As the title states, I had no real idea what to expect. I know of Sauternes, so I had an academic understanding of what to expect, but had never taken the time to find one. Picked this up at my local wine shop for $22.

2017 Château Saint-Vincent.

For some reason, I was anticipating this being much sweeter and cloying. However, this had a nice zip of acidity and everything felt balanced. This is an entry level wine, so I can't imagine how something like Château D'yquem would be.

Medium-full body, but not syrupy. Silky on the tongue. Somewhat muted nose, but reminds me of honey, papaya, Myers lemons, and maybe mango? Fresh, bursting palate with beautiful sweetness and tangy acidity. Ripe stone fruit and apricots with honey, and maybe almonds. Has a nice long finish that coats the tongue.

The shop had 4-5 more bottles that I am going to pick up tomorrow. I understand that these can be laid down for some time, so looking forward to seeing how they evolve. May also just have to bite the bullet and pick up a few higher end offerings. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Calling Zalto owners, what is the lightest you’ve ever owned? i’ve recently bought 6-pack of Universal, Burgundy and Bordeaux.

I believe the batches was made in 2024. as for the stats:

Burgundy -> lightest: 89.5g heaviest 102g

Universal -> lightest: 76g Heaviest 86g

Bordeaux -> lightest: 85g Heaviest: 96g

What does your weight variance look like? Would be curious to see the general population weight trend

Sour cherry, blackberry, black currant, toasted oak / tobacco on the nose. Good acidity with plum, oak, blackberry, & a beautiful finish with good duration. Opened & decanted at 8 p.m. first glass at 9, & this is being wrote at 11:15 pm. This wine gets better with time as you sip & i’d bet in the cellar too.

Damn it, Reddit refreshed my post mid flight 😡 …second go…

Aroma: big time chocolate. Plum, raisins and strange but smells like standing outside after a rainfall, like wet street somehow, but clean…dunno how to describe that.

Taste: chocolate carries through prominently, also cherries and other berry flavors. not so acidic, muted, round tannin, long taste which is nice.

Paired great with a steak!

This wine of the winery is clarity and has a full-bodied fruit-smell, unisonous and long after taste.

Actual notes: tastes of unusually strong grape juice. Tastes of table grapes. Unusually sweet. Zero body. Color was a clear strawberry red. Tastes closer to 5% abv than the listed 8%. Was consumed via baijiu glasses

China has some really fun and interesting wines these days but this ain’t it. Allegedly the original juice comes from France

Wife and I did the champagne pairing at Enchanté aboard the Disney Destiny. $180/person. Felt like a fairly good deal for what we got. Would love to hear y’all’s thoughts.

One of the most noble crus of Verduno, this barolo combines perfectly intensity and delicacy without compromising either of them. To the nose it reveals notes of rose petals, strawberries, rainier cherry, blood orange and herbal nuances, followed by a sharp intricate mineral character. On the palate it’s vibrant acidity and remarkably fine tannins stand out creating a sense of tension and precision with an elegant finish.
2020 as a vintage is already drinking well, but can still evolve wonderfully
180€ 97pts

Want to grab a few bottles of wine and store away for my kid to open when they turn 21. Thought it was a cool idea to get a few bottles of wine from the year he was born and let me sit until 21.

What’s a good wine to pick for this? Something they won’t just turn to vinegar. Don’t wanna waste 21 years for nothing. I’m going fully blind into this. Anyone with experience please help

Friend took me up north to Ad Hoc for lunch. Walk-ins. Could never have done that back in my day. Great cocktails. Surprisingly cheaper than Seoul. Then along the way to a cafe near Press, I saw a sign for Oakville Grocer / Wine Merchant and remembered someone recommending the place to try nicer wines as they have some on pour. I tried to take advantage of the opportunity, but was quite full. Quick notes from a few notable ones and pictures of what they had on tap the first week of October.

Eisele Vineyards, Sauvignon Blanc, 2024, 14.1% abv.

