The idea that the drinking window of this wine ended in 2018 is laughable (from CT). This is my first btl of a few. Pop and pour, struck match, reduction, but that dissipates with a bit of air. On the nose: lemon, golden apple, loads of wet stone minerality. On the palate: fantastic acidity, lemon oil, herbs, golden apple (the black cherry pie baking in the background is extremely distracting), then amazing wet stone minerality. Stunning for a white, especially in this vintage. — 3 years ago
Light gold. Looks young. Took 5 hours to open up and show its stuff. In hour 6 this was cruising. Saline and sea shells, wispy lemon fruit, some honey, some white stone. The guesses from the fellas were 2002 Rav Clos and 1996 Rav Valmur. Shows how these properly stored aged Raveneaus can age effortlessly. — 4 years ago
Very good chardonnay — 4 years ago
2009 is perfect! And, I love these tiny bottles! — 4 years ago
Finger. Lakes. Saperavi.
If this ain’t American winemaking in the 21st century we don’t know what is! 🇺🇸🍷🇬🇪🍇
At least, that’s what we were thinking before reading up on Standing Stone and founders Marti & Tom Macinski. They actually first planted this fascinating Georgian grape here in ***1994*** (just 3 years after Georgia left the USSR, for those keeping score at home) intended for blending.
Increasingly impressed by the quality of the grapes, they offered their first varietal Saperavi in 2010 - as “The Dark Red”, since the grape name was as yet unrecognized by the federal government. Once it was, they became the first American winery to release a wine labeled Saperavi.
Fine tuned to the cold, high mountains of Kakheti in eastern Georgia, it makes sense why it would thrive in the Finger Lakes! The name Saperavi literally means “ink”, a sensible name for a grape with pitch-dark skin AND flesh! 🖤
Marti and Tom sold the winery and retired in 2017. But their enduring legacy may just be budding. We’ve heard of Saperavi planting projects underway in New York, Virginia, and Oregon.
Saperavi’s runaway affinity for the Finger Lakes may have been a bit of a happy accident, but the Macinskis deserve every bit of credit for thinking outside the box, putting it in motion, and bringing it to fruition! 🙌🙌🙌 — 5 years ago
Great color in the decanter... medium gold with an enticing perfume. Notes of sweet Meyer lemon, apricot, gravel stone, tan clay, some mint, a little ginger and some sweet marzipan. Has an exotic and slightly musty (desirable) funk. Huge weight with great fruit and solid acidity in the mouth. Decanted for 2 hours before drinking. Awesome juice! If you Google “why should I age white burgundy?”, an image of this 35 year old bottle should be shown... — 3 years ago
Stone fruits and silky mouth feel. Lighter than many Talleys, but delicious nevertheless.. — 4 years ago
Popped and poured, and brought out to compare to the 2008. Similar color and brightness as the 2008, which is a good sign. Deeper and slightly more complex nose. Notes of citrus, sea breeze, some hazelnuts, some wet stone. In the mouth it has a bit more weight, and kind of an oiliness to it. Taste lingers for a while. Very nice and sad to later discover this was the last of a 6 pack I had - all of which were in good shape. — 4 years ago
Nice regal gold hue. Amazing pit fruit and wet stone nose. Plus notes of apricot, white clay soil, salty ocean breeze and some Raveneau honey on the finish. Rich and powerful in the mouth. Coats the palate with lots of fruit and fine grained acidity. I’ve had this a few times and this was at its best. Great Raveneau at age 30 is an amazing treat. — 4 years ago
Surprisingly, I kinda liked this despite my aversion to overly-hopped beers. The nose is a straight up hop-bomb - floral, citrusy, piney. The palate's also full-on, with heaps of hoppy bitterness, but balanced by malty sweetness and tropical fruit notes (passionfruit and mango for me). Finishes crisp and earthy. Not bad, but not my kind of beer (not an IPA fan basically). — 5 years ago
Tasted blind. Medium gold color. Nice weight with an enticing nose. Notes of citrus, toast, clay, river stone and pit fruit. Rich and palate staining in the mouth. Seems young. I guess 02 Leflaive Combettes. We were all surprised with the reveal as a few of us have had this bottle a dozen times or more and we didn’t guess it. This bottle had many years of life in front of it yet. Great stuff! — 3 years ago
Medium gold, heavy in the glass. Awesome aged Raveneau nose. Notes of citrus, kimmeridgian white stone and light colored dirt, some honey, some spice. Great mouth feel, with acidity that powered up over 4-5 hours. Awesome with some angel hair pasta and shrimp, looking out over the Kohala Coast. — 3 years ago
2015 - Luscious honey nectar like bouquet, golden hue, medium heavy body, slightly acidic, pineapple notes, medium long finish. — 4 years ago
Greenish goldish on the eye. On the nose it is sweet, honey like, with scents of orange blossom and stone fruits. On the pallet, it is heavy; starts off with a burst of freshness, followed by citrus acidity, and a sweet vanilla-like medium finish. Bold and intriguing with sweet intentions. After a several hours of airtime however, the sweet intentions are converted on to fresh lusty vives... — 4 years ago
Like a flat sour beer — 5 years ago
Jason Gelman
love this one too. so much going on here. waves of acid, very flinty. perfectly ripe orchard fruits and maybe into the stone fruit world too. the semillon adds a lot of body. great finish. great wine. — 2 years ago