Bob McDonald

9.1

A great match with homemade Pasta last night (Friday). Aromas of red berry, dark cherry, menthol and balsamic notes. As you would expect finishes with powdery tannins to the medium weight palate. Muted acid. I must admit I find it inconsistent the way experts write off the 2014 Barolos yet Galloni describes this 2014 Produttori Barbaresco as “fabulous “. I found it straight forward and enjoyable of no great complexity and not likely to change greatly with further cellaring. Opened another bottle 11 weeks later on 14th December with consistent notes. Very savoury rather than fruit driven. Very dry powdery tannins. Tried this again 11 weeks later on 14th December 2021 with consistent notes. Fine very dry tannins. — 3 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.3

Last bottle, and damn it's drinking fine! No new notes today, but I must identify that the waxy notes and acidity are transcendent...This bottle still has years. 🥲

Prior notes:
Nose has dried grapefruit rind, honeydew melon, dry sage, fresh rosemary and beeswax.
Palate has ripe honeydew melon, dried lemon, lemon juice, acidic pear, orange rind with plenty of dry minerals and acidity for days. Wonderful. — 3 years ago

S.S. Mandani

9.4

Elegant, classy champagne hue like I’m at a gala, but, let’s be real, it’s probably a B-list affair.

Asian pear, chalky, lemon pepper essence, no joke.

Excellent carbonation. Reserved, fine bubbles.

Definitely getting the asian pear, but also a slight undertone of licorice, and then finally some nice sweetness and acidity reminiscent of yuzu.

Wonderfully complex and fun to drink like a stimulating chess game is fun to play. I can’t stop, this one might become a go-to. — 4 years ago

Mark

9.5

Light + crisp, fantastic. Easily one of the best canned wines on the market. — 4 years ago

Simon Gilligan

9.3

Medium bodied, juicy black/red fruits, peppery (seems a Grampians trait?), fine tannin, balanced good length. Continued strongly into a second night, great QPR, easy to buy. — 4 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Opaque core , quite fine pink rim. Really stains the glass , very large legs . Rich blackberry , cassis, chocolate , violets. On the palate rich and quite sweet blackberry fruit , chocolate tinged , cassis liqueur , long on the finish however and surprisingly hiding most of that alarming 15.2 % alcohol. Reasonable acidity and suave fine tannins , long finish . Should age pretty well but already shows well with a bit of air. Will improve over the next 10 -15 years or so I suppose. The following day showing more liquorice , pretty sweet blackberry liqueur. It is pretty big and rich , no subtlety , but it is well made and successful for the style in which it is made. Harmony of the Seas , main dining level 4 , somewhere off the Cuban coast. — 5 years ago

Arden Barnett

9.7

Beautiful color. nose of cedar, leather and spices. Super light with nice black fruits, spearmint, spice, fine tannins. Has a wonderful Lingering finish that hangs around for minutes after each sip. Amazes me how well this wine has held up. No sediment, cork a little soft. Only $180 back in ‘87 — 6 years ago

Al Doyle

9.1

Very fine mousse almost no bubbles once it settles, maybe just a little short right now… — 3 years ago

Jennifer Lieberman

8.9

Sept 2020 $? (~15-20?) at Norman’s. Color: garnet with corona of raisiny brown. Open about 30 min and... fine. Not sweet, good tannins in mouth, no linger. Unremarkable and goes down easily. After bottle open about 90 min, more spice and edge, classic yet not complex (at all) Pinot flavor. Alc %14.5 but does not land as a “strong” wine. No actual negatives but would only buy ‘16 again for $8 or less. High rating b/c so very easy to drink. — 3 years ago

David L

9.4

15’ Clos des Papes - Châteauneuf-du-Pape. WNH virtual tasting.
We through this into a decanter just short of 4 hours.
Strawberry jam, violets & potpourri stand out on the nose. Black cherry, rosemary, Asian spice. Medium-bodied with fine grained tannins(no bitterness) that will continue to develop over the next decade.

Edit- As the wine continues to open up, truly balances out that much more. Silky smooth textures & lingering for well over a minute. Just a gorgeous wine.

Can’t wait to try this again in 5-10-15 years. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

I have never really taken the time to explore the wines of Germany. In fact, I have more experience drinking the wines further to the south, in Austria. I have no proper excuse other than to say that I have been distracted by other regions. Bottles like this are making that excuse harder to accept. This was flat out awesome. Koehler-Ruprecht is a very traditional producer that practices a very strict, non-interventionist approach. No irrigation. No fertilizer. No herbicides. No enzymes. Nothing added or subtracted from the wine save for minuscule amounts of sulphur post fermentation and prior to bottling. This Pinot Noir is gorgeous, in a slightly more rustic sense. The appearance is a touch cloudy but far from murky. There’s a fresh, beautiful, lifted perfume of crushed strawberries, cranberries and ferrous minerals. Some stone, flowers and dust too. The palate is bright and racy with predominately red fruits and minerals. Fine tannins. The acid provides a long finish that forces a smile. There is some real vigor in this! A truly compelling wine. If I don’t make a better effort to spend the time exploring the great wine producers in Germany, well then, shame on me. — 4 years ago

