Jeff Jamieson

9.0

A gift from my daughter....well balanced, fruit upfront and dry on the finish!! A very drinkable wine that works with ribeye or by itself!! — 6 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.5

The 1985 Cristal is powerful and resonant on the palate, with just the earliest hints of oxidative notes starting to appear. The 1985 may not have quite the layers, focus or pedigree of the very best years, but it more than makes up for that with its inviting, generous personality. There is so much to like, including the wine’s soft curves and racy feel. The 1985 is an especially opulent Cristal, with attractive smoky and torrefaction overtones, and exceptional balance. “In 1985, we had a severe frost that lowered yields dramatically,” Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon recounted. “It was a vintage to handle carefully. From what the old-timers told me, because I was not here, set was so bad that the percentage of stems relative to fruit was quite high. Our crew works hard to cut as close as possible, especially in challenging vintages. But I imagine some stems and underripe berries made it into the tanks, resulting in somewhat green, bitter flavors at pressing. In the end though, those qualities have been pretty good for aging. Ultimately, Champagne is a battle between ripeness and greenness. If you are too ripe, you have rot, and if you aren’t ripe enough, you are green. You need to find the optimal window for picking.” (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, December 2018) — 7 years ago

James Forsyth

8.9

The producer is an octogenarian who works in Friuli and has dedicated his life to the discovery, preservation and promotion of near extinct grape varietals. This white has brightness with saline qualities and honey notes. Fresh and floral, it is a lovely wine for the summer.

One other thing: the cork is a composite of two different cork types, the traditional cork sadwiched between the reconstituted type. I don't think I've seen that before. — 7 years ago

Kenny Baldridge

9.5

Yum!!! It even has bill clay on the label. Ha!! — 8 years ago

Cary Jones

9.7

Super sweet and yummy... my most favorite port!!! — 9 years ago

with Lynn

Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

My notes from three pours using the Coravin were very consistent. It works! The wine was still superb, actually with a little age now, even better than my original notes. Deep ruby red with focused aromas of black fruit, herbs and spice. The palate is focused, with fresh flavors of sweet ripe dark fruit, mostly plum, blackberry and black cherry, with complex oak, leather and chocolate. The wine is well balanced, tannins continuing to develop nicely, slightly savory, finishing with sweet vanilla oak notes. — 9 years ago

Colin Winston

9.4

Although it might seem like infanticide to drink this wine this young, it works surprisingly well now. Fabulous knows underbrush and spices and also some plum nuances. On the pallet what really surprises is the velvety and soft nature, while at the same time the tannins provide structure without getting in the way of the overall package. One might mistake this for a second growth Bordeaux of a good year, Albeit with a distinctive personality. — 10 years ago

Severn G

9.4

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this afternoon with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our conductor Andris Nelsons is leading GERSHWIN (Piano Concerto in F), GERSHWIN (Variations on “I Got Rhythm,” for piano and orchestra) and STRAVINSKY (Petrushka) with the amazing Jean-Yves Thibaude as the piano soloist on the two first works presented today. Jean-Yves is by far among our favorite pianists to grace the Koussevitzky Shed stage, so graceful, yet poignant!

Hot days call for cool wines, today there are some fun ones planned for sharing.

Nose has blackberry jam on toasted brioche, violet,
bruised Tai basil, blueberry seeds and crushed ripe black currant.

Palate has peppered black raspberry, black cherry, tomato leaf and well concentrated blueberry jam.

@Carla Hine Thanks for sharing, top candidate for wine of the afternoon, along with the Minges Scheurebe!!! — 6 years ago

Michael gayle

9.0

A little bit more $$$than I wanted to spend but I had a good hunch. The New Zealand wines have a specific quality that can not be denied but this wine has a pleasant finish that keeps you coming back for just a little more. Then you realize the bottle is done. lol lol. Works well grilled with salmon and shrimp. I also hade roasted potatoes and carrots with escarole. (And Italian bread). Excellent wine! — 7 years ago

Matti Jokelainen

9.1

Great torre in the making. Sweet black and red cherry, strawberry and dusty like tannins. Nice structure. This beauty has 10-15 years ahead of it even with some air and food it already works great — 8 years ago

Erik Longabardi

9.4

When the wines goes wrong in all directions but everything works. — 8 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.4

Krug Grande Cuvée in Double Magnum. Harry's Bar. 2004 base wine edition. Another great effort from the House of Krug. Toasty and elegant, fine bubbles, with a deepness to it that few champagnes can offer. Not at the level of the 2002 base as of yet, but delicious none the less. Acidity is balanced and works perfectly to enhance the aromas and overall long finish. Excellent as usual. I would probably hold for another 5-7 years before opening another large format from this edition. — 9 years ago

Chris Murray

9.5

Delicious. Dark, syrupy but fruity. — 9 years ago

Kim Stanbro

9.0

Happy birthday's happy ending. Lots of prune. — 10 years ago

with Dave

Lyndsey Wegner

8.9

Medium intensity and dark berries on the nose, low tannin, medium acidity, and a nice finish. Cherries, plum, black currant, slightly jammy, vanilla and oak. Fruity and simple for a Cab but I enjoy this region and it works with my red pasta sauce dish with chicken apple sausage bringing out more acidity and tannin in the wine. — 7 years ago

Severn G

9.4

On the Lawn at Tanglewood this evening with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our full cast of conductors include Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams. The beautiful and vocally talented Audra McDonald is our host for the evening along with Midori on violin and Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

This will likely be an evening to remember for some time. Program notes from the BSO "Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein's wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein's heart-selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program's second half; the finale of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close."

We're revisiting some producer bottles from our late Spring France vacation earlier this year.

Nose of under-ripe tropical fruits, banana skin, light oak touch. Palate has yummy papaya, under-ripe peach, tangerine and sweet oak.

Photos of the Jadot (Update, Bouchard!) Chateau with its beautiful colored slate roof (to the left of the chateau its the conservatory where we had an epic lunch during our visit and they used to overwinter their citrus trees in here many, many years ago), pictures of the first room of the most amazing library cellar in all of Burgundy (the subsequent rooms are even more amazing) and our bottle of the evening.

24hr Update, sweet oak and fermented tropical fruits just stunning today, last bottle. ☹️

OMG Update: somehow I grabbed pics from our Bouchard visit, argh! The only Jadot thing in the collage is the bottle, so sorry! — 7 years ago

Robert Evans Jr

9.3

Sweet Clean Crisp Honey suckle Green Apple — 8 years ago

with Nicole

Brandon Loper

8.9

Pretty delicious and the only field recordings offering that I've found in Alabama. — 8 years ago

Erica Fenn

9.0

Works with Chinese food! — 9 years ago

with Willie

Kevin Neely

9.5

This pet has a great dessertif aspect to it, with actual alcohol, rather than just sweet ruby port notes. Delicious and a great pairing port. — 9 years ago