Off Piste Wines

Dönnhoff

Oberhäuser Leistenberg Kabinett Riesling 2014

Alex Alan
9.1

2014. This wine is my jam. Energetic, with great clarity, and so joyful. Off-dry Kabinett that's only 9% alcohol. — 10 years ago

Anthony, Maxence and 11 others liked this

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1978

Great for off vintage. On its last legs — 11 years ago

Château Cheval Blanc

St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

Informal gathering to drink some Bordeaux varietal bottles with steak.

1986 Cheval Blanc: This one showed suspect ullage, to the point where it had been hard to flip it. And in the end, it did turn out to be a controversial wine--was the orgasm 40 days, or was it 36 days? Hard to say... An extraordinary wine, classic in its own way, with fragrant dark flower and black cassis aromas wafting from the glass, and maybe more importantly for us, exploding in the mouth. Some of the more ordinary adjectives, like "smooth" and "balanced", are accurate enough, but obviously don't do this one justice. One could do a fluid dynamical description of the time evolution of this wine in the mouth, a broad attack that gave way in about 3 seconds to a sensation of acceleration and flaring across the entire breadth of the palate as the wine detonated, an oenological version of a jet... And then a persistent finish where the inner mouth perfume resonates as it fades slowly (or simply moved off to some parallel universe).
— 11 years ago

Shafer Vineyards

Hillside Select Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon

Velvety mouthfeel with medium tannins. Robust red and dried fruits, finish of vanilla and graphite. Quaffable af. Would pair with lamb, rabbit, pork, cheese, hummus. Versatile. Honestly not worth it's price point. An off vintage from a delicious vinyard. Would not be hard to find a bottle 1/5 of the price. — 11 years ago

Marchesi Antinori

Tignanello Toscana Super Tuscan Blend 2010

Started the birthday weekend off right last night with my sweetie and a bottle of the 2010. Layered power nuanced with silky tannins. The wine was really good too. — 11 years ago

Judith Pinto
with Judith

Tenuta San Guido

Bolgheri Sassicaia Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 1983

The wine was medium to dark garnet in colour. On day one it offered red fruit, cherry, balsamic vinegar, cola, leather, mushroom, earthy and vegetal notes and a wet sewer component on the nose. On the palate the the wine showed red fruit, cherry, blackberry, tobacco and earthy notes, the acidity was quite pronounced, the wine became slightly drying and even more acidic after some time in the glass, and the fruit faded a bit. Two days later, on day three, the medium-bodied wine was more balanced and showed red and dark fruit, some chocolate, some tobacco, spices and earthy notes on the nose, and red fruit, cherry, leather, tobacco, earthy and balsamic notes on the palate, with just a faint touch of greenness, paired with medium-plus well-integrated tannin, medium-plus acidity and very good length. I had almost written-off the wine on day one and then, surprisingly, it showed much better the third day. Holding-up well. 90 — 12 years ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1961

Ex-Chateau bottle. Testament to perfect storage. Light Amber edge with a darker core. Started off full of toast and just a whiff of brett. Slow ox for 2 hrs then poured. Amazing life for a 54yr old wine still in its stride. Light and dark fruit with seamless integrity and polish. Classic old BDX. After the initial funk blew off it kept developing in the glass. I could drink this all night long. Awesome — 11 years ago

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC)

Richebourg Pinot Noir 1976

A lovely DRC in the twilight of its drinking years. Upon opening we thought it would fall into the bitter tobacco and soy sauce category but it fell off the knife edge the other way and gave lovely rhubarb, tea notes and sweet tobacco. What a great experience. — 11 years ago

Taylor liked this

Bodegas y Viñedos Vega Sicilia

Unico Ribera del Duero Tempranillo Blend 1986

Christopher Hoel
9.9

En magnum and off the hook!!! — 12 years ago

Daniel, Hai and 19 others liked this

Éric Texier

Rouletabulle Off Dry Pétillant Naturel Chasselas 2011

Pedro Rusk
9.6

Sparkling Chasselas very limited and like many things that are hard to find the reward is great — 13 years ago