Reviews

Château Gazin Rocquencourt

Plum, blackberry juice, clove, and some rocky earth. More lithe and lean than I'd personally prefer concentration and weight-wise, but the flavors were nice and agreeable overall. Not too much acidic…

Enclos Tourmaline

Starting off with a kung-fu kick of plum skin and pomegranate, the Enclos Tourmaline brings a quick pucker factor to the front end of its attack, nearly skipping the mid-palate and racing straight…

Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet

Ultra polished and as clean and pure as most in its class, this iteration of Sauzet impresses for its suave sophistication and total upper-class delivery. A few more years of bottle age should bring…

Domaine Louis Michel Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux Vieilles Vignes

Spun up, chalky, and pithy on initial entry, with air helping to coax out some white melon and white lemon rind, green apple, white stone, lemon seed, and unripe pear notes. Fairly anorexic on the…

Carter Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon La Verdad Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard

Given all of the xenophobic ribbing and hate emails I've been receiving about my recent espionage and shadow surveillance into Bordeaux and other Eurocentric wine regions, I finally succumbed to…

Domaine François Mikulski Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières

Yellow citrus, lemon and lime zest, yellow pear skin, white stone fruit, quince, pumice, limestone, cardamom, and a hint of white pepper and acacia. Speeds through the mid-palate and whips ahead on a…

Domaine Anne et Hervé Sigaut Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Sentiers Vieilles Vignes

Taut and driven, but relaxes its grip just enough to allow the red and black fruit to expand on the palate without clamping down too much. Red raspberry, sweet pomegranate seed, red and black cherry,…

Château Cos d'Estournel Les Pagodes de Cos

It took about 2-3 hours in a decanter to show any real signs of life, and even then it was a Simple-Simon overall. Not bad by any stretch, but fairly pedestrian and not a whole lot of distinguishable…

Castelfeder Pinot Grigio Mont Mès Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT

Grapefruit, lemon juice, nectarine, wet granite, green and yellow apple skin, and white melon rind flavors. Notable energy and zing, with a medium depth that keeps it from being too lithe. Finishes a…

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Black currant, licorice, and earthy spice start out on the front end on the initial attack, with dark black cherry, cassis, espresso foam, pencil lead, tobacco, embers, and scorched earth emerging…

Château Prieuré-Lichine

A gorgeous bottle of wine with a bangin' QPR to boot (which I'm probably letting influence me to some degree in terms of scoring - maybe even 95-96+? This punches WAY above its league). Totally…

La Pelle Sauvignon Blanc

Lemon zest, fresh grapefruit, white stone fruit, fresh cut grass, and honeydew. Some white rock shows up on the tail, as well as a repeat of the grass and lemon notes. With some swirling, quince hits…

Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant Extra Brut

Meyer lemon preserve, apple pie filling, copper, chalk, brioche crust, and quince roll over the palate in both a mature advancement of flavor as well as a perfectly balanced tension that keeps the…

CrossBarn (Paul Hobbs) Chardonnay Sonoma Coast

.....Eeeeeeeesh. Alcohol, yellow citrus something?, powered sugar, and....alcohol. A Lemontini afterbirth that falls face-first into a steaming vat of Land-O-Lakes. A super rough go.

Domaine des Malandes Chablis 1er Cru Montmains Vieilles Vignes

Loving this wine right out of the gate. Some swirling in the glass really opened it up nicely. Maintained energy and freshness, while all the while delivering a notable degree of concentration and…

Olivier Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc Les Sétilles

Fresh, pure, and full of vibrancy and verve. Served next to a 2017 Malandes Montmains VV that had just a tad more depth than the Leflaive. Both were good. Previous notes apply otherwise.

Bevan Cellars Ontogeny

Either it's in a plummy mood, or I'm in an anti-plummy mood. Maybe a combination of both I guess. So........ it was plummy.

Wren Hop Pinot Noir Cautionary Tale

As it's always been, the Cautionary Tale is a Vegas Bionic Cowgirl machine that pumps out Spice Girl sultry to the nth degree. It's loud and splayed on the toasted spice and saturated and sappy on…

Château Durfort-Vivens

Really, really ripe (almost to the point of funky) warm plum/prune, overly muddled and saturated blackberry and black raspberry, red and black currant, soil, cassis, and subtle wet cedar. Has enough…

Château Vrai Canon Bouché

Ripe black raspberry, juicy plum, and some subtle earth lead the medium-to-full-bodied delivery of this saturating and juicy specimen. It's fairly simple overall, finishing a little abrupt; still,…

Domaine Pinson Frères Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu

Nervy and tense, with a slightly linear but still flavorful expression of yellow citrus, quince, white stone fruit, and limestone. Notable energy, with enough fruit to counterbalance the acidic…

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo

Black cherry, black currant, black raspberry, black plum, Chinese five spice, anise, tobacco leaf, sandstone, and some leather. At once, dark, unctuous, and just slightly thick, and then effortless…

Clos Fourtet

Blackberry, deep black raspberry, black currant, black licorice, espresso, dark spice, scortched earth, and chewy dark chocolate. Hedonistic without ever being heavy or burdensome. A perfect…

Patrick Piuze Chablis 1er Cru Les Séchets

Pithy and punchy fresh squeezed lemon juice, citrus zest, lemon seed, white melon, honeydew rind, yellow pear skin, limestone, and white chalky stone. The minerality (and faint salinity) adds to the…

Domaine François Mikulski Meursault

Medium and balanced overall, with an execution that highlights freshness and purity; an initially linear delivery that expands over time with vigorously decanted air (2+ hours). Bright yellow citrus,…