Al Shikoh

8.9

Pizza dinner with Arcadian winemaker Joe Davis. A Terry Theise selection imported by Skurnik wines. Disgorged August 2017. — 7 years ago

Василий Куртц

9.2

#incorrect it is "luis felipe edwards winemaker selection reserva sauvignon blanc leyda valley" 2017
Очень крутой нос: Вечерний летний сад после проливного дождя. Мокрые кусты смородины и горький крыжовник. Сильный и сладкий, переливчатый и многослойный.
Рот- очень вкусный СБ с отличным балансом, не жидкое, не тяжёлое, не простое, но и не излишне сложное для восприятия.
Реабилитировало фирму после всех фердибоблей нижних линеек, а то я совсем её бояться начал уже. — 8 years ago

Nicholas Karavidas

8.9

Medium colored and balanced body, soft palate and very easy drinking red blend. The feel of a nice blended Merlot with some Zin fruit and spice. — 9 years ago

Skip Smyser

9.3

Can hardly wait for their winemaker dinner at Capitol Cellars. 2013 is outstanding 🍷 — 9 years ago

Ken Rogers

9.2

NOT Heritage Selection, but Elkhorn Peak in the Guest Winemaker Series. And the guest winemaker was my friend, colleague and former co-worker Dale Taunk. An absolutely delightful Pinot--cherry with a hint of earthiness on the nose, a round, smooth mouthfeel, and a supple, juicy palate of dark cherry fruit and a hint of savory mushroom. — 9 years ago

Shay A

9.0

One of my most favorite spots to buy wine locally is Fort Worth's own Kent & Co Wine. Not only do they have a great wine selection, they have their own wine label with wine made by the winemaker for Fleury Estate. Solid blend...definitely a mix of zin and petite sirah. Nice entry level wine with potential for a nice showing in 3-5 years. — 9 years ago

Cathrine Todd

9.6

Great experience tasting the lineup of wines with new Chief Winemaker, Felipe Stahlschmidt, many gems to talk about but I'll focus on 2013 Magdalena (80% Malbec & 20% Cabernet Sauvignon) 100% French oak. Only 300 cases. This wine incorporates Paul Hobbs' (consultant for Pascual Toso) best 23 Oak Barrel selection of Malbec and is considered "his baby". Nuanced raspberry and blueberry fruit with smoky espresso and dark chocolate notes that are held together with dignified tannins w/ a prodigious finish :-) — 10 years ago

Adam Crane

9.3

A small selection of vines around a 1000+ year old olive tree in the middle of an estate single vineyard. Drank with the winemaker on property. Classically styled and should age very well as acidity was remarkable. — 10 years ago

Dave Kahler

9.1

Opened this to impress some friends during a Pinot tasting. Upon opening we all agreed there was too much vanilla attributed to the oak. Wine opens up nicely after a while, but all-in-all preferred the 2011.

Edit: After 6 months or so in the bottle the oak aromas have dissipated and the wine is drinking fantastically. Sad to hear Gary Farrell has retired as the winemaker, but excited to see what they produce in the future. — 11 years ago

Allison Cain

9.5

Super fresh and crisp. We found it fun to drink. We enjoyed a private tasting with the winemaker. He's lovely! — 11 years ago

Laura Hobson

9.0

Dry wine, floral, tannic, unique. We met the daughter of the winemaker, interesting story. Nice departure from our typical wine selection. — 12 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

This is Gaston’s Special Club. What does it mean when a Champagne is labeled as Special Club?

The Special Club, or Club Trésors de Champagne, was originally founded in 1971 by 12 of the oldest families of the Champagne region. Since then, the club has grown to include 29 producers committed to excellence in all aspects of production. This exclusive membership is only open to Recoltant Manipulants (a French designation for a producer of grower Champagne). Champagnes must be produced, bottled and aged at the member’s estate. The Special Club Champagnes represent the tête de cuvée (a premier bottling often carrying a vintage date) selection for each member.

Special Club Champagne designation means they are only made in outstanding vintages from grapes harvested from member’s own vineyards. Each producer must submit his wine to two blind tastings panels of esteemed oenologists and wine professionals. The still wines (vins clairs) are tasted first and if approved may be bottled in the uniquely-shaped Special Club bottle before undergoing secondary fermentation.

After a minimum of three years aging on lees, the wines are tasted again for final approval.

On the nose; green apple, bruised Bosc pear, touch of golden apple, pineapple, cream soda, light citrus, sea shells/spray, brioche, gray volcanic minerals, soft chalk, spring flowers & citrus blossoms.

The palate is soft, delicate, subtly rich with micro oxygenation. Green apple, bruised Bosc pear, bruised golden apple, pineapple, cream soda, light citrus, sea shells/spray, brioche, gray volcanic minerals that have teeth and dig deep into your palate, soft powdery chalk, spring flowers & citrus blossoms.

Photos of; the house of Gaston Chiquet, cellar-hand hand riddling bottles, Owner/Winemaker Nicolas Chiquet inspecting bottles and one of their Grand Cru Vineyard.

Producer notes...Nicolas farms 23 heactares in the Valle de la Marne in the villages of Ay, Dizy, Hautvillers and Mareuil-sur-Ay. All of the fruit (including that which is used in the non-vintage cuvee) comes from premier and grand cru grapes. Nicolas does not employ any oak aging at Gaston Chiquet; he believes that concentration, fruit maturity and malolactic fermentation impart enough body and texture to make aging in barrel unnecessary.

