Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Happy Australian Christmas! 🎄🎁🦌🎅🤶⛄️❄️

After bringing this Rockford Black Barossa Sparkling Shiraz back from Australia and holding It for nearly two years as was recommended by their Winemaker, it’s finally ready for Christmas breakfast as is traditional in Australia. What a beauty she has turned out to be! Much softer and intergraded than it was in their tasting room.

It’s hard to find Sparkling Shiraz in the US, let alone a good one!!! This one is quite tasty.

It’s a beautiful sunny Christmas morning with Nat King Cole singing, “White Christmas” in the background.

The nose reveals; black currants, blackberries, black plum, olallieberries, mix dark berry liqueur notes, sweet tar, whiff of white and black pepper, saddle-wood, wafting vanillin, soft limestone minerals, dry crushed rocks, black licorice, steeped fruit tea, light herbaceous notes, dark withering flowers, violets and a shade of lavender.

The body is full & rich. The fruits are beautifully ripe. The structure, tension, length and balance are finding their way but, will still benefit from a few years in the cellar. It also has a sound tannin structure, which is not found in champagnes and most sparkling wines. Black currants, blackberries, black plum, olallieberries, black cherry, plum, mix dark berry liqueur notes, whiff of white and black pepper, dark spice with some palate heat, saddle-wood, a leathery quality, wafting vanillin, soft limestone minerals, dry crushed rocks, black licorice, steeped fruit tea, light herbaceous notes, dark withering flowers, violets and a shade of lavender. The acidity is round and well executed. The well polished finish is a nice balance of dark fruit & earthiness and is persistent for minutes.

Merry Christmas everyone!!! 🎄🎁🤶🎅🦌⛄️❄️🍾🍷🎶

@Bob McDonald Delicious!!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! — 7 years ago

with James and Christina

Bob McDonald

9.3

Bought in Niseko Hokkaido in late January 2018. My first purchase of a Japanese Malt Whisky and I was mightily impressed. No small claim from a McDonald who loves Talisker Laphroig and Lagavulin!!! Compared with the Hibiki I bought duty free this Ichiros Malt was more sooty and tarry but ever so smooth. Reminiscent of Drambuie. Orange Peel and damp straw. Big price difference unfortunately. About $100 in Niseko and about $200 to $250 in Australia. — 7 years ago

Michele McCormick

9.5

McDonald Mountain — 7 years ago

Will Rogers

9.1

Enjoyed at Ronald McDonald House. Purchased by my parents at Italian restaurant next door. — 8 years ago

TheSkip

9.1

One of my favorite dinners was on the menu here at Chez Skip - cassoulet! And my knowledge of wine pairing is as sophisticated as a toddler eating spaghetti, I said to myself - hey I am eating French food and I like this French wine, so hey why not? And that was that. But as wine can be, it evoked its memory of when I had it first. I remember sitting out in the patio and being impressed with it. I thought to myself I could really enjoy French wines, but as history has shown, that was clearly a short lived notion.

Knowing it had been some time, I had an odd feeling, so I checked my Delectable history. Indeed, this was the very first wine I had rated!

So, to my friends, do you remember your first wine on here? Was it anything memorable? @philip Angino @Martin A. Cody @Shay Aldriedge @Anthony Lombardi @Sharon B @Bill Bender @Bob McDonald @dan boedeker @Brian Tuite @Greg Ballington @Matthew Beninati @Carl Fischer @Ryan Carey @MaJ CappS @Roman Sukley @Daryl Calhoun @David L @Palmer Emmitt @Eric Shanks @Evan Bienstock @Fraser McKinley @Jean-Francois Pelletier @jesus g @Martin G Rivard @Henrik Poulsen @Christanna Honer @Isaac Pirolo @Rob Brobst III @Jim Trobaugh @Jody Scharf @Joe Lucca @Kim Stanbro @Rafael Landestoy @Ryan M @Mo Salem @Mike Smith @Mike R @"Odedi" @Paul T @Ron R @Shawn R @Janet Ross (and anyone else I accidentally left off!) — 8 years ago

Neil McGregor

8.9

Actually this punches above its price tag. $25 for this? Awesome value. Could be left in the bottle for s while longer / quite a while. Be good to cellar s case and have one a year to see how it develops. — 9 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

One of the peatier Single Malts around and being from the West and being a McDonald, one of my favourites. Seaweed and spirity with the expected heat on the throat. A good evening tipple as the colder weather sets in. — 9 years ago

Dominic Cerri

9.3

Plum-y with soft tannins. Working a vintage under Rod McDonald in a couple weeks. Couldn't be more excited to work with more of his Syrahs. — 10 years ago

Colin McCartney

9.7

Loamy spice and cocoa powder on the nose. Nice, fleshy dark fruits and velvety tannins...deeply flavorful and smooth like a Michael McDonald vocal... — 11 years ago

Robert Pelletier

9.0

2012 Cuvée Classico. Two Amigos Wines. Fun red blend from Sonoma. Ronald McDonald. — 12 years ago

TheSkip

9.3

With many thanks to @Bob McDonald whose palate I deeply respect. He pointed this out to me and I’m extremely glad he did!

Delightfully balanced. Long legs in the glass and lithe on the palate. Extra points for outstanding QPR!! — 7 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.4

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our full cast of conductors include Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. The beautiful and vocally talented Audra McDonald is our host for the evening along with Midori on violin and Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

This will likely be an evening to remember for some time. Program notes from the BSO "Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close."

