Jay Kline

9.2

I have never really taken the time to explore the wines of Germany. In fact, I have more experience drinking the wines further to the south, in Austria. I have no proper excuse other than to say that I have been distracted by other regions. Bottles like this are making that excuse harder to accept. This was flat out awesome. Koehler-Ruprecht is a very traditional producer that practices a very strict, non-interventionist approach. No irrigation. No fertilizer. No herbicides. No enzymes. Nothing added or subtracted from the wine save for minuscule amounts of sulphur post fermentation and prior to bottling. This Pinot Noir is gorgeous, in a slightly more rustic sense. The appearance is a touch cloudy but far from murky. There’s a fresh, beautiful, lifted perfume of crushed strawberries, cranberries and ferrous minerals. Some stone, flowers and dust too. The palate is bright and racy with predominately red fruits and minerals. Fine tannins. The acid provides a long finish that forces a smile. There is some real vigor in this! A truly compelling wine. If I don’t make a better effort to spend the time exploring the great wine producers in Germany, well then, shame on me. — 6 years ago

Ken Z

9.4

Drank 1/18/19 at the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux event in Miami.  All wines from the 2016 Vintage.

Tasting pour, no formal notes taken.  Most of these wines are very tight, and will require 5-15 years to really come together.  Many will likely improve a few points with time. — 7 years ago

with JT

aisforalan

9.2

velvet elvis. canned cherries. barnyard funk. wet moss on granite rocks. from fausto. delicious. buy again. should be listed as a freisa. — 8 years ago

Kyle Doucet-Walter

9.1

Granite soils, macerated in granite tanks and 9 months in French oak. Right bank Bordeaux aromas, higher acidity and structure/energy like a 2015 cru Beaujolais. Does quite well with a chill. Fun wine. Hard to believe it’s from Vinho Verde. — 8 years ago

Mathew

9.2

Smooth and subtle, 20 year old cab at a great price. — 8 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Tasted '14/'15 side by side. Made from 100% Godello grown in shallow, stony granite soils. These grainy soils have low water retention, forcing the vines to struggle and limiting yields. Late ripening crop reveals a fuller body wine. Big fruit & floral nose with flinty notes. The palate reveals white flesh fruits, somewhat racy requiring some aeration to calm down. Full acidity on medium finish ending with mineral tones. This is a wine you could age a bit. — 8 years ago

Geoi

9.5

Man oh man this knocked my socks off. Reminded me of an authentic Lambic from Belgium, with funky and earthy aromas of mushroom and rancid lemon (in a good way). On the palate, black cherry fruitiness is bright, yet restrained, and taken over by notes of bread crust, cedary oak, earthy lees (yeast), dusty bookshelf, black pepper, hibiscus with a fully dry, crisp mouthfeel along with aggressive yet elegant carbonation. Out-performs it's price-point. 4.5 — 9 years ago

Mason Balistreri

Sommelier, International Wine Guild; Balistreri Vineyard; Sales, Joy Wine and Spirits

9.5

Hands down the best Gamay I have ever tasted from outside Beaujolais. Reasonably priced, great packaging and is a 10/10 on the chug-ablility scale. It expresses the spicy side of Gamay which confirms Parr's theory on the decomposing granite and volcanic clay-loam soil that this and Brouilly both grow in. Good edge and extortion here, so don't worry about the carbonic maceration.  — 9 years ago

Alex Alan

Wine Director Hotel Delmano

9.2

2014. This is up there with the greats from Fleurie. Tastes like top quality Cotes de Beaune rouge with that distinctive Gamay-on-Granite savory edge. #EnergyAndElegance — 10 years ago

Andrew Lampasone

Owner Wine Watch Selections

9.3

A deep dark wine with lots if dark licorice spice blackberry jam violet floral notes espresso very complex array of 5th generation from walla walla the family owns a granite company gonzaga university went to Florence Italy fell in love with wine and came home bought 20 acres planted everything himself. Big and chewy on the palate with a good hand of tannins with an array of that sice and earth from the nose through the finish 45+ — 11 years ago

Romain Fitoussi

9.0

Magnificent Gamay Saint-Romain from the Loire Valley: fresh, juicy, fruity as desired (strawberry, red cherries), aromas of flowers (peony, rose, violet), tangy point. the finish is astonishing in duration for a wine in this price range. magnificent ! If you are a Gamay Lover, go for this bottle — 6 years ago

Diana Eng

9.2

Smoky, charcoal, granite, meat, bacon, black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, violets, black olives, red cherries, blueberries, blackberries. Medium plus acid, medium body, medium plus finish, medium tannin. Silky tannins from age, good fruit and acidity still, elegant and high-toned. — 7 years ago

with EatSommThings

Isaac Pirolo

9.3

2017 Bedrock Riesling from Cienega Valley AVA. Planted in 1963 and dry-farmed. Apparently it’s the second oldest riesling vineyard in California. “Own-rooted in decomposed granite and limestone lovingly tended by the magnificently mustached Pat Wirz,” according to Morgan Twain-Peterson MW. Loaded with flavor. Lime oil and granny smiths with a hint of honey, and lots of rocks. A steal at $25. — 7 years ago

Raj Harb

9.4

Off the charts QPR. Everything I want from syrah on granite. Violet florals, cracked pepper, incredible freshness. A joy to drink now but will be really great in time — 8 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

@Delectable Wine - This is majority, if not 100%, Syrah. It’s not a Grenache blend.

