Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.1

Seriously cool stuff here. South African old vine tinta barroca! Dense and plummy but with animal bacon fat quality to it. A tad pricy, but worth it just to see what it's all about. — 10 years ago

with Antonia and Elena

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Big, airy and fat with terrific volume on the nose. So much. Terrific intensity and great minerality. 30% old barrels. So complex already. Wow. Terrific purity. Lovely persistence and echoing finish. — 10 years ago

Doug Powers

9.3

This is terrific for a 21-year-old Pouilly-Fuisse (it's the Les Clos), surprisingly very youthful, great minerality and also that aged white burgundy "plumpness" without being fat and overripe, long finish, just a amazingly fine wine!! — 11 years ago

Mark Oldman

9.8

If jet-set had a fragrance, it would be Fonseca Port 1970. Imagine the smell of Jackie O's purse from that year: expensive Italian leather, spicy tobacco, brown sugar-and-bergamot perfume, maybe a sprig of mint from the Onassis compound. Fat and sweet, with a delightfully serious, old-school label. — 10 years ago

Miguel de Leon

Service Director/Wine Educator Casa Mono

9.4

Fat, round, delicious and well-made. All the hallmarks up front with that classic Chenin rubber tire and cheesiness in back. Spot on. — 10 years ago

Ivaylo Ninov

9.2

Unicorn wine! — 11 years ago

B N

9.4

Massive fruity Zinfandel. Some might find it a bit too sweet but it's big, fat and fun! Could work for burgers all the way through to steak... Or chocolate. It's basically fun to drink it. Like good rock is fun, whereas classical is challenging and thought provoking... I recommend this if you don't want to think too hard about your wine... So to sum up: Put some Led Zep on, grill a burger and guzzle this wine, then eat chocolate, possibly while dancing around in your pants and a party hat. — 12 years ago

Christine Havens

9.3

The epitome of old-school Côte-Rôtie, the 1998 Rostaing offers up an ever-evolving kaleidoscope of aromas: smokey bacon fat and animal notes at first, followed by sweet violets and steeped blackberries. It's quite lean on the palate, with ultra-fine, well integrated tannins—a mark of maturity—underpinned by high acidity and gamey-green notes of dill and green peppercorn, olives, and cold, compost-laden springtime soils. — 10 years ago

Courtney Cochran

Sommelier/Host hiptastes.com

10

And there you have it: a wine worth getting up for in the morning, the week, the month: a unicorn wine, redolent of all the things we want in our old*er* PINOT - portobello, bergamot, potpourri, anise, saddle leather, forest floor, magic, love and peace in the world. Amen. — 10 years ago

with Suzanne and Will

Chris Scanlan

Sales Amy Atwood Imports

9.2

Aaaahhh Dirty Durty Duuurty... A little rough out of the gates in the first day, but this wine was just bottled, and judging it now would be as ludicrous as telling a 6 year old he'll never grow up to be a Unicorn Wrangler. Second day it was more intact, more cinnamon spice I associate with good carbonic maceration, not the banana and cotton candy. Bright, fresh red berry fruits, soft mid-palate with sour cherry core, fine but dense tannins and loaded with spice. This wine shows all the right dimensions of being something beautiful, I'd say 6 months and she won't be afraid to show herself to you. 2 years, and you'll wish you'd saved more bottles. Picked at 20.7 degrees Brix, whole cluster fermented, "barely" foot tread, more just pushed down with feet to maintain whole berries under the juice to promote carbonic maceration. A fairly aggressive pressing was done at the end of ferment to try to squeeze some tannins out and add a bit of structure and texture. Aged in one 5 year old Demi-muid and one 5 year old French oak barrel. Never racked until bottling. 82 cases made. 11.6% alcohol 3.9 pH — 12 years ago