Stas Medvedev

9.2

🏅Rating 92+/100 (4,25⭐)

Cédric Moussé is the fourth generation of his family to make champagne at Moussé Fils. He is young, energetic and innovative.

In 2012, Mousse completed construction of a new winery in Cuisles, designed to be as environmentally sustainable as possible. It is state of the tech art.

In 2005, Moussé joined the Club Trésors de Champagne, and began making a Spécial Club champagne in that vintage. It's the first 100-percent meunier champagne in the history of the Club.

Single vineyard Meunier comes from 4 plots in lieu-dit “Les Fortes Terres”.

Pale pink gold colour. Crushed almonds, raspberry and strawberry with splash of milk (full malo). Reductive winemaking puts emphasis on the purity of the fruit! 1g/l dosage is enough to balance. Broad-shouldered on the palate. Dry long finish. Spent over 3 years sur lee and disg. 10/2019

Solar 2015 vintage speaks from the glass. Overall that was a warm year which started with a mild and humid winter, followed by quite a dry spring and summer. Harvest started on the 9th of September.

This is one of Champagne's finest examples of pure meunier!

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Instagram: @wine_talks_club — 5 years ago

Beachin Wino

9.0

This wine gets me very excited about what’s happening with red wine in Virginia. This vintage is even better than the last. It is a well executed red blend (50%CabFranc, 30%Merlot, 20% Petit Verdot) that offers beautiful balance and structure. Fruit forward with aromas of blackberry, caramel and dark chocolate. Paired well with blue cheese! Would also pair beautifully with grilled meats.
This winery is so quaint and charming. Worth a visit. There was a book signing the day we were there. The walls are filled with art for sale. It is also used as a wedding venue. — 6 years ago

with Fred

J. R. Klein

9.4

At Columbus Museum of Art. Fitting wine for up scale event. Nice character while presenting hints of fruit and berries. (2013 vintage) — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

On the nose, deep, dark cherries, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, dry cranberries, some blue fruits with baked strawberries on the edges. Black licorice, cinnamon, vanilla, clove, dark spices, smoke, softer leather, dry stems, dry rich soil and fresh & withering flowers.

The body is much fuller than the 14. The fruits are also darker. The tannins are big, firm but nice rounded. dark cherries, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, dry cranberries, creamy raspberries come on as it opens open and coats the palate, some blue fruits with baked strawberries on the palate edges. Black licorice, cinnamon, vanilla, clove, caramel, dark & milk chocolate dark spices, mint, expresso roast, tobacco, cedar, smoke, softer leather, dry stems, dry rich soil, tarry notes, crushed rocks and fresh & withering flowers. The structure, tension are more like 13 vintage. The length & balance is beautiful but, will take time to flush out. The finish is big, rich, elegant, glorious and lasts minutes.

Their Winemaker is Aaron Potts. Small production wine, under 500 cases.

Photos of; the several ton Artwork stones that they use as their logo & brand. The seven stone pieces are held together by gravity. Human relaxing art piece on the grounds, painting in the winery and the view from the Estate. — 7 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.2

Last of the single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings we tasted at Aperture Cellars with Lauren. Dark purplish ruby red. Ripe red berries on the nose with some spices, perfume and a touch earthy. Medium tannins (7/10) and full bodied. A bit of heat on the palate with some cassis, black cherries and spices. Not as vast as the Del Rio with a touch of dark cocoa. Needs some time to pull itself together. Dry and gravelly long finish. Drink from 2019 till 2030. (92+)

This is made up of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc from the Oliver Ranch Vineyard and cultivated by Phil Freese. Who actually does another one of our favorites - Vilafonté in South Africa.


