Wines (48 View)

90pts Robert Parker:
Slightly herbal and leafy on the nose, the deep, currant-scented 2016 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from five different regions of South Australia. It's medium to full-bodied, with soft, measured tannins and true Cabernet identity. Aged in French and American oak, there are some cedar and mocha notes apparent on the nose and finish, but the cassis fruit carries the day.

92pts James Suckling:
Youthful cabernet style here, showing plenty of blackcurrants and a tarry edge with dried plums, some raisins, mint and sweetly fragrant oak spices. The palate is very smooth and juicy. The fully ripe tannins are super fluid and open-knit, delivering a silky and approachable style. Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully, Padthaway fruit sourcing. Drink now or hold.

91pts Decanter:
Bin 407 is an offcut of Penfolds’ signature Cabernet Sauvignon, Bin 707, and as such it tends to share a similar multi-regional expression - in this case Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa, Wrattonbully and Padthaway. It's cloaked in both French and American oak, where it spends 12 months, resulting in a youthfully primary, vibrant red in that distinctly ripe, opulent Aussie style. Sweet, blackcurranty Cabernet aromas are accompanied by just a hint of cooler climate leafiness, all the while showing plenty of cassis richness, nice firm tannins and a savoury quality on the finish. Try with a rack of rosemary and garlic lamb. Drinking Window 2020 - 2030


Taste Description:
Colour
Deep and prominent - solid red.

Nose
Where to start? So immediately true to variety. Punchy, not shy.
Beneath: Subtle forest floor earthiness, laced with liquorice, fennel and anise with a sceric of non-aggressive fresh spearmint.
Above: Sugar pastille wafts - somewhat reminiscent of the fruit bon bons of youth- more prescriptively/realistically - blackcurrant jelly bean.
In between: Summer pudding fruit generosity - suggestive of a cherry clafoutis? Or maybe a fleshy red cherry trifle, avec sponge cake? Yes please.
Absorbed: Stylish/coiffured oak - want to say classy, but might sound pretentious? Next time.

Palate
Bountiful red cabernet fruits complexed by cut tobacco (pouch) and darkened spices.
Seamless, with a tightness/tension between acidity and tannins.
These tannins are ripe and friendly - currently perceived as fruit, not oak tannins.
Oak - quite possibly partially contributing to the sweetness apparent on palate?
Flavour and length. Lingers.

93 points James Suckling
An amalgam of redcurrant and blackcurrant aromas with cedary and leafy tones, dark berries and pepper and plenty of oak strut. The palate has a deep vein of black-fruit flavors, as well as plum and chocolate. Bold extract. A blend of Padthaway, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley. Drink now.

"(50% pinot noir and 25% each of chardonnay and pinot meunier): Pale, bright pink. A wild, pungent bouquet evokes redcurrant, cherry and licorice, with a suave floral quality in the background. Juicy, penetrating red fruit flavors are braced by a note of blood orange and show impressive intensity. Finishes brisk and incisive, with excellent length." 91pts Vinous

"(50% pinot noir and 25% each of chardonnay and pinot meunier): Pale, bright pink. A wild, pungent bouquet evokes redcurrant, cherry and licorice, with a suave floral quality in the background. Juicy, penetrating red fruit flavors are braced by a note of blood orange and show impressive intensity. Finishes brisk and incisive, with excellent length." 91pts Vinous

"Lively and mouthwatering, with flavors of black currant, graphite, candied lemon zest and smoky mineral, supported by a creamy mousse. A balanced crowd-pleaser. Drink now through 2018. 40,000 cases imported." 90pts WS

#63 On The Wine Spectator's Topp 100 Wines Of 2024!

93 points Wine Spectator
There's a subtle succulence to this graceful Champagne, framing flavors of peach skin, ripe pear, Marcona almond and orchard blossoms. The fine, detailed mousse is raw silklike in texture. Finishes with minerally fleur de sel and oyster shell notes. Disgorged December 2023. Drink now through 2029.