Brendan Baker

9.2

This was very funky and hard to drink on opening. 24 hrs later, it’s settled down and opened up. Cassis, struck match, fine tannin — 4 years ago

Megan

9.0

Love the tartness - just a teeny bit! — 5 years ago

Ulrich Kipper

9.2

Not a typical Talbot, very fine and elegant. No blockbuster, lots of Finesse. — 6 years ago

Willie Carter

8.9

An enchanting pale rose petal pink color in the glass. A fine perlage with plenty of small bubbles. A classic rosé nose with nice red fruits and a floral character. Black cherry dominate with cherry blossoms and wild strawberries. Fresh herbal aromas are underlying with hot buttered toast.

70/30 CH/PN from Grand Crus in Louvois, Bouzy, Avize, Cramant, and Chouilly, this has an impressive pedigree. Non vintage but a blend of a single year, this can withstand more time being left alone for a few years but it oh so pleasant right now. As much as I love the no or low dose champagnes, the 7 g/l is more than welcome here. Bright acid throughout.

There’s a definite intensity to the fruit on the palate. More of those nice red fruits occupy most of the attention here with a touch of chalky minerality. That familiar yeast makes a quick appearance backing up the herbs and spice. Immensely enjoyable. — 3 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

The winery is located in Aymavilles with the cellar lying one mile from Monte Bianco tunnel. Ruby with aromas fresh red fruits and floral notes. On the palate flavors of strawberry and sweet cherry with tea and black pepper. Fine tannins, medium+ finish ending with fruit and spice. Nice! Drink young, no aging benefit. Good value! — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

This note actually covers 2 bottles of this wine. The first was sadly oxidised and I felt I should check my last one which was fine. This is the second time In recent weeks I have had 2 Euro whites left of 2 different Cuvées. In both cases the 2nd last was over the hill and the last was good. Old gold in colour for this 100% Verdejo. Notes of honey grilled nuts and a touch of pineapple. No other word for the palate than Unctuous. A creamy textural palate with low acid - mouth filling. Some vines in this 23 acre vineyard are up to 180 years old. I should have referred to my first note in 2018 and drunk these 2 bottles a lot sooner. My score here is for the 2nd bottle. One of the 1001 wines. PS. A Footnote - Verdejo is not the same grape as Portuguese grape, Verdelho. I used to incorrectly think they were the same. — 4 years ago

Tom Garland

9.5

Been breaking out some fun wines deep from the cellar to keep spirits HIGH during the stay at home Cali mandate. Day 10 is no exception......time for dinosaur steaks and a 2009 Bryant Family!!

Decanted 1 hour. An arresting deep dark garnet color(lots of cloudy sediment). On the nose: caught me completely off guard with stewed meat, black olives, band aids, some licorice, red berries, and floral. Taste: Wow, this is singing "Stairway to Heaven " ....no garage band version, this is Led Zeppelin 1970s!! Dark cherries, chocolate, espresso, tobacco.
A Mark Aubert beauty with fine, silky tannins coating the mouth. An elegant, rich, soft wine with a long toffee/blueberry finish — 4 years ago

with Brenda

David G Brown

9.4

Well-rounded and smooth on the palate, great texture and well balanced, with a robust fruitiness which ends with a fine finish with no sharp edges, freshened by balsamic notes. — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.4

My notes on this from May of 2017 still apply. Popped and poured. Drank well over two days. Immediately this wine impresses visually. Sure, the color is an expected deep garnet but what's most striking is the fact that it's never completely opaque at the core. You can just barely get the faintest amount of light to see through it. It's quite beautiful, really. The nose is initially a bit reticent but a few minutes of air in the glass does the trick and then it really begins to show off the most lovely perfume of mixed red and dark fruit; so fresh and pure with just a flash of garrigue. No perceptible heat on the nose. On the palate it's a veritable wonder of berries, Rainier cherries, black berry liqueur, and just a touch of fine white pepper. The body is perfectly proportioned and the finish lasts for over 30 seconds. In summary, this is an incredibly balanced 2010 CdP that is already hitting its prime. Personally, I felt it was really at its very best about two hours in which leaves me to believe it should be a great pop and pour for the next couple of years and potentially has the balance to be great for longer. That being said, there is no need to decant, just pull the cork, pour and enjoy the evolution in the glass. The hard part is allowing it to last for two hours and longer. It should be noted that this is dangerously quaffable wine and it wouldn't be hard to take the whole thing to the head. Might as well drink these sooner than later as I'm always a bit wary of CdP much beyond the 10 year mark, where I tend so find many of them fall apart on the palate. Perhaps others with more experience in the long-term ageing of CdP can chime in though. Absurd value at $30.

As a side note, this paired very nicely with pan fried pork savory bacon wrapped filet mignon. — 6 years ago