Tatyana Murashova

9.0

2013 vintage — 4 years ago

Bailey Williamson-Ward

9.1

Quite light, easy to drink. — 5 years ago

with George

Sofia Novo Swensson

9.1

Funky yet fruity and smooth — 7 years ago

with Claire

Andrea Fix Lovering

9.9

Love it! Smells like a fireplace full of dark cherries. Flavors of deep plum and dark cherry, smokey and tannic. Delicious! — 8 years ago

Michael Amoruso

9.2

Inky, tobacco, herbal , dried cranberries. Great food wine. — 8 years ago

John Malcolm

9.5

Outstanding! I am so sorry this is my only bottle. Mocha, espresso, dark cherries. Fabulous with venison. Very smooth. Decanted for a couple of hours. Extremely yummy! — 9 years ago

TheSkip

10

So, I came home yesterday and there was a package at the door. I wasn't expecting anything and looked at the sender. @Martin G Rivard ! Well then! I knew santa was over, but perhaps Easter Bunny Rivard had struck?

I opened the box with haste. Surely anything from @Martin G Rivard would be of high quality. I saw a flash of orange and though, oh my! But there was only one bottle and it was oddly shaped. This must be the limited edition, double magnum of @Jason Chang's Nine Suns cuvée! I ripped open as if it were Christmas and out came Carlo Rossi.

I'd never heard of this producer but I trusted Martin. This bottle came with a very handy pour handle at the top. I was excited. Although it was only 4pm, I remembered what @Bill Bender said about 3pm so, I thought to myself, why not?

Hurriedly, I came into the kitchen and got my favorite Zalto glass, as inspired first by @Roman Sukley. I retrieved my corkscrew and opened the knife only to discover that this was a convenient screw cap! How thoughtful of Martin!

Open it went and the room filled with a lovely sweet grape must. I knew this would be special. I grabbed my winestop given to me by @Ron R and inserted to to insure there would be not a drop wasted.

Into the glass and my excitement prevented any thought of a decant.

What a wine! Those Concord grapes - what has Welch's been thinking? They've missed out on one of the finest varietals I've ever encountered. I knew I was truly lucky to try this rare wine.

But something felt...off. And I realized, I had nothing to pair with this! Thankfully there was a full 4L in this bad boy. And the screw cap allowed for prompt resealing.

Away I went in the car. What oh what to have? Aih! Exactly! @Paul T told me about the heaven of pairing McNuggets. Off to Ol' McDonalds I went.

Twenty McNuggets and sweet and sour sauce please!

I scurried to the back, and carefully withdrew my Zalto from my backpack. Opening the McNuggets, I knew this would be special. And indeed, I am with words to describe the experience. Yet, again, I knew something just wasn't right. The wine wasn't presenting itself. So I thought, how can I classy this up? And then I remembered all of @David L's posts with the classy silver wine coaster.

I had to have one. I asked the chap at the counter of McDonalds, but the response I received was less than satisfactory. I had to solve this issue myself. Thankfully , while returning to my table, I spotted a HomeGoods store immediately next door. I ran across and found a lovely silver charger.

And finally, returning to my table, I was now all smiles! More smiles than @Mike R !

What a special evening. I really wanted to end this off right. I grabbed a dozen roses and rushed home to the wife. Half a bottle Rossi still intact!

I showed her the bottle and wow! You should have see her eyes. I then suggested we retire to the bedroom and this was met with prompt approval.

And with such a great night, I wanted a lovely memento. I gently placed the bottle against her and snapped a lovely shot that is sure to be on the cover of the next issue of BBB with @Bill Bender !