96 points James Suckling
Brooding but fresh nose, with tarry blackberries and fresh blue fruit. Iron, wet stones, violets and a hint of mocha, too. Full-bodied, mineral and broad on the palate with a stony feel, though not heavy at all. A really elegant, nuanced and extremely poised Pintia that you can enjoy now and for the next decade. A really eclectic Pintia showing more elegance and calculation. Drink or hold.

95+ points The Wine Advocate
The 2018 Pintia comes from a cooler and wetter vintage when the grapes were picked between September 20th and October 7th, and it fermented in their new fermentation room where they feel they can be more precise. The wine still has 15% alcohol, with a pH of 3.82 and 4.6 grams of acidity. It had a shorter levage this year and matured for 10 months in French and 18% American oak barrels, 81% of them new. The nose is very expressive, with bright cherry fruit, and the wine is fresher than the norm in the region, with integrated alcohol and oak, reflecting a very cool year, floral and perfumed. The palate is medium-bodied and reveals very fine and elegant tannins. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Pintia. 251,512 bottles, 14,144 half-bottles, 6,543 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in April 2020.

92pts Wine Advocate:
Straw yellow and with a golden hue in color, the Pol Roger NV Reserve Brut displays a brilliant, perfectly ripe but also fresh, highly elegant and refined fruit aroma on the nose; think of cooked pip fruits like pears and apples, but also quince-confiture and yellow stone fruits, such as apricots and peaches intermixed with vanilla, brioche (pain aux raisins), some nutty flavors and also some white floral notes. On the palate, this medium-bodied Brut is as round (if not pretty sweet) and fruit-driven as it is delicate, pure and very elegant. The mousse is deliciously fine and leads this charming and perfectly balanced fizz to a long, aromatic, stunningly dry and slightly mineral, impressively long finish. This is extremely well done Champagne from equal parts of Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay sourced in 30 different crus. This Reserve includes 25% of reserve wines and was dosed with nine grams per liter.

The "White Foil" is sourced from top quality vineyards in Montagne de Reims (Pinot Noir), Vallee de al Marne and Petite Valle d'Epernay (Pinot Meunier) and the Cote des Blancs (Chardonnay). Pol Roger "White Foil" is traditionally a blend of equal parts Pinot Noir (body and depth), Pinot Meunier (freshness and vigorous fruit) and Chardonnay (elegance and finesse) and is sourced exclusively from juice from the "cuvee" (first pressing). Each final blend contains a minimum of two vintages with the youngest components being a minimum of three years old. Average dosage for the "White Label" is 8g per liter.

The Pol Roger family takes extreme pride in more than 160 years producing some of world’s finest Champagne. Founded in 1849, Pol Roger is one of only a few Grande Marque Champagne houses that remains family owned and operated. Pol Roger owns close to 50% of the vineyards used for their Champagne production, a true rarity in this region of large firms. Using strict guidelines, grapes are sourced exclusively from 1er and Grand Cru vineyards that rate at an average of 95 points on the Echelle des Crus classification system. (In each vintage, the Echelle des Crus system, or ladder of growths, operates on a percentile basis to fix grape prices of each cru, or delimited vineyard area in the Champagne appellation; Pol Roger’s vineyards, therefore, rank close to the highest quality possible among the Grande Marque Champagne houses.) Prior to final blending each lot is aged on its own, separated by village, vineyard, grower and grape variety. Once blended, each bottle of Champagne Pol Roger is hand riddled in the cellars deep below the Epernay chateau. In effect, each bottle of Cuvee Champagne is hand-made. Pol Roger Champagnes are the marriage of power and elegance. "Pol Roger is the 'gentlemen's' Champagne", as Jean-Paul Kauffman wrote in 'Voyage en Champagne'. "It is not surprising, therefore, that Winston Churchill, and even the British royal family should have made it their favorite over the years. This refinement reflects a whole lifestyle. It is also a source of infinite pleasure. Pol Roger Champagne has a soul, created by the union of a family's spirit and the character of a vineyard".

Fun Fact: Champagne Pol Roger is delighted that their Brut Reserve Non Vintage, has been chosen to be served at the reception following the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales to Miss Catherine Middleton on 29th April 2011.

