Justin Kaneps

9.0

A wine to drink with a lover. — 6 years ago

Paul K

9.1

Nose is cedar, herb, and leather. Medium body. Raspberry, red currant, and dark chocolate with really nice tannin throughout. Long finish is currant and cranberry. This wine is delicate. Overpowered by aged Gouda. Drink with Brie and French bread.
I pulled a classic and was just a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, still great, but for the anticipation... I have one more bottle that I’ll wait a long time and hope there’s a big payoff.
Interesting note, the 2013 Heitz Cellar in the background was remarkably similar in fruit, weight, and profile. 1/3 the price and I’m giving it a 92. — 7 years ago

Lawrence Asrikin

9.0

Great JDG for the price. Melon, pumpkin, mushrooms on the nose. Clean slightly peppery finish. — 8 years ago

Nancy Croisier, CSW

9.5

My favorite Pinot in a lineup from Tony Rynders. — 8 years ago

with Doug

Daniel Santoro

9.9

C'est pas mal quand même. ..
Une élégance rare — 9 years ago

Frank Kuo

9.6

Color of pale yellow with bubbly nature. Nose is amazing and abundant. Waves of fragrances like ice wine, flowering note, grapefruit, passion fruits, zest, spice, butter, pepper, and ripe peach are coming waves after waves. Taste of subtle acidity, dry in nature, peppery, a hint of sweetness, ripe melon, zest, grapefruit, lime, a bit salty, and a bit jalapeño. Aftertaste melon, grapefruit, zesty note, flowering and grassy note, and medium long. This wine is a killer if you enjoy a light but vibrant white wine. Try it at room temperature. — 9 years ago

Amy Wood

9.4

1991 vintage. Rating 9.4. Beautiful garnet color. Incredibly smooth. Note the fire in the background in the outdoor fireplace. Lovely evening with my beautiful wife. Life could not be better! — 10 years ago

Sasha Agapov

9.7

What a beauty! Creamy, defined and rich. Perfumy with flowers, mint, sweet apples, minerality and very concentrated honest power. Acidity is angular, very bright and holds this huge palate together nicely (and oh boy, I wish I had a time machine to see how it evolves in 10 years). I'm still trying to crack that dominant aftertaste note — it's almost cake-like sweet, with some nutty backbone and caramel on the top. Absolutely in love. — 10 years ago

Madeline Puckette

9.0

look: pale ruby red core with slightly garnet rim.  medium viscosity.

smell: medium intensity aromas of roasted red bell pepper, allepo pepper flake, raspberry sauce, roasted jalapeno.  overall, sweet and ripe fruit smells followed by slight iron-like gravel note.

taste: medium + acidity, nearly high acidity, medium - tannin, flavors of smoked tomato, sour cherry, ending with a note of sweet dried/roasted pepper.  

profile: flavor is 'bursty' and drops out quickly and then hangs in a very subtle low way on the palate.  
purchased with Somm Select. honestly, it could have cellared a few more years. — 11 years ago

Kevin Walsh

Wine blogger doxologywine.com; Freelance Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers) Doxology Wine Consulting

8.9

2008. Dried cherry, black tea, dried mushroom and rose, prosciutto. Minerality is reminiscent of standing on a dry, dusty dirt road. Only criticism is that it falls off in the mid palate, but finishes with a nice gamey note. — 12 years ago

Kate Leahy

9.0

Cherry fruit and bright acidity. Short,
spicy finish. — 6 years ago

E & K G

9.2

So so goo! Just needs a bit of air in the glass to take on volume and toasty note. — 7 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.0

I will preface this note by disclosing that I am generally not a fan of Super Tuscans. I like old school Toscana. But I will try to be objective here. The nose is very evocative of a classified growth Bordeaux: lots of cedary, gravelly scents and some dark berry fruit underneath. In the mouth it is concentrated and soft, but develops weight in the back half of the palate. Some peppery heat from alcohol at the end too. I know it’s predominantly Sangiovese, but it really does taste very Left Bank, except for a little note redder fruit at the end. — 7 years ago

with Angelo

Narun P

9.1

Mid-shoulder fill. There was a slight indication of oxidation on the nose with some interesting cheesy smell. However on the palate this wine was so complex expressing all sorts of things ranging from sour cherry, mushroom, earthiness, strawberry (!), fresh vegetation or herbaceous note (in a good way). — 9 years ago

Marc Adelman

9.4

violet, blackberry, and a whiff of funk. — 9 years ago

.

