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What a treat this turned out to be. I didn't want to keep my hopes up, when I first opened it, I honestly thought it was gone. But with a little patience, it slowly came to life, revealing its true character with every passing minute.

Dried roses, leather, tobacco, truffle and earthy forest floor gave way to a silky, elegant palate that just kept unfolding. Remarkably fresh for a wine approaching 60 years of age.

It's incredible how a Barbaresco, even from a lesser-known producer, can age so beautifully. Nebbiolo never ceases to amaze me. It just goes to show that great storage can be every bit as important as a famous name on the label. If I knew that it would have turned out this good I'd have kept for a more special occasion

First of a collection of mostly higher-shelf-of-supermarket wines, predominantly 20 years old. First up was the one I had the least hope for - a 2004 "La Croix des Cabustines" Chardonnay.

On the eye: hangover piss-yellow, almost golden syrup coloured.

On the nose: surprisingly bright, almost apricot stone fruit vibe (albeit an apricot that is starting to go green and fuzzy)

Taste: again, surprisingly still tastes like white wine at first. Crisp apple and spice, quickly drying down* to wet cardboard and mud. More than a hint of apple cider vinegar about the whole ordeal. Managed about one sip.

About five minutes after pouring the glass and tasting it, about 3 bugs flew into the glass and promptly drowned so at least it tasted good for someone.

I actually think just a couple of years ago (and if the foil hadn't been damaged at the top) this would have been okay.

Overall: 2.5/10, 6/10 for surprise factor.

*I can't find the correct terminology for this in my mind

This vintage was harvested the year I graduated high school. Saved it for about 5 years in the wine fridge. Finally opened to celebrate buying our first house after 20 years of adulthood.

An exceptional Chardonnay!

Have been privileged to have a fair few Italian Chardonnay’s from Piedmont and Tuscany yet this Umbrian is something spectacular. Not to say the others are not, but this expression of Chardonnay is….. a beauty. The creaminess and richness from the malolactic fermentation, bright citrus, not too oak forward, easy brioche and bred and butter notes.

Think baked apple and apricot pie with a squeeze of citrus on top and a dollop of cream.

In my opinion, I would love to drink this with a croissant in many ways 😂 I’m a savoury guy.

Local tasting. Had these after the Chablis and Textbooks I posted previously. These are some of the Aussie options I tried. They only had Mollydooker products available for tasting, no Velvet Glove though. The Mollydooker Miss Molly Sparkling Shiraz was the most popular and sold out, along with Enchanted Path. The Verdelhos are a bit rare around here... ended up buying the sparkling verdelho just because. Didn't witness any left-handed shaking of bottles or pours.

Mollydooker, The Violinist, South Australia, Verdelho, 2024, 16% abv.

Nose: raw brown beans, candied beans used in refried beans or those really sweet ones... not sure what they are called, supported by legumes, blue clay, wet earth, wet resin, overall herbal and vegetative. Strange aroma set.

Palate: medium body, entry is strange but both initial and mid palate show a dichotomy of pungently flavored herbal medicine with bitter and acidic melon-like juice, a sour medicinal profile, strong on Chinese medicine herbs, a bit dry, gets saltier with each sip, hints of plastic and wax, back palate is tropical melon rinds, closer to a salty Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer, has the body thicken up on swallowing. Is this Verdelho? Verdejo? Aussie version of it? Strange stuff.

Finish: short, skins from exotic melons I've had from Mexico and SE Asia, a woody bitterness, so distracting I don't even know if I can sense the 16% abv! 16%! California is jealous.

Not much information on this bottling with another version in circulation? Not even sure if this is from the McLaren Vale. California distributor? The servers said not many are distributed in South Korea... and no one recommended it, hahahaha. Totally DISAGREE with all TN on CT. This was horrible... and quite reminiscent of the Spanish Verdejos (Ossian) I had a few weeks/months ago. I guess Verdelho/Verdejo is just not for me.

Mollydooker, Blue Eyed Boy, McLaren Vale, Shiraz, 2022, 16.5% abv.