93 points Vinous
The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico is one of the most searingly tannic wines in the range. Readers will have to be patient with the 2019, as it is going to need time. As always, Montefico is a Barbaresco built on linear intensity more than size. In 2019, the qualities are quite accented. Time in the glass opens the bouquet nicely, but the 2019 remains quite closed.

98 points Kerin O'Keefe
Alpine herb, pressed rose, new leather and black tea aromas lead the nose on the superb Montefico 2019 Riserva. Showing the impeccable class and intensity this cru is celebrated for, it’s youthfully austere but also incredibly savory. The firmly structured palate delivers ripe red cherry, raspberry compote, licorice, almond liqueur and saline mineral notes accompanied by a firm backbone of tightly-woven, close-grained tannins. Bright acidity gives it great aging potential. (1/2024)

94 points Vinous
The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello is powerful, savory and intensely linear, in classico Ovello style, and yet it appears to have enough fruit behind its imposing tannins to develop well over the coming years. In this tasting, the Ovello feels pretty closed post bottling, but its inherent balance and qualities are there. Clean saline notes extend the finish in promising fashion.

96 points Kerin O'Keefe
The 2019 Ovello Riserva is succulent and enveloping, offering scents of dark-skinned berry, forest floor, violet and new leather. Full-bodied with impressive structure and fruit, it boasts ripe raspberry, black cherry and licorice supported by firm, close-grained tannins that provide the backbone. Fresh acidity keeps it well balanced. Drink 2029?????2044. Abv: 14.5%

92 points Vinous
The 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Pora is a pretty tightly wound wine, certainly moreso than is typically the case for this Barbaresco, which is often much more engaging in the early going. Dried herbs, tobacco, cedar and earthiness lend notable savory nuance in this decidedly nervy, somber Pora. There's good fruit intensity and plenty of character that makes me want to revisit this in a few months' time.

94 points Kerin O'Keefe
The lovely 2019 Pora Riserva from Produttori del Barbaresco offers delicate scents recalling ripe red fruit, culinary spice, new leather and violet while the refined palate features juicy raspberry, liquor soaked cherry and licorice. Tightly-knit, velvety tannins provide enveloping support. Pora is known for its softer tannins and smoother character thank to its more fertile soil, and the these traits come through even in 2019, a vintage known for yielding wines with youthful austerity. Drink 2027–2034. Abv: 14.5%

#66 on The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2022.

96 points Wine Spectator
This is really vivid, with a beautiful range of cassis, cherry pur??e, boysenberry coulis and plum reduction notes unfurling across the palate while succulent licorice, warm fruitcake and enticing red and black tea notes sing back up. The long, refined finish has plenty in reserve for the long haul. One of the stars of the vintage. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Alicante Bouschet and Tinta Amarela. Best from 2040 through 2060.

"Renieri is an excellent producer of Brunello." - Monica Larner of Wine Advocate

96 points James Suckling
This is a very tight, refined Brunello that shows so much beautiful fruit and polish with dark-berry, cedar, walnut and cherry character. Its full-bodied with layers of fine tannins and a fresh, pretty finish. Needs much more time to open.

94 points Wine Advocate
"The Renieri 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a plush, fruit-forward and accessible wine that captures the purity and elegance of the vintage. The best take-away, however, is the fresh, ready and bright state of this wine that makes it almost ready to enjoy straight out of the gate. This Brunello from a nine-hectare plot with limestone clay soils offers bold cherry and blackberry with delicate spice, smoke and blue flower. The wine is marked by balanced acidity, and there is some tannic tightness that should further relax by the time this wine hits the market at the start of 2021.

#6 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2022

94 points Wine Spectator
This wine marks a comeback for the venerable Robert Mondavi Winery, with its first appearance in our Top 100 since 2011. Winemaker Nova Cadamatre helped oversee significant replanting in the famed To Kalon vineyard during her tenure (she left the winery in 2021). As young vine parcels came into production, she employed a strict selection for the winery’s The Reserve, instead feeding the new-parcel fruit into the middle-tier Oakville bottling (renamed The Estates starting with the 2018 vintage). Relying on organic farming practices, with native yeast fermentations and no filtration at bottling, this is very much a new and promising Mondavi.