8.9

Best on pop-and-pour, this faded a bit with air. Sported a pleasant green pepper note on the nose (but not on the palate), with an interesting tangy element in the finish. — 9 years ago

Lewis Chester

8.9

2000 vintage. From Jay. 2000 Bartolo Mascarello - Brief Note from Galloni Historical Retrospective Held in London April 26, 2016. Black fruits, Black cherry with some menthol. Good sweetness on the entry. Good acidity. Weak on the rear pallet. Finish is somewhat weak. Nice ruby colour. More in the style of what Maria Teresa's father than her. Fruit is much more muted. It has integrated well over the years from the initial barnyard aromatics that it displayed when initially bottled. Drink no to 2020. 89/100 — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.4

2001: going into a black olive, black truffle note. Rich meaty notes, vibrantly meated, smoky, leather, tobacco, cigar. Towards full, complex, chewy. Light liquorice, light black truffle. Tip top. — 10 years ago

Knox Knox

9.2

Wow! The nose reminds me of a full litter box, not appealing descriptor, but the flavor is floral, almost spicy but stops immediately and goes a different direction. The. You get hit with that Classic French fruit. Very developed. Mid-note tannins, finishes dry and clean, keeps you coming back for another taste. — 11 years ago

Kell Mc

9.1

Slight fruit up front, dry finish — 11 years ago

Andrew S

9.2

A lot of power, plenty of fruit and acidity for days. This is in a nice spot, but still on the way up. There’s a nice dusty/tar note, fennel, a touch of leather, maybe even a hint of violets. Best with a big rich meal. — 6 years ago

Nick Farrell

9.6

So good and only $20 at Ordinaire. — 7 years ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.1

Wonderful Sicilian natural wine! Deep gold (let’s call it light orange) in color. Hints of grilled lemons with a hint of smoke. Beautifully “funky.” A true winner! Great with appetizers! Thank you Franky Bella for this selection. — 8 years ago

with Kasey

Mark Flesher

9.3

This wine had some tobacco and earth FUNK after it was opened up. The herbaceous and tobacco ash note on the nose was almost identical to the 1980 Beringer State Lane cab. This did blow off after an hour, but the wine was less fruit than I thought it would have been. Lots of dark figgy jam. Tobacco and cigar box. I'm sure the fruit came back after I left, but this would have been 2 hours after opening and just didn't have the time to see this one though, hence the "NR" rating. Impressed by this wine, and probably one of the older Monte Bello wines I've been able to drink. — 8 years ago

with Benjamin

Keith Crump

9.0

2009 seems a little lighter then the last I tried good acidity — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.3

Giving absolute credence to the reputation that the wines from the Margaux commune show, both displayed an elegance allied with a subtle power and perfect balance, especially 2005.

2000 had a trace pyrazine note that I found unexpected, and quite frankly not that enjoyable. Outside of that the wine was perfect. The second bottle did not throw it as strong, so not exactly in the clear on this night.

The 2005 was in perfect shape, drink now or age it another 20 years easy, this was so enjoyable and balanced with perfect tannin integration and a seamless, dense and pure finish that sailed on forever.

#margaux #bordeaux #wine — 9 years ago

with Eric

Melissa Treadway

9.3

2 Flawless bottles make for a happy girl. Acid , minerality, brioche, white flowers, almonds, slight note of apricot and citrus. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.3

2006: super developed, meaty, gamey, with forest floor, mushroom, trufflednotes. Lovely sweet oak note, vanilla, somewhat reminiscent of a classic aged Rioja. Splendid rich palate, medium bodied, very fresh with acidity, bags of red fruit, hints of black, meaty, gamey, leathery, smokey. Superb. — 10 years ago

May-Line Pmt

10

Une petite note d'amertume mais c'est un régal — 11 years ago

Oliver Schweitzer

8.9

At first vin trop naturel, now trés naturel but very interesting, will check tomorrrow. 9% and dry!
2013, Trousseau. — 11 years ago