Thomas Brenner

8.9

Bright and fruity, really little spice on this one. Great, easy and fun drinking. A nice insight into this year's vintage. — 9 years ago

Kelleen Sullivan

9.5

Old world mineral stone qualities banana insight and finish — 9 years ago

Dan White

9.3

Fruit, Acid with a side of fun. Ok, so that doesn't provide any insight into the wine... This wine is unpretentious, complex and full of character. Rich, minerality with enough body to hold up to solid food. Apple, Brown Pear and stone fruit. Very, very good. — 9 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.3

Tasted alongside Michael at the 16' vintage reveal earlier this week. I think a warmer vintage can do wonders for marginal climates, such as the Macedon. Of course, with the right viticulture and picking decisions. 16' has produced a remarkable rendition of the Kostas. Layered, rich, seamless. Bright citrus fruit, lots of grapefruit in fact, floral, mineral, leesy, restraint oak.

Note: Tasted alongside the 09', which was another warm year. A nice insight to how the 16' might develop - the 09' has an almost pervasive lanolin character, fruit's giving way to some mealy and bitter almond notes, very mineral, and perhaps a little more weight and richness. My notes had the word purity attached to both wines — 9 years ago

AnneMarie Girard

9.5

AMAZING. Fruit forward with guava essence — 9 years ago

Shay A

9.3

What a unique tasting experience! Fleury Estate makes the wine for a private label at the local wine shop in FtWorth. We tasted through some of their wines in their barrel room under a very cool canopy and lighted setting. A lot of the wines we tasted were very similar (lots of blends, heavy on zin) and this Howell Mountain BDX was delicious. Represents Bordeaux nicely but has the Napa fruit forward style. Oscar who did our tasting was very knowledgeable and gave insight to the importance of single varietal wines. Love the tannic, dark, dusty Howell Mountain wines! — 9 years ago

James K

9.4

On the down slope. But the peak is still insight. Amazing balance. Love old Napa. — 10 years ago

with Kari and mike

Kyo Jin

8.9

Always elegant. Holds something back every time I drink it, but gives you a bit of hint and insight at the very last drop. Giving wine. But holds much, much more in its heart. — 11 years ago

Michael Norwood

9.6

Damn son! I have no insight as to whether this wine is going uphill or down but it has hit its stride for sure! Smoke, meat, blackberry... all the depth of a St Joseph with the wonderfully extracted viscosity you expect from a Central Coast wine. One left... not sure it's going to last much longer! — 11 years ago

Aran Healy

Partner Ruby WIne, Carlotta Cellars, Thistle Cellars

9.9

Drinking this now for some insight. Laying the premier crus down. — 13 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

On the nose; ripe, syrupy dark currants, blackberries, sweet slightly liqueured dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, blue fruits, dark fruit gummy bears, tarry notes, black pepper, soft leather, dry brush, black licorice, caramel, dry crushed rocks, loamy dry top soil, violets, lilacs and lavender. The body is warm, thick, ultra rich, lush & elegant. The tannins are round & velvety but still have strength...50% resolved. It has another 10-12 years of good drinking ahead. The fruits are gorgeous & ripe; blackberries, sweet slightly liqueured dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries & lots of blue fruits & strawberries that paint the palate on the long set. A fair amount of tarry notes, black pepper, dry herbaceous notes (bay leaf), dry black olive, medium dark spice, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, clove, soft leather, dry brush, black licorice, dry crushed rocks, loamy dry top soil, violets, lilacs and lavender. The acidity is round & excellent. The long fruit driven finish is beautifully lush, elegant, well structured with near perfect balance. Photos of; Owner/Winemaker Roman Bratasiuk, their old gnarly 80-90 year old and low yielding vines and two of their vineyards. Producer history and notes...Clarendon Hills was founded in 1990 by Biochemist Roman Bratasiuks. Roman sought to further his passion for great wine by making some himself. Roman never trained as a winemaker. He planned on using his insight as a wine taster and scientist alike to dictate decisions. Roman sought to make a version of the wines he loved. The beginnings of Clarendon Hills effectively started in 1989 when he knocked on the door a local grower whose fruit he liked. A great friendship grew from from this by chance knock on the door. A handshake ensued and it became the first Clarendon Hills vineyard. On Saturday 24 February in 1990, Roman with just a bucket and secateurs arrived. Much to the growers shock, he began picking fruit himself. Roman started at 6 am and finished at 9 pm that evening; he picked half the entire vineyard himself and returned on Sunday the 25th to finish it. This process was repeated in a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard which formed the 3 single site wines produced in 1990. Crushing was performed by Roman using empty bottles to squash the fruit in a bucket, then transferred by that bucket, to one of the 3 small ex-dairy tanks all bought for $100 and a quick, non-temperature controlled wild-yeast fermentation ensued. The wines were pressed in a borrowed basket press and matured in 3 separate third-hand barrels. The vintage was finished in 11 days. Much to Roman’s delight the wines were superb and they sold. With the money he bought more buckets, three more barrels and rent for a shed to house wines. The process was repeated the next year and the year after that. Clarendon Hills grew from his determination. This one man had to make wine after work and on the weekends after his 9-to-5 job. A local news paper even ran a story "Tin shed wines take on the world"; which made Roman cringe but slowly Clarendon Hills grew, it afforded him more equipment to make the process less labour-intensive and slowly grow his vineyard repertoire. In 1994, Roman left the Australian Government laboratories and devoted himself to Clarendon Hills 100%. In the 1994 vintage, Roman hired his first employee and rebranded his $30 Clarendon Hills Shiraz as 1994 Clarendon Hills Astralis. It was the first bottle in Australia to be priced at $100. It sold out. Roman went on for many years, making and selling the wines himself. Travelling the world over to show people the wines he made. Roman figured since he made the wine, he was the most logical choice to sell and represent his wine. This worked out so well, he continues to show the wines himself. Clarendon Hills produces; 8 Syrah, 6 Grenache, 3 Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot and Mourvedre wine. They are all single vineyards single varietal wines, produced from low yielding, dry grown old vines which are hand pruned and hand picked. All his wines are aged in high-quality French oak barriques. Quite a brilliant success story. This is also another wine I acquired on the secondary market for much less it’s release price and far less than their current release prices. It starts as a 9.3 with a half-hour decant. However, as it gets to an hour and half decant plus, it just gets better & better. Works it’s way to a 9.5 in a hour decant. — 9 years ago

