TwiLea Fletcher

8.9

01/14/22
Here comes the ❄️…. Maybe.
Meanwhile we bring our own wine. It’s chilled a bit more than we’d like….. but after a bit it’s very palatable. — 5 years ago

with Neal

Andrew

9.4

Excellent white burgundy. Mineraly and smooth. — 6 years ago

Arden Barnett

9.3

Commanderie de Bordeaux. Theme was BBQ and 2010 vintage. Fantastic event. Insane nose — 7 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.2

Monopole! That one wasn’t in my list. Chalk up another delicious Monopole tasted. The list is long and distinguished, and fun to chase down. The resolution continues almost 10 years later. 100 Wines Kermit tasting. — 8 years ago

Andrew Crane

9.3

Pear, some citrus and flint — 9 years ago

Casey Stringer

9.4

Fantastic white burg. Citrus, gardenia, and pistachios. Wish this was a mag. — 9 years ago

Pamela Ridlon

9.9

2009 vintage. Awesome! — 11 years ago

Cathy Corison

Owner/Winemaker Corison Winery

9.2

Tasty on Halloween with fondue. — 11 years ago

with William and Debora

Frej Helstrand

9.0

Brutal Trosseau — 11 years ago

Collin Moody

8.9

Among domestic Pinot and super Tuscans, this is a gem!!! — 11 years ago

Cara Almberg

9.9

I was first obsessed with the color. The over all mouth feel is amazing. It's almost overwhelming at how amazing it was. I wanted to empty the bottle but didn't it want the golden juice from running out. Obsessed. — 12 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

Brilliant. 2012. — 12 years ago

Vanessa

9.4

**If interested, I’ve posted more pics of this visit and trip on my Instagram account - check me out @sips_ensemble**

We also had the pleasure to visit Champagne Paul Bara, another family-owned and -managed winery with only 8 employees! 💪 💪

It is a small but high-quality operation, producing approximately 100,000 bottles per year made exclusively from the free run juice. ✨✨✨ Thanks to the likes of @kermitlynchwine , the U.S. is a major exporting market for this wine. 🙌🙌

Paul Bara’s wines are sustainably farmed on numerous vineyard plots located throughout Bouzy, a Grand Cru village within the Montagne de Reims region of Champagne. 🏔 🏔

Bouzy is known especially for its Pinot Noir-driven Champagnes and also for its still red wines, a specialty of the region, called Coteaux Champenois. 🍇🍇

Paul Bara uses mostly stainless steel vessels for its vinification, designed to accentuate the purity of the fruit. They also use subterranean concrete vessels for the Pinot Noir used in rosé blends and for the Coteaux Champenois (still reds). 🥂

On our tour it was fascinating to see bottles being disgorged, dosaged, corked, capped, and caged on a machine in seconds — these are some of the last stages of the Méthode Champenoise. 🤓

We also learned that Paul Bara is a member of the ‘Club Trésors de Champagne’ an association of 28 vignerons formed to promote quality wine growing and winemaking practices and to highlight the beauty of terroir, demonstrating the excellence achievable outside of the major houses whose names are globally renown such as Veuve Cliquot and Moët & Chandon. 👏

Our favorite wine of the tasting was the 2010 Brut Comtesse Marie de France 🇫🇷 made exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes 🍇 It had a richness and abundance of orchard fruit, including baked yellow apple, also toast, bread dough, yeast, and dried white blossom notes, still offering finesse and precision, retaining incredible vibrancy.

We are grateful for our visit to Paul Bara and we look forward to visiting again the future! 🙏❤️ — 5 years ago

with Deked1

Peter James

9.0

Excellent pour. Thanks Conor! DBX rosè tasting! — 7 years ago

Neil Shah

9.2

Is Albariño the greatest grape for white? Discuss. — 8 years ago

Yianni Stone

9.1

Watermelon character — 9 years ago

with Haley and Matt

Nate Redner

9.5

Fresh and elegant. Honey, orange zest and hazlenut. — 10 years ago

Erik Longabardi

9.1

Syrup wine — 11 years ago

Damien Bielle

8.9

Belle mineralité, encore jeune — 11 years ago

Jonathan Maltus

8.9

Julian says that it's fruit forward, not complicated, nicely balanced. — 11 years ago

Rick Galiardo

9.4

Bordeaux wine dinner; 6/18/15: Pichon Lalande 1990 - Lighter color than others, I think passing its prime. A little dry on the finish but perfectly nice still. Gruaud Larose 1989 - Very classic nose and palate of cedar and pine notes. Most silky palate of the bunch. Two at the table thought it was wine of the night. Not as much to my taste but very much classy Gruaud. Cos 1986 - Funky barnyard nose. Deep palate with still strong tannin, but plenty of fruit coming through. Liked it but there was some brett there that to me, hurt. Lynch Bages 1985 - For me, the wine of the night, largely due to the truly stunning nose. A tad dry on the palate but still long finish of dark fruit. — 11 years ago

Doug Powers

10

1983 Chateau Palmer -- simply glorious, lighter color than 1982 Pichon-Lalande, but great balance and acidity, super long finish, great stuff!! — 12 years ago

Diana Cohen

9.5

We had at Apicius , amazing , smooth a hint of oak but rounded and easy to drink — 5 years ago

Jeremiah Glazer

9.3

Wonderful orange. Full bodied with a subtle tang. — 5 years ago

Mike Searby

9.1

Rich smooth with oak. Very quaffable. Wine soc. About £17 — 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

8.9

A hand crafted blend of 50% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir, and 20% Chardonnay. Golden straw with stone fruit aromas and yeasty notes. On the palate pear and apple flavors with a nutty toasty character. Well balanced on a long finish ending with chalky mineral tones. — 7 years ago

