Anna Savino

9.0

Love this wine by micro small artisan producer. Vermentino orange style wine. Initial funk on the nose, then sweet lemon custard flavors on the nose. Balanced acidity, creamy yet fresh on the palate. Loved! — 7 years ago

Kirk F

9.2

Have yet to have an EK bottle disappoint. This is in a fantastic window right now. So good. From the winery; ‘In the glass, the 2013 Small Town Pinot is a very pretty medium garnet color. Explosive aromas of crushed red cherry, forest floor and spice abound, followed by an outright party of ripe cranberry, strawberry, black plum and rhubarb pie on the palate. All rounded out by hints of juniper berry, nutmeg and cloves. A hair riper than last year, but no less graceful, there’s a pleasant sense of all-around finesse.’ All ringing true tonight. Loved this. — 7 years ago

JKT

9.2

Gordons tasting Deiss 6/6/17. $45. Number four. Slightly more golden color. Interesting nose of mature fruits and hints of oily petrol that's very soft. Silky and tension on palate and beautiful nice complex finish. Yum. Just 200 M from number three. Same grapes. Yet palate is broad and wide and more dense. Remaining bouquet in glass very different. Limestone soil. With tannins and can age. This is current release. Aged in small barrels unlike others. Hillside and cool yet 14abv. — 8 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.8

Where do I start with this wine? Perhaps what I didn't like about it. Palate seems unresolved as of now and it didn't deliver as much satisfaction as the nose, but that's just nitpicking. Also a touch too oxidative - hints of sherry notes. However, in a way, this adds complexity to what was already a rich, layered array of aromas. Tasting the Sapience, I think of a warm mille feuille, with baked apples and spices in one layer, salted caramel with nuts in another, chamomile cream with fresh mandarin pieces in the last. This had complexity of the highest order and probably the best champagne I've tasted this year.

Notes: Better to serve it in a bigger format glass. Like Bouchard and Selosse, bubbles dissipates quickly here. The ample use of oak and richness of the wine does make it somewhat table-like. Also, CJ noted that's this could have pulled off as a Selosse Millesime, which I have yet to taste. Mixed info about the wine so will list them all.

From FORCEBERRY on Cellartracker:
This is a brainchild of Benoît Marguet: the world's first "prestige cuvée" by Champagne small growers. Despite labeled under Marguet's name, this wine is not made with Marguet grapes; instead the grapes come from organic producer Georges Laval, who supplied Pienot Meunier (2/3 of the wine) and biodynamic producer David Léclapart, who supplied Chardonnay (1/3 of the wine), all grapes from minimum 1er Cru-level vineyards. The wine is vinified by Benoît Maguet and Hervé Jestin, a man best known as the cellar master of Duval-leroy. The wine is fermented and aged in old barriques for 6 months, after which the wine is bottled and left to age in Marguet's cellars for a minimum of 5 years. This wine is disgorged in September 2012 with a dosage of 3 g/l.

From Planetwine:
Sapience is a collaboration between Benoit Marguet, Benoit Lahaye, Vincent Laval, and David Leclapart. The concept is to craft a Champagne using extreme biodynamic methods. This rendition of Sapience comprises Chardonnay from David Leclapart, and Pinot Meunier from Vincent Laval. The next version will have Pinot Noir from Benoit Lahaye. The wine is made in the cellar of Benoit Marguet, who is one of the most passionate biodynamic winemakers we've encountered. The base wine spends two years aging in Bordeaux barrels before the second fermentation in bottle. More Chardy in blend.

From Pillariwine:

Benoit Marguet partnered with Herve Jestin to create this wine, the first ever certified organic prestige Champagne blended from across the region. They release the same wine with two different labels. One is Sapience/Marguet the other one is Champagne Jestin. Grapes are from the fellows of Hervé Jestin, Vincent Laval(Cumières, PN&PM, Biologic) and David Leclappart(Trépail, CH, Biodynamie). — 8 years ago

with Michelle

Erik Nordman

9.0

Super yummy Vouvray! Focused and clean yet with an underlying sense of concentrated, fruity, aromatic richness as well. I've had a couple Vouvrays before this and they were either too sweet and unbalanced or unfortunately, corked. So even though I know I dig Loire Chenin, I hadn't ever paid much attention to Vouvrays before due to those negative (and partially unfair; can't really control if a wine is gonna be corked or not before you even get a hold of it) associations I had. But I get Vouvray now, for sure. Macerated peaches and pineapple, yellow apple, chamomile, wet stone and a tiny bit of wet wool, a bit of honeysuckle and white florals, and a tiny bit of subtle cardamom spice. A small bit of RS, barely off-dry, but it's kept totally in balance and still finishes "dry", lean, focused, and crisp due to the nice high, mouthwatering acidity. Pleasant medium body. Drank with a burger topped with Gorgonzola and fresh jalapeños since it was all I had on hand to drink with it, and it was definitely an unusual/atypical pairing but the RS and acid definitely worked well with richness of the cheese and the spice of the jalapeño and cheese. Wasn't a perfect pairing but much better than expected. Will definitely buy again. I don't think I've had a Kermit Lynch-imported wine that I didn't like. — 9 years ago

