At 96-99 points I had to grab one of my favourite wines @ £114 but of course I have to test one too see if the ratings are right 😉 The things I do for the community 🤣 Drinking incredible young 👍 its a choc cherry & blueberry gateaux in the making 😍
📍 Chateau Pape Clement Pessac-Léognan Rouge 2015
🏵 96+ points with potential 97-98
🍇 53% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon & a 1% dollop of Cabernet Franc & Petit Verdot
🍷 Deep opaque ruby
👃 Ripe dark plum & blackberry through mineral rocks, pencil lead a soft smoked oak w/ hints of cedar, sweet blueberry, violet, raspberry liquorice, cocoa, spice & new leather
👄 Med+ body of rich creamy silky dark plum & black berries smothered in cocoa & minerals w/ a dark cherry purple liquorice kick in med acidity
🎯 Long chewy dark plummy berry cherry cocoa mouth coating w/ a touch of dry tannin & stone mineral then earthy dark liquorice tingle — 7 years ago
Absolutely delicious Champagne! Rose gold color on the eye. Nose sees yeasty/bread notes. Palette sees classic cranberry/raspberry blend, lime, more fresh baked bread, wine cellar. Medium++ acid, long finish of medium complexity. Great bargain for $57 and what a way to celebrate the new year and the birth of our first child, James, on 12/23! Happy New Year to the @delectable community! — 8 years ago
Taking one for the community & testing the latest release @ £115 - liking the newly embossed bottles 😁 Obviously don't drink until 2020+
🍇 85% Cab S & 15% Cab F
💨 10 hr
🍷 Dark ruby
👃 Finessed gorgeous aromas of violet, black berries, red cherry, smoke, sweet cedar & herbs w/ spice, earth, tea & minerals 😍
👄 Med body of black berry/current w/ fine dry tannins that need time w/ black tea
🎯 Med dry black/red fruits & black tea
Loaded w/ potential just lighter than the 09/11/12 more like 10/13 👍 — 8 years ago
Round but with firm acidity, wonderful wine donated to a dinner supporting the contributions of immigrants to the restaurant community. — 9 years ago
Top 2-3 Napa Cabs I've ever had. Magical nose, cassis, cocoa, red flowers. Rich but nicely aged mid-palate, spreading into a wide swathe of candied red and black fruit, soft but powerful. Secondary stuff in spades. Then - an explosion at the back-end of cedary fruit and fig, tobacco, dark chocolate that lasted for >60 seconds. Just a monumental wine, sadly a solo.
This is note #500 for me, grateful to so many Delectable contributors who take the time to educate and expand my wine perspectives (or, in the case of @Bill Bender...other stuff, too!). Thanks to @Anthony Lombardi @Kimberly Anderson @Jörgen Lindström Carlvik @Jeff Savigny@Ron R@Shawn R @Richard Steinberg @Martin G Rivard (who is living the dream), @Greg Gregory among so many others, not to mention @Roman Sukley with magical reach to inaccessible, iconic SQNs (and the will to pop them) and frank open perspectives from legendary winemakers like @Mike Smith and @Cathy Corison, you all make this a neat community of which I try to be a small contributor.
Finally - a renewed plea to @Antonio Galloni to return "trending" to this community, as it was stolen by the bean counters! I'm no social media expert (I do have 2 teenagers!) but I'm pretty sure that "trending" speaks to the integrity and will to contribute of an entire community...take a look! — 9 years ago



Full flavor, light tanin, amazing with the home style vibe of the lounge. Recommended for those heavier entrees #community — 9 years ago

