Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

The estate of Sette Ponti lies in the heart of the Chianti zone, 15 miles northwest of the city of Arezzo, past the village of San Giustino Valdarno. Crognolo, aged in French Allier barriques, deep Ruby with red fruit aromas and floral notes. On the palate blackberry and sweet cherry flavors, blossom notes, spice and fine dusty tannins. Good balance, long finish ending with some oak and mineral tones. Nice! Try in 2022. — 5 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Charles "Champagne Charlie" Heidsieck was one of the first to recognize the importance of the U.S. as a Champagne market. A blend with 40% reserve wines, fruit and floral bouquet, with orange blossom & yeasty notes. Fine bubbles, nice mousse, showing quality. Outstanding rich flavors of apple, pear and biscuit, well balanced, good structure, creamy. Long finish ending with toasty nutty oak & mineral notes. — 6 years ago

Konstantin

9.0

Vintage 2016 — 7 years ago

Jeffrey Lew

9.4

All smiles. Another few years even better. — 7 years ago

Pat Carroll

9.7

A new favorite. Great tobacco and spice flavors play off the blackberry. Medium body, very low acid. — 7 years ago

Randy Fuller

9.4

Aged for 16 months in 25% new oak barrels, this wine displays all the right notes of that exposure and is not overblown. Only three barrels of this wine were made - some 60 barrels - and it hits 12.9% abv. It is praised as an elegant wine, the kind Pinot Noir lovers love to love. Medium dark, this medium weight wine shows a nose of cola, black tea, orange peel and spices. The palate is smooth and almost silky. The tannins are just enough and the acidity is perfect. Tart berries, tea notes and spice flavors all play in harmony. The wine is smooth without laying down, exciting without being boorish. — 8 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.1

Sicilian white... who knew? Stellar mix of Orange blossom, mint, and lime zest, with bitterness embedded through the finish akin to mineral water. — 8 years ago

Alice Scott

9.0

Smooth with notes of blueberry and blackberry cobbler and a little black pepper and red licorice on the back end. — 9 years ago

with Erik

Emily Martin

9.2

Lovely Chateau Neuf Du Pape 2010. Extremely soft and feminine. Love subtle creamy flavor. Nice banana, pineapple, creamy almond taste, orange blossom. — 10 years ago

Jeremy Anslow

9.0

Orange blossom and soft oak. Rich and lovely fruit forwardness. — 11 years ago

Brennan Roy

8.9

Young and fine. Modest dark fruits, very light tannins, medium bodied, pleasant nose and finish post-aeration. Not much spice in the 2018. Very good for the price. — 6 years ago

Peter Collins

9.3

Really smooth and great finish. — 6 years ago

Kel M

9.0

Pale gold color; apple, almond, melon, coconut and dried herbs on the nose; flavors of quince, melon, stone fruit and citrus blossom; light bodied but elegant - full of flavor but balanced out with the right amount of acidity. Enjoyed this with a simple nosh of herbed Brie, apple slices and crackers — 6 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.1

Racy honeycomb. Apricot-y acidity. Orange blossom water that is saline and refreshing and sweet and just the thing you want to wash down biscuits with butter and cherry preserves. Dinner of champions for two. — 7 years ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.3

Been a wine member at Claypool for a bit now and love their wines! This Thorne Ridge is legit- dark cherry skin color. Aromas of underripe cherry, rose petals, raspberry and cedar. Amazing flavors of red underripe fruit with a solid cedar finish. — 7 years ago

Chris Grimm

9.1

Reminds me of grapes (Concord) I used to eat off the vine as a kid. Slightly sweet orange creamsicle. — 8 years ago

Ryan Sims

9.1

Juicy, steely, green apple and pear, with an orange blossom thing happening on the nose and big acidity to balance it all. Great seafood and salad wine. — 9 years ago

Omar 'Nacho' Campos

9.5

Weird and wonderful, needs air and then develops beautifully. Blossom, peach, honeyd soy sauce, savory, full of spice, complex. Very textured with high acidity and alcohol, long and rewarding — 9 years ago

Gerald Montoya

9.1

Just over ice with a twist of lemon or orange. Pretty citrus and spice notes. Too bad there was so little made. Makes me wish I had a bigger bottle! — 10 years ago

Lisa Sands

10

Made me a Pinot Noir drinker -expected light but was not - spice notes are wonderful — 11 years ago

Amanda B.

9.4

medium body, pleasant 'jammy' fruit flavor, drier finish. Pleasing deep red/violet in color. — 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Tried at a tasting, like it, so I bought a bottle. An interesting and unique Albariño. Medium lemon color with aromas of stone fruits, citrus, blossom and biscuit notes. This wine was fermented in oak, and kept on lees for 6 months, with occasional stirring (batonnage), giving a soft creamy yeasty tone to the wine, aging well. On the palate flavors of apple and pear with toasty oak notes and vanilla spice. Long smooth finish, good acidity balance, ending with fruit and oak character. Nice! — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Very enjoyable Wednesday Wine Committee lunch today with @Weston Eidson & @Colby Siratt hosting. Same format as always...1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert wine all tasted blind.

Always such a big fan of these. It’s light and nimble while remaining viscous and powerful. Honeyed orange blossom, roasted and caramelized cashews and lemon oil. Acidity down the middle of the palate accompanies honeysuckle and graham cracker. I called this mid-‘00s Sauternes. — 7 years ago

with Dan, Jeff and 3 others

Kathryn

9.8

Love it. Will fight someone over it. — 7 years ago

Marc vanholst

9.9

Not too much to say....power in a silky glove...close to perfection. — 7 years ago

Weijie Shi (Jay)

9.1

A very mineral driven wine. Meyer lemon, orange blossom, ripe tangerine, jelly, hint of honey, slight corn notes, maybe a little oak treatment. Chalk and crushed rocks really stands out. Obvious lees contact. Bitterness, bright acid, slight oily texture. Some heat on the finish. — 8 years ago

Al Doyle

8.9

Compared to the 13 this is a little dull; still a great nose but kinda strangely lifeless otherwise. — 9 years ago

with jams and Vadino

Matt Trader

9.0

Great Shiraz from Barossa with great ageing potential. Big core and good tannins, with a floral, spicy, and botanical nose. The pallet exhibits dark vibrant raspberries, black pepper, bay leaf, burnt espresso bean, and silver dollar eucalyptus toward the lingering finish. I still find the RWT to be more my style, in comparison to this beimg more lean in structure and spicy in character. It was a bit less extracted which for some is preferable, but every so often I enjoy more of a rich extracted style of wine. Overall, great effort and I would like to see this one in a few more years.

Cheers!

$51.99 — 9 years ago

Rivka Friedman

9.0

Orange blossom, underripe melon, lime. Well balanced and generally delightful. — 10 years ago

Tanner Walle

9.6

Flinty orange blossom sandwich. — 12 years ago