Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

The 15 vintage is still in barrel and will be for awhile longer. On the nose, bright, fragrant field of wild flowers, black licorice, cinnamon, vanilla, ruby fruits of; blackberries, blueberries, dark cherries, cherries, strawberries and dark loamy soils. On the palate; bright, fresh, ripe fruits that mirror the nose, nice deep spices, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, tobacco, graphite, soft leather, dry crushed rocks, edgy volcanic minerals and pronounced dusty/crumbly tannin structure. The long finish has beautiful ripe fruits with good structure, balance, acidity with a touch of strawberry cola. Photos are the other large old oak fermentation vats inside their estate and another perspective of their awesome terrace view. Notice on the label...no Merlot? The decided to rip up and replant their Merlot vines. — 8 years ago

Bryan Flewelling

9.5

So much herbaceous-ness in this bottle; all the ribeye needed was salt and pepper. The tannins are soft and pervasive. The fruit is cool and baked at the same time. I don't remember what I expected to come out of the hole left by the cork I pulled, but this juice is the best kind of surprise I've had in months. — 9 years ago

Louisa Jarvis

9.1

Much richer and more textural than expected of a semillon...delicious — 9 years ago

James Mace

9.3

Full-bodied Pinot, long finish, full of flavor but not overbearing. Very solid Pinot for a cab lover.
— 9 years ago

with Jill

Drew Golley

9.0

I've been a WH Pinot fan for years, and this vintage continues to impress. Bright & lively with lots of berries, rich color, bit of peppery tone, very smooth and food friendly. Price/value tough to beat. — 10 years ago

Manali Karmarkar

9.3

Delicious- smooth, hints of cherry, stone, mineral. — 11 years ago

Mason Balistreri

Sommelier, International Wine Guild; Balistreri Vineyard; Sales, Joy Wine and Spirits

9.2

This wine reminds me distinctly of a Muscat my grandfather produced in 2010; and the color is the first indication. Obvious extended skin contact, but low enough extraction to reach a lite-honey color. The nose is pungent and intense with tangerine skin wrapped in wild, homemade perfumes. The mouthfeel is giving yet tense, with slightly underripe mandarin orange and a twist of lime. Interesting wine. Authentic wine. — 11 years ago

Spencer T. Hess

9.7

Barrel tasting yesterday possibly best R. Chambertin. Kind of Oregonian. Like penner ash in s good way — 8 years ago

Ian Manti

9.3

Strong finish of cinnamon and nutmeg. Great fall wine — 9 years ago

Josh Orr

9.2

My kind of Syrah. Great intensity of flavor. Almost Cornas like. — 9 years ago

Boris Bakovic

9.5

Still has lots of fruit for a 12 year old cab. — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.1

Wild blue and red berry fruit, subtle notes of spice and game, a barely there touch of green comes through as herbal. While the alcohol is high, the wine shows elegantly and very feminine in style. Sauve and silky textured this has very ripe and fine tannin that get lost in the glycerol of this wine's youth. Always a perennial wine of the vintage and a great value (imo). #pegau #grenache #CdP — 9 years ago

Jesse Smith

8.9

Kind of like a lemon pound cake but lost a bit of sparkle — 11 years ago

Andrew Reetz

9.7

Unsulfured, wild, noted of cranberry and unique vivacious wafting odors. My favorite natural wine in a while. #petitmondewinemarchant — 11 years ago

Erik Nordman

9.0

First time trying the '15s and it's as great as always. This is definitely a decent amount more brawny and ripe than the '14s but still identifiable as a Lapierre wine. That said, I'm still not the biggest fan of most of these '15's so far, they are too hot and ripe and don't really fit the profile of what I want from most Beaujolais. This is still pretty good on its own merits though. Day 1 it was closed and not giving up very much but on this morning, Day 2, it's come around and opened up quite a bit. Ripe, juicy strawberry and raspberry red fruit, tart rhubarb, wild violet, smoky gravel minerality, with a nice briny, almost gamey salinity underscoring things a bit. Nice medium (+) acid, medium (-) body with a great, soft texture. Just a touch of fine, supple tannic grip. There a bit of brett and VA but they're in balance rather than being a faulty distraction; the VA helps give a little extra lift, if anything. Will try another bottle after some more time has passed because even though it's good now it honestly still needs to come together a bit more; it seemed almost still slightly bottle shocked when I first opened it yesterday. If you're opening one soon I'd recommend giving it a little air to let it unfurl. — 9 years ago

Kevin Cahoon

9.4

Lovely, pretty and elegant nose that shows off red cherry, black currant and wild strawberry fruit notes. Just a hint of oak spice adds to the wines aromatic depth. The palate echoes the elegance of the nose with high tone red and black cherry fruit with a earthy miner edge. Tannins and acidity are lithe with dynamite balance. Mature but should easily hold up for 7 to 10 more years. — 9 years ago

Mark Barber

10

My kind of wine , depth, fruit and quite a finish ... — 9 years ago

Christopher Bates

Master Sommelier, Owner/Winemaker Element Winery

9.3

No oak, a year on lees, and Malo (my kind of thing) Ripe golden and red apple, roasted pineapple, brown spices, smoke, cultured cream. Great balance. Calcareous soils. — 10 years ago

Magnus Reuterdahl

9.2

Very good assyrtiko from Gaia who also have vineyards in Nemea. This wine had both good acidity and minerality creating a nice complexity. There is also a hint of oak and its ever so slightly oxidized that builds on the complexity and gives it a little body. Very good! Don't like the syntethic cork though! — 10 years ago

Greg Sorensen

9.6

One of a kind. — 11 years ago