Ron Siegel

9.4

Amazing 07 thats nose is Leroy like showing lots of dark cherry, berry with soaring sweet Asian & Vosne spices, sous bois, earth, orange peel & violets round out some of the notes. — 5 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

Soaring nose of wet earth, sour cherries, wild spices, sweet blackberries, mint, and just superbly aromatic. Palate is super precise, loaded with sweet/sour cherry fruit and loads of crunchy minerality. Stunningly pure and deep. Terrific length. Will age wonderfully. — 7 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Beautiful drinking vintage that has black cherry, soaring Vosne Romanee spices, game, orange peel & mineral. — 8 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.5

Amazing wine that never disappoints with soaring aromatics of dark red fruits, licorice, soy, smoke, tar, leather, cedar & cigar box. Both floral & elegant that should hold for another 10 years. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

I’ve had at least two cases of the 97 over the last eight years or more. Our friends Jeff & Hedy brought this bottle of 97 to dinner tonight. It’s the best bottle of this wine I’ve had. We drank our last bottle roughly two years ago. The wine continues to improve. Tonight it’s so lush, ruby, elegant with blue & dark & mid red fruits. Great balance of fruit & earth. So beautiful & easy to drink. The 97 vintage was one no one wanted to buy as it was critically panned. I have said this many times, “in every difficult vintage, there are always producers that make good wine.” In the case of the Potensac, it took 15+ years to fully spread its wings and it continues to improve with another 10 years left ahead. No critic would have told you in 98 & 99 when the initial reviews came out to buy this wine. Potensac is made by the same technical team as Leoville Las Cases. Always follow good producers, even in difficult years. K&L bought 5,000 cases of this wine 10+ years after the fact. They are Masters in Bordeaux wines for this kind of value. Clyde took the shipments in two blocks of 2500 cases and sold through them in about a year or less at $24.99 a bottle. It remains the bargain of a lifetime! @Shay A This is the wine you want to buy to keep you from opening your 09’s & 10’s too early. So delicious tonight!!! Photos of; Potensac, concrete tanks, fruit near harvest and their barrel room. — 8 years ago

Christine Havens

9.5

As stately as I expected it to be (can one really expect anything less of a wine as legendary as Cristal in one of Champagne's most celebrated vintages?) glinting pale gold, the color of a freshly-minted coin. The 2002 Champagne Cristal Brut Millésimé is imbued with soaring notes of pear and smoke, brioche and chalk. Disgorged in 2009, this is a precise wine—it has a sort of crystalline weightless density, with fruit buoyed by a fine mousse, and edgy saline-tinged minerality emerging at the close. 10 grams dosage.

"You must be as precise as a Swiss watchmaker, I tell my team," our host, M. Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Chef de Caves at Roederer stressed. Precision in spades. — 10 years ago

ESF

9.2

Really impressive thru vintage but this bad boy was especially strutting it’s stuff showing plenty of polish & sophistication: soaring black & blue fruit, creamy vanilla, gentle spice & warmth, little cedar & tobacco - plush, finely grained tannins, med bodied, smooth & seamless. Hot diggitty this was nice! — 5 years ago

Kristin Elliott

9.3

Smooth light red blend, flavorful — 7 years ago

Joe Davant

9.5

My WOTN at the Charlotte Hirsch dinner, showing what proper aging can do to bring out a wine's fine points and soften its rough edges. All the elements of this wine were working together in harmony. Soaring floral aromatics, deep, rich fruits and a wonderfully smooth, long finish made this wine a real pleasure to drink. The more Hirsch I drink, the more I realize that patience is rewarded with their wines. 2011 was widely panned as a tough vintage in CA, but this 2011 was absolutely singing. — 7 years ago

with brent

Billy L.

