Martin Mills

8.9

Cola, punchy, seam of acidity pairs nicely with chicken liver mousse — 6 years ago

Martin Mills

9.3

The top wine from the now defunct producer of what I’d rank as the best wines yet made in Canada, making this perhaps the pinnnacle of Canadian winemaking. This one is mellowing in its dotage, but delivering superbly complex layers of Meursault-like popcorn/toast/smoke on top of a seam of minerality that traces from salinity through to lime citrus fruit. Lovely golden hue in the glass, I expect this to continue to evolve ever more finesse for at least five more years. Seemingly unavailable any more in Ontario, I found this at The Port NSLC in Halifax for $87 and a special occasion. — 6 years ago

Alex Hirst

9.0

Fig, Plum blueberry and black cherry fruit. Soft, satisfyingly grainy tannin and fine seam of acidity. Tobacco, cedar and cocoa on the finish. — 7 years ago

jeremy avnet

9.8

So much flavor!! Wow. E loved this one tremendously. — 7 years ago

Ed Merrison

9.3

This is a delight. Poached stone fruits, honey and a seam of crème brûlée on the nose, some lime and peach on the palate that still has vitality. Finishes long & nutty, with a sweet honey lick. — 8 years ago

Stuart Robinson

9.3

Florals, Green apple, pithy citrus/sherbet character; suggestive tropical fruit notes (not as prominent as prior - cooler - vintage)

Crunchy acid, citrus flourishes more akin to lime, a little honeyed note perhaps (golden delicious oxidative hint)

Good length, not just a line merchant, has a little swing and seam to the armoury too. Sustained flavour reaching into the farthest recesses of the palate, a memory of what came before and a reminder to reach for the glass again. 93 — 9 years ago

Guy Davies

9.4

Darker appearance and a big, chocolately seam on the nose. Tannins relatively soft, tastes young, hot, powerful. Dark cherry. Very enjoyable if rather brutal at the moment. Give another 4 years and then another 40 afterwards.. — 9 years ago

Michael Winterbottom

9.6

A very powerful wine from a classic vineyard ands showing beautiful blue and black fruits with a seam of underripe strawberries to back it all up. Strong mint varietal character kind of wraps that fruit up with a touch of chocolate... Peppermint Patties but also with those Queen Anne cherry chocolates. Tasteful usage of oak helps mellow the power this wind has bound up. There are layers to this wine after some time in the decanter, showing graphite and framing the wine with a distinct sense of place. This wine has life in it still and is starting to just now start swinging well and probably for another 20 years. — 6 years ago

Martin Mills

9.1

The low scores for this great wine are surprising. While not the sexiest of the Otago pinots this is a brilliantly made wine with great aging potential. At five plus years, the 13 is still dark and brooding, dark fruit driven with a racy seam of that saline and Asian spice profile that distinguishes good NZ Pinot. On the fuller bodied side, red and black fruit on the nose, a bit of tannin to give it structure and a medium to long finish that reveals jasmine tea and more spice. Alas, my last bottle of three my good friend brought for me from Saskatchewan — 6 years ago

Joe Kaiser

9.1

Decanted for a hour & a half. On the nose picked up cassis, leather, faint earthiness, & a rich of oak. The palate a nice cherry, giving away to red fruits, the tannins seam to be integrating nicely, nice balance. — 7 years ago

Michael Horkay

9.0

This is a burgundy to drink now. Being if this pedigree I expected more from this wine and felt it night be closed it might just be drinking at apex.... Wide range of scores seam to agree with that assessment. Still had wonderful cherry earthy fruit with hints of morels. Yum albeit slowly. — 8 years ago

Mike Mayer

8.9

A subtle but elegant nose of spice and oak that leads to a rush of plum and spice on the palate. Acidity and tannins seam to have struck a very nice balance which makes this wine very drinkable now. I am a big fan of Sta Rita Hills wines and this one does not disappoint. — 9 years ago

Guy Davies

9.5

Seam of richness to this. Very very smooth indeed. Texturally absolutely gorgeous but otherwise rather closed at the moment. More to come for sure — 9 years ago