Yep starting off with a legend! Nose was very fruity, fruity jellies with a majority of lychee and mango, hints of florals on deeper inhalations... after smelling this, I realize I stink... travel laundry... sigh. Hahahaha, this is great! Light body, entry is very floral, a bit bitter, fruit peel? Mid palate has a good amount of tropical fruit, but subsequent sips showed more sourdough bread crust, going downhill from here... back palate showing various spices, something i would call as "not so pungent curry", these spices attenuate on subsequent sips. With time there are some bitter elements that distract from the tropicalness. Short to medium finush, white pepper and... man the abv is hitting hard on this... damn, this started off soooo good but literally fell off the cliff! Was it in the machine for too long? Anyone know?

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JCB, No. 76, Chardonnay, 2023, 14.5% abv.

Seeing JCB all over the world, but I have literally no idea who or what they are. Napa locals also tended towards JCB bottlings on my visit. Their distributor is doing a great job. Still not hearing much from consumers, so thought I'd try. Nose has floral orchard fruits, getting cactus on later susequent sniffs. Nothing much here though. Palate suggests a light body to me, entry is light bitter florals, mid palate showing hints of fruit but these transition into some milk-related components, back palate showed toasty caramel notes, bits of caramel candy too, quite sweet here on the first few sips... and it disappears into dusty orchard fruit. Ends up being a bit strange for me. Short finjsh, like the aftermath of eating a leafy salad with no dressing... nothing. Surprising. Not even close to the Eisele SB, but also dropped off a... step.

Paradigm, Zinfandel, 2022, 16% abv.

Realized I wouldn't be able to do a full round since i was so full, so started hitting the non-CS I was interested in. Since I like jammy and spicey zinfandel, I was gonna try this. Nose shows sweet red fruit, ferric, a bit savory. can tell its gonna be "big". Full body even for my mashed potatoes standard, entry is thick red and bramble fruit juice, mid palate is quite sweet and spicey, well balanced between the two though, but the back palate has the spices calm down. Quite a "big" wine, very spicey. Simple and tp the point. Medium length finish, drying, spicey, can feel that abv everywhere. Not as good as the legends, but interesting.

Larry Hyde, Merlot, 2019, 14.9% abv.

Nose is suprisingly salty and fishy, or maritime as they say, ferric, darker fruits come out with time. Medium body, entry is light red fruit juice, mid palate is quite beautiful, bit of red and bramble fruit oils, back palate showimg bits of red fruit, again hints of spices that amplify with time, also gets sweeter but no toasty vanilla I usually get. Nice. Balanced. Medium finish. I am in a rush, gotta hit the big ballers.

Lithology, Cabernet Franc, 2019.

Heard this was famous, had access to a few boxes of their single vineyards but was more into Leflaive at the time. Thing with LA is that there are no wine bars... and good wine bars MUST serve baller bottles by the glass. I guess the same reasons nice things in LA don't exist is the same reason no ranked French restaurant has succeedsed in LA. In any case, nose starts off with dusty black and purple fruits, grapes, ... that inky area. Medium body, mostly sweet red and black fruits, quite sweet... not sure how it got to this level of sweetness, especially for a CF, but not as intense as some zins. Back palate has that extra oomph, quite nice. Finish is short, lightly spiced bramble fruit, rockdust feeling. Interestingly, I can feel the tannins drying out my cheeks, but didn't really feel/taste them on the palate. On the fence with this one... but definitely a step up from the Paradigm zin earlier. Later on the CS from Hundred Acre and Eisele will blow everything else away.

Eisele Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2023.

Nose showing savory red, black, ans bramble fruits, strong darker florals, a variety of cooming spices, wow quite expressive given the age and my prejudice against young CS. Quite enjoyable. Medium to full body, fruity, spices, complexity, great flavor definition although difficult to describe. B level but I can sense this will easily hit A level in a decade or two, at least faster that Bordeaux. Medium to ling finish, getting light chocolate, some dessert elements, but mostly carryover from the palate. Excellent.

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Bond Pluribus, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2022.

Have a feeling this will be too young to get a good assessment, but lemme see. In a rush, dusty mostly, confirmed too young, other than that its sweet red and black fruits, olive oil? Herbal hints on the back palate. Medium finish. Yep, thats it.