Thanks for thinking of me @Martin G Rivard ! — 9 years ago

Nathan Renfro

9.4

Unusual to be drinking a wine this young. Decanted 45min to begin. Nose somewhat muted, though dark fruit and oak are there. Inky purple. Great ripe black and blue fruit. Could still use more time in the air to blend together, but the minerality and earthiness is definitely there to match the fruit. Nice med-long finish. Decanting 2+ hours recommended. — 5 years ago

Sunil Dhaliwal

9.4

Really nice . Stone fruit and crisp apple. — 6 years ago

leon egozi

9.6

Another great night with the 305. Happy bday Lee. Thank you @Monica O — 7 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.9

WOTN!
Life is short,
Remember to live it to its fullest!

This is a gorgeous example of a phenomenal Napa Cab!
Genevieve Bechtold runs this place. It wouldn’t be where it is without her. You better be nice to her when you see her or else you’ll get no wine & will have to deal with Desi & I!!!!!
@Desmond Echavarrie
You guys are the best of the best in Napa!
Love you guys!!!
😘👏👏👏👏😬 — 8 years ago

with Christine

Aaron Tan

9.0

Akin to eating black sweet vinegar trotters (traditional Chinese dish). Perfect pairing with a superbly glazed quail! — 8 years ago

K Hosty

9.3

Dry, complex with earth tones prevalent. I liked it enough to purchase a case. — 9 years ago

Carl Fischer

9.5

It's still SNOWING! So what is one to do? Back to the cellar! Dark fruits, tobacco, brown sugar - smooth as hell. This is drinking great now with a little air. We had a prior vintage at the recommendation of the somm at Press in St Helena which was great - the '12 blows it away. Especially considering we had this after a Memento Mori! Great wine. — 9 years ago

Seiji Takeuchi

9.1

Maboroshi, miraculous, shochu. Very good fragrance, like a brandy. Smooth to drink on the rocks. — 5 years ago

One More Round HK

10

One of my favorite #orange wines. Hazy, cidery, juicy, totally funky skin contact vibes. Doesn’t suffer from being overly dry like some organes. Stock up for summer as it doesn’t suffer in flavour when it warms slightly on a hot afternoon. — 6 years ago

Bob Colman

9.1

A little cloudy, cherry red in colour, assortment of grapes but I don’t know which. Fresh, alive, tangy finish — 7 years ago

Shengli Hu

9.0

Lifted wild herbs: clove, rosemary, sage, bay leaf. Elevated herbal acidity to balance the perceptible RS. — 7 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.6

OMG!!! I’m going to save myself some time and post these all at once. It was one of those epic nights!!!!!! LOL
8 of us began on a mystical journey of friendship, food & WINE!!
we began with five bottles of Haber which just arrived at my office yesterday! OMG! Now I only have three left! LOL!!!!!!!! I absolutely adore this wine and so did my friends. It was actually their WOTN which is a lot to say given the company it was in. I then opened a bottle of 2012 Memento Mori which was its usual opulent self!! Two of us preferred this wine over Haber but the remainder preferred Haber. I pulled this trick out of my butt from David Lentine!!!! A palate cleanser after heavy Cabernets and we opened a gorgeous Beaux Freres- The Beaux Freres Vineyard. We then got things going again with one of my favorite Chardonnays in Napa! This stuff absolutely rocks and should be bought by all. Nuf said, it’s that freaking good!!! Last but not least I decided to mix it up a little and pulled one of my favorite under the radar GSM blends that I know. Domaine de la grange des Peres. Every single one of my guests Took a sip and immediately snap their head up to say “what the heck is this! “that’s good!" You will look like a hero pouring it at anyone’s party and the cost is negligible at $95 a bottle! Bad ass in a glass as I always say. Every single one of these bottles proved to be as such! Love you guys sand cheers to you all! The individual rating for each wine was slightly different but I would say as a collective it was definitely a 9.6 type of evening.
Good time., good times — 8 years ago

with Christine, Joe and 3 others

Naoki Kondo

9.0

Morioka sparkling, gift from Tsuboya-san. Unbelievable aroma as sake. Strong peach and citrus nose. Very sweet dessert sake. Not bad! — 9 years ago