Kathy Wilson

8.9

Easy drinking French white wine. Crisp, but not overly dry. — 5 years ago

Severn G

9.0

Nose has under-ripe pineapple, cut yellow apple, yellow raspberry, faint herbal notes and wet, crushed rock.

Palate has saline apple juice, mashed yellow raspberry, dried lemon pith and moist garden soil. Solid acidity and a long finish, fun wine.

An interesting relative to Chardonnay, our first time ever with this grape. One more box checked on the lifetime experience of wine enjoyment and palate training. — 6 years ago

Susan E. Ulbrich

9.4

Delightful. — 7 years ago

Cliff Pavlovic

9.5

A great sparkling white wine for Christmas Eve — 8 years ago

with Lisa

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Alban Vineyards as they state in their label "The first American winery & vineyard established exclusively for Rhone varieties." This Syrah has settled in nicely after 10 years in bottle. I would say it's peaking. On the nose; scorched earth, sweet & slowly baked; blackberries, blueberries, black raspberries, plum, huckleberries and dark cherries. Mint, eucalyptus, milk chocolate, black olive, notes of liqueur, crushed rocks, loamy top soil and lilacs, violets and lavender. The palate is rich and nicely resolved. The body medium-medium plus. The fruits are ripe, creamy and juicy; blackberries, blueberries, black raspberries, plum, huckleberries, dark cherries and strawberries haunt the long fruit set. Mint, eucalyptus, sage, smoked meat, milk chocolate, black olive, notes of liqueur, crushed dry rocks, gritty volcanic minerals, scorched earth, a little bacon fat, underbrush, a whiff of black pepper, lilacs, violets and lavender, great rich, round, fresh acidity with a very good, long, balanced, well structured, finish with length and staying power. I prefer this over the Cayuse I had a couple of weeks ago. Much better balance of fruit, earth, etc.. photos of their Edna Valley vineyard, fruit that needs netting to protect it from the birds, John Alban and the Alban barrel room. Producer notes and history...In 1985, John Alban planted grapes for other people until he bought an estate in 1989. He focused on wines made from Rhône Valley varietals. Alban is one of the pioneers of the Rhone Rangers movement. They are considered to one of the more influential American Rhone producers. In beginning to grow Viognier, Alban said, "I almost single-handedly doubled the world's acreage," referring to a time when its cultivation was reduced to 50 acres or 20 ha in two areas of the Rhône Valley, Condrieu and Château-Grillet. Alban's work, along with that of Josh Jensen of Calera Wine Company (just sold to Duckhorn, ugh!) in San Benito County, helped to significantly expand plantings of Viognier in California at a time when the variety was near extinction. Alban has 250-acre or 100 ha under vine. Their vineyard area extends 60 acres or 24 ha, planted with Syrah, Viognier and Roussanne. The Alban wines produced are; Lorraine Vineyard, Reva Vineyard Syrah, Seymour's Vineyard Syrah, Patrina Alban Estate Syrah and Pandora, a blend of Grenache and Syrah. They also used to produce a dessert wine from 5% botrytis grapes and aged in 50% new oak, called Rotten Luck. You can still find past vintages on Wine-Searcher. — 8 years ago

Martin Davies

9.1

Soft. Bit like Pinot Blanc. Nice with chicken satay. Biodynamic. — 9 years ago

Severn G

9.1

Wine 11/12 (Pinot Noir / Gamay)

Nose has dried strawberry, cold watermelon, wet raspberries and minor green herbs, quite delicate yet powerful.

Palate has dried strawberry, juicy peach, sandstone with medium-light acidity and medium finish. Really a great wine, so light yet quite finessed.

My first Côtes de Toul, will not be my last!

Once again it is notable that I have made one full trip around the Sun earlier this week. We had our small, social bubble team to the house for celebrating my getting older and somewhat less flexible in advancing age...Whatever will be done when I creast 50? Well, at least it's several years until needing manage that concern.

We enjoyed well-salted Ribeyes (Kinderhook Farm - Valatie, NY, prepared 48h in advance), turning to a beautiful medium-rare after a mere 12m of grill time and smashed, small red potatoes with capers (yeah try it, don't judge me yet). None of the bottles were particularly planned as 'steak wines'; we didn't care as it really was a wine nerd-fest of grapes/regions, from Burgenland, Austria to Brittany, France. Wine and food were on individual plateaux today. This was the vom Boden Spring Experience case, expertly curated by Stephen Bitterolf, and well received by our tasting crew. — 5 years ago

Michael Duffy

9.1

Yum. Jolly rancher, rocks, acid party. Delish. Gamay, not white. — 7 years ago

Gil Krakowsky

9.2

Luxembourgeoise Riesling? A “grand premier cru?”
wasn’t expecting a great qpr work class Riesling. Fruit is fresh orange and tangerine. Great mineral spine. Juicy with great acidity and maybe just a hint of rs. Finishes with a satisfying dollop of petrol. Not peak yet. — 7 years ago

Alberto Cdm

9.3

Una scoperta! Ottimo! — 8 years ago

Janny Lin

9.0

漂亮的焦糖香味，美好的皮諾香味，咖啡糖，莓果香，酒體飽滿，丹寧紮實，第二杯後，口感滑順，香氣新鮮草莓更明顯 — 8 years ago

with Zivago

Sergio Licea

9.2

Fresh red cherries, raspberry jam, vanilla bean, mushrooms, white pepper, wet rocks. Soft pronounced acid, minimal narrow smooth velvet tannins, light-medium bodied, juicy-silly texture, clean fruity slightly earthy finish. Approachable crowd pleasure, clean and pure. — 9 years ago

Richie Davies

9.2

Nicely balanced - really liked this. — 9 years ago

with Lisa

Jason Brater

9.2

Both dark red and tart cherries, black pepper, oak and some nice tannic structure. A bit of earthiness as well. Really opened up after about 30 mins. Cab Franc/Cab Sav/Merlot 70/22/8%. Really great stuff. — 6 years ago

with Heather

Adam Eagan

9.3

If this is their entry level Syrah, I can’t wait to taste the Reva and Lorraine in my cellar!! Wow!! Great qpr!! <$50. — 6 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.2

@Delectable Wine This is a VDF from the Moselle in France. Winemaker is Remi Gauthier. This is 100% Pinot Noir. Slamming nose. Cherry cola, big big cherries, licorice, mineral and even ripe strawberry. Super aromatic and wonderful. Unique as well. So juicy and ripen with ample lip smacking mid season cherry fruit and wonderful acidity and freshness. Terrific purity and freshness. Impressive length and so so well made. — 7 years ago

Chris Harvey

8.9

Great acid and light fruit — 8 years ago

Stephanie Ratanas

9.0

Peachy, mouth coating, light tartness — 8 years ago

Andrew Stover

Sommelier/Wine Director Oya &amp; Sei, Wine Blogger ChiefWino, Founder Vino50

9.1

2013 Clos des Rochers #PinotGris, #Luxembourg #Wine #somm. I call this #Alsace-light. Mineral forward, green pear, white peach, honeydew melon and hints of ginger with grapefruit rind, mouthwatering acid. #sommelier #sommlife — 9 years ago

Paul Pashley

9.2

Last one - still very rich, smooth and very pleasant — 9 years ago