The vineyards are planted to equal (forty percent each) parts chardonnay, pinot meunier and twenty percent are planted to pinot noir. Gaston-Chiquet. He also produces a vintage dated chardonnay from 5 parcels on the western side of the grand cru village of Ay. Usually recognized as a grand cru village for pinot noir, these vines of chardonnay were planted in Ay in the 1930s.

In 1919, two brothers, Fernand and Gaston Chiquet winemakers came together to create their house Chiquet Brothers. They were ‘pioneers’ in Champagne, the very first winemakers to take the initiative, bold at the time, to keep their grapes, turn them into Champagne and sell their own wine. Nicolas Chiquet planted his first vines in 1746, and since then eight generations have have managed their house. Gaston Chiquet registered the company in 1935 and expanded the property with land in Aÿ, Cumières and Hautvillers. Gaston Chiquet is best known for making the only blanc de blancs from the Pinot village of Aÿ. Aÿ was the big name in the area long before wines became sparkling, and many were the kings and popes who counted Vin d’Aÿ as their favorite wine. The vineyards slope down steeply to the village by the Marne River, and the best locations are just over the town, sheltered from the wind and with maximum exposure to the sun. — 8 years ago

Skip Smyser

9.4

Nils Venge was the first 100 point winemaker in Napa Valley. He still makes an amazing product 🍷. Earthy, flinty, hints of tobacco. Not the average fruit bomb. Very complex 🍷 — 9 years ago

Andrew Davidoff

9.4

This one was a bit closed off at first but after an hour of air - the craftsmanship of the winemaker became very evident. Softer and silkier than the last time we opened one several years ago. This seems about as good as the 97 is going to get. Drink now. — 9 years ago

Jaime M

8.9

Flavorful dark berries and refreshing. — 10 years ago

with Nina, Jon and 1 other

Maxim Vasilyev

9.5

Легкое , кислотность не сильно выражена ) — 10 years ago

Ron R

9.0

This wine had a great fanfare preceding it. Let's do the shakedown...

A very flamboyant nose, dominated by vanilla - over done in my opinion.

The palette is plush and velvety. Tannins are polished and well defined. The fruit is overwhelmed by oak and vanilla. Such a shame, since the structure and raw components are strong and evident. It's a good wine, but it's overdone. Winemaker needs to throttle back for the next vintage. — 10 years ago

with Anne-marie

Adrian Migliore

9.2

Well done Hubert! Complex and elegant bouquet. Intense and powerful on the palate! A European born in Mendoza! — 11 years ago

Ricardo Vidal

9.2

Fruty and very tasty — 11 years ago

Robert Shannon

9.0

Very good, big & bold predominant Cabernet blend — 12 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.1

I’ve had the hardest time remembering my new zip code even despite having written it a thousand times in the last few weeks... maybe I’m still dreaming... anyway...

It was still 90° at 7:30 so I went in search of Sauvignon Blanc. Sunshine Foods is the local grocery and has exactly the surprisingly very good selection that should be expected from a specialty local grocer in the heart of Napa Valley. I’m not going to lie, I bought this wine so that I would finally learn my zip code (even if I did let somebody ahead of me at checkout so I could finish researching it).

The winemaker is Sam Baxter of Terra Valentine and it’s sourced from the San Mateo Ranch Vineyard in Rutherford. At $19 that was good enough for me. Loaded with ripe pear and fresh, almost underripe melon, lime zest, and stony minerality, with just a tinge of honeysuckle that softens the corners. The acid is relatively toned down but still present enough to satisfy most purists. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

On the nose; deep, dark currants/cassis, blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, strawberries and hues of blue fruits, purple, perfumed florals, dark chocolate, caramel, nicely layered baking spices, spice, fresh & dry red florals and violets. The body is full with firm tannins. The fruits are ripe and gorgeous. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, strawberries and hues of blue fruits. Cinnamon, clove, dark spices, new leather, cedar, graphite, loamy dry soils, dry crushed rocks and beautiful, fresh & dry red floral with violets. The structure, tension, length are still big & profound. The balanced finish is very nice and will show incredible beauty & elegance with 10 plus years in bottle. This is absolutely not a wine to drink young. Photos of; their dogs who are best friend and very playful. They also couldn’t take their eyes off our selection of cheeses. Their Winemaker Thomas River Brown, who has made at least 8 💯 point wines and their vineyard view sitting on the house patio. — 8 years ago

Bill Morgan

9.0

Excellent dry full flavor. As the winemaker says - a baby Cabernet — 9 years ago

Andrew Danto

9.4

Nice mellow oak — 9 years ago

Maxim Vasilyev

9.2

За эти деньги , очень достойный вариант — 9 years ago

Drink Organic

9.8

Truly historic, this wine. 43 year old vines planted by Rodney Strong, crafted by #Sebastiani winemaker of 30 years, Mark Lyon. Now in transition to #Biodynamic and on track to receive Demeter Certification late 2016, this wine carries even more value. And, oh my, does it deliver. Chocolate, cherry, blueberry, tea - this exemplifies all the special qualities #AlexanderValley is known for and more. Extraordinary. — 10 years ago

Robb Miller

9.0

Hope that I can find some of this in the US! — 10 years ago

with Gavin

Colleen Green

8.9

Yummy. Intense with strong blackberry flavor. — 11 years ago

Jason Sliwa

9.2

Thanks to Andrew for turning me onto this winemaker. A great selection at 30 euros in the wine list. Not too stinky for such a natural wine. Moderate tannins, present fruit and moderate acidity.Deep ruby color. This could probably age more, but it Is a pleasure to drink now. Only 65% sagrantino. — 11 years ago

S S

9.7

Interesting wine from an iconic winemaker — 13 years ago