First stop on our very first trip to Sonoma, and we were not dissappointed. The wines made by Jesse Katz have a ton of finesse, power and character. Definitely a winery for any wine lover or collector to have on their radar. Stay tuned for some exciting new wines coming out in the 2017 vintage, possibly an old vine Zinfandel. Also a must visit for art and photography lovers. — 7 years ago

with India

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

On the nose, it's pure elegance. Kirsch cherries, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, plums, poached strawberries, raspberries haunt the background, vanilla, very light and soft spice, candied moist black earth, fresh violets and liquid, fresh, slightly perfumed red/dark florals. The full body is smooth, sexy and silky elegance. The tannins are round, beautiful and 65-70% resolved. The dark cherries and cherries roll the eyes back in the head. OMG! The fruits are simply garden of Eden beautiful. Poached strawberries, creamy black and regular raspberries, ripe black plum, overly extracted pomegranate, dry cranberries, soft, delicate top soil/dry clay, limestone, crushed dry rock powder, dry stones, black cherry cola/licorice, hint of anise, light notes of dry herbs, fresh tobacco leaf, sweet, dark, moist, turned earth, lead pencil shavings, rich, round mouthwatering acidity and a rich, elegant cherry driven finish that doesn't stop and I will not forget. Cheval Blanc is not a classified First Growth but on my palate it qualifies as such. Glorious bottle! I've had the 05 & 10 early. It will certainly out do this 2001 but not today. Photos of; the historical Cheval Blanc; which I prefer. I love the Bordeaux history. The new and modern 20 Million dollar addition. Shots of the cellar...the new concrete and stainless state of the art fermentation tanks. Producer notes and history...The name Cheval Blanc translates into white horse. The Chateau's history in St. Emilion traces back to 1832. It was the year the Ducasse family purchased land from Chateau Figeac. Prior to it being know as Cheval Blanc, the vineyard was better known as Le Barrail de Cailloux, which loosely translates into "barrel of tiny stones." Of course, the inspiration from the terroir's unique gravely soils. The original vines purchased from Figeac became what many people think is the best wine of St. Emilion, Chateau Cheval Blanc. For the most part, I agree with that. Back in 1832, Chateau Figeac was owned by Countess Felicité de Carle-Trajet. At that time, Chateau Figeac had grown to a massive 200 hectare estate; which is huge by St. Emilion standards. It was the Countess who decided to sell portions of their holdings. The breakup of the larger Figeac estate helped create a myriad of new St. Emilion wine making estates; which explains why so many Chateauxs include the word Figeac as part of their name. However, the owners of what was to become Cheval Blanc wanted to establish their own identity that was separate from Figeac. In 1838, the Ducasse family purchased what was to became the majority of Cheval Blanc. Some of the vines were previously part of Figeac. They began buying more St. Emilion vineyard land to create Chateau Cheval Blanc. In 1852, Mille Ducasse married Jean Laussac-Fourcaud, she came with a dowry that included their recently acquired Bordeaux vineyards that included 2 of the 5 gravel mounds running through the vineyards of Cheval Blanc and Figeac. Pretty amazing dowry! The Laussac-Fourcaud family built the chateau that is still in use today. The Laussac-Fourcaud continued to add holdings and increasing the size of the Cheval Blanc vineyards. By 1871, they accumulated a total of 41 hectares of vineyards in Saint Emilion. Chateau Cheval Blanc remains that same size to this day. A number of years ago, Cheval Blanc spent a boat load of