Adam Bailey

9.0

Small production vineyard at 1400' in Sonoma produces a huge Zinfadel that starts big and gets bigger as it goes. Tons of berry, but a bit young and explosive yet. Lay it down for a year or two. Sorry for the unintentional Pope reference. — 10 years ago

Scorewine

Wine writer http://www.israelwines.co.il

9.0

Gosset is a fine champagne house that I have only recently got exposed to, I can regret what I missed or try to catch up :-) as you can see I went for the more pleasurable option. The excellence is indeed excellent, lovely light gold color, a fresh stream of small sexy bubbles, appealing nose full of lime, grapefruit, apple, yeasts and healthy dose of minerality, on the palate smooth and fresh, silky yet tingling, fresh finish. My score 90. Drink when you feel like having a fresh pleasure. — 10 years ago

Jessica Senning

Sommelier Restaurant Trattoria Popolare, Writer Dinvinguide.se/Rosemary and the Deerhunters, Taster Aperitif horeca magazine

9.5

It's everything that the 2011 vintage was and more. Fresh, crisp notes of red berries and white meat. High yet integrated acidity, small yet numerous tannins and a balanced finish with soft fruit. Young and promising. — 10 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 — 12 years ago

Ming L

9.0

Gaso is the family vineyard high on the hills of Marano di Valpolicella. Very attractive nose of resin, butterscotch, prune, ripe plum, and cherry. Unusually bright and vibrant palate. Authoritative yet silky tannins. I think I paid $35 for this small production Amarone. A steal. — 7 years ago

Erik Nordman

9.0

Dig these Koehler-Ruprecht trocken prädikatswein bottlings; they smell like they’re going to be sweet but then surprise the palate with their relative dryness. This Kallstadter kabinett trocken pours a medium (-) intensity straw-gold hue. Moderate concentration of aromatics of underripe stone fruit, shiso, wet stone minerality, a bit of petrol-y TDN character, a leesy aged cheese rind character, and a very slight honeyed spice that might signal a very small percentage of botrytized grapes might have gone into this wine (but I’m not 100% sure it is botrytis; it’s very faint if it is). On the palate, the wine is simultaneously soft and focused, with more slightly underripe stone fruit, wet stone minerality, slightly underripe mango, a savory, aged cheese rind leesiness, and some very subtle floral tones. Medium (+)/high acid, oily, softly textured light/medium (-) body, medium in-balance alcohol, and it’s dry-ish? Wouldn’t quite say off dry but definitely has a slight bit of balancing RS. Overall, pretty good stuff; haven’t yet been disappointed by Koehler-Ruprecht. — 8 years ago

Joshua Crisp

9.1

I had the opportunity to visit this small boutique winery today and I have to say, I am looking forward to what the future holds for them! Andrew is in the process of getting his estate biodynamic certified and he throws his own amphora pots to ferment his wines as he ferments and ages more and more in this non-traditional yet traditional method. This sort of intentionality is reflected in this rosè, as he reserves a section of his vineyard specifically for this bottling. Traditional Pinot funk, fresh peppercorn, picked watermelon and June strawberries recall a Provence-style rosè. Bright yet generous upon the entry, with fresh strawberries and cut blood orange greeting the palate, unfolding to early-season mango and ripe, orange pith, and finishing with Bing cherries, dried river stones, and acid for days. Balanced and thoughtful - just a rosè, but speaks well for the future of this winemaker. I look forward to seeing more from him! — 8 years ago

with Dagan and Deb

Jo Anne B

9.1

Everything I love in a New Zealand sauv blanc. And no we didn't drink 2 bottles tonight. I don't need rehab just yet. 😬 — 8 years ago

Bob Bryden

Founder The Lake Sommelier, LLC, Author Wine Talk

9.0

An amazing wine---everything that you expect to be there but in a perfectly blended offering. Every aroma was clear and distinct, yet each played a supporting role to the others. A super effort by this small production, family owned vineyard. — 9 years ago

with Tom and Gregory

Lorenzo Marco Savona

9.7

Delicious small grower producer champagne! Continuing our new years eve tradition of Thai food and champagne @ home. Wonderful round stone fruits, light lemon/lime, bright yet medium body. — 9 years ago

