Ed Tostanoski

9.5

Killer. Red fruit, minerality, earth, and just the smallest hint of funk. In a great place now but years to go easily. — 7 years ago

Matt Trader

9.2

Valentine's Day 2018. Paired with Roasted Butterflied Lobster Tail, and a Chocolate Truffle Torte. Notes to come:)

- - Brane-Cantenac is a special wine to my wife and I. It is the first Bordeaux Chateaux we ever visited on our honeymoon. It is this little modest estate sitting in the shadow of the oversized Chateaux of Cantenac Brown, but it couldn't be more opposite when you bring the wine into the mix. Classic Margaux nose but less funk and more fruit. Terrior is hard to define, but if you have been somewhere memorable, and have a wine or food from that place.. it's when you have it again and it transports you back that to that place and time that defines that for me. It smells of the cool clean air and morning dew, sunshine, gravel dust from the road we had just driven in on, leather and wood from the barn, and the fresh overtones of fruity wine just beginning fermentation in the production facility that make up the core character of the wine. It is the terrior of Cantenac, and more specifically of Brane-Cantenac.

Paired this with Roasted Butterflied Lobster, and Broccolini, and a little left over for the Chocolate Truffle Torte I made as well for Valentine's Day. — 8 years ago

Patrick Cranley

9.2

Very tasty, in a good place at 11 years. Full but balanced and refreshing. Leaves you wanting more. — 8 years ago

Mark Rosse

9.3

In a good place right now. — 8 years ago

Dave Meyers

9.4

In a perfect place. — 9 years ago

Conrad Green

9.1

1st vintage if this wine, so a real treat to try. A little shrill and sharp at the front. Lovely fruit. Still some fresh notes but in a good place age-wise. Doesn't hang together as well as the wines beside it. — 9 years ago

with Matt and Paul

Conrad Green

9.4

Really good. White flowers minerality. Very raveneau. A touch of lemon, lychee and lime with great stony minerality. A bit shorter on the finish than the valmur a but very in place. Excellent — 9 years ago

with Naoko, Larry and 1 other

James Parker Huston, CWE

Sommelier Charlie Palmer

9.5

This wine was singing tonight! In a great place. 1994 is a classic vintage for me. — 9 years ago

Conrad Green

9.4

Delicious. In a great place. Fresh, powerful and complex. Very appetizing. — 10 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.9

My 4th bottle, the best and my last, this absolutely killed it and is why I love Napa Valley Cabernet, especially #Spottswoode. 12 years old this easily has another 10 to go but is in a beautiful place right now. Open or decant for 30 minutes, though I did not decant. A deep resold color, not a sign of brick as one would expect. Shows the importance of provenance (bought from winery). A complex set or aromas and flavors of creme d'cassis, currants, sweet and sour cherries, sweet cedar, and graphite. Palate wise the textures are all in alignment, with medium to full body, ample acidity and medium grain slightly chewy tannins that may be it's only flaw. #2002 — 11 years ago

Gerry Schwartz

9.7

Same place in Cannes. Amazing food at decent prices — 11 years ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Meaty with dried herbs and lean bloody stuff. In a perfect place right now- delicious. — 7 years ago

with Jean-Francois, Chris and 1 other

Lindsey King

9.2

Lean and precise. Cranberry sauce when it's not Thanksgiving. An accent you can't quite place but revel in the cadence and timbre of. Charred sage and rosemary. — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.6

Earthy mineral cherry smokey notes. Slight hints of violets and Tar. Beautifully balanced with M- silky tannins. In a wonderful place right now. After an hour this wine had an intoxicating beautiful aroma. Good Brunello is a thing of beauty! — 8 years ago

Rob Moose

9.0

A nice debut for my case of 2011. This is in a happy drinking place for sure. No fireworks, but a great example of an approachable Nebbiolo that you can drink during summer! — 8 years ago

Gil Krakowsky

9.7

Can't say enough about a wine this serious at this price point. Absolutely stunning, elegant, and even (in a chinon way) powerful. Floral aromatic dominate - lavender and a bit of rose. Graphite, dusty chalk, red pepper, some raspberry. Fresh yet not primary. Hints of savory notes as well. Incredible spine of minerality runs through the palate. Great acidity and structure. Coiler and energetic. Finishes long and bright with refreshing pyrazines for days. In an incredible place now, so no fault in drinking but has a long, long life ahead. One of the best values in the wine world. Just exceptional — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.8

If there were ever an archetypical Syrah, Jamet's Cote-Rotie would be a strong candidate. To me this is a pure expression of a classic Northern Rhone Syrah. It is not a single site, but a blend of terroirs, encompassing over 20 sites mostly from hard rock schist bedrock with little to no topsoil. There is NO Viognier in this wine like one might expect from most Cote-Rotie that might have 1-5% co-fermented.

