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?

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).

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.

I was fortunate enough to be able to pop in to the last day of KL’s 50 tastings for 50th anniversary event. Incredible line up of Latour 1989, Nicolas Potel Charmes-Chambertin 2005, Dom Pérignon Brut 'Metamorphosis' Rosé 2003, Chateau D’Yquem 2005 served out of a 15L Nebuchadnezzar! Tasting notes below and shoutout to KL for an amazing free tasting.

Latour - stole the show. Very silky, round, and delicate with subtle tertiary forest floor and mushroom notes.

Charmes - spicier than I would have imagined with floral/mineral notes.

Dom - good but hard to compare to the other wines in the tasting. Fresh red fruit and a little nutty to me.

Dyquem - balanced and fresh. Reminded me of sautéed apricots and honey.

Hey everyone. I’m new to wine but my lady definitely has experience with it. Doing a little wine night soon and I’d like to buy something good. We’ve been in downtown before at a high end restaurant and she made me try this red wine before it was so good as a person who doesn’t drink I fell in love with wine then. So I’m looking for some red wine suggestions , comfortable with spending $100-200 for a bottle as well. We’re both into something sweet forsure but whatever you people would suggest I’ll take it into consideration! Thanks everyone.

EDIT * - doesn’t have to be sweet. Doesn’t have to be red. Doesn’t have to cost $1-200 either can be less! We are both celebrating some new changes in our lives so something with a taste that will set the mood 😉

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.

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.

Hello everyone!
I am looking for suggestions / recommendations for a full-bodied red wine from the price range 18-36 euro. I have started my wine collection now and are missing a full-bodied red wine.

Thank you in advance!

Next week I will be visiting Florence, Rome & Castiglioncello. I was wondering if you guys have any recommendations for this trip. I will be in Florence for 3 days, then Castiglioncello for a single day, and finally Rome for 3 days.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for an organic sherry to use for cooking, but I’m having trouble finding one. Ideally, I’d like a Spanish dry sherry (such as Fino, Amontillado), but I’m open to other styles if they’re well suited for cooking.

Does anyone have a favorite producer or know where I can buy one in the U.S.? Thank you! 😊

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!

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.

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!

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.

Today I probably had the singular most beautiful wine tasting experience I have had the pleasure to partake in. I took some of my friends and visited Dirupi in Valtellina, I have drank many of their wines in the US, and have heard that they are a natural leaning winery in a very “traditional” region.

We drove up from Lago di Como to Valtellina in the early morning through rain and thunder and met our wonderful host Stefano in Sondrio to discuss our plans over coffee, brioche, and a cigarette. As we parked we found the entire valley suddenly opened up with blue skies and sunshine as I would soon learn happens as hot air rises from the lake west to east in the valley.

I learned that dirupi was founded in 2004 by two young men who finished university. They purchased old vineyards and rehabilitated them. Some of the vines they farm are 100 years old!

We followed our host through the winding roads of the mountain city to reach the first vineyard in “Grumello” our host gave us a wonderful explanation in regards to how the different elevation points in the valley affect the grapes and the how that affects their winemaking process.

Most of the friends I brought with me do not drink wine except occasionally and this would be their first wine tasting. (I have spoiled my friends…) I must say our host Stefano did an amazing job making complex agricultural and winemaking terms and processes very accessible and understandable to the layperson, it made me very happy that we were all able to appreciate and learn about the process together.

From there we walked directly into a vineyard of their Nebbiolo, looking beautifully green and ripening now in July, the vineyard was healthy and full of life. They do not use any pesticides and are organic certified, they do use copper and minimal sulfur while spraying but overall aim for a minimal intervention within the vineyard. They have been restoring old vineyards since 2004 and have around 7 hectares of land that they are actively harvesting from. They are a team only 10 people thick and their oldest member is 45, a relatively young wine making team to my understanding.

One fun thing they mentioned was that during summer a caterpillar will burrow into the soil and rise from the ground at night to eat the leaves and buds on the grapes, after some deliberation they figured wrapping a piece of plastic with an edge to it to physically block the caterpillars from climbing the vine was the best and least intervention option.