Dave Chambers

9.0

Have you discovers Baden's Pinots yet? If not, here's one you might want to start with! My only caution is to alert you to the small"CS" you see here below the vintage date - that little symbol is the only visible oxidation separating this wine from its less expensive sibling. Tart red cherries and spice notes reminiscent of Santa Cruz Mountains Pinots! — 10 years ago

Marshall Todd Herron DPM

9.0

the cork - which I now document- came out beautifully. There is a 2mm rim of perfect proportion around the cork base. The color is dark black purple and opaque. The legs last a full 10 seconds - 13.2% alcohol - this is going to be a big wine! Drink responsibly is my first thought. Its thick! The boquet is fresh plumb and wildflowers. The initial palate is tart on the tip of the tongue and very smooth on ghe finish with a slight tang on the back sides of the tongue. The flavor is blackberry and green (not yet ripe) apple after taste. I love it!!! There is a small amount of dryness left in the palate which leaves you wanting another sip!
This is good wine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So if you like wine with a tart after taste , which I do, this wine is for you! - Thank you for reading! Until next time, I am Todd Herron with Dr. Todd's Wine Notes! See you next time!
— 10 years ago

Kevin Cuturi

9.3

incredible wine from mallorca. peppery, yet with full
length. very small production — 10 years ago

Nicole Dodson

9.7

Grower-Producer and so small all the wines are riddled by hand. 2004 was a cooler vintage and will age tremendously. Lots of toasty notes, yet delicious citrus and bursts of minerality! — 12 years ago

Jean-Francois Pelletier

9.4

Gorgeous garnet color with just a small amount of bricking. Opulent yet rustic nose of red cherries, leather, herbs, leather and licorice. Medium+ body with good tannic backbone. Long finish. Tastes younger than it is. Absolutely delicious. — 7 years ago

with Frankie

Dave Genevro

8.9

Mighty alive yet quite fluid and graceful. — 8 years ago

Ted Boydston

9.0

Today's selection for contemplating hurricane Irma's arrival Sunday here in Melbourne, FL. Fine cherry character, almost jammy, tamped down by a slight petrol undertone. Light, yet acidic, mouthfeel, lingers for many minutes. Probably passed by this winery in McMinnville, OR during a visit years ago to see small boutique wineries and the spruce goose. Wished I had seen it, even though this is a multi-vineyard multi-appellation blend. Worth a spin, especially at the price, if you can get a bottle out of the 1100 cases produced. — 8 years ago

Joakim Bogström

9.2

Garnet to purple. Small rim. Brick coloured.
Silky yet muscular. Lovely medium bodied texture. Medium to medium plus tannin structured. Fresh acidity. Raspberries, dark fruits, bacon. Strong finnish.
Serve at 15 degrees with a tartar with egg yolk and a baconflavoured mayo. — 8 years ago

Doug Adams

8.9

Sparking wine from Tasmania! A unique nose that is hard to describe yet familiar. Crisp and clean with mineral flavors followed by some citrus. Lots of small bubbles that continue through the entire bottle! — 8 years ago

Pierpaolo Petrassi MW

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

9.0

A small biodynamic producer in the village of Courteron, Fleury are meticulous in their grape selection and crafting of this delicious brut style which sees time in oak prior to 2nd fermentation. Rich & textured, yet brimming with freshness; a lovely wine. — 9 years ago

with Dirceu

Josee Seguin

9.0

Wow is what I can say about this wine.
Flavour abound! Robust yet smooth tasting. Loved it ! — 9 years ago

Kim Callender

9.5

Small production Pinot. Tasting room was in the family's home and yet this earthy, well-balanced Pinot was the favorite of a day of wine tasting in the world's southernmost wine region. — 9 years ago

Elizabeth Smith

9.0

This wine is a riper Albariño, with dominant flavors of melon and stone fruits. However, it still demonstrates lemony acidity and salty minerality. It's crisp, yet has a more substantial mouthfeel due to a small percentage of the wine being fermented in French barrels and aged on lees. It's the duality of warmer climate/citrus fruits and crispness/mouthfeel that make this wine interesting. ¡Feliz día de Albariño! (only $14-$18/bottle, widely distributed). — 10 years ago

Noble Cloche

9.4

Quite possibly my favorite Rye ever. Nice spice yet smooth on the palate with a delightful burn. Not too little, yet not too much either. The perfect nightcap. — 10 years ago

William Leslie

9.3

Nose has a sweetness and distant oak characteristics. Flavors have a small tobacco flavor yet predominant smoke texture. Underneath there are quality cherry, mild raspberry and plum flavors with a medium spice that lingers. Overall, medium body, quality spice, smoky oak. Great flavor for the price. Comparable with more tobacco and smoke: Mad Duck. — 11 years ago