Reviews

Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre

Oxidative and past its prime, but not completely over the hill, this Lafon offers deep lemon, butterscotch, and nutty flavors. A fun wine to analyze and geek out on. Best search the corners of your…

Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet

A stubborn monkey here, with a strict and linear delivery. The bead of lemon juice and pith is not astringent nor off-putting, but it is certainly sitting square in its own lane with little interest…

Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet

For an appellation wine, this is punching near 1er Cru level given its notable intensity. This is super fresh and lively. Perhaps the DIAM closure has kept the evolution here at a minimum, which…

Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Abbaye de Morgeot

Top notch showing. Great lift and energy here, with minerality I would've pegged for a Puligny over a C-M, this PYCM is a well crafted and spritely array of citrus juice and white stone flavors. This…

Domaine Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère

Notable breadth and power, this is a broad shouldered ripe lemon and vanilla (thankfully not sweet) animal. For as beefy as this is, there is poise and focus. It is super yummy and hard to spit…

Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot

Juvenile and linear, begrudgingly opening up with strict lemon juice and yellow stone fruit notes. This has power, but stays in second gear for most of its stubborn evolution in the glass. All this…

Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot

In a good spot now, and perhaps for my palate, slightly on the other side of the slope in terms of freshness and spunk. However, this has a presence and sense of complex depth that holds interest.…

Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame

Pours a beautiful orange-salmon color, with an affable delivery of nectarine skin, orange rind, pear, and stone, this is a Grande Dame that is as friendly as ever. There is a slight alkaline bite on…

Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Avizoise Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut

A very friendly and surprisingly open bottle of bubbles, with superb balance and texture, this is an Agrapart that impresses for its Norwich Terrier "happier-to-know-ya kind of attitude." Nothing out…

Jacques Selosse Champagne Premier Cru Lieux-dits Extra Brut Mareuil-sur-Ay Sous le Mont

Signature Selosse, with all the oxidative (but not brassy) hallmarks that make this a unique but not completely isolating Champagne. This was more deeply pitched and colored than a 2006 VC Grande…

Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon

A great showing, especially for the first part of consumption. After being open for a bit and/or resting in the glass for a while, it started to fade. That said, the first sampling of this was quite…

Dom Pérignon Champagne

A much more electric performance than its 2012 sibling, this 2013 Dom is perhaps the best young vintage yet. I've sampled this twice now with consistent results (first at French Laundry a few months…

Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Noirs Cote de Bechalin

This shows incredibly young and chiseled, but it does so in a pulsating and sparkly fashion, which adds to the allure and complexity of its overall performance. Prickly pear, lemon juice and pith,…

Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill

Spicy and racy on first entry, especially when compared to a fair number of more chillax 2012 Champs I've had recently, this Churchill impresses with citrus zest, spice (white pepper and cardamom?),…

Ultramarine Sparkling Rosé Hirsch Vineyard

My experience with this wine on day one was on par with others in that this bottle displayed a strong medicinal note (Band-Aid meets NyQuil), aggressive and foamy effervescence (a la hefeweizen),…

Ultramarine Blanc de Blancs Keefer Ranch Sonoma Coast

Lemon, citrus rind, white stone fruit, Asian pear, and sea spray. Perfectly balanced and less sweet than many Ultramarines I've experienced historically, there is nice cut here on the back end that…

Adamvs Cabernet Sauvignon Quintvs

My second go at the 2016 Quintvs, this time at home under a more controlled setting. A little fruity on the initial pull of the cork earlier in the day. I then went with a slow O2 in the bottle over…

Domaine Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère

I've written a decent amount on this wine, so as a matter of a check-in here, I'll reaffirm that this is still a fairly brawny wine and will likely always be a less finessed example of P-M, instead…

Nicolas Maillart Champagne Premier Cru Mont Martin

Pours a salmon hue, resembling a Rosé in the glass. Somewhat aggressive bubbles, with no aromas in the nose at all. At first, this is notably bitter and extremely linear on the palate. (This needs…

Château Cheval Blanc

At the Cheval Blanc estate. This is simply a beautiful bottle of wine that is absolutely singing right now. With just an hour or so of decanted air, this 2011 behaves much like the 2009 and 2010, but…

Domaine Thomas Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embrazées

At Le Tertre in St. Emilion. Lemon and lime, with mineral elements weaving through the profile, this possesses nice verve, but a little less spunk than I would have imagined. Typical C-M shoulders on…

Château Figeac

At the Figeac Estate. A stellar vintage for Figeac, and one that is really starting to come into a nice drinking window. Steeped black cherry, earth, spice, subtle dust, and black currant. Finishes…

Château d'Yquem

At Chateau d'Yquem. It's hard not to be completely satisfied when you're chillin at a private picnic table overlooking the estate vineyards and grubbin on stinky cheese whilst sipping on one of the…

Saxum White James Berry Vineyard

Double decanted 3 hours. Heat. Angular. Fruit muted. Some interesting honey and marzipan notes poke out, but not much depth to be had; a completely clipped finish. The 15.8% ABV is distracting at…

Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles

This immediately presents with more classical elegance than previous vintages. Of young Droin in general, the wood can oftentimes be center stage at first and take a decent tick of time to shed. So…