I last had this two years ago. I feel like I should have last had this two years ago. Meaning.. Now, it's just.. two years less vibrant than it was before. Meaning.. Meh.
Hey wouldn't cha know it, this lil monkey wasn't flawed at all. Lemon, wet stone, white melon rind, and lime pith all make for both an energetic and fuller bodied experience. It's slightly blocky in…
So, it is not wet asparagus, but there is indeed overt tarragon and wet green grass notes that swat you right in the mouth on the initial sips. It's just too much; so much so that I had to leave this…
It's big, sweet, chewy, and insanely satiating for those who want instant DJ hoppin' pool party madness in your mouth. Sugar, spice, raspberry bomb, red cherry sucker.and sugar.and spice. Pair with…
2020 base. 50%/42%/8% Chardonnay/Pinot Noir/Pinot Meunier. 4g/L dosage. "Perpetual reserve" (NV) from a project that started in 2018. Vineyards from "Northern California. Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino,…
This is probably the freshest Ultramarine BdN I've had, especially given the bottle variation and duds I've experienced over recent years. White raspberry water, yellow and red pear flesh and skin,…
Followed this over 3 days. Man, this is a potent potable for sure. Day 2, into Day 3, it was at its best. No heat. Just gobs of blackberry and blueberry fruit saturating the palate with…
As detailed in my previous note, this is fairly linear and chiseled. Better with food. .And eons better than the 2018 Hirsch Rose. Stick with this 2019, but perhaps best to hold for a year or two to…
Both the White Hawk and the mighty Z Syrahs from Aberro (Kinsman) are stellar performers. Whereas the Bien Nacido Z was most defined by a sheeny and silky bubble encompassing the core berry fruit,…
Still solid, though this bottle turned a little sherried and woody the more it was exposed to air. A great food wine, but signaling a more narrow drinking window as time goes on. Summer is here. So.…
Drink these sooner than later. I hadn't opened a bottle in a few years and the texture has become heavier and slightly sluggish. It tastes like a grapefruit gummy bear, which isn't necessarily a bad…
A consistently solid Rose from Ultramarine that I've reviewed a number of times now, it spits out red raspberry, Aperol, watermelon, strawberry, and river rock notes that offer waves of fruit flavor,…
Similar profile as before, with lemon, lime, grass, pumice, and a hint of the exotic to round out the delivery of clean and snappy flavors. It mellows out relatively fast and becomes more medium…
With a few hours of double-decanting, this vintage of MacDonald is surely more approachable than some of its more intense siblings. There is a liquid velvet thing with 2014 that skirts rusticity and…
Plum and ripe black cherry intermingle with spice and cedar notes, making for a little bit of an old school profile here. The tannins show as slightly elevated, clipping the finish and simplifying…
Chiseled and focused, with the edges slowly (and I mean slowwwwwly) kinda-rounding toward the finish. Less of a plum profile compared to the Vaso and Onda, this Dana is more about tightly wrapped…
A dirt-worshipper funkafication on nose, enough that I would have thought this was a cooked Pegau CdP Reservee. On the palate, biting and nearly fruit-muted, with leather and dusty cherry flavors…
It's no Scarecrow, but the M. Etain isn't necessarily trying to be. Next to its big brother, it's honestly barely worth talking about. But if you can peel yourself away from the notion that it will…
Petrol and reduction on the nose, with a slightly sherried profile. Notes of apricot and walnut. This is almost like a d'Yquem. I wouldn't have pegged this as Chardonnay. A odd, oxidized sample that…
Fuller than a 2022 UV-SL served next to it, but carrying a really nice acidity as well, this Park Avenue is a lovely combination of spritely fresh lemon juice with riper yellow citrus and stone…
Noble cut and acidity keeps the lemon curd, citrus spray and juice, sea salt, creme fraiche, and vanilla notes well within their lanes; a somewhat racy performance as Auberts go, but with a signature…
Black cherry and plum kick off the core outpouring of fruit on the attack. Though the nose signals ripe and sweet, the red/black fruit is nicely housed in a dry (I mean, dry by Aubert standards)…