Importantly, there is also a lot less of the oak character that can dominate and overwhelm many Northern Rhone wines. The oak maturation, while not short at 22 months, only uses 15% new oak with no trace of it on the palate as it is perfectly integrated. Grape bunches are whole cluster fermented and macerated for up to 3 weeks.

The 2007 we have here was drinking superbly for a young wine, showing lively and racy layers of peppercorn spice, roast beef, and warm blackberry and currant fruit from the hot 2007 vintage. While from a warm vintage, not a hair is out of place. Density and purity exude from the nose and hint at what a brilliant future this wine has. Perfect acidity and fleshy ripe tannin provide the backbone structure for father time to peel back the layers of this beauty. I will be chceking back in 5 years at the earliest. — 9 years ago

Chris MacLean

9.3

In a nice place right now. Chalky, herbal and refreshing. — 10 years ago

with Marta, Federico and 4 others

Doctor No

9.2

Fresh and beginning to develop some nice tertiary characteristics. In a good place. — 10 years ago

Morgan Harris

Head Sommelier Aureole New York

9.4

2011. Blanc. No one drinks enough of this. That's because there are so few things to which its a good partner, but it would be an incredible cheese-and-charcuterie wine. Broad and oily, there's just enough acid to keep you coming back for more. Sun-baked yellow orchard fruits dominate, but there's more exotic fruits too (mango and dried pineapple) yellow flowers, tons of almond husk bitterness, green olives, bay leaf, oregano, tarragon, white cheddar. Oak is assertively present but not overwhelming. Place dominates over grapes here, as it's a mix of Clairette and Grenache Blanc and a hodge-podge of other things. — 11 years ago

Anthony Lombardi

9.5

Still life ahead, but absolutely in a beautiful place right now. Black Currants and cloves coat the palate with some herbal notes hitting the nose. Brilliant stuff, a real treat. — 8 years ago

Ron R

9.3

Ethereal, in a great place now. Lovely poise and grace with a long tail. — 8 years ago

with Anne-marie

Terence Hsu

9.0

Drank from magnum. Drinking well, in a very good place. — 8 years ago

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

9.2

Released in 2013. This is still so young and forward, I can barely understand. Sure, I suppose there was development here, but I keep chasing these wines backwards in time, and they never seem to reach that place that my vinous instincts suggest they're headed. I mean, this was really tasty - maybe my expectations are the problem... — 9 years ago

Jason Jones

9.2

In a nice place, but will be better in 10. — 9 years ago

with Erin

Michael Meagher MS

Chairman/Founder Boston Sommelier Society, Beverage Director Cafe Escadrille

9.6

One of the best 1997s I've had in years. Racy acid, exotic spice, turmeric, cumin and tannins still firmly in place — 9 years ago

with Brahm and Kathy

Jordan Gianelli

9.5

Loved it at Press in St Helena after Albariño and Pinot Noir. Strong but soft, my happy place when one begins to describe older characteristics in a wine without the wine becoming a dead piece of acid without elegance and all you are left with is a sharp sensation and a longing to have opened the wine 10 years ago. Anyhow- beautiful wine and definitely the time to drink it!! — 9 years ago

Jaume

9.4

29 years old and drank incredibly well. What a treat. The big fruits have softened but in their place is now a brooding torrent of notes which evolved from sip to sip. Quite a remarkable wine. — 10 years ago

Bethany D'Meza

9.4

1999 cdc is just in a great place ... bright and lemony... just hitting all spots — 10 years ago

Amy Morgan

9.1

A medium + intensity of Black fruits (black cherry, black currants) dark chocolate, mint, tobacco and cedar. Nose and palate matching in flavor profile and complexity. Still tight and will just get better with age. — 11 years ago