James Ramsden

9.1

Excellent green fruit. Very smooth. Sample from Svensky. — 9 years ago

Chris England

9.0

In the ☀️ what else can you do? Crack open a new vintage of your fav value NZSB @ £12 - wow this vintage is lovely 👍 Absolutely try this 😎 great QPR

🍷 Light straw yellow w/ lime hue

👃 Intense aromatic pineapple, peach & mango rain mist w/ citrus & gooseberry splashes

👄 Refreshing crisp zingy sweet mango lead creamy punchy tropical fruits in a med body w/ med acidity through citric tones

🎯 Long totally tropical & citrus taste w/ a dry lime touch 👍 I'm going to go play my bongo bongo now 🎶 — 9 years ago

Matt Sherwin

9.3

Delicious St. Helena Cab! Small family owned and you won't find it anywhere unless you have a insight — 9 years ago

Sabrina Combs

9.3

Very crisp. Fresh grapefruit. Very refreshing chilled on a hot day in Texas! — 10 years ago

Dimes

9.4

Pony boy woulda been wishin he had a sip of this before going out. I guess I'm the first rating it so the pressures on, but I'm highly into it if you prefer qualitative over quantitative insight — 10 years ago

Ben Walker / Caravin

9.0

Heavy berry. Some chew. This is magnum No7 so all insight has gone out the window — 11 years ago

LM Segal

9.6

Barrel tasting of the '13, divine, inspired stuff overshadowed by the truly inspirational Dick Grace, who transcends the wine world. Thank you Dick, Ann and Dawn for your gracious insight and kindness! — 11 years ago

Ted Kizor

9.9

Wow. There's so much depth here. Absolutely gorgeous. At 10 years this is just giving insight into the beauty this will become. Seductive, true to form. — 11 years ago

Lindsey King

9.1

I had this by the glass a few weeks ago and was disappointed but giving a second try out of the bottle has changed my opinion quite a bit. We decanted it for 30 minutes, mostly for aesthetic quality (why the heck not?) so maybe that had a bit to do with the overall taste. Such a truly beautiful translucent ruby colour - like stained glass. A bit o' tannin I was surprised by. Could definitely offer a LOT for diverse food pairings (I know, you're welcome for that insight about Pinot noir....) Young vines really showing in a fun way. Classic P-Morissette does Burgundian style. Cranberry, red purple flowers, black tea leaves, NICE potting soil (not the stuff you can get at dollarama). Would recommend to a friend. Oh also I drank this out of a brandy glass because #myparents . — 9 years ago

Dave Wood

9.1

Super good for summer drink mixing check out the Insight website for ideas. Great straight up as well. — 9 years ago

Jae Cho

9.0

Underripe strawberry and toast. "You need a mineral" is diana's additional insight — 9 years ago

with Diana

Christine Havens

9.0

I had the pleasure of visiting the Szepsy family last fall—the time spent with them gave me insight into why the Tokaji region, famed for it's sweet wines is now transitioning to more dry-style offerings. The Dry by Tokaj, an entry level in their portfolio is the color of straw, with vivid aromas of bosc pear, lemon drop, white grapefruit, and jasmine. The region's signature minerality is more pronounced on the palate than on the nose in this bottling, one that is tangential to the focused vein of acidity coursing through the center of this outstanding Hungarian white. 13.0% ABV | Sample — 9 years ago

Michael Adelman

8.9

Age has really given this bottle some elegant insight. But it doesn't have much life left. Crunchy red fruit is slowly there with a long lingering finish. — 9 years ago

Mitch Nagao

9.1

This is peaking. Bought them to give me insight on the first label. Time to try some 2000 Cos — 9 years ago

Nicklas Eli Sorensen

9.2

Of course it's too young to drink, but it already shows an amazing insight into its potential! Parker's notes and score are on point here!

Ever so classic a Pauillac; smoke escapes the glass followed by scents of oak, plums, asian spices, cedar and pencil shavings. The palate is full-bodied and explodes with flavours of plums, blackcurrants and cassis leading into smoked cherries, cocoa and cedar. Amazing complexity and strcture. This is one for the ages! — 10 years ago

Beau Carufel

Winemaker/Owner Random Wine Company

9.0

Took several hours in a decanter before it opened up. Once it did though, it was absolutely wonderful and a great insight into yet another facet of the grape. — 10 years ago

Melonie Gallegos

9.3

Netapp insight 2015 lemon grass at aria — 11 years ago

Brian Shaw

9.1

This wine really opened up even after a short time in the cellar. The spice popped up from within a mix of rich, red fruit and clove. There are subtleties in this wine that require much more insight. — 11 years ago

Robert McNally

9.3

Loved it. But I have a bias. Everything Mark Herold is pretty awesome in my opinion. Would be a ten if it hung on the tongue a bit longer. Pair it with red meat (brilliant insight) — 11 years ago