Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

The community of Saint-Estèphe has it roots in the Gallo-Roman origins of this chateau. A blend of 78% Cab Sauv, 20% Merlot & 2% Petit Verdot. Deep Ruby with aromas of dense sweet black fruits with herb and earthy spice. On the palate flavors of black cherry and blackberry, currant like, with tobacco, tar and hints of vanilla exposing mushroom notes. Well balanced, ripe textured tannins, long finish ending with earthy character. Nice, has plenty of room to develop. — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Pale Ruby in colour. Notes of earth Iron filings menthol and cherry. Medium minus in palate weight finishing with fine but persistent Tannins. Showing its cooler climate origins in Roero north of Alba. Like the vast majority of Italian Wine shows best when accompanied by food. — 8 years ago

Lawrence Asrikin

9.1

Ripe plums, dark cherry, wet leaves, cocoa powder. Nice and smooth velvety texture on the palate without having overwhelmingly huge body. — 9 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.8

Just had the big sister to this, Les Christines, the other night and this is a level below but wow, this wine is a small level below. Insane. I never mention color but this is deep and golden. Striking. Ripe and hugely fruity nose with insane fruit complexity. Guava, pear, peach, apricot, just insane. Also alpine love like hay, fresh stream aromas and herbs. Ridiculous. Wet earth and insane earth/mineral complexity and it just stanks. Best aromas of any Berlioz 15's. It almost smells like really fine white Burgundy. I know, Roussanne wtf? But it does. Honey, caramelized sugar. What a nose. Amazing density and complexity. Like whoah. Like really whoah. Yet is also remains true to its origins. Wow this is complex. Balance is extraordinary as is the purity. Nose makes you think it's going to be one way and palate is totally not what one expects. Lean, mineral, chiseled. Fruit is there but what poise, complexity and length. The mineral expression is just beautiful. This is something else. — 9 years ago

nurbS

8.9

Molasses + dried apricot nose. Oxidized, enbowed mouthfeel (radiant sol) that zips to a tangy Manzana. 🍂 > 🌞 > 🍏 — 10 years ago

Vinous Favorites

Delicious wines for less than $25 chosen by Vinous critics

9.2

Supple, radiant and expressive, the 2012 Red Wine graces the palate with exquisite dark fruit, mocha, plums, spices, raspberry jam and spices. Readers will have a hard time keeping their hands off this supremely delicious Cabernet Sauvignon-based red from the team at Jonata and The Hilt. (AG) — 10 years ago

Tim Hinck

8.9

2011 - radiant, ruby red in the glass, not yet showing age. Typical Merlot nose but with an unusual raspberry jam addition! Fleshy, fruit palate with dark chocolate, tobacco, vegetal stems. I'm gonna give it a few more years. — 11 years ago

Luisana!

9.1

Russian river alway is good choice... — 11 years ago

Noble Cloche

9.1

Mysterious venue, mysterious wine. This Patagonian PN is bolder than its color suggests, fruitier than its origins belie, and pairs wonderfully with most things you throw at it. — 12 years ago

Richie Mello

8.9

The strong ABV caught me slightly off-gaurd with this one but eventually peeled back revealing its terroir and radiant red fruit. A nice long finish and a body that will only get better with age... — 12 years ago

Joe Carroll

Owner/Wine Director Spuyten Duyvil, Fette Sau, St. Anselm & Gotham Artisanal Provisions

9.5

Jean Van Roy's amazing story of Zwanze 2013. When we started renovation works in the cellars of the brewery two years ago, much to our surprise we came upon the remains of some very old walls. In agreement with the medievalists of the city of Brussels, the works were stopped in order to allow archaeological excavations to take place.

Shortly thereafter we were astonished to find out that Cantillon brewery had in fact been built on the ruins of the very ancient Abbey of Cureghem! According to the medievalists, this religious community was well-known during the middle ages for its fowl fed on draff and, more specifically, for its dish of stuffed Cureghem capon, which was served with a beer brewed at the abbey and apparently drew pilgrims from all over Europe.