Marketing materials state, "The grapes were grown on the Coppermine Road, Gateway, Long Gully Road and Mollydooker Home vineyards in McLaren Vale, and Joppich vineyard in Langhorne Creek. Barrel fermented and matured in 100% American oak, using 54% new and 46% one year old barrels. The required Marquis Fruit Weight for the Family Series is 75% – 85%. The Actual Fruit Weight for 2022 Blue Eyed Boy is 79%."

Nose: red fruit, a bit dusty,  but becomes quite sweet with the addition of vanilla and diluted caramel, virtually the same as 2022 Carnival of Love (side-by-side).

Palate: medium body, entry is sweet dessert dressing tempered with stale wood juice, mid palate shows a sweet dessert like juice with some bitter medicine and again that stale wood juice, but its quite dichotomous, gets spicey with black peppercorn, back palate is like raspberry and chocolate dressing on dessert cake, but again this bitterness pops up that I didn't get with previous Blue Eyed Boys. Surprisingly minimal alcohol. More hints of astringent oak in this vintage, might have left the juice in the barrel too long... for celllaring?

Finish: short, dry, but a bitter bready flavor remains on the back of the tongue approaching the throat, hints of eraser shavings, hints of bitter oak. Feeling the sweetness is offsetting that 16.5% abv.

Vernacular: nose is mostly secondary sweetness with red fruit in the background. Medium body, light acidity, low minerality, moderate secondary, minimal alcohol. Finish is short, dry, bitter secondary by-products.

Better than the 2022 Carnival of Love, and obviously better than the 2024 Verdelho. Wine Spectator gave this a 92 in 2024.

Mollydooker, Carnival of Love, Shiraz, 2022, 16.5% abv.

Marketing materials say, "The grapes were grown on the Gateway vineyard in McLaren Vale. Barrel fermented and matured in 100% American oak, using 100% new barrels. The required Marquis Fruit Weight for the Love Series is 85% – 95%. The Actual Fruit Weight for 2021 Carnival of Love 89%."... so no mention of the 2022 vintage.

Nose: red fruit, a bit dusty,  but becomes quite sweet with the addition of vanilla and diluted caramel, virtually the same as the 2022 Blue Eyed Boy (side-by-side).

Palate: medium body, entry is mostly dry raspberry powder, light wood juice, chalky clay, mid palate is surprisingly not as sweet, chocolate powder, chalk, hints of wooddust, bitter oak, back palate is like old fruit-bread, chalky, bready. Surprisingly minimal alcohol. Similar to the 2022 Blue Eyed Boy, more hints of astringent oak in this vintage. I think they might have left the juice in the barrel too long... for celllaring?

Finish: medium, dry, old vines, dehydrated red fruit, but mostly wood products and tannins. I feel the sweetness is really offsetting that 16.5% abv.

Vernacular: nose is mostly secondary sweetness with red fruit in the background. Medium body, light acidity, low minerality, moderate secondary, minimal alcohol. Finish is medium, dry, wood products.

Worse than Blue Eyed Boy. Could have been bottle variation... did not revisit as Textbook kept showing up in my face. Wine Spectator gave this a 93 in 2024. Noticing descriptors of "vanilla" on CT... I suspect many people don't know what vanilla actually tastes/smells like.

I’m considering getting Zalto glasses. However I see everyone recommending a dishwasher for cleaning and I don’t have them. Will I be able to very gently hand wash and not break them?

thank you all!

Drank this without decanting.

Nose: blackberries and raspberries. On top there is a light musty, earthy note, maybe some thyme or similar sweet herb.

Palate: light acidity, dark sweet cherries and a touch of stone fruit. Then comes some cinnamon-like wood and what mught even be chocolate. The longer part of the palate has some vanilla and citrus peel. A hint of bitterness. At the end i am left with a caramalised berries taste. 

Overall excellent for a 30 eur supermarket (edeka) bottle.

This is a long shot but giving it a go!

We are looking for teammates to help with this seasons vintage in Oliver, BC. The pay is $23-25 per hour and we have housing available. The position is short term, roughly late August-November.

If you’re interested please message me and I’ll forward you the job posting!

Edit - job postings are in the comments!

Burgess represents some of the best QPR in Napa.

This was my first time trying the 2016 Contadina, which is generally Burgess' entry level wine, but also exhibits a lot of the same qualities that make flagship Burgess so great.