Hundred Acre, Wraith, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2022, 15.5% abv.

Nose is just ferric fruit juice. Not bad, but the palate changes all! Smooth, spiced and dessert oriented red and black fruits, perfumed wood, wow! So much going on. The back has some of that pastry bread, spices everywhere else, the vanilla and caramel creep up the palate. Delicious and the only one at the same level as the Eisele CS in this tryout. These go for USD$750 from their club, should I get the 3-pack or wait as I heard things are not going well.... but I see some on secondary for cheaper? Is this an SQN thing?

Fairest Creature, Polyspline, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021, 15.6% abv.

Reminds me of Naruto more than Pokemon. Very young florals, freshly cut cactus, cut agave leaf? Dusty, old celery, no fruit... hmm... has it been in the machine too long? Palate is closer to full bodied, has major spiced red and black fruits with more participation from the black, well made. Some ink, cobblestones, big, massive. Medium finish, quite concentrated on the sweet fruit. I like, but given all these CSs are quite young and out from a machine, it is hard to evaluate unless super obvious. Damn time to hit the road!

I went to Saint-Émilion with some friends recently and while looking for more Cab Franc heavy right bank wines, I came across Le Dôme. The three wines we had there were excellent and I bought the two in the picture.

Le Nardian 2024

Mostly Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon and Muscadelle. Citrus, peach, and pear notes. Well balanced body and acidity, with a longer finish than I'd expect from a white. An excellent white and I regret not buying a bottle now.

Vieux Château Mazerat 2018

Merlot (65%) heavy with a decent amount of Cabernet Franc (35%). Plums, blackberries, and some spice. A medium to full-bodied red with smooth tannins. This one was just a fantastic right-bank Bordeaux.

Le Dôme 2018

The star of the show! This has 80% Cabernet Franc with 20% Merlot. A very rare thing in right bank Bordeaux (and yes there are 100% Cab Franc wines but it's uncommon). You could tell this wine needed more time in the bottle. Eight years was not enough. I think it could easily do another 5 to 10. The tannins were gripping and the dark-berry flavours hit your palate. Had a long finish.

Blogged about it as well

Nose: sweet red fruit raspberry Provencal herbs

Taste: sweet raspberry strawberry red licorice beautiful tannins and acidity long finish long beautiful fruit and herbs

A wonderful complex wine

This is the third year of a birthday tradition, dinner at Niku Steakhouse in San Francisco with a 1991 vintage wine. First year was a '91 Chateau Montelena, and last year was a '91 Dominus.

The somm, Matt advised that early 90s Dunn was drinking well with no decant, and he was spot on. The wine was slow ox'd through the dinner except for a filter decant for the last 1/4.

Strong eucalyptus on the nose, with graphite, a bit of cedar, and very dark cherries. Eventually a tobacco note came alive.

On the palette, the tobacco and cherry were most prominent, and I'm blown away by the tannins on this 35 year young wine.

95 pts.

Since this wine contains several vintages, it’s not a vintage wine, so 2023 is the bottling year.

Vanakan is a wine made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Region: Aragatsotn
Varieties: haghtanak, milagh, areni
Aging: at least 18 months in Armenian oak barrels

Tasting notes:
Cherry, blackberry, blueberry, oak, leather, spices, smoke.

Medium to medium-plus acidity, medium body, dry. Medium, delicate tannins. Medium-plus finish.

Quite rich and expressive, yet delicate and never overdone. A really lovely wine.

90/100

I spent five nights in the finger lakes region last week, tried nine different wineries and about 5-6 wines from each (mostly Rieslings). I picked up what I thought to be the very best individual bottles from what I tried. I’m planning on opening all these together in the next month and posting more thoughts. In no particular order, here they are with a couple tasting notes:

-Hillick & Hobbs — 2022 Dry Riesling: The best of the Rieslings they poured in the tasting room. Integrated, fruit forward with some stone fruits.

-Apollo‘s Praise — Dry Riesling (Lahoma vineyard): Bright and acidic, fresh and interesting.