Strong chocolate aroma, tastes like a Hershey's chocolate bar but better. Highly recommend, worth the price. — 10 years ago
Galaxy tasting, community plate, 2013 — 12 years ago
Super delicious at Community in Lafayette, CO October 2018 — 7 years ago
One of my favourite Margaux’s & yes taking one for the community again so you know wether to buy this £60-£80 French love juice 😁 Knowing the 00, 05, 09 & 10 now I can say it’s going to be delicious & crazy good now 👍 I’m buying more for sure as one of their best 😎
📍 Brane-Cantenac Margaux 2015
🏵 94 with 96+ potential 😍
💨 10 mins in the vSpin 🌪 turned it from a shy child to a loud mouthed blackcurrant beasty 😈
🍇 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc & 1% Carménère 😱
🍷 Opaque blackened ruby w/ purple tint
👃 Smoked oak & new sweet cedar through fresh blackcurrant, crushed wet mineral rock & gravel w/ pencil shavings, young blueberry & minty herbs
👄 Med body of rich ripe punchy blackcurrant swimming w/ blueberry, raspberry liquorice & red cherry in a slight dry mineral & mocha
🎯 Long blackcurrant & raspberry loaded finish w/ a touch of dry minerals into liquorice mocha — 7 years ago
History begins in 1885, when Osea Perrone, a doctor in San Francisco's Italian community, bought 180 acres near the top of Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Aromas of zesty fresh fruit and berries. Blend of 65% Zinfandel, 17% Petite Sirah, 14% Carignan & 4% Grenache. The palate shows raspberry and cherry flavors. Rich with firm tannins, oak and spice. An easy drinking and enjoyable wine for about $25, reflects a good value. Three Valleys wine would go nicely with a wide variety of foods. — 8 years ago
Medium ruby core with garnet edges. Aged characteristics on the nose with damp earth, a little espresso, a touch smoky, cinnamon and stewed plums. Medium tannins (6/10) and plus medium body. Dark cocoa on the attack of the palate intermingled with plums, black currants, black cherries and lots of spices. A bit of anise and the Petit Verdot coming through in the medium plus finish. Drink till 2018.
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Starting today we are partnering with Vinlumin in order to raise money for those affected by the wildfires in Northern California earlier this month. Until November 15th or for the first 200 units, Vinlumin will be donating $100.00 per unit to three different Northern California based charities: Napa Valley Disaster Relief Fund, Sonoma Resilience Fund and Mendocino Community Fund. Go to www.vinlumin.com to learn more and to grab one while supporting those affected in Northern California.
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@David L @Ron R @Martin G Rivard @Martin A. Cody @James Cahill @Carl Fischer @Shawn R @Joe Lucca @Bill Bender @Eric S @Isaac Pirolo @TheSkip @Mike R @Lori Mike @Jody Scharf @Jo Anne B @Kim Stanbro @Roman Sukley @Greg Gregory @Sean Smith @Shay Aldriedge — 8 years ago



Some wines are divisive because of the wine maker, others draw criticism for style or marketing or some other of a myriad of reasons. As much as I love my wine lover brethren the "haters gonna hate" description is very apt in our community. Screaming Eagle is one of those wines for sure. The prevailing criticism is that it doesn't merit the tariff or something similar. Well....this is my first SC since the '97 and it was absolutely f'n amazing and profound. Tremendous depth with bright, lively fruit, rich gravely soil, smoke and camphor. A difference maker. — 8 years ago