money on updating and renovating to a modern facility in a true modern fashion that drastically departed from its original existing historical structure. Cheval Blanc has always tried to be innovative. Around 1860, when the chateau for Cheval Blanc was being built, extensive work was also being done in the vineyards. In fact, even then, Chateau Cheval Blanc was at the forefront of vineyard management techniques when they added a vast network of drains in their vineyards. Chateau Cheval Blanc was probably the first estate in the Right Bank to install this type of drainage system. At first, Chateau Cheval Blanc sold their wine under the Figeac label. Once Chateau Cheval Blanc began winning medals for the quality in their wine, they changed their label. That change included placing pictures of their medals on the label, which is still featured on their label today. More importantly, the wines were now sold under the name of Chateau Cheval Blanc. Cheval Blanc continued gaining in popularity by producing some of the best wines in all of Bordeaux during the 1920’s, 1940’s and 1950’s. In 1998 Cheval Blanc was purchased by Bernard Arnault and Baron Albert Frere for a 135 million Euros. They asked Pierre Lurton to manage the property for them. Today, Pierre Lurton also manages their other estates, Chateau d’Yquem, Chateau La Tour du Pin and Quinault l’Enclos. 1991 was one of the most difficult vintages in Bordeaux history, Cheval Blanc did not produce a wine. #RESPECT! In 2009, LVMH purchased the shares owned by Bernard Arnault in a private transaction. There was no official announcement of the price. However, rumors placed the price at close to 15 Million Euros per hectare (€615,000,000), making this the most expensive transaction yet, on a per hectare purchase price in the history of Bordeaux. 2000, 2005, 2009 & 2010 were near perfect or perfect vintages for Cheval Blanc and again in 2015, they produced candidates for wine of the vintage. In that same year at an auction held by Christie’s, a scarce, six-liter bottle of the legendary 1947 Cheval Blanc, (Probably the only real bottle in existence) sold for a record setting price of $304,375 dollars! In 2011, with the help of famed architect and Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, Christian de Portzamparc, Chateau Cheval Blanc completed a major construction and renovation project. This remodeling included; building a new winery, barrel cellars, vinification room, tasting area and efforts with the landscaped gardens. Even though the structure is modern in design (sigh), this new cellar cost over $20,000,000. The 39 hectare vineyard of Cheval Blanc has a complex terroir that consists of 3 different soils. Even though the vineyards are in one large parcel, this can be divided up as follows: 40% of their soils are gravel over multiple types of clay, including blue clay. Another 40% of their terroir has deep gravel soils, while the remaining 20% of their soils consists of sandy clay in the soil. The vineyard of Chateau Cheval Blanc is planted to 49% Cabernet Franc, 47% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon today, but the goal is to return to the original mix of 55% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The vines at Cheval Blanc are old, averaging 45 years of age. They have 8 hectares of Cabernet Franc planted in the 1950’s. However, some of the older parcels of Cabernet Franc are close to 100 years of age, as they were planted in 1920. Cheval Blanc vinification takes place in 52 different temperature controlled, cement vats that vary in size, due to the needs of specific parcels to allow for each parcel being vinified in its own tank. Malolactic Fermentation takes place in tank. The wines are aged in 100% new, French oak barrels for close to 18 months before bottling. @ FL Yountville — 8 years ago