Michael Winterbottom

9.7

Darker fruit driven, but has a seam of red fruit from the 25% Grenache. Leather riding jacket, gun stock/used shotgun casings. Sweet and sour sauce! Earthy but sweeter fruit character with bramble fruit, black berries fresh and crushed, strawberry jam, dried red roses and wilting violets. Slight oyster mushroom/Cremini mushrooms and oxidative barrel quality. Really drinking well and approachable now and cabbage for another 10-15 years. — 6 years ago

Martin Mills

9.1

Shows its age in the colour, it’s a lovely deep ruby with tawny edges. The nose is all raspberry but slightly stewed, again reflective of the time it’s had to unfold. Fragrant, with that distinctive New Zealand Pinot note of jasmine tea, and something like prosciutto (I mean that as a compliment). More jasmine tea on the palate, along with a seam of mineral/sea salt and lashings of fruit, both fresh and crunchy and cooked. Very fine indeed. Weighs in at 14.5 abv and there is a bit of heat to it, but nothing to worry about. Drinking superbly now and by all indications has a few more good years left. — 6 years ago

Martin Mills

9.2

Pale gold colour, still youthful. Chablis style with little evidence of oak; instead, a rich seam of minerality and tropical fruit with tooth licking acidity and a long finish that reveals many layers. Not what I expected from a premium new world Chardonnay but utterly delicious - fireworks. — 7 years ago

Ryan Carver

9.5

Fantastic. Opulent, decadent, flavor bursting out of every seam. — 8 years ago

Pierpaolo Petrassi MW

Master of Wine; Head of Beer, Wine & Spirits Waitrose

8.9

Typical Vasse elegance in this new (to me!) Chardonnay cuvée, but lots of rich fruit too. Retains that lovely, Burgundian seam of savoury which all good Margaret River Chardonnays should have. — 8 years ago

Peter Scudamore-Smith MW

9.7

In an era of making cabernets for softies here is one with poise and structure; hard to find but another group gave it a trophy; recognition of completeness at such a young age; has a tannic seam setting it apart from many floppy Coonawarras and Margaret Rivers who think to have claimed the pinnacle; tautly wound flavours of tobacco and olive, no raw fruit flavours only finesse here with a coulis of tastes; Blue Pyrenees Estate #avoca 2012 cabernet 68%, merlot 22%, malbec 8%, shiraz 2% (probably used for topping); #drinkoz #drinkvictoria #pyrenees #bluepyrenees #estateblend 14%, AUD 40 #cabernetsauvignon #merlot #malbec #shiraz ; long ager too, think decades; a wine one must try; tasted alongside Segla 2005 from Margaux in magnum; similar tannins just drier! — 9 years ago

Keith Levenberg

9.7

My oh my oh my. Let me first try to describe this as objectively as I can before I start babbling in tongues about why it's awesome. So, okay, we'll start with the color, which is somewhere between a rosé and a pale red. That's as good a portent as any for what you get when you taste it, which is this ethereal, gossamer, lacy thing that would probably flutter to the earth even slower than a feather if it were a solid object. It has a sense of freshness and light without being overtly fruity, i.e. it features the freshness and essential perfume of the fruit without the sweetness or fat. It has a minerally element too, subtle (though everything about this is subtle) but clearly reminiscent of gravelly rock pulverized to an ultrafine powder (everything about this is ultrafine). The word "finesse" is a cliché, ditto for "ethereal," but ultimately that's what's so awesome about this. I have had a lot of disappointing German pinot noir, even from highly regarded producers, and they never turn out to be what you think German pinot noir ought to be (i.e., as clear and pure and transparent as riesling, with all that cool-climate lightness). Somehow some of them turn out to be big fat Sonoma pinot lookalikes, which I will never understand. This is not like that. I am really at a loss to think of anything from anywhere to compare this to that so effortlessly pulls off such a vivid personality out of material so fine it only barely seems to have a corporeal existence, and not a flaw or seam to be seen in the way it is all put together. I can think of a Jura pinot that was in the ballpark (the '08 Chais des Vieux Bourg) and the weight and physical presence bring to mind something like Coteaux Champenois or the Dirty & Rowdy reds, but as far as I am concerned this is sui generis. There are aspects that bring to mind all sorts of things but it really needs its own frame of reference. It is profound but not in the same way that grand cru Burgundy is profound; it's a brilliant soloist, not a symphony, almost minimalist in its simplicity and tranquility, best paired with your favorite easy chair and some quiet moments. — 9 years ago