I highly recommend this to the Delectable community. — 9 years ago
Re-review of this classic landmark beer, why? New label, new description on label, this was and still is such a important beer in the craft beer Community, brewed since 1997 and still stands as one of the best IPA' s in the world, Centennial, Chinook and Magnum hops give it that classic base of West Coast IPA, that started the whole IPA movement in other beers and breweries, this was the beer that set the stage for what is now the great IPA 's in the west and east coast, such a monumental and important beer, The influence cannot be understated, still as I said, it holds its place as a great beer today — 10 years ago
Jean Van Roy's amazing story of Zwanze 2013. When we started renovation works in the cellars of the brewery two years ago, much to our surprise we came upon the remains of some very old walls. In agreement with the medievalists of the city of Brussels, the works were stopped in order to allow archaeological excavations to take place.
Shortly thereafter we were astonished to find out that Cantillon brewery had in fact been built on the ruins of the very ancient Abbey of Cureghem! According to the medievalists, this religious community was well-known during the middle ages for its fowl fed on draff and, more specifically, for its dish of stuffed Cureghem capon, which was served with a beer brewed at the abbey and apparently drew pilgrims from all over Europe.
Yet it was truly a heavenly surprise when the excavations uncovered the cell of the abbot, Father Faro. In the small room the archaeologists found quite a few old reference books, one of which contained the original recipes for the beers brewed at the abbey several hundred years ago. We didn’t hesitate for a second and decided on the spot to recreate one of these mythical beers.
This beer, which will be our Zwanze for 2013, therefore bears the name of its illustrious place of origin, Abbaye de Cureghem (Cureghem Abbey). Cureghem was formerly a village established many centuries ago on the banks of the Senne, the river running through present-day Brussels. The area was very heavily industrialised during the 19th century and, among other things, became home to many breweries. Today, it is part of the municipality of Anderlecht.
Since beers commonly referred to as “abbey beers” are not, or not any longer, products of spontaneous fermentation, we decided to brew a top fermentation beer, from a technical point of view in any case. The yeasts were selected in collaboration with Institut Meurice, a post-secondary college in Brussels specialising in biotechnology. Brewed in March 2012, our “Cureghem” beer fermented four weeks in stainless steel tanks before being blended with 10% lambic and pumped into 400-litre barrels of various origins. After maturing for six months, the beers were blended and put into casks or bottles to undergo re-fermentation and reach 7.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume).
Inevitably, a top fermentation beer brewed in a spontaneous fermentation environment will be affected by the wild yeasts in the air, and this is certainly what happened in our case. For our Cureghem, the cultured yeasts were clearly the main factor behind primary fermentation and I think that the wild yeasts in the beer will instead play an increasingly important role as the product ages. However, despite the addition of the lambic to give it a little “extra something” in terms of character and ageing characteristics, this Zwanze cannot in any case be considered a spontaneous fermentation beer.
The long fermentation period coupled with the presence of wild yeasts lends this beer a solid character with a dry finish that lingers on the palate, while the combined use of fresh and aged hops yields both freshness and bitterness. Moreover, the different malts used give this year’s Zwanze a coppery colour along with a touch of caramel and candied fruit that provide body. Clearly, this is not your standard “abbey” beer but, perhaps, it is representative of what these beers were one or two hundred years ago — 12 years ago
At first I considered posting something really nice for my wine number 200 🍭🎈!
Then I rethought my focus...so I went to my local Hyvee wine department and picked up a bottle accompanied by card stating it had a good rating..better yet the bottle's vintage actually matched that on the card! 😱
Instead of this post being about my wine...I want this to be a special shout out...Kudos...and thank you to All Of You wonderful people who make up this community of people who are passionate about wine!
Thank you to all of you that have taken the time to answer my silly Questions...given advice...and have taught me so much by expanded my knowledge of what great wines are out there (we won't mention the expansion of 💸) 😏
I am grateful to ALL of you...to UPS and FedEx and to family living 15 minutes across the Mississippi in Illinois for wines that will not ship to Iowa!! 🙄
As for this wine that I am sampling tonight...it is very pleasantly balanced...cherry liqueur..earth..black licorice and leather!
Cheers to all! 🍷 — 7 years ago
light red. lovely. wanted five more bottles. from Community Tap. — 8 years ago
I remember reading once that this wine was a star among peers in an otherwise difficult vintage. I haven't tasted enough 1994s to know how difficult the vintage was, but that it is a star is clear enough. Dark, slightly cloudy, terrific depth and complex with an almost creamy texture. It was a treat to taste, especially from magnum, though it was under the saddest of circumstances. Many wine loving folks in New York gathered yesterday at City Winery to celebrate the life of Jean Luc Le Du, the respected sommelier, wine retailer and community pillar. The warmth among all was palpable, as everyone shared great love and appreciation for a terrific guy who was taken too soon. — 8 years ago
For as much ritz and glamour that is typically associated with Napa Valley, this week highlighted who the real rock stars are in their community... the farmers and firefighters. Haley Wight is the sixth generation to farm her family’s estate, the historic Lewelling Ranch in St. Helena, originally established by her great-great-great grandfather John Lewelling in 1864. She also happens to make extraordinary Cabernet Sauvignon. So extraordinary, that I’m going to skip writing a note and just tell you that Robert Parker hits the nail on the head... “The wine displays gorgeous licorice, lead pencil shavings, black currants, loamy soil undertones and a touch of barrique. Dense purple, it has a full-bodied, multi-layered mouthfeel and a stunning finish with good acidity and velvety, well-integrated tannin, alcohol and wood. This is a scrumptious, full-throttle Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the next 15 or so years. 96 points.” — 8 years ago
I was surprised at the relatively low-ish ratings this wine's received from the Delectable community since I found it to be very pleasing to multiple senses. Tiny bubbles indicative of the traditional "Champenois" method (aka Traditional / Traditionnelle or Bottle Fermented) follows by a striking minerality that I was happy to discover. Lots of notes including strawberry, wild cherry, rose petals, tropical fruits and a slight hint of pepper on the backend. Overall I would say this is certainly a Wine I will buy again simply given the value for the price point. — 8 years ago