Yet it was truly a heavenly surprise when the excavations uncovered the cell of the abbot, Father Faro. In the small room the archaeologists found quite a few old reference books, one of which contained the original recipes for the beers brewed at the abbey several hundred years ago. We didn’t hesitate for a second and decided on the spot to recreate one of these mythical beers.

This beer, which will be our Zwanze for 2013, therefore bears the name of its illustrious place of origin, Abbaye de Cureghem (Cureghem Abbey). Cureghem was formerly a village established many centuries ago on the banks of the Senne, the river running through present-day Brussels. The area was very heavily industrialised during the 19th century and, among other things, became home to many breweries. Today, it is part of the municipality of Anderlecht.

Since beers commonly referred to as “abbey beers” are not, or not any longer, products of spontaneous fermentation, we decided to brew a top fermentation beer, from a technical point of view in any case. The yeasts were selected in collaboration with Institut Meurice, a post-secondary college in Brussels specialising in biotechnology. Brewed in March 2012, our “Cureghem” beer fermented four weeks in stainless steel tanks before being blended with 10% lambic and pumped into 400-litre barrels of various origins. After maturing for six months, the beers were blended and put into casks or bottles to undergo re-fermentation and reach 7.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume).

Inevitably, a top fermentation beer brewed in a spontaneous fermentation environment will be affected by the wild yeasts in the air, and this is certainly what happened in our case. For our Cureghem, the cultured yeasts were clearly the main factor behind primary fermentation and I think that the wild yeasts in the beer will instead play an increasingly important role as the product ages. However, despite the addition of the lambic to give it a little “extra something” in terms of character and ageing characteristics, this Zwanze cannot in any case be considered a spontaneous fermentation beer.

The long fermentation period coupled with the presence of wild yeasts lends this beer a solid character with a dry finish that lingers on the palate, while the combined use of fresh and aged hops yields both freshness and bitterness. Moreover, the different malts used give this year’s Zwanze a coppery colour along with a touch of caramel and candied fruit that provide body. Clearly, this is not your standard “abbey” beer but, perhaps, it is representative of what these beers were one or two hundred years ago — 13 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

Aromas of Spice Pepper Cherry and Mineral (Ironstone soils). Medium to full bodied with an elegant tannin structure. Lacking the ripe fruit flavours of a Barossa Shiraz because of its cool climate continental origins. From Gundagai in Southern NSW near the Canberra District. — 8 years ago

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9.1

The tannins were just a touch gritty, but this was otherwise a very nice cab that showed its Rutherford origins very well. — 8 years ago

Gautham Iyer

9.5

A fantastic eclectic beer w lovely citrusy hints but a refreshing overall glow — 9 years ago

Severn G

9.3

50% Chardonnay / 40% Pinot Meunier / 10% Pinot Noir

On the nose, light citrus and green apple, white flowers with honey.

On the palate, toasty brioche with refreshing acidity and pear/melon notes.

This bottle delivers a stunning value; we normally can buy this at $30, and be oh so happy!

Producer Note:
Canard-Duchêne is unique in its origins, history and style. The Champagne house has been located in Ludes, in the Montagne de Reims National Park, since 1868, and is one of the original Grandes Marques. Its founders, Victor Canard and Leonie Duchêne, both well-known characters in Champagne, were granted the right by the Russian Imperial Family to adopt its coat of arms as the family emblem. The crowned two-headed eagle has thus appeared on every Canard-Duchêne label since the end of the 19th century. These authentic, original Champagnes combine fruit, intensity and complexity.

@David T
This is my version of your Billecart-Salmon Brut. — 9 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.7

One of the wines of the vintage, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon is dense, racy and voluptuous. Succulent red cherry, plum, spice and polished, supple tannins give the 2012 its sexy, radiant personality... (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, Dec 2016) — 10 years ago

Todd Abrams

9.3

2014 Chasselas. Exudes it's Alpine origins with aromas of grassy meadows, tiny white flowers, and raw hazelnut. A sip is dense and bracing and filled with just ripe stone fruit. Begs to be paired with a traditional Raclette feast. — 10 years ago

Aleksandr Schiavetta

9.0

Very chill, easy to drink ale — 11 years ago

Heidi McLain

9.1

Yes, it is dark, and it really benefits from a healthy dollop of water. #darkorigins #highlandpark #scotch #delectableapp #oldlinefinewine — 11 years ago