Throws off some pretty gorgeous aromas of violet, anise and sweet bay leaf, with a core of ripe, streamlined boysenberry and blackberry pâte de fruit flavors following closely. The finish has a racy graphite edge, while the fruit and aromas just spill through. Approachable now, too. Drink now through 2034
.

Organic

96 points Vinous
The 2018 Geremia is stellar. A wine of energy and delineation, Geremia is all about persistence more than volume in 2018. Blueberry, blackberry, lavender licorice and scorched earth abound. In 2018, Geremia is a wine of tension and reserve. It's best days are far off in the future. I wouldn't dream of touching a bottle anytime soon.(6/22)

82% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon from Monti, Gaiole in Chianti ? Aged exclusively in medium toast barriques from Allier for about 24 months ? Bottled without filtration and bottle aged for another 18 months ? Available only on top vintages ? Average production is about 850

Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi turned out another spectacular set of wines. His 2020 Chianti Classico shows how promising the vintage is, while the 2017 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto San Marcellino and 2018 Geremia are terrific editions of both wines. As always, the house style deftly marries Gaiole fruit intensity with structure. The wines are so appealing on release (partly because the top selections see a few years in bottle first), but they really blossom with cellaring.

"Smoky and focused, with an intensity to the racy acidity and tightly knit flavors of white peach, chamomile, crystallized honey, pickled ginger and pink peppercorn. Exhibits lovely texture and offers a long, mineral-tinged finish." 92pts WS

"The wine shows a superb, golden yellow color with a beautiful luminosity and a fine and persistent mousse. The nose is clean and intense with warm, rich notes of brioche, French toast and roasted almonds. On the palate the wine is very supple and harmonious, with notes of honey and minerals on the long, sustained finish. Ruinart Blanc de Blancs is produced from a blend of 100% premiers crus Chardonnay grapes from the best of recent vintages. Grapes from the estate vineyards in Sillery and Brimont (ancestral home of the Ruinart family) are joined by carefully selected grapes from other premiers crus vineyards in the Côte de Blancs and the Montagne de Reims." Winemaker notes

For classic rose Champagne elegance, it is hard to top Ruinart. From the first glance at its rounded bottle, to its strawberry tinted bubbles that dance up the from the bottom of the flute, nothing says "tonight is the night" more than this delightful fizz. Typical baguette notes merge with pinot-noirish aromas and flavors of cranberries and honeysuckle. The top shelf of rose sparklers. - PJ

93 points James Suckling
Sour cherries with orange peel and hints of vanilla bean. Some bark, too. Medium body, with very fine tannins and a fresh and bright finish. Lean and agile. Drink after 2026

94 points Wine Advocate
The 2019 San Vicente was produced with Tempranillo Peludo, a special strain of Tempranillo planted from a massale selection in 1985 in the village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. Like all their reds (except the carbonic maceration ones), the destemmed grapes fermented in French oak vats, and the wine matured in new oak barrels (90% French, 10% American) for 20 months. This wine is quite regular, and I found similar wines in 2019 and 2018, the two vintages that I tasted together, combining power and elegance and juicy fruit with good ripeness but without excess and good acidity and balance and fine-grained tannins. - Luis Gutierrez,

One finca and one 18-hectare vineyard supply the Tempranillo fruit for this ultra modern, 90% new oak-aged red from clay-limestone soils at 580 metres. - Tim Atkin

#22 On The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines Of 2024!

97 points Wine Spectator
Packed with vivid black cherry, black currant and plum fruit, as well as iron, sanguine and tobacco accents, this red shows some power and tension, but also grace and balance. The lingering aftertaste features bright, ripe fruit and wild herbs. Best from 2027 through 2043.

96 points James Suckling
Beautiful fresh fruit with crushed cherries, orange peel and flowers. Pure. Full-bodied with round and juicy fruit and a long, creamy finish. Flamboyant and beautiful with velvety and creamy tannins that provide a wonderful texture. Drink after 2027.