I had this in Chicago 2 years ago and thought it was good, but didn't stand out of all the hoppy beers I was having. Now drinking it on its own, it is one of the best and most unique beers I've ever had. So awesome they can be found in California now.it is literally the perfect balance of a pale ale, wheat beer, and tea. Perfect blend. — 9 years ago
Fun model but she's wasn't down to pose for the Delectable community and ducked away when I started to snap the pic haha....so this is for the elbow and shoulder lovers. The Core is a treat. Mocha and full blue/black fruits. A bit of bite when it warms up but a very nice wine. — 9 years ago



Same grape as cote de rhone. Blueberry & chocolate undertones. Sipped at Community Tavern. — 11 years ago

Honored to own a few bottles of this beautiful Cabernet. In the days following the #NapaQuake the Matthiassons wanted to help our community, even though their own home had sustained extensive damage. Quake Cuvée raised over $32k for those in need. #matthiassonwine #napastrong #napavalley — 11 years ago
Chris England
I could not resist popping this 99 RP point Grenache @ €177 of which there are 2,468 bottles, well 2,467 now 😁 Always taking one for the community 😉 Great already but can’t wait to try in 10 years time 😍 This wine personifies the meaning of elegance & purity in a wine! It’s like a fine Pinot Noir but in Grenache 😎 The best Grenache I’ve ever had 👏
📍 Terroir Al Limit Les Manyes 2015
🏵 97-98 points w/ potential for 100 💥
🍇 100% Grenache
🍷 Clear vibrant ruby w/ a pink hue
👃 Wild strawberries & raspberry’s dancing in a fresh summers meadow w/ redcurrant, red roses, a hint of violet, pinch of mild spice, fine minerals, earthy mist & touch of blackberry
👄 Med bodied silky red fruit explosion of elegance w/ slight dry fine tannins in med acidity & a hint of blackberry
🎯 Long touch dry red fruit explosion of elegance & blackberry tickle
💥 DON’T FORGET to enter the 15k giveaway I posted yesterday on Instagram with @openyourwine to win a vSpin decanter worth $250 and @nosywineclub to win a Nosy gift box with £65 - you’ve got two chances to win 😎
🏬 Remember 35% discount for BLACK FRIDAY at Nosy with code CHRISBLACKFRIDAY30 which means getting Nosy is even better 👃
— 7 years ago