9.5

PNP
Tastes Great! All P/N should be this deep &
concentrated! No green stem or weak fruit profile here. Big time wine from Gary Pisoni’s
Santa Lucia Highlands Vineyard. If California had Grand Cru designations, the Pisoni Vineyard would be tagged! This 2011 Roar Pisoni is still a Baby 👶; with a long finish and great depth. Color “Cherry Cola” Nose intense!
If you haven’t had a Pisoni P/N, time to start!
“Bob Jr.” -Jeb Dunnuck Review here from his Wine Advocate stint: Cheers 🍇🍷👍🏻👏🏻
“The most sweetly fruited and approachable, the 2011 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard has sweet strawberry, kirsch, underbrush, spice box and licorice aromas and flavors all soaring from the glass.” (JD) (8/2013) — 8 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.7

The flagship from Domaine Saint Préfert, and my first Charles Giraud. Préfert’s Charles Giraud has been a perennial high-scorer with multiple triple digit scores from Robert Parker. The 2015 is one of only four Chateauneufs to receive 99 points from Wine Spectator (none have received 100 points) and one of the other four is the 2010 Charles Giraud. This is epic juice. 60% Grenache, 40% Mourvèdre. Soaring aromatics. Incense, kirsch, lavender, fig, stone, meat, plum, Provençal herbs and exotic spice. Plush and silky, with an all-consuming intensity. Pair with Jeff Buckley. — 8 years ago

Evan Bienstock

9.4

Cold Saturday night in NYC -- break out a Barolo. This one is young but great. The nose is earth and funk. The berries are distant but there. It opens up so well across the palate as it gulps air itself. This small production wine is still crushed the old fashioned way. Wait 20 years and this one will be soaring. — 9 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.3

@David A Lentine @Gina Sabean @Christine You know that you are drinking GREAT wines when you can say that a Realm Beckstoffer To Kalon came in last. I love this producer beyond measure!! Every wine they make is a hit. Everyone tonight agreed that drank by itself it would have been amazing. However, it still needs a few years to open up and spread its wings!! All of my bottles were decanted for 8 hours today, I began formulating thus rodeo of a lineup around 11am. The Realm had huge dark fruit but too many rough edges in comparison to the others. In all honesty, these are so good that we are splitting hairs but alas they must be ranked and that is how the Cookie Crumbled this evening. — 10 years ago

with Christine and Gina

Maggie J

8.9

Very good! Dark fruit- plum and cherry w/ smoke and tar(?) — 6 years ago

David Shaw

8.9

Last bottle, fair to call this a white blend, maybe even an orange wine. Light pumpkin orange in color, excellent clarity. Floral and sulfite notes in nose initially. Stone fruit flavors - apricot, ripe peach - plus spice (wood? white pepper?) and a touch of vanilla with moderate skin astringency and lemon-orange flavor in finish. Love this winery and what they do — 7 years ago

Michele Weyland

9.0

Very good smooth light red. — 8 years ago

Bill Bender

9.6

From Mag with bone-in NY prime. This is finally in an approachable drinking window. An hour decant gave this wings. As “Bordeaux” an Insignia I’ve had in a while. I know it’s a Bordeaux blend but it’s never really performed that way for me. Great strength here, silky lines and some legit nuance. — 8 years ago

Kenta Hayashi

9.2

Some reduction in the beginning. Starts off like a Puligny and closes like a Meursault. Very clean citrus nose with lots of minterality. Soaring aromatics of grapefruit, lemon, and perhaps flint? Hard to pinpoint a particular aroma. Certainly complex for a village level. Acidity is present but not piercing and is beautifully coupled with the fruit. — 8 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

Beautiful dark fruits, soaring spice but still somewhat primary, dried herbs, licorice, beautifully balanced & complex aromatics. JK commented that he loves drinking 06, 07 & 08’s approachable with reasonable pricing. — 9 years ago

Chris Leon

9.3

Soaring red fruit that is undeniably true Sonoma coast. East ridge shows a touch more energy then San Andreas fault Imo — 9 years ago

with Cristina