Organic

97+ points Vinous
The 2020 Barbaresco Pajor?? is a textbook wine from this site. A wine of depth and stature the Pajor?? is so impressive even just bottled. Dark cherry plum lavender spice and menthol race across the palate as the 2020 shows off its obvious pedigree. Time in the glass brings out a whole range of spice balsamic-infused nuances that build into the palate-staining finish. The 2020 is shaping up to be truly magnificent.

93 points Wine Enthusiast
Generous flavors of boysenberry, plum, spiced cocoa and vanilla bean are carried on a structure of succulent tannins and persistent, mouthwatering acidity that invites another sip. This wine includes hints of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Merlot to enhance aromatic freshness

There's good cut to this, and the firm acidity finds a nice balance with the flavors of bread dough, spiced citrus peel and juicy Golden Delicious apple, with a modest finish. WS 89

90 pts Wine Advocate
The NV Brut Rose Prestige is gorgeous. It shows lovely length and focus in an understated style that is quite appealing. There is tons of depth to the fruit as the wine opens up in the glass. The Rose Prestige can be enjoyed as an aperitif, but it also has enough body to pair beautifully with a wide range of foods. This is a great version of the house?s Rose. This is Lot L1204SZ07700. Disgorged May 2011 (not indicated on label). Anticipated maturity: 2011-2014.

Gideon Beinstock has become known for his amazing Clos Saron wines, but the history goes back much further than that. A long and winding road from growing up in Israel, an artist’s life of painting in Paris, helping to plant the Renaissance Vineyards in the 1970’s, international wine sales, and finally finding his way into winemaking at the very same vineyards he had planted almost two decades earlier. It was there at Renaissance that he began learning his craft and made the first of his incredible wines.

Gideon left Renaissance in the late 1990’s to found Clos Saron, just a few miles down the road, but has always felt a connection to Renaissance, both as a piece of his history, and also as a totally unique and special terroir.

Which brings us to the present: Gideon was given the opportunity to reclaim some of the greatest wines he made during his time at Renaissance! These wines have never left the winery and have been aging perfectly, undisturbed for the past two decades.

The cuvees that were hand-picked by Gideon are showing outstandingly right now, and should continue to age gracefully for years to come.

Organic

93 points Vinous
Masses of crushed cherries and cloves give way to nuances of spiced citrus peels and cedar as the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino comes to life in the glass. This is round and pliant on the palate, with a balanced inner sweetness contrasting its mineral-tinged acids and tart wild berry fruits. Grippy tannins mount toward the close, yet fail to slow the 2018’s momentum, as notes of salted licorice are left to resonate under an air of dried roses. This is a deep and characterful rendition of Col d'Orcia’s Brunello, but patience will be required to unlock all of its charms.

94 points Wine Advocate
Made with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the Tenuta San Guido 2022 Guidalberto gives you a good taste of the same DNA that brings us one of Italy's greatest wines, Sassicaia, but it's offered in a more immediate style here (thanks to the addition of the Merlot). This warm vintage opens to medium-dark concentration and very plump aromas that take you immediately to blackberry and blackcurrant sitting out in the sun at your local farmers market. The wine shows a soft and gentle side with a pretty level of elegance transmitted through the fruit freshness and the light oak spice that is discernible here but delivered with grace…” Monica Larner,

New - 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from The Prisoner Wine Co.

95 points Vinous
Brooding yet intense, the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino bursts from the glass with a wave of autumnal spices, crushed cherries, cedar shavings and steeped plums lifted by pine hints. This is deeply textural, elegant and refined, with a dense wave of ripe wild berry fruits, all guided by vibrant acidity, offset by oranges and balsam herbs. It finishes grippy and extended with a black hole of tension and a sweet and sour sensation that lingers on and on as crunchy tannins resonate throughout. The 2019 is youthfully backward today, yet there's a balance that can't be denied, especially as I watched it open up over twenty-four hours. This is a total pleasure to taste. Bury the 2019 deep in the cellar. - Eric Guido

95 points Wine Advocate
The Uccelliera 2019 Brunello di Montalcino offers ripe fruit, a note of cooked blackberry and pomegranate juice. Along with oak spice and dried bay leaf, there is a spot of creaminess on the mid-palate that recalls cheese rind or aged chèvre with a crust of black pepper and thyme. That note blows off, however, and the wine returns to dried cherry with a medicinal or herbal twist. There's a lot going on. The wine needs more time in bottle to address the fine, chalky tannins. It is elegant now but poised to improve.