Lyn Farmer

9.1

Pale lemon with a hint of green. Aromas of peach, apple, pear and Christmas spice. Nectarine, Lennon and orange emerge with Lovely minerality on a Long finish — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Is there any meal better than steak (Ribeye) and well aged Claret? This is another 1991 Bordeaux experiment of mine. 1991 was a vintage with horrible frosts and a less than favorable growing season, right? A vintage critically panned. This is my 3rd recent 91 from a good producer. And again, it didn’t disappoint. Like 97 and 07, it’s better with the right bottle age than young. Magic evolution happened in the bottle way down the road. This 91 is in great form with a fair amount of life ahead of it. On the nose; a little ripe fruit funk, wonderful dark & lighter red cassis, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, poached strawberries, plums, hues of blueberries, black raspberries, dry cranberries, vanilla, light cinnamon, rich, black turned earth, cedar, soft leather, dry stones, dry top soil, notes of dry herbs and fresh & dry red flowers. The body/palate is medium, round, ripe & still fresh. The tannins nearly completely resolved. Ripe, floral fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, poached strawberries, plums, hues of blueberries, black raspberries, dry cranberries & half cooked rhubarb. Vanilla, light cinnamon, touch of clove & nutmeg, rich, black turned earth, cedar, soft leather, dry stones, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, notes of dry herbs, a little band-aid and fresh & dry red flowers. The acidity drips over the palate and the long, well balanced, still structured, nice tension, good length finish lasts over a minute. Again, love & appreciate the 12.5% alcohol. What a beauty with and without the steak. Next time you’re in your fine wine retail shop and see a quality producers 91 that’s been well stored, buy it and have it with a Ribeye. Photos of; their exotic Estate, Chateau interior, newer barrel room and their vines as viewed from the front of the Chateau that are across the road. Producer notes and history...Cos d’Estournel has a long distinguished history in the St. Estephe. Louis Gaspard d’Estournel, gave his name to the estate after founding in 1811. It did not take long before Cos d’Estournel became famous with wine lovers and royalty all over the world. In those early days, Cos d’Estournel did not sell through Negociants. The owner preferred selling his wine directly to his customers. In fact, Cos d’Estournel was exported to numerous countries across the globe, with a large portion of the production being sold to India. It was that connection to India that inspired much of the unique, east Indian design we see at Cos d’Estournel today. Cos d’Estournel was one of the first Bordeaux Chateaux’s to bottle, label and sell their own wine. This practice continued until the death of Louis Gaspard d’Estournel in 1852. If you’re at the property, the statue on the bench in the front courtyard is of the founder, Louis Gaspard d’Estournel. The Estate was then purchased by an owner that sold their wines on the Place de Bordeaux using the negociant system. If the Chateau was not selling their wines through the negociant system, it would never have been included in the 1855 Classification. Imagine that! So, it turned out to be a fortuitous decision. Cos d’Estournel was sold to the Charmolue family owners of the neighboring Estate of Chateau Montrose. They continued to own the estate until 1917, when it was bought by Fernand Ginestet. This purchase was the beginning of the next major step in the development of Cos d’Estournel. Decades later, the grandchildren of Fernand Ginestet, Jean-Marie Prats, Yves Prats and Bruno Prats took over ownership and management of Cos d’Estournel. In 1995, Bruno Prats sold the property to the Merlaut family, owners of the Taillan Group. The next era in the development of Cos d’Estournel took place in 2000, when Cos d’Estournel was bought by the industrious and wealthy Michel Reybier, who earned his fortune in the food industry. Michel Reybier hired the son of Bruno Prats, Jean-Guillaume Prats to manage Cos d’Estournel. Things further improved with the efforts of Jean-Guillaume Prats who helped design the most modern wine making at that time. A complete renovation of Cos d’Estournel took place in not only the wine making facilities and cellars, but in parts of the Chateau as well. While the wine making facilities are completely modern with their 100% gravity design, the outward appearance retained the original design and feeling that has always been a part of Cos d’Estournel. On October 15, 2012, Jean Guillaume Prats announced he was leaving Cos d’Estournel to join LVMH (Pichon Baron). Jean Guillaume Prats was replaced by Aymeric de Gironde. Following the departure of Aymeric de Gironde in 2017, the owner, Michel Reybier took over managing the Estate. What makes the remodel special is that the cellars of Cos d’Estournel are entirely operated by gravity. There are no pumps of any kind to force the wine. The purpose is to allow a gentleness to the wine and improve its purity and allow for the expression of their terroir. It set a new benchmark for cellars not only in the Left Bank, but in all of Bordeaux. Perhaps, the most inventive part of the cellars is the four 100 hectoliter lift tanks or wine elevators that replace the pumps used in the traditional pumping over and the racking off processes, which introduce air and often destabilize the marc. From the moment the grapes arrive, everything travels by the flow of gravity. Jean Guillaume Prats called this process a “pumpless pump over.” The 91 hectare vineyard of Cos d’Estournel is planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is located extremely close to the border between Pauillac and Saint Estephe at the southern tip of the Saint Estephe. The Estate has very old Merlot vines as well, which date back more than 100 years. Part of the terroir is situated on the hill of Cos, which is at a high elevation for the Medoc at 20 meters. They also make a second wine called Pagodes de Cos. This is a great wine to buy in very good vintages. Especially, if your budget prohibits you from purchasing their first wine. — 9 years ago

Patrick Hu

9.1

Citrus, vanilla. Fabulous with sea bass. — 12 years ago

Karla Fonseca

9.6

Nice and light — 12 years ago