Ely Cohn

9.2

Special entry level Champagne. Personality is driven by a sour lemony note which provides uplift and distinction. Generous notes of brioche, apricots, lemon, oyster shells, and ocean air. — 8 years ago

Todd W

9.1

A touch of fuel on the nose. Flavors of green fruits and some pineapple. Good uplift of acidity. — 10 years ago

Jack Cranley, Backroads Wine Club & Cascadia Premium Wines

9.6

Absolutely terrific wine. Bound to uplift even the most doomy-gloomy mood. As such, it pairs well with political discourse and the prospect of "President Trump." Go ahead, drink those sorrows away. You deserve it.

Beautiful, shimmering golden color. I believe it's actually already deepening with age. (2012 vintage consumed in mid-2016)

On the nose, apricot fruit and unrefined honey dominate but is accompanied with a menagerie of rare and precious aromatics. The result is a feeling of having something truly exotic in your glass. This is a world-class wine for which there could never be any argument over its worthiness. You will be taken by this wine and there's really no way to over-hype it and set the expectation bar too high because this wine will meet it every time.

As we dig in deeper past the obvious top notes, we discover a treasure chest filled with persimmon, sandalwood, white flower, and vanilla bean.

Upon first entry in the mouth you are met with a zippy liveliness but then that melts gently across your palate to really give you a fine, pervasive coating that excites the taste buds in every corner of your mouth. This is a POWERHOUSE of assertive flavor. This wine will stage a veritable coup d'etat upon your complacent palate. There will be an ouster of your resident ennui. No incumbent sense of boredom will be safe from this wave of populist essence. There will be a complete and total transition of power in the halls of your mind's parliament leading to a peaceful but efficacious revolution. With your personal Congress in shambles, this fresh new confederacy shall draft a Constitution that will usher in a new era of utopian cooperation and transcendental civic euphoria!

Sorry, maybe for a little carried away there. For reals though. Drink this wine when you're feeling down and feel the BURN! Well, not really - because the alcohol is really well-integrated. ;) — 10 years ago

Chris MacLean

9.0

Reasonably successful depleted palate uplift ops. — 10 years ago

Amy Morgan

9.3

One of my favorite Pinot's from J.K. Carriere line up. This has deeper red fruits on the nose (red plums, red cherries) but shows beautiful complexity in the palate. Concentrated notes of spice (clove), red fruits (plum, currants, cherry), and orange peel with an uplift of minerality on the back palate. Elegant and bright! — 11 years ago

Cindy Lin

9.4

Love it! It is an elegant wine. It has beautiful aroma. Its taste is silky and balanced. After airing for a couple of hours, the taste becomes fuller while maintaining its silkiness and smoothness. It also has good acidity to uplift the wine. I feel it makes any kind of food inferior...I prefer to drink it by itself because I don't want to lose any aspects of it. Darrell says it is arguably the best wine he's had in the past several years. — 11 years ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.0

Fresh & sappy with loads of dusty cherries and a touch rosemary and thymian. Pretty light on the palate but with a nice tannic grip. Very juicy with a nice uplift toward the end. This is drinking very nicely. — 8 years ago

Narun P

8.9

100% Rkatsiteli

Clear, clean, almost devoided of color.

Aromatically complex. Herbaceous, basil, honeysuckle, white peach, lime, flint.

Med plus plus acidity and dry. Big fruity profile. Asian pear, green apple, lime, with minty uplift.

This is a superb summer quaffle. Amazing value and uniquely Finger Lakes with vibrant acidity and immense mineral profile (though the grape variety came from Republic of Georgia). 89. — 9 years ago

Philip Carpenter

Founder/Educator santabarbarawinetalk.com

9.0

Just sitting on the self of my local store. I drink a massive amount of the Delas CdR. This is much more nimble, fresher on nose and mid-palate. Grenache notes uplift leather, red cherries and raspberry. Some lavender. Syrah on the finish. Dark berry, graphite, smoke. But acid wipes clean. Is it super complex? No. Is it super tasty for £7? Hell yes! Going great with pizza. — 10 years ago

Fraser Reid

9.1

0.9% uplift from nominal - please proceed with full manufacture of shells — 10 years ago

Scott Wren

9.0

Zero sugar. Pure Chenin shines through. Bubbles are light and provide gentle uplift. A 7 generation operation that's down to earth. Francois is happy his 30 year old son finally decided to go to wine school. — 10 years ago

Paul Costigan

Founder Courtier Wines

9.2

2007: The nose doesn't prepare you for the lovely cotton candy sweetness on the palate. A very pleasant wine with medium weight and a nice uplift of sweetness toward end, yet with a good acidic cut to keep things in check. Would like to have again. — 11 years ago

Melissa Sorongon

Co-Owner of Piedrasassi winery, Provignage winemaking consulting company

8.9

Delicious 2013 from Charles and Francois Tardy. Not the most compelling or complex Crozes-Hermitage but definitely has that appellation's tasty and approachable fruit with uplift on the back. Good value. — 11 years ago

TheWineStalker

9.0

Purple with a little bit of reddishness. I love the burning ethanol fumes. There’s aromas of plums, pomegranate, strawberry licorice, black table pepper, spearmint, and mocha. Full bodied and rich with sweet tannin. There’s flavors of plums, raspberries, anise, and vanilla. The finish is by far my favorite part. Raspberries continue but there’s also an uplift into red fruit with cherries, a dip into darkness with mocha, and a classy touch of sweetness with burnt sugar. — 8 years ago

TheWineStalker

9.5

Browning garnet in color. Ethanol is strong on the nose. There’s aromas of stewed plums, blackberry sauce, mocha, rubber, vanilla, and tarragon. Full bodied with structured tannin. Beautifully expressive flavors of both fresh plums and prunes, blackberries, pencil shavings, mocha and vanilla. It sees a bright uplift on the long lasting finish into almost a cherry candy and strawberry licorice like profile, with a smooth and silky mouthfeel. — 9 years ago

Big Wave Dave

9.1

Big nose of spice, tar and blackcurrant. Med to full bodied classic shiraz - black fruit, spice, quite and pepper. Tannins quite aggressive. Still very young and quite closed but v age worthy classic shiraz. 2-3 pt uplift with age. Quite Rhone-like. — 10 years ago

with Rocket

TheWineStalker

9.0

Dark straw yellow yellow. Aromas of orange, vanilla pudding, lemon custard and white flowers. Medium acidity and a gorgeously creamy mouthfeel. Flavors of orange, vanilla and walnuts. The finish is spicy, a little oaky and has an uplift of acidity. Something that Chardonnay lovers need to try! — 10 years ago

Toby Hill

Winemaker at Phillips Hill Winery

9.3

Traded in our Tasting Room. Front uplift fruit forward, stays the course. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.1

Vibrant and brightly fruity, with sweet cherry, plum fruit in abundance. Light bodied with a vibrant acidic uplift which is the core focus of the wine. Sweet berry fruit, light spices and a faint touch of oak. This will really go somewhere in next few years — 11 years ago

Melissa Sorongon

Co-Owner of Piedrasassi winery, Provignage winemaking consulting company

9.3

Ok, so of course the choice would be Syrah. This one is delicious: bright lively fruit with great uplift and nice minerality. Beautiful st Joseph, and a great snapshot of it--drinking so well at this stage. Lots of stuffing but not weighed down. So, so vibrant! — 11 years ago