Jay Kline

9.4

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of dinner. The 2012 Cuvée Réservée pours a deep ruby color with a slightly hazy, but mostly transparent core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with fabulous notes of ripe red and black bramble fruit: raspberries, Marionberries, licorice, red flowers, horse blanket, dried herbs, leather, and stony earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and luscious. This is a very lovely Pegau that is squarely in its prime and strutting all of its stuff. Drink now through 2032. — 5 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 2022 pours a pale coral color with a transparent core; medium viscosity. On the nose, the wine is developing with a refreshing mix of tart and ripe red fruits; strawberry, watermelon dry underbrush, red flowers, and wet stone minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry; tannins are light with medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and saline. Lovely texture. This continues to be a benchmark for rosé. Drink now through 2032. — 8 months ago

Suzanne Hulsey

10

Had the distinct pleasure of enjoying this lovely vintage this evening with a nice bolognese - excellent! Initial taste after opening was nice but the longer it sat the more smooth it became. — 8 months ago

Alan Weinberg

9.7

a near perfect bottle—slightly oxidative, creamy, nutty, layered with lovely texture. — 9 months ago

Kamall

8.9

Lovely early drinking Nebbiolo — 2 years ago

Ronald Heijden

9.3

Lovely nose with vanilla and mocha. Young fruit jumps from the glass with every sip. Round in the mouth with nice acid. Still young. — 4 years ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Lovely plum and sour cherry. A bit tight. Bright. — 6 months ago

with Matt and Paul

Conrad Green

9.5

Golden in color. Hints of toast and nuts. Dried apricot and honey but still has some slate and a fine lemon acidity to brighten. A great time to drink this as it has the vibrancy of youth but the complexity of age. Great detail and texture. Lovely — 7 months ago

with Bex and Major-General

Robert Torretti

9.3

Lovely bottle of 1986 Ducru Beaucalliou. A little smoky and not as long as the last bottle but solid with rib chop, sautéed spinach, mushrooms Diane, and Beef Fat Fries at Hawksmoor NYC. Staff said they were going to decant and then did not. I think it would have opened more had they. Next time: insist. — 8 months ago

Jay Kline

9.1

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of three days. Consistently enjoyable throughout, but best after several hours of air and through Day 3. The wine pours, a deep garnet color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. No signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with expressive notes of ripe and dried cherry, plums, toasted coconut, fresh dill, cedar chest, and soft baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose however, the fruit is much more tart. The finish is long and tangy. A textbook example of old-school Rioja. Lovely. Drink now with patience and through 2036. — 9 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

It was Father’s Day and I had decided on grilled rack of lamb for dinner so I selected this bottle of 2011 Chateau Musar rouge from our cellar. According to Musar’s records, the 2011 vintage was one of the most challenging since the early 1990’s. It was ultimately a late-maturing vintage with harvest taking place on October 13th, the latest since the 1983 vintage!

I decanted this bottle about eight hours prior to dinner. It should be noted that immediately upon opening, the bouquet was strikingly gorgeous with powerful aromatics that were obvious from several feet away and this trait carried through until dinner time.

In the glass, the wine presents a deep garnet color. Slightly turbid with a near opaque core. On the nose, black plums, blackberries, cassis, tobacco, organic earth, exotic spices, leather, spiced meat, and pomegranate. I detect a touch of VA as well. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the nose with an added bit of red rope licorice. Lovely, long, savory…amazing. This was a brilliant compliment to the lamb (which was served with beets and goat cheese and fattoush) and everything I wanted in a Musar tonight. Drinking well now with a hefty decant and I expect well cellared examples to drink well past 2035. — 2 years ago

Bruce Leboff

9.3

A stunning wine. Well balanced and smooth. Elegant hint of cassis and lavender on the nose. Truly lovely. Well balanced- drinking well but could go another 10 years at least. — 5 years ago

with Michael and David

Jay Kline

9.4

Enjoyed alongside some other Napa legends from the 80’s and 90’s. The 1985 is lovely and came more than willing, with a mix of tart, ripe and desiccated red fruits, Montmorency cherries, red currants, graphite, toasted coconut, leather and nuts. There was a slightly sherried character early on the nose but the structure seemed to defy age. No need to cellar further as this is delicious now and well stored examples should continue to be through 2030+. — 6 months ago

Conrad Green

9.7

From mag. Meaty with dark gnarly fruit. Very pure and intense. Lovely savory midpalate. Amusing and long. — 7 months ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.7

97/98 lovely strawberry chocolate and wild raspberry infused in a beautiful mouth filling sensational wine. Sexy Lady. With character…. — 8 months ago

Conrad Green

9.5

Lovely and lucid. Lime and slate and great acidity. Real focus and presence. — 8 months ago

with Walker, Tony and 2 others

Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of two days. Best on Day 2. The 2019 pours a pale garnet color with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of Morello cherries, red roses, tangerine, pomegranate, talcum powder, dried sage, truffle, and dried stony earth. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and savory. A lovely expression of 2019 Barbaresco. Drink now with patience and through 2049. — 9 months ago

Vino Joe

9.5

The complexity has arrived! Lovely color on this one. Not all my 2007 looks this dark yet but this one had a rich depth and most toasted fruit notes. This is a very good but not great vintage. — 10 months ago

Melanie Orris

10

Lovely bottle — 4 years ago

Aravind A

9.2

Another excellent btl, a little more than a year since my last. On the nose, wild strawberry doused in sugar, cotton candy, lovely green stem notes bring this back down to earth, then nice earthy notes. On the palate, fantastic acidity, soft strawberry, herbal notes, dark cherry, some bark and earth notes, and attenuated tannin on the clean and slightly spicy finish. Yum. — 5 years ago