From here we followed him again by car to a section of the valley farther east; here there was a monastery built in the 1490’s with a small abbey built around 1560 that they currently use as their wine making facility and cellar. Here they showed us how they aged the wine, a month or more depending on the wine in steel vats for fermentation. From here light filtering to either a bottle for their entry level DOC wine, or into the cellar which is built into the mountain down 3 stories to age in wood vats or barrels for at least a year in order to reach DOCG standards. They mentioned they replace their wine barrels quite frequently, always using new French oak and usually replacing 20% of their barrels every year or so. They mentioned the average lifespan of their wood is around 5 ish years before replacement.

An interesting thing to note was the topic of spontaneous fermentation, every year they attempt for spontaneous fermentation and are always checking to see if the musts produce a yeast that is acceptable to their standards, 2023 to my understanding was a prepared yeast, as the “trial” as they put it did not go to their standards. 2022 however was a year in which spontaneous fermentation took place amongst all their wines.

From here we got to the actual tasting room, an old room with a beautiful south facing view. During the winter they take the glass off the windows and replace it with netting, from here they dry the grapes for 2 months in the amarone style before pressing, Sforzato wine as they call it.

And now on the fun part! They gave us 6 wines each to taste, all different aspects of Nebbiolo and wildly different styles, I have attached the tech sheet for all for reference.

All the wines we drank went in order from lowest elevation to highest, a difference from 400m above sea level to 750m. All wines were poured through a coravin.

Left to Right in last photo!!
DOC Olé Rosso Di Valtellina 2024
(No wood contact, entry level wine for them)
Really fun and fruit forward wine, definitely the most crushable lunch time wine out of them all, refreshing and full of classic restrained Nebbiolo flavors. The lightest and most accessible.

DOCG Sassella 2023
(Prepared yeast)

This wine was poured “out of order” in a traditional sense according to our host, a further denomination than just simply Valtellina Superiore, this was a wine that began to show more character and depth of flavor, still light and easy drinking however. It had rich tannins and more dry and savory berry flavor than the previous.

DOCG Valtellina Superiore 2022
(Spontaneous yeast)

Really starting to get darker here, an evolution of floral bouquet within the wine while still continuing with savory flavors and lovely berry flavors holding through

DOCG Valtellina Superiore Grumello Vigna Gèss 2022 (spontaneous yeast)

This was an amazing wine, it experienced a bit more oak contact than the others to my understanding. Silky, smooth, and reminiscent of vanilla notes with all of the lovely Nebbiolo notes mentioned earlier, a very balanced oak integration wine, my personal favorite. The name of vineyard translates to chalk, however this was due to the white nature of the rock on which the vineyard is planted, which is actually white granite!

DOCG Valtellina Superiore Grumello Riserva Vigna Dossi Salati 2021 (spontaneous yeast)

Amazing mineral wine, this was the vineyard that we walked through, and the grapes I took photos of will go into the 2026 vintages of this wine. Some of the grapes in this vineyard are over 100 years old. Very traditional alpine minerality present, extremely restrained and balanced despite its contact with wood. This was the favorite of our host and I can understand why, a traditional high quality red full of restrained character. Floral yet tart, a very good wine.

DOCG Vino Sbagliato Sforzato di Valtellina 2022, (spontaneous yeast)
delicious amarone style of wine, farmed from their highest vineyards at 600 m and beyond, sitting at 16% this is a wine meant to be drank with cheese, pasta, and bread. Absolutely delicious with ripe fruit flavor with wonderful restrained minerality and oak hints. The wine was a bit lighter than what is perhaps traditional to the region, but still absolutely recognizable as a Sforzato wine. My 2nd favorite of the day and one of my favorite styles of wine.

As we drove away after purchasing some bottles a thunderstorm rolled in from the north into the valley, we perfectly got a little sun spell that day right during our tour, couldn’t ask for more magical weather. There is more I could write but I think this has been enough of a read. Many thanks to Stefano once again for the amazing tour and explanation and patience. What a beautiful operation they have going on here. Truly the most comprehensive wine experience I have ever had.

TLDR: great wine. If you see the label drink it up!

Notes in post below.

Struggling to find words for this one. First wine I've ever drank that's older than me (only by a year) and by god is it a bad one.

On the nose: musty dirty garage

On the eye: more sediment than I've ever seen, looks like someone added sand during the processing. Muddy, orangey brown. Looks more aged than most tawny ports.

Taste: Indescribable. Like you drank a whole bottle of badly oxidised wine, threw it up, and drank it again.

One of the worst things I've ever allowed my mouth to suffer through. Ungradeable.

On the plus side, I've got many more bottles to get through and my god can it only get better from here (I hope)

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

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.

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!

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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

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.