"This seems drier than its stablemate, the famous Yellow Label, and is the better for it. There is an urgent freshness here, driven by red currants and tight plum skin flavors. It is lively but full in the mouth, and shows just the right bottle age." 91pts WE

Made using 50 to 60 different crus, the cuvee is based on Brut Yellow Label's traditional blend: 50 to 55% Pinot Noir, 15 to 20% Pinot Meunier, and 28 to 33% Chardonnay.

Organic

90 points Vinous
The 2019 Brut Nature Blanc de Noirs L'Arbre, from a parcel in Pouillon, is seriously impressive. Bright, focused and super-polished, with tons of aromatic presence, L'Arbre shows a refined, elegant side of Meunier that stands apart from the typically bigger style found in most mono-varietal bottlings. There's tons of energy and vibrancy. The 2019 feels a bit severe, but some of that may be attributable to its recent disgorgement. Naturally the vintages are different, but the 2018 version is quite a bit more open.

100% Pinot Meunier from the single parcel of Voyet in the Marne village of Pouillon, this is the Cuillier family's most historic vineyard. Sandy soils over limestone. The winery embraces regenerative principles of cover cropping and low-/no-till farming to increase soil organic matter and to preserve and enhance biodiversity. Applies homemade composts to enrich soil and incorporates Vitiforestry, which is the intentional integration of trees into the vineyards (a.k.a Agroforestry when integrated into other agricultural crops). Indigenous yeast fermentation in small stainless steel tank. Aged in tank for 12 months followed by 36 months sur lattes. No fining or filtration, disgorged by hand, zero dosage.

Organic

97 points Wine Advocate
I was greatly impressed by the 2008 El Puntido Gran Reserva, a wine with a more traditional profile than the majority of wines from the Eguren family. At age 14, the wine is glorious, still young and with a mixture of primary and more developed notes. It goes more in the direction of the old wines, with balsamic notes of incense and cedarwood, mushrooms and some berries and herbs. It's complex and elegant, with fully resolved tannins. This was bottled back in May 2011, so it's been in bottle for over a decade, and the texture shows it. It has 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.55. This matured in brand-new French oak barrels for 28 months, and the wine has absorbed the oak completely. (07/22)

96 points Vinous
A mentholated freshness introduces the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino, as a vibrant wave of crushed cherries, mint leaf, clove and dusty roses make up its absolutely gorgeous bouquet. This is silky and enveloping yet lifted and full of energy, with crunchy red berry fruits that leave a crackle of primary concentration toward the close. It finishes pretty saline and spicy in character, leaving edgy tannins to mingle with a residual bump of acidity that maintains a wonderfully fresh sensation as tart cranberry notes fade. This is one of the most exciting young renditions of Voliero I have ever tasted. It captivates with its precision and spry personality while holding depths of complexity in reserve. Wow.

96 points Vinous
The 2021 Pinot Noir The South Slope Vineyard is a classic Steven Hansel wine. A rush of dark cherry, plum lavender, rose petal and licorice are all dialed up. This boisterous, exuberant Pinot Noir has a ton of character. Plush contours wrap it all together in style. The 2021 will be nearly impossible to resist on release. What a knock-out!

Organic / Biodynamic

95 points Wine Advocate
The 2023 Balado has aromatic intensity and is still very primary and undeveloped, combining power and good development of aromas and flavors with more finesse and elegance. It has 13.5% alcohol and a velvety texture; it went through full malolactic, which gives some creaminess, but it's neatly balanced by the granite minerality. The wine is still fresh and has longevity. 4,200 bottles and 150 magnums were filled in early June 2024. Drinking Window: 2025 - 2032