Gave it a decant and enjoyed over an hour at Avec in Chicago. They had a decanter, but sadly not proper wine glasses, but that's okay, we make do!

Still drinking very young, lots of dark plum, dark cherry, slight graphite, dark cocoa powder.

Needed the time to open up, but wasn't overly tight on first pour either.

91 points.

I hate to admit it but I’m depressingly ignorant about wines. I’ll have a glass of whatever someone else is having but I barely know my reds from my whites. Anyway, I was wondering if I might get a 1976 vintage for friend’s 50th birthday. I did some basic research into what that even means and though that made some sense, bottles claiming to be be 1986 vintage also had 2026 as a semi prominent date in some cases so now I’m back to square one. The long and short of it is, can anyone recommend a 1976 vintage that I might be able to order online for under $100. My apologies if that’s a ridiculous question and expectation.

This is the bonin I drank earlier this year.

Overall, I got the impression that it was noticeably closer to roulot than lafon or PYCM, with a reductionist character dominating, along with lemons and flint, an oily texture, a subtle and rich green fruit that evoked a green feeling in my head, a passing smell of gunpowder, and a delicate, bright, yet sturdy structure.

Bonin, which I want to encounter often but is rare.

Picked up a 2017 Barolo back when I barely knew what I was buying. Kept moving it from apartment to apartment, always telling myself I'd open it for the right occasion. Last night I just did it, no special reason, midweek dinner with some leftover pasta.

It was good. Really good actually. But I kept thinking the whole time, did I open it too early, would another three years have made it something genuinely different, or was that just me overthinking a perfectly fine wine that was ready to drink.

The thing is I have no real baseline. Never had the same bottle at different stages so I have no way to know what I missed or didn't miss. The tannins felt present but not aggressive, fruit was there, some leather and dried rose thing happening that I wasn't expecting.

I guess what I'm curious about is whether people who actually track their cellar ever feel like they pulled the trigger at the wrong time, and how you even know in hindsight. Or is that just part of it and you accept that most bottles get opened before you ever find out what they could have been.

Hi all,

Been spending lots on wine and my wife wants to stock a shelf of Barolo. Thought's on this as a starting line up?

Got this from a shop I found on instagram that was selling this for like 90% off.  Can’t believe my good fortune!

The first thing I have to say is that this is not a wine I’ve had many times in my life.  In fact, this is the very first time I’ve had Unico. I tried this over four days and enjoyed it best on day two and three.

Old world mancave aromatics.  Extreme concentration with a wide range of confectionary accents that never come across as saccharine.  The nose shows campsmoke, leather, vanilla, soy, plum sauce, fig cake, milk chocolate and cinnamon sugar.  It’s an oak-prominent profile but when I thought about it from the perspective of a spirit or a mature PX, it became coherent.  The fruit is beautiful and just present enough to sing in chorus, but would I say the fruit does anything interesting on its own?  Not really.

On the palate this wine is absolutely jaw-dropping.  At 16 years of age, it tastes more like it’s 5.   Still very full-bodied and velvety with moderately resolved tannins with some dry drag and pinch on the tip of the tongue.  There’s very good acidity which hits the juicy register and turns some of the darker notes bright.  Chocolate strawberries, chocolate orange, toffee, bourbon, white pepper and pastilles on the finish which is pretty fucking lengthy - more on that later.

Texturally it is very fleshy but not in a high alcohol way but more like an absurdly concentrated, high density of layers kind of way.  It feels like you’re living north of the wall and it’s the coldest winter of your life and your fellow villagers have piled fifteen blankets made of tempranillo on top of you. You must survive for the prophecy to come true.

It’s intense.  It’s rich.  It’s ripe.   But it’s not modern-feeling and you can already see where it will keep integrating over probably the next two decades.  It’s sixteen years old and still dominated by oak.  Yet you really can see the direct, linear, forward of this wine’s evolution.  It’s not marching towards maturity, it’s more of an oblivious trudge that I probably won’t have the patience for.  But it feels as secure as a Vanguard fund. 

I’ve actually come back to this note ten minutes later just to mention that the wine still stains the mouth with flavor and perfume.  

