Reviews

Arrow & Branch Sauvignon Blanc Heritage Reserve

Lime, lychee, grapefruit rind, honeydew, vanilla, and pisco sour flavors saunter from the glass with suave and pep. There's a flash of runway model here, but also a cunning and curious smirk behind…

Clos Fourtet

This bottle was a shy guy throughout most of consumption. After three hours with the cork off and swirling in the glass, it found depth and a dollop of richness. Otherwise, it was in the friend zone…

Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon Poetry

This is pretty solid stuff right here kiddos, with all the black cavernous fruit one would want, but it's gotta lot o' working out to do in the meantime. Structure, stuffing, and sophistication all…

Bevan Cellars Ontogeny

Blueberry pie, plum, and black cherry notes make for a ripe and ultra-modern showing. Though it's certainly a big mouthful, its overall intensity of flavor is fairly medium. It's a lush buster for…

Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature Clos Sainte Sophie

Quite a distinctive Champagne, with a full breadth of enrichments that range from grilled Meyer lemon and saline sherry to autolytic Hefeweizen and chewy raw bread dough. Though this is a zero dosage…

Peter Lauer Feils Riesling Faß 13 Großes Gewächs

Lemon lime, lychee, green and white melon, river rock, margarita, and prickly pear notes present a youthfully linear and direct showing. More intense than the Fass 11, with just enough push to…

Pierre Gerbais Champagne Extra Brut L'Osmose

Nearly everything about my previous note from earlier this year applies, though I jumped this up an extra point because I felt it had an extra tick of tension I thought was missing from the prior…

P. Dubreuil-Fontaine Père & Fils Corton-Clos du Roi

A similar showing to last year's bottle, with an initially cagey but alluring display of red cranberry, red currant, and dusty spice notes slowly skulking out of the back alley and cautiously…

Realm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

It's big. It's rich. It's ripe. It's To Kalon. It's Realm.

Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumées Clos de la Truffière

Yellow and green pear, lemon verbena, yellow and green citrus, yellow apple skin, chalk, and white flower notes jump from the glass with well executed tension and verve. There is decent power here on…

Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles

Lemon and yellow pear skin are complimented by white travertine, unripe white peach, lime pith, and subtle honeydew elements. There is nice Chablis typicity here, with less of the salty lime juice…

Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Premier Cru Terre de Vertus

Another go with this Champagne since Spring and this bottle does not disappoint. The first pour is initially quite steely and a bit bitter, spitting out more white fruit and higher toned chalk…

Andremily Mourvèdre

Super meaty, rich, and perfectly balanced. Silky smooth and a gushing mouthful of a wine, with plush cassis, blackberry pie, sanguine, salami, and ripe raspberry notes, this vintage of Mourvèdre is a…

Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières

Powerful and pungent (though less overtly brawny and heated than the 2019 Richemont), this is a Folatieres with a lot to say. Pear and pineapple rind lead the charge, with yellow and green pear,…

Domaine Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Clos Richemont

A powerful showing, with an immediacy of flavor that rushes in with punchy waves of lemon, lychee, yellow pear, white peach, unripe mango, spice, and chalk notes that instantly grab ahold of the…

Andremily Mourvèdre

Blackberry cobbler, cassis, black raspberry, and licorice notes are front and center on the flaunting push of gushing ripe and viscous fruit. A round and enveloping mid-palate makes for a saturated…

Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos

Vibrant lemon juice, lemon drop, lime zest, sea salt, travertine, and honeysuckle flavors make for a captivating Les Clos. This continues to impress with its perfect combination of vibrancy and…

L'Aventure Côte-à-Côte Estate

A big-boned GSM (34%, 32%, 34%) that comes in hard and fast with purple and black berries that are all octaned-up and smoking with a core that is chockfull with gushing midnight ripe fruit and meaty…

Jérôme Chezeaux Clos Vougeot

With not too much coaxing, this Clos Vougeot came to life with characteristic flavors of red berry, red currant, forest floor, mushroom, and an orange rind note that did everything to lift up the…

Henri Boillot Clos Vougeot

The more recent vintages of Henri Boillot pinots (currently crafted by Boillot Jr.) really have a strikingly suave as well as a beautifully racy comportment, with a saturating texture and viscosity…

Wittmann Westhofener Brunnenhauschen Riesling Großes Gewächs

This wine needs at least a decade to really develop its complexity and depth of flavor, as it currently displays hyper-primary lime, quartz, and white melon rind notes that are notably focused, pure,…

Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard

A front-end push of wet wood and bruised lemon rind notes makes for an initial entry that is clasped in a scabbard of brusque bark and pungently developed citrus flavors. Coalescing into a…

Geoffroy Champagne Meunier Millésime Brut Nature Les Tiersaudes

It's been a year since sampling this wine, which I had previous high accolades to throw out back in 2020. I was similarly impressed with this bottle, with just enough rusticity to make it interesting…

Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 169eme

This bottle showed a bit more richness than previous bottles, but not still without the requisite punchiness that I've grown especially fond of with the 169. Just when I think I might want to age…

D.R. Stephens Cabernet Sauvignon Moose Valley Vineyard

Notable hits of grip and energy set off plum and fig notes that are wrapped in a surprising amount of acidity, which work exceptionally well to catapult the additional black cherry, earth, faint…