Jeff Sarfino

VP Sales and Marketing Lanterna Distributors, inc

9.0

A Super Tuscan expression of syrah that is varietally correct with absolute notes that indicate Italian origins — 12 years ago

Fabien Lainé

Blogger VinDeling.com

9.5

Delicious and finesse, a very good value for money, one of the best Douro Touriga Nacional - This wine shows a different character. With origins in old vineyards Valley Mendiz, with 50 to 70 years old, the novelty is the combination with a percentage of Touriga Nacional from Quinta do Sibio. Very concentrated in color. Very expressive and elegant aroma dominated by notes of wild berries and cistus well combined with wood. The palate is full and balanced, very silky, fresh and intense. Final greatly extended — 12 years ago

Teresa Stepp

9.1

WOTM - October 2018. Got two bottles. — 8 years ago

with Kristina

Severn G

9.2

On our sofa for Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our guest conductor Juanjo Mena is leading BRITTEN (Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes), MOZART (Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat) with the talented Garrick Ohlsson on piano and then concluding with BRAHMS (Symphony No. 3).

We're experiencing intense thunderstorms coming through the area tonight and generally the BSO staff prevents people from gathering on the Lawn ever since a patron was struck by lightning in 2008... So for safety, we're at home enjoying beer tonight! Thank goodness for radio simulcasts!

Color is red-purple-brown, still translucent but dark. Mostly a still beer, no notable bubbles at all. Sour/cherry/oak aspects on the nose. Palate is mild-sour, which is good if you're new at these styles of beer, it's more welcoming. Palate is distinctly tart cherry, with a lingering of oak in the finish. Nice accomplishment by the brewmaster in blending of barrel-aged stocks, smooth and enjoyable! — 8 years ago

Severn G

9.3

45% Pinot Noir / 30% Chardonnay / 25% Pinot Meunier

On the nose, strawberry shortcake, raspberry and citrus peels.

On the palate, red raspberry/currant and minerals. Dry.

At $40 I have not seen a better brut rosé bottle at this price point. This is the stuff I want to flow out of my faucet when I turn the handle! We can never have enough of this Champagne! Seek and you will be rewarded.

Producer Note:
Canard-Duchêne is unique in its origins, history and style. The Champagne house has been located in Ludes, in the Montagne de Reims National Park, since 1868, and is one of the original Grandes Marques. Its founders, Victor Canard and Leonie Duchêne, both well-known characters in Champagne, were granted the right by the Russian Imperial Family to adopt its coat of arms as the family emblem. The crowned two-headed eagle has thus appeared on every Canard-Duchêne label since the end of the 19th century. These authentic, original Champagnes combine fruit, intensity and complexity.

@David T
This is my version of your Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé. — 9 years ago

James Gourley

9.2

Great Pinot. As with the 2012s, the Dundee hills was my favorite of the 2014 Origins series. Juicy acidity and silky mouthfeel makes for an irresistible wine — 10 years ago

Erik Helms

Sommelier/Wine & Beer Buyer Whole Foods Oakland

9.0

An explosion of honeyed fruit of all origins. Pears, oranges, apricots, and peaches. Orange cream complemented by excellent acidity, minerality, and a smokiness just starting to show itself. Still too young, but can be enjoyed now. — 10 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

2012 vintage. Cliff Edge is the junior sibling to "the Langi" which is the premium cuvée offered by Mount Langi Ghiran - the latter being one of my favourite Australian Shirazes. The Cliff Edge has an expressive spicy, white pepper nose showing its cool climate origins. Medium bodied and easy to drink with or without food. — 11 years ago

Thomas Grant

8.9

We like it very much but an expensive bottle because of it's early 20th century origins. — 12 years ago

Vinny Eng

9.3

Guibertau extremely pleasing, almost as radiant as present company; blinded: 1er Cru burg. #cheninigans — 12 years ago

with Julia, Christina and 1 other

Michelle Veresink Richmond

9.8

Sweet, but ends dry. It was good with the spicy Thai food. — 13 years ago