I would absolutely drink this on someone else’s dime and were I a younger man, I’d buy some in Europe and save it for my retirement party. 

Imported in the USA by Europvin.

Approximate Retail in US at time of posting: $430-$599

Approximate Retail in UK:  250-400 GBP

Approximate Retail in EU: 350-485 Euro

Approximate Retail in AUS: 1078 AUD (but only one listing, so.)

Hi all,

I run an instagram wine shop and just sold some guy a bottle of Failla Sonoma Coast pinot claiming it was 2009 VS Unico. The best part is I didn’t even have to forge the label, I just wrote with a sharpie right on the side of the Failla bottle and he bought it for like $300 thinking it was a great deal.

Anyhow, wondering if this can be replicated for others at larger scale?

Hi there winelovers. Currently, I am on Holiday in lake Garda (near Verona) and have a supermarket run (migross) lined up for tomorrow. Now I am wondering, how do I best navigate the wine aisle in the supermarket? What to pick up and what to avoid. Any great local grapes I need to try?

Of course I will also visit some local winemakers, so tips on that are also welcome!

I'm staying in Provence the last week of August, and am looking for some great producer visits in the area. I was thinking Beaucastel/Famille Perrin, but what are the can't-miss sites? What about lunches in the area that are wine themed and excellent? I know great wines don't always translate to great visits, so hoping to get some first-hand recommendations rather than just running with the producers I know. I'll also be dragging a 9 year old around, so should be reasonably family friendly and we can't be hanging out in cellars all day. Definitely prefer the premium end of the spectrum (our typical home-drinker is $100-250/btl).

My Recent post about their 100% Xinomavro from ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines:
https://www.reddit.com/r/wine/comments/1uxcxok/why_did_nobody_warn_me_greek_wine_is_so_delicious/

I was recommended to try Assyrtyko, so here is my experience with it 7 days later. I was recommended one from Santorini, but this bottling comes from the cool-climate Amyndeon plateau in Northern Greece, proving the variety can be just as compelling away from its volcanic island home.
It was awarded 93 points from Robert Parker for this particular vintage and 92 Points from Wine Enthusiast for a previous vinatage.

For some context: this is a single-block (2.45 ha) vineyard called Aghia Kiriaki, planted at 535m elevation in the Amyndeon viticultural zone. The combination of high altitude, sandy-clay soils over limestone, cool nights, and constant northwestern winds helps preserve remarkable freshness and acidity. The wine is made with a short period of skin contact before fermentation, fermented entirely in stainless steel, then aged 8 months sur lie with regular bâtonnage, giving it far more texture than you'd expect from such a crisp white.

Nose: Intense aromas of lemon zest, grapefruit, white peach, and ripe pear, followed by white flowers, and a subtle herbal note. Underneath it there is a beautiful wet stone/mineral character that becomes more pronounced as it opens.

Palate: This is where the wine really shines. Razor-sharp acidity is balanced by a surprisingly creamy texture from the extended lees aging. Bright citrus - lemon, lime, and grapefruit leads the charge, followed by crunchy green apple, white peach, and hints of white blossom. I also noticed chalky minerality that gives the wine real tension and precision. It somehow manages to feel both rich and incredibly refreshing at the same time.

Finish: Long and clean, with a salty mineral edge that makes you immediately want another sip.

I will be travelling to Crete(Chania) for 10 days in September - let me know which wineries/grapes/wines should I try from there(or any other region in Greece :P) if you have any recommendations ;)

What a wine!

I had ordered this wine two years ago and The Chicago Wine Company had kindly held onto it, in great storage conditions, since then.

This is my first experience with Grange and I knew it required the right circumstances to fully enjoy. So when we had the opportunity to have a dinner at Indienne in Chicago (a Michelin star Indian restaurant), this seemed perfect.

Now, I'm a huge believer in red wine with Indian food, even it runs contrary to traditional wine pairing theory and have had great success with this in the past. Syrah/Shiraz and spicy Indian is probably one of the easiest combinations I can go for, so why not use one of the best expressions of Syrah in the world alongside a top Indian restaurant?