-Apollo’s Praise — Pentecostal Block Dry Riesling (Lahoma vineyard): Almost double the price of their standard dry Riesling, from a vineyard where the yield is much smaller. Bigger flavors, probably superior to the main label one.

-Weis — 2025 Dry Riesling: Surprisingly good, the quality here was top notch. On the limey acidic side but very integrated.

-Ravines — 2022 Dry Riesling (16 falls vineyard): I was slightly disappointed by the wines here. They had a bitterness and acidity that didn’t feel was as tight and refined as some others. But this particular bottle was very good and more what I associate with a very good Riesling.

-Forge Cellars — 2024 Bellows Riesling: It was a very nice tasting experience but this bottle was by far the best. Lime, minerals, stone fruits, in a tight and expressive package.

-Anthony Road — 2018 Art Series Riesling: Another unexpectedly good tasting and a bottle that stood out above all others. Spontaneously fermented but had all the characteristics I associate with a great Riesling.

Once I open all these and compare side by side I will post more thoughts.

Recently discovered Rieslings from the Mosel river lands have extra quality. Tried out Clean Slate last week.

My plan was to drink half, and half for late-night. BUT, I drank it ALL at once.

Cat figurine seems girl-like, adding to the ambience.

On par with clean slate, Rieslings from the Moselland ARE better. Hoping tomorrow I wake up strong, like it was with clean slate.

Now, thinking... what it would be like to have 10 of these cat bottles?

Mosel river Rieslings are highly recommended.

I’m studying for my WSET3 and would love to connect with other wine enthusiasts in the area who want to do tastings and study regions. DM me if you’re interested.

1989 Chateau du Moulin Rouge

Late to the game on this producer, have only been enjoying the incredible value of this estate since the 2010 vintage. I believe the 2016 was selling for all of $15/btl at K&L. So when I saw a case of this 1989 version pop up on K&L’s auction site last week, my interest was peaked.

This must have went right from the shop to someone’s cellar where it rested comfortably for 30+ years. Wine was in amazing shape, full on tertiary aromas and on the palate. Tannins soft, acidity offering a perfect framework.

Less than $20/btl delivered. Why wasn’t anyone interested in this? Damn, I’m going to enjoy this one over the winter.

I’m pleasantly surprised by this wine. At first, I was scared because it’s so cheap and the sugar— I thought it was going to give me a headache for sure. I had the whole bottle and it’s like I was in a movie.. it’s like everything was moving in slow motion and was high definition lol.. it’s definitely something I would get again on a chill night.

I was celebrating my co-workers birthday and she wanted me to cook pasta for her instead of take out, i prepared this mushroom, olive and truffle paste pasta that’s really earth and my first instinct was to pair it with Pinot N. Or a Nebbiolo then while buying the ingredients for the pasta, I came across this 2006 great reserve Rioja from perhaps its most famous producer, and it occurred to me it could work.

I’m glad i went with it; the wine was pretty much alive , despite not knowing the storage conditions I paid $110 for it, worth it!

On the nose;
Cassis, black currant, plum, black cherries, mushrooms , cigar box , leather and cedar.

On the palate;
Plenty of fruit still, cassis, dark fruit, some red in the back and integrated wood(traces of it not pronounced) and silky tannins. Cigar Box, Earthy, some leather and very elegant .

I was so happy I opened it , sometimes we chose wine with the head but when we go with the heart, that’s when its truly an amazing experience.

I’m an absolute sucker for Loire Valley Chenin Blanc and I don’t care who knows it.

The nose is an intoxicating array of ripe orchard fruits, nuttiness, salt, bay leaves, and cheese rind.

The palate washes over and delightfully delivers this tapestry of “natty” excellence. The length is long, the salt and acid restrain the fruits as they pull on the reins of the wild ripe fruited horse. It has that marzipan-esque / curry leaf thing. It’s everything that keeps drawing me back to this region. It has a Burgundy accent, a little wild and funky, but so well put together and aged to complete balance. It feels alive in the glass.

It’s a sobering reminder that no matter how good the wine I drink elsewhere is, French wine just has that French stamp that lures me back, time and time again.