Vinny Eng

9.4

Smells like a perm at first but baking spice Washington apples soon thereafter. — 8 years ago

Tom Riley

9.5

2010. Opens brawny, even after a good decant. But soon thereafter there appears a wine that is cool, sleek, elegant all the while being powerful, concentrated, and balanced. Seven years in it clings to its primary self, reluctant to age. Tannins are soft and I imagine will only get softer. Long, long finish. This is a special wine. — 8 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.5

2nd wine of the day., 2012 and tasting the 13 thereafter. — 9 years ago

with Christine and Gina

Vic Goel

9.0

A bit hot and astringent on opening, but it mellowed nicely thereafter. Garnet red with ripe cherry, red berry, and vanilla scents. Quite nice. — 9 years ago

with Anita

Lewis Chester

9.1

2007 vintage. At poolside restaurant at the Edition Hotel, Miami Beach. Pale lemon hue. Tight on the nose - needed time to open up. Apple, greengage plum and lemon zest. Some grapefruit aromas with air. Not picking up the expected wet stone minerality in this bottle at least at this stage of its development. Very youthful. Hint of rubbery note but quite subtle. On the palate, bright, precise and clean, massive acidity, medium minus body and medium intensity. Medium finish. Very enjoyable with fish lunch. Being from a great vintage, this wine is still way too youthful and has yet to develop depth and complexity. I think it should not be touched for another 5-7 years and thereafter should drink well until 2030+. — 9 years ago

Dock Hooks

9.0

Deep red fruit and spice on the nose and coming through on front mouth first blush showing more dark cherry than black fruit (all still slightly tight post aerator-corked bottle pour).. It seems well-balanced with tannins showing slowing the final downhill run offering that finishing touch and back-end memory. This wine shares classic Cali cab notes with slightly brightened fruit, all of which will benefit from a few years in the cave followed by some playtime in a broad-bowled decanter, where its truth will thereafter come to the table.
PS, my guess is that the spice on the nose is largely the result of some newer oak bathing😎 PSS, back @ Matt & Mindy's fabulously folky yet scrumptiously sophisticated Friendly Market just off the bike trail (emphasis added) where you will find very special stuff soundly local with influences from Quebec to NC, at least! 100 years...🌀🌲 — 10 years ago

Chris Chan

9.2

Grass smell n taste in the beginning. Typical Cab taste thereafter. Great various smell n taste experience. — 10 years ago

Frank R

9.0

Absolutely delicious. Decanted for an hour before, a little tight to begin. Full bloom shortly thereafter. 2005 vintage — 10 years ago

Wietske Rubow

9.0

2013 Dr. H. #Thanisch #BernkastelBadstube #Kabinett
A little closed initially, but thereafter this #Riesling from the famous grey slate soils of the #Mosel Badstube showed a lovely array of fruits with steely undertones. — 10 years ago

with Dade and Fritz

Chris Napoli

8.9

I like the 2010 vintage, 2011 not so good. 2010 has Very stinky sulfur nose --> sour cherry candy thereafter. — 11 years ago

Colin Cahoon

9.4

Dark red in color. Stewed fig, cherry pie and smokey nose. In the mouth the tart fruit, rhubarb and smoke builds from the start through an oaky finish with moderate acid lingering long thereafter. I'm wishing now I'd sat on this bottle a few years more. It is luscious and bold now, but a little tightly wound. Someone please invite me to drink the 2013 five years from now. — 8 years ago

with Susan

Martin G Rivard

9.7

WOTN-> this absolutely crushed it tonight. Destroyed it's competition. Thank God that I poured it after the Jarvis. No one would've wanted to drink the Jarvis thereafter. Everything that you've come to expect from an incredible Celia Welch wine. Bravo!!! If I could post a picture of a mic drop in right now I would! LOL @Mike Rowe @David A Lentine @Ron R @Christine — 9 years ago

with Christine and Celia

Martin G Rivard

9.6

@Robert Takahashi This evening was awesome. My brother & sister in law treated us to a phenomenal dinner & we all thoroughly enjoyed a wine that none of us had ever tasted thanks to my long distance friend @Ron R !! 2003 Calon Segur was the WOTN. Decanted 4 hours prior to tasting. Soft & elegant. Crushed dark fruit, mineral & light oak. 60 second finish. This was the 1st wine of the night. All others had a lot to live up to it thereafter. They were good but this Calon was indeed special. Even the restaurants Sommelier agreed with me. He ranked the Calon WOTN, RUDD 2nd and Backus 3rd. . Elegantly awesome! — 9 years ago