I walked the bottle over to the restaurant and it received 3.5 hours of decanting before we sat down. We enjoyed a separate glass of wine prior before attacking this, so it probably received just under five hours in the decanter before we started drinking it.

Picked up a huge bouquet of notes over the course of the dinner.

Dark plum, plum skins, blackberry, dark cherry, pomegranate.

Alongside, elaichi (cardamom), laung (clove), cocoa powder, and even macchiato. Surprisingly, didn't pick up any prominent black pepper notes, which you'd expect in a Shiraz.

This has amazing structure and balance between fruit, acidity, and tannins.

This is still very young and will likely get better over time!

How was Indienne? Normally, I'm a little skeptical on "elevated" Indian, but this was a winner all the way through. The food felt like real Indian food, made well, with a more creative presentation. And the wine paired even better than I could have imagined.

Give this a four hour decant before starting and enjoy the evolution of the wine!

94+ points.

Lias 2018
100% Chardonnay, 14% alcohol, 17 months of élevage in 228L fûts.
Preserved lemon, lime juice, buttery, leesy, peach iced tea, vanilla, a touch of toast, floral notes, honey, hay. High acidity, though fairly restrained by the domaine’s standards.
En Billat 2018
100% Chardonnay, 14.6% alcohol, 20 months of élevage in demi-muids.
Many of the same notes as Lias, but with a little more bitterness, grapefruit, and salinity. More developed overall. Slightly higher acidity than Lias.
Lias wins this battle for me, even though I’m an absolute acid freak. 🥰
Bardette 2022
100% Chardonnay, 14.4% alcohol, 30 months in 650L, 500L, and 228L barrels.
More VA, glue stick, and reduction in the form of sesame. Green apples, grilled pineapple, pickled ginger, and seriously intense acidity.
An absolutely wild wine, but it just didn’t feel completely finished yet.
En Chalasse 2022
100% Chardonnay, 14.3% alcohol, 30 months of élevage in 228L fûts.
Many of the same characteristics return here: reduction, VA, green fruit, and a slightly tropical edge. Once again, pretty fierce acidity.
Bardette takes this round. 🤝
Les Varrons 2022 (Pinot Noir)
100% Pinot Noir, 12.6% alcohol, sélection massale, 60% whole clusters, 8 months of élevage.
Redcurrants, strawberries, raspberries, fresh herbs, and green tea. Quite a few people around the table picked up an unusual fishy note.
For me, it felt slightly off, but others around the table really enjoyed it.
Pellerine 2021
100% Chardonnay, 12.5% alcohol, 22 months in 228L fûts. Total acidity: 7.5 g/L. For comparison, Lias ‘18 was at 4.9 g/L. This one absolutely punished the palate, and sweat started forming on my upper lip. My mate, who somehow has the ability to sweat through his eyes, had about 7 cm of visibility left behind his glasses. 😂
Reduction, preserved lemon, lime, grapefruit, salinity, green and yellow apples, green herbs, with a little crème caramel lingering on the finish.
I’m no expert on how long Labet wines should be cellared, but I’d probably leave this one alone for another five years.
Les Varrons 2022 (Chardonnay)
100% Chardonnay, 14% alcohol, 24 months of élevage in 228L fûts.
My favourite juice, without question.
Preserved lemon, lemonade, vanilla-poached peaches, butter, toast, canned peaches, marzipan, amaretti biscuits, hazelnuts, popcorn, struck match, and sesame.
My wine of the night, and the cuvée that has given me some of my greatest wine experiences. ✨
Savagnin Élevage Longue 2018
50% Savagnin Jaune, 50% Savagnin Vert, 16% alcohol. 72 months in 350L fûts.
Pineapple, mango, apple juice, preserved lemon, Comté, rope, toasted hazelnuts, walnuts, and caramel. The soaring acidity and generous fruit easily balance the high alcohol.
An absolutely insane wine—in exactly the right way! 🐸
Vin Jaune 2016
60% Savagnin Jaune, 40% Savagnin Vert. 15% alcohol. 72 months in old 228L barrels.
Curry, walnuts, preserved lemon, chicken stock, browned butter, windfall apples, and pale mushrooms. An incredibly weightless and elegant Vin Jaune.
It tasted absolutely énorme with Comté. 😫

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