wine Company.”

I’ve posted several of his wines with detailed notes and will let them speak here. Cheers!

— 4 years ago

Dave Schneider

9.2

From a 375. I bought this one 15 years ago for $12 and I’ve been waiting to open it on a Tuesday night with some take out Chinese. I finally found the night! At first, it was very tight and backward. Huge tannins that I thought would never fade. I figured it was a 2003 that was off center And funky. After 30 minutes it was still tight but the black fruit rose out of the glass and the tannins faded revealing a beautiful claret that was a little hard around the edges but offered immense pleasure. Fun to find something that was laying around so long — 6 years ago

Darren Gale

9.3

2008. Fabulous! A bit of spice to go with the deep fruit hints. Buy this if you find it. — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.3

Nice, aged Cabernet. Debated opening this one. This started more on the plum and raisin side and a little muted. 15 minutes later? Fig and mushroom with basil and oregano, but not a whole lot of fruit. 30 minutes after that? Dirty black cherry, plums, seemed to find itself after a 31 year sleep. Rather substantial weight in the middle. Finishes with a gritty note. Tannins are definitely dropping here and this one is showing all it has. Good time to drink now! — 7 years ago

with Dan, Shay and 1 other

Stuart Pollack

9.3

Smells of Summer. Nose is fresh fruit, peach and white fruit. Flavor starts with vanilla and white fruit, and finishes with lemon. — 8 years ago

Anthony Lombardi

9.5

Youthful Grenache wild berries & a sultry smoky aromatic note balance the grippy tannins & concentrated darker fruit which emerge on the back of the palate. This feels like it will cellar beautifully and drinks classically. — 9 years ago