We're revisiting some producer bottles from our late Spring France vacation earlier this year.

Nose of sweet grass, wet minerals, apricot skin, spring rain on flowers and ripe lemon. Palate has curious light, sweet citrus notes, tropical yellow fruits, this bottle is alive!

Photos of Jean Jacques thieving the 2017 Puligny-Montrachet out for us to sample, the modest sign indicating you've arrived at the most interesting biodynamic place in Saint Aubin and our bottle of the evening.

24hr Update: Sweet, fermented tropical fruit. Honestly I believe this will be even better in another day. — 7 years ago

Michele McCormick

9.5

Bright and lightly fruity. Very smooth. — 7 years ago

Toby Treyer-Evans

9.2

@Bob McDonald what do you think of this? — 7 years ago

Andrew Schirmer

9.2

Black olive/plum, without salinity or saccharine tendency. Nose is muted, just a bit of dried fruit and tannins. Well-integrated, medium finish. This is smooth without getting into Michael McDonald territory. — 8 years ago

with Alsu

Georgina McDonald

8.9

Beautiful. Becoming quite the Chablis fan since drinking with @Bob McDonald over the past few days. First one I'm posting. Easy, sweet, delicate - welcome at any event. Goes down a treat. — 9 years ago

Arthur Tildesley

9.4

Delicious. Enjoying the beauty with Peeka and our dear friends Tom and Maryann McDonald. — 9 years ago

Angus Barnes

9.5

2005. Outstanding. Definitely new world Cabernet, lovely cassis and tobacco. Length plus — 9 years ago

Louis Galtié

9.1

Good malo and zesty lemon peel. — 9 years ago

Rich Reader

9.1

Veuve Ambal Bruts Blanc de Blanc NV #BevMoFrenchTasting w. Tim McDonald, Alison Crowe, Kris Poling Mulkey liking the style — 11 years ago

Amy Ray

9.6

Delicious Swine Wine made by my friend, Jay McDonald. — 11 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.4

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our full cast of conductors include Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. The beautiful and vocally talented Audra McDonald is our host for the evening along with Midori on violin and Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

This will likely be an evening to remember for some time. Program notes from the BSO "Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close."

We're revisiting some producer bottles from our late Spring France vacation earlier this year.

Nose of under-ripe tropical fruits, banana skin, light oak touch. Palate has yummy papaya, under-ripe peach, tangerine and sweet oak.

Photos of the Jadot (Update, Bouchard!) Chateau with its beautiful colored slate roof (to the left of the chateau its the conservatory where we had an epic lunch during our visit and they used to overwinter their citrus trees in here many, many years ago), pictures of the first room of the most amazing library cellar in all of Burgundy (the subsequent rooms are even more amazing) and our bottle of the evening.

24hr Update, sweet oak and fermented tropical fruits just stunning today, last bottle. ☹️

OMG Update: somehow I grabbed pics from our Bouchard visit, argh! The only Jadot thing in the collage is the bottle, so sorry! — 7 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.2

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our full cast of conductors include Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. The beautiful and vocally talented Audra McDonald is our host for the evening along with Midori on violin and Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

This will likely be an evening to remember for some time. Program notes from the BSO "Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close."

Love this bottle, strawberry and citrus, so tasty! — 7 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.6

WOTN for me. Silky silky, so silky! Like an aged Chambolle. @Bob McDonald Agreed. Top 5 Aussie Pinot. — 8 years ago

Georgina McDonald

9.0

Herbaceous nose and "tomato bush" says @Bob McDonald. Delicate peppery finish with good fruit. A little young but good to drink now. — 9 years ago

Shadd Scott

9.7

Happy birthday Tara McDonald! — 9 years ago

TheSkip

9.2

My 200th wine!!

I probably spent a bit too long thinking about which wine to choose, having noticed the night prior that I was at 199. But then this bottle struck me and that was that! About a year ago, I had my dad "import" this from Canada because it seems Wakefield is hard to get in the US. It was one of the first wines I ever remember buying and then saying - i am going to make a conscious effort to buy more. So I felt this would be a good anniversary wine to see how far I've come, as there have been at least 200 cuvées since I started on here

I'm glad to say that I still think this is a very good wine. The nose opens with sweet cedar and cherry. It's fairly dark purple but still opaque. On the palate there are the typical notes of dark blue fruits. It has fairly soft tannins and a moderate finish. The #qpr is high!

With all that said - I'd like to thank all the folks that I follow on Delectable. I've learned a lot from each of you and I appreciate reading your thoughts and seeing what you're drinking. @David A Lentine @Ron R @Jody Scharf @Bill Bender @"Odedi" @Mike Rowe @Rochelle @Martin G Rivard @Bob McDonald @Fraser McKinley @Paul T @Shay Aldriedge @Eric Shanks @Matthew Beninati and everyone else who I may have forgotten!! Cheers!! — 9 years ago

Eric Gardner

9.1

Uber small production wine by wine maker Richard McDonald who loves what he does. Nice work. I think it will age well. 2013 vintage. — 10 years ago

Sally McEniry

10

So smooth but full, and spiced finish — 11 years ago

Kerri Wade

9.5

Burns and McDonald gift — 12 years ago