Pamela Taylor

8.9

Black cherry and black plum on the nose, bright on the palate with some tilled soil and a grip of baking spices and fresh herbs on the finish. Very pleasant Pinot — 3 months ago

David D

9.0

Dolcetto d’Alba Superiore
Grown in Barbaresco territory and aged in old oak casks – a meatier Dolcetto. Angular with really bright acids, tart raspberry, steely tannins. From Astor Wines. 05/03/23 — a year ago

Shay A

9.3

This bordered on “really good” and “exceptional”. With being so young for a white Rhône, I’m sure this will push in to exceptional territory rather easily within 5-10yrs.

A producer I don’t know much about, but being a fan of all things northern Rhône, I wanted to roll the dice. 100% marsanne. I opted to open this early as I have the opportunity to buy a few more bottles, so I wanted to check in.

The aromatics and palate are quite different. Channeling a kiss of that nutty and rich profile on the nose up front, but the palate sports quite a bit of bright lemon zest and almost more reductive like notes (smoky) before the finish fans out with honey roasted cashews, almond skin, and some wax. Orange blossom type notes are here, but faint.

This changed immensely with 2+hrs of air in the bottle, so the rollercoaster is just beginning. Delicious. — 2 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.1

The last and probably the best bottle from a lot of four purchased from our local importer. There was quite a bit of bottle variation in our Malaysian importer’s 19’ Envinate release - the Migan’s and Palo Blanco’s were quite the rollercoaster ride - but the Vinas de Aldea seemed to have gotten the good side of the container. Like the last bottle, this was full of floral elegance and tangy energy. Super complex aromas of violets, ripe cherries, sweet herbs, pepper, and a touch of coffee and flint. All finesse on the palate, but has depth too. Sweet red fruits, bittersweet herbs, umeshu, and an absolutely lovely, Mosel-esque slatey minerality; finishing sharp with grippy, chalky tannins. For me it was firmly in that red kabinett territory, and downright perfect with our fatty Angus picanha. Loved it! — 7 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2020 vintage. Plenty of spice and fruit…needs a little more tannic structure to vault it into must-have territory. Still delish. — a year ago

Ivor

9.1

Good barolo on the verge of breaking into the tertiary territory. Concentrated lush fruits, sticky tar, asphalt and softening tannines. I prefer them a step further down the road so I’ll revisit in two years. — 2 years ago

Carlos Burger

9.2

Whoa. Spices. Reductive. Getting to white burg territory texturally. Slightly oxidized? Is that intentional? Super good but also weird! — 10 months ago

Ivor

9.0

Beautifully ageing into tertiary territory. Red fruits, cinnamon, caramel and tea leaves. Some time left but missing the 05 magic I really love. — a year ago

Iwan

8.9

Firmly in tertiary territory at first, with mushroom and soy sauce on the nose and palate. After 20 minutes or air time fruit came to life, still with good acidity and chewy tannin. Has plenty of life in in but very tasty right now. — 2 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

These are night 2 notes. (I thought I entered notes on Night 1, but they weren’t there, so Night 2 it is. And that’s a bonus for this wine because it’s better on Night 2.)

Nose is gorgeous, with sweet, sultry cherry ooze, Graham cracker, some moist humus, and a dark florality. Very soft and enveloping in the mouth, great fruit on entry, good mid-palate density and ripeness, and a long finish that tails into savory territory. Really fine value. — 3 years ago