Thomas Rogers

8.9

What a nice red blend! Smooth with just enough berries. The label art complements the taste and beauty of the vintage. Having with anchovy pizza. — 5 years ago

Conrad Green

9.1

Gorgeously supple and open fruit. Not a barnstormer of a vintage but all is very open knit and lush without excessive bite from alcohol. Very good. — 6 years ago

with Bex

Tim Riethmiller

10

A stunning wine with all the notes singing, this is the time to drink this vintage before the profile mellows out. Pair it with a coffee rubbed steak for the full essence of this wine! A real work of art! — 6 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

Am always in admiration of anyone who has undertaken and achieved the Master of Wine qualification. It involves years of studying and tasting the wines of the world with a high possibility of failure. There are I believe less than 400 MWs in the world. Andrew Caillard who made this wine is an MW. His daytime job is with Langtons - Australia’s top wine auction house. He also has the skill and the time to hand paint the art for each Vintage of Mataro label. As to the Wine itself - 100% Mataro (Mourvèdre) from old vines in the Barossa. Very dark crimson with a tawny rim. Aromas of dusty blackberry, plum and herbs. Medium to full bodied with savoury blackberry coming through on the palate but essentially still dense and self contained with years in front of it. Next in a year or so. — 6 years ago

Joe Kaiser

9.4

Thanks Lawrence what a great tasting today! Glad I shipped my 1st bottle of 2010 George-III. Classic vintage but this wine is balanced, expressive, bold, ART in. Glass! — 7 years ago

with Debbie and bill

Mike K

8.9

Easy drinking and smooth. Fairly light grape flavor, but not water. Hyatt exclusive by Michael Mondavi. Canvas Pinot Noir - 2015 vintage. — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Their inaugural vintage was in 1999, Provenance means "origin" or "source." In the art world, a provenance is the record of a work’s ownership, from its creation to the present day. Nice ripe dark fruit aromas. Plum and ripe blackberry flavors with bits of cacao and black tea. Soft tannins, good acidity balance, a joy to drink. Should continue to age nicely over next 5+ years. — 7 years ago

Manny Abascal

9.4

Imagine going to MoMA and instead of seeing the actual art you stay in the bookstore and look at photobooks of the art, until before you know it the museum closes. That is what it was like to pop and pour this wine from the 99 vintage. It was closed at first, then good but disjointed, then really good, and then the last glass was incredible with flowers, earth, and red fruit, all in impeccable balance. Then it was gone. Next time I will decant. — 5 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Mid Ruby in colour. Earthy aromas - the perfume of Vosne Romanee. Sappy Red fruits - just medium weight. Expected more complexity from this 1er Cru and good vintage, although good persistence and length. Medium minus Tannins. I don’t normally comment on a wine label, but being a printer, this had the classic Burgundian graphic art and type face - beautiful! — 6 years ago

Muralee Murugesu

9.3

This magnum from Leeuwin estate Cab art series is a garnet in colour with the rims showing alight orange tinge showing the ripening of the wine. This seven year old vintage is “a point” in terms of ripening. Definitely not a Bordeaux style can but more of a Connewarre style Cab exhibits red cherry, raspberry and leather notes. In terms of length, 40-50 sec finish. Pairs beautifully with lamb (big green egg) roast. Beautiful! — 6 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Gorgeous earthy perfume, Forest Floor - could be Burgundian. A Tawny edge to the colour. My 2nd favourite Aussie Pinot after the Bass Phillip Reserve. Savoury cherry nuances on the palate but overall more savoury than fruit driven. Light to medium bodied. Very fine Tannins with natural acid still present. I expected more mid palate fruit for what Phillip Jones described as “one of our best vintages” to that point. They have had better ones since IMO. I would not normally taste a BP Premium under 10 years (this being the first of 4) but having tasted this I wish I had had one say four years ago. In the category of wines I buy every vintage - like the Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay. — 7 years ago

Julie Pewe

10

Really enjoyed this wine! Will easily become a part of my regular rotation. — 7 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.2

@Delectable Wine this is the Aperture Cellars Unlikely Native Pinot Noir.

First stop on our very first trip to Sonoma, and we were not dissappointed. The wines made by Jesse Katz have a ton of finesse, power and character. Definitely a winery for any wine lover or collector to have on their radar. Stay tuned for some exciting new wines coming out in the 2017 vintage, possibly an old vine Zinfandel. Also a must visit for art and photography lovers.

Sneak peak at this small production Pinot Noir from Jesse Katz and Aperture Cellars made for a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado. Thanks Lauren for cracking this for us! Medium ruby red. Powerful nose with roses, raspberries, jasmine, twigs and some deeper floral notes. Quite a bit of tannins in the front of the palate (7/10) and medium bodied. Balanced acidity with jasmine and raspberries on the palate followed up by light strawberries and a touch of leather underneath. Lingering finish. Drink till 2025. $$

This is the inaugural vintage for this Pinot Noir from the Dry Stack Vineyard in Bennett Valley. It is made exclusively for the Jax Fish House in Boulder, Colorado where Jesse was born. — 7 years ago

with India

James Forsyth

9.2

I've always liked Vietti's labels and the Barbera d'Asti Tre Vigne is a delightful departure from their usual illustrations from nature. Unlike the label art of a mask, and indeed of the mask from the El Gato Chimney painting behind, nothing is being hidden here. Overt and plummy and floral too, this 2010 reminds me why I love the vintage and how Barbera with a bit of age can be an utter delight. — 7 years ago

with Cara