I was skeptical. I usually don’t like Syrah from the Southern Rhône. It’s usually blocky and uninteresting. But this. Put this blind in a group of Saint Josephs and no one bats an eye. Cracked pepper, dark berry, granite, and pink grapefruit rind. So lively in the mouth. Clingy and stoney. Delicious. — 8 years ago

Delectable Wine

Follow to learn about our favorite wines & people.

9.2

(sourced from granite-rich soils in Crozes and Gervans): Inky ruby. Heady, mineral-laced black raspberry, cherry, licorice and olive scents, with a sexy Moroccan spice nuance emerging as the wine opens up. Juicy and expansive in the mouth, offering intense red and dark berry and floral pastille flavors that are complemented by suggestions of black cardamom and allspice. The floral and mineral qualities drive an impressively long, youthfully tannic finish that show excellent clarity and lift.(Josh Raynolds, Vinous, Apr 2017) — 8 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.7

Gonon's spinning some seriously unreal Syrah! Youthful, but showing so much after a quick 30 minute decant. Lively dark berries, olive tapenade, lavender, meat, herbs, black pepper, anise, mushroom. Dense, owing to the vintage, with grainy tannins and a remarkably solid acid drive. I could drink a lot of this wine 😍

Note (from CWS): While still considered within the Saint Joseph appellation, the brothers choose to bottle this younger vine syrah separately from their flagship cuvée because the vineyard location on flatland close to the bank of the Rhône does not possess the same granite base as is typical of their more historic hillside sites. Vinified with about 80% of fruit de-stemmed and undergoing a shorter elevage of 12-14 months in 600 Litre demi-muids casks. — 9 years ago

with Michelle

Amanda Rehn

9.3

Playfully precise. In honour of the dedication of a great way to beaker taken from us too soon. — 9 years ago

Christine Havens

9.0

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ivo Jeramaz on my last visit to Napa Valley. He's the nephew of winemaking legend, Mike Grgich and has taken the lead in much of the wineries day-to-day operations along with Mike's daughter, Violet. Ivo is a quiet and thoughtful in his speech—and his wines seem to reflect this. The 2012 Merlot is carmine-hued, and is more transparent than most Merlot I've encountered from Napa Valley. It possesses a kind of quiet restraint and lovely finesse with nuanced aromas of red currant, pie cherries, dried herbs and underbrush intertwining fine tannins a tart acidity. 14.0% ABV | Sample
— 10 years ago

Mark Lindzy

9.7

100% tempranillo from Olivier's 60yr old single vineyard at 1000m elevation, granite over clay. I didn't catch how long he aged it in barrel, but it's fricking delicious. 800 bottles made. — 11 years ago

with Josefa and Rebecca

Taylar Hart

9.5

Just great. So smooth and balanced. The cork suffered with the age but the wine itself benefited! — 6 years ago

aisforalan

9.1

delicious. rose petals. mineral. granite. cranberry. nice acid. buy again. from flatiron. — 6 years ago

aisforalan

9.1

granite. cacao. raspberries. blue berries. nice tannins. low acid. low oak. but again. from flatiron. 20 under 20. — 7 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

This bears little resemblance to a Gamay from Beaujolais, starting with the startlingly saturated violet color. The nose is feral, with inky dark berries, laced with venison jerky, poured on to a slab of just-cracked granite. In the mouth, massive dry extract and intensity, but simultaneously vibrant. It’s got soft tannin and acids to spare, so it will age, but really special now. This is actually a fall-weight Bojo. The only thing about this wine that runs according to type is the blocky ‘15 tactile feel, which is not my fave. — 7 years ago

with Lyle

Joseph Gannon

9.2

Another great wine from Ferme Saint Martin. Wild, leathery grenache notes, granite, blackberry. excellent value — 8 years ago

with Brooke

Robert Cunningham

Wine Educator DeVinimus, Wine Workshop

9.3

Superb acidity and minerality-granite, limestone and delicate Pinot Blanc fruit with complexity of tertiary elements surrounding the fruit. Stunning with foie gras from this lovely restaurant. — 8 years ago

Bart Hansen - Dane Cellars

9.1

Purchased @backroomwines this is a delicious bottle of wine. Great fruit highlighted by the texture from the soil. — 9 years ago

William Hughes

9.2

Tasted from Magnum. Eighty plus year old vines planted on granite and sand. Youthful crunchiness in this stony wine. Plenty of acidity. Needs a couple of years to integrate. — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.4

After the hype from Somm2 and good feedback from wine biz buds, my verdict is this is a very, very good Beaujolais Cru. I definitely recommend you try it if you are into Burgundy or esp Cru Bojo. My wife guessed Burgundy blind when I poured it for her. Like ripe red raspberry and bing Cherry, with a dash of roasted herbs smeared on a granite rock...yeah, literally that. The aroma is a perfume of red fruits caught in a tug of war with a granite rock-like minerality and roasted herbs and forest floor. The palate is dead sexy, juicy and sappy fruit and acidity, with a perfect balance and elegance that feels weightless. Thanks for the enlightenment @Jason Wise and @Brian McClintic! Now I can add #dutraive to my faves from #beaujolais like #lapierre #thivin #foillard #sunier #thevenet — 10 years ago

Joe Lucca

8.9

A gem at this price. True enjoyment from Beaujolais. A bright burst of strawberry and red fruits. Earthy, with clean minerals, granite. Nicely balanced. A great quaffer to have with food. — 10 years ago

with Diana