with Christine and Robert

Dock Hooks

9.7

Showing its rhythmic licks and groovy colors (Deep Purple and bold) presciently savvy to a rock-n-roll world well before its time and blasting some bright-lights bling showing bing cherry gradually toned down by dried fruit right out the archer bag (often strapped across my back) while on brisk hike along wet leaf-lined trail through a late-evening forest (think musky mossy spice) as a 3/4 moon shines its magic over a distant blue pacific as the Zin unctuously offers a bigger-yet blueberry coating, front to back, and soft tannins bring back the dried fruit and a leisurely downhill creep to that distant ocean thereafter rewarded by a sit down on the seaward primary dune gazing at the moon and, of course, another hit. It's a rock-n-roll love affair in a bottle, top to bottom. Get some...😎 — 10 years ago

LM Segal

8.9

May be going through an awkward phase but a light showing for this one out of magnum. Stanky nose blew off, but barnyard yielded sweet fruit and some tobacco followed by a nice cherry entry and flat-thin-dry thereafter. Tannins too drying to truly enjoy. Usually only gems from my friend GMV. — 10 years ago

Dock Hooks

9.2

Pop that screw top, drop it in a decanter, turbo twirl, let set x10 minutes, then go for it - classic Gamay from Beaujolais with fertile earth showing smokey red and black fruit with light effervescence lightly coating all the taste receptors then twisting, turning, clinging before it slips down one's throat thereafter hanging front, sides, and back begging for another swig and associated mind quest to more finely define its groovy self😎 Loving this juice with some olives, almonds Ossau Iratty and Pico..🍷 Do this wine (great with Thanksgiving turkey) and only 12% alcohol; so do it at least x2😎 — 10 years ago

Conrad Green

9.1

Lovely nose. A touch hollow thereafter — 10 years ago

with David and Matt

John Padilla

9.0

Needed 1 hr+ in decanter to open up but thereafter a winner. — 11 years ago

Ryan Brazell

Rise Over Run

9.1

Pretty heavy sulphur that luckily blew off quickly. Great thereafter. — 11 years ago

Ahmed Deria

9.3

Took about 90 min decanter to open up but excellent thereafter. Strong fruit on the nose, nice acidity and smoky on the palate. — 8 years ago

Aaron Ehrlich

9.1

Drinking wonderfully with two hours decant, though was even more expressive several hours thereafter. Serious cru bojo made with an obvious Burgundian hand. Everything in balance and far more refinement, structure, and complexity than a typical cru. Recommended at $30 retail. — 9 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.2

Closed for business for the first couple hours and was still slow to unwind thereafter.. Rooted in an old world style. Violets, earth, worn leather, dried black cherry, dried citrus peel and a touch of smoke. — 9 years ago

srh

9.0

Our local COSTCOs list this for $9.99, $7.69 on "special". A good Pinot value @ list, it WAY overdelivers @ $7.69. Moreover, I'm guessing improvement over the next yr -- and maintaining for a couple of yrs thereafter. My only criticism for this VERY low end Pinot: The lingering finish may well always be on the "faint" side. [Drunk over 3 days.]
— 9 years ago

Tan Ernest

9.1

Still very young and only started opening up after an hour or so. Hardly had a nose when opened but developed fruit and leather aromas thereafter. Great balance of licorice, cherries, spice and leather. Enjoyable fruit tannins and just right amount of acidity albeit on the warm side. Overall showing great potential for a revisit after years in the cellar. — 9 years ago

M

8.9

20060302 Cru w25062w to w24462w
Drank 20170101
Pair with Vietnamese pork, butter lettuce, Spain 5j ham cubes, truffle cheese, black olive, beef ri.

Nose: from little to rich plum and licorice
Taste: from little to rich plum and licorice, dark plum, yummy. Licorice comes out in an hour and accompanies well.
Color: dark
Good after 1 hour, finally finish in 2 hours, good

The 2007 Zippy's Block Shiraz is a sound effort indeed and displays the characteristics of a premium Barossa Valley red. Two Hands Wines have created a single vineyard series, of which Zippy's Block Shiraz is a major player, and this particular vintage, although tough, still resulted in a top notch wine.
EXPERT REVIEWS

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - 93 pts - The 2007 Shiraz Zippy's Block from Roennfeldt Road in the Marananga sub region of Barossa Valley, is a brooding, burly wine with a splendid nose of plum, tar, licorice, smoke, game, and blueberry. On the palate it is surprisingly restrained, bordering on elegant. Savory, ripe, and medium-long, it will be approachable in 1-2 years and drink well for a decade thereafter. - Dec 2009

James Halliday's Wine Companion - 92 pts - More life here, with some red fruit providing lift to the concentrated fruitcake and chocolate beneath; the oak and fruit work in tandem and provide a rich, but not overwhelming level of interest on the finish; chewy with some nerve to conclude. Date tasted 26 Feb 2009, drink by 2020.

Wine Spectator - 91 pts - This spicy red is distinctive for its star anise and cigar box overtones around a plump, chewy core of blackberry, plum and dried blueberry flavors, persisting through a solid frame of fine tannins. Best from 2011 through 2019. 750 cases made. -HS, Oct 2009 — 9 years ago

Colin Cahoon

9.2

Bright nose with black fruit, pepper and spice thereafter. — 10 years ago

Courtney Cochran

Sommelier/Host hiptastes.com

9.4

Nose: Popcorn, white linen and lemon meringue to start. Then, lychee essence and white peach, jicama foam and sun-kissed rock. #itsallhappening
💛Transition, on the palate, to: rockin acidity (merci), integrated alcohol, cobbler peaches, buttery popcorn and radness. The layers drop off a bit thereafter, but for a Macon the general sense is of white Burgundy excellence, at an incredible value. — 10 years ago

Chris Niro

9.5

Needed to open up for a little while, but absolutely wonderful thereafter. — 10 years ago

with Mark

Louis Rosenthal

10

Rich plums/prunes. Very good right after opening. Subtle softening thereafter. A lingering tobacco in the mouth. I just love this very special blend. — 11 years ago

Joe Carroll

Owner/Wine Director Spuyten Duyvil, Fette Sau, St. Anselm & Gotham Artisanal Provisions

9.5

Jean Van Roy's amazing story of Zwanze 2013. When we started renovation works in the cellars of the brewery two years ago, much to our surprise we came upon the remains of some very old walls. In agreement with the medievalists of the city of Brussels, the works were stopped in order to allow archaeological excavations to take place.

Shortly thereafter we were astonished to find out that Cantillon brewery had in fact been built on the ruins of the very ancient Abbey of Cureghem! According to the medievalists, this religious community was well-known during the middle ages for its fowl fed on draff and, more specifically, for its dish of stuffed Cureghem capon, which was served with a beer brewed at the abbey and apparently drew pilgrims from all over Europe.

Yet it was truly a heavenly surprise when the excavations uncovered the cell of the abbot, Father Faro. In the small room the archaeologists found quite a few old reference books, one of which contained the original recipes for the beers brewed at the abbey several hundred years ago. We didn’t hesitate for a second and decided on the spot to recreate one of these mythical beers.

This beer, which will be our Zwanze for 2013, therefore bears the name of its illustrious place of origin, Abbaye de Cureghem (Cureghem Abbey). Cureghem was formerly a village established many centuries ago on the banks of the Senne, the river running through present-day Brussels. The area was very heavily industrialised during the 19th century and, among other things, became home to many breweries. Today, it is part of the municipality of Anderlecht.

Since beers commonly referred to as “abbey beers” are not, or not any longer, products of spontaneous fermentation, we decided to brew a top fermentation beer, from a technical point of view in any case. The yeasts were selected in collaboration with Institut Meurice, a post-secondary college in Brussels specialising in biotechnology. Brewed in March 2012, our “Cureghem” beer fermented four weeks in stainless steel tanks before being blended with 10% lambic and pumped into 400-litre barrels of various origins. After maturing for six months, the beers were blended and put into casks or bottles to undergo re-fermentation and reach 7.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume).

Inevitably, a top fermentation beer brewed in a spontaneous fermentation environment will be affected by the wild yeasts in the air, and this is certainly what happened in our case. For our Cureghem, the cultured yeasts were clearly the main factor behind primary fermentation and I think that the wild yeasts in the beer will instead play an increasingly important role as the product ages. However, despite the addition of the lambic to give it a little “extra something” in terms of character and ageing characteristics, this Zwanze cannot in any case be considered a spontaneous fermentation beer.

The long fermentation period coupled with the presence of wild yeasts lends this beer a solid character with a dry finish that lingers on the palate, while the combined use of fresh and aged hops yields both freshness and bitterness. Moreover, the different malts used give this year’s Zwanze a coppery colour along with a touch of caramel and candied fruit that provide body. Clearly, this is not your standard “abbey” beer but, perhaps, it is representative of what these beers were one or two hundred years ago — 12 years ago