For The Love Of Port

In the unaminous opinion of two gentlemen who assisted me in the delivery of a fridge and some other heavy stuff, this was a very strong effort. The vintage was very fine for the appellation, and after 17 years the wine seemed very much good to go - but could have held another 5 or more years no pro...

This domaine's reputation is almost unassailable; my past experiences with it have been great fun. This time around though, unless I overlooked something, was unexceptional. Deep orange brown color, very muted aromas, some flavors of green apple and marzipan, moderate acidity, and at best a short to...

Well how about that. The team captain goes down to injury 25 minutes into the game, France barely misses scoring in the final moments of regulation time, hitting the inside of the goal post, and then Portugal scores in extra time on a brilliant goal, beating France in Paris. This was reality televis...

This Pauillac chateau is I believe owned and managed by Chateau Mouton Rothschild. The 2004 had a very intriguing style, with a mix of blackcurrant, chocolate, and cherry liqueur. Nice purplish red, not too deep. In some respects it had the mouth texture of Burgundy, as if a few barrels of Mazis Cha...

Point taken Andy and thank you. Speaking only for myself, I do not mind very sweet wines at all, as long as this characteristic does not completely overwhelm. On further consideration, had I tasted this blind, I would have had difficulty identifying the varietal. In my experience with botrytised rie...

This is a limited production Selection de Grains Nobles from 100% botrytis affected grapes, in a monopole within the Grand Cru Rangen. Larme de Lave literally means tear of lava; I believe the winemaker is implying the product is intended to reflect the essence of the grape, the terroir, or both. To...

Well, what a nice wine. How often do you see a Gewurz with crystals of tartaric acid on the bottom of the cork? It's bright yellow, with a fair amount of tropical fruit, white flowers (!) and lychee on the nose, has some characteristics of botrytis, and a pretty long finish. The winemaker's 1997 vin...

This wine was unstoppered to celebrate the end of a very demanding income tax filing season (which started on February 15), and of course Father's Day - not necessarily in that order. The comments below reflect my opinions along with those of a couple with whom I met yesterday. Overall, this LBV lef...

I believe this patch of vines was purchased from Robert Michel, who at one time used to supply some of this wine to Tardieu Laurent's Cornas Vieilles Vignes. I'm having a difficult time assessing this wine. True to the area, it was very dark purplish-red, almost but not quite opaque. The initial aro...

Well, just when you think you've seen everything in your world of wine, a surprise happens. This wine was retasted twice yesterday, a full 2 days after opening, the second time with a colleague. Both tastings were consistent, this wine has improved since its somewhat dissapointing uncorking. First o...

The Hachette du Vin gives the vintage an overall rating of 14/20 for Echezeaux. I hesitate to refer to a vintage assessment for all of Burgundy, as the Cote d'Or can have different results from the Cote de Beaune. For instance the 2000 vintage is much maligned, yet the heavy September rain fell in t...

That was indeed a very fine article - and I concur with the sentiments raised in the article title, albeit perhaps for not the same reasons as for the author. There is something about madeira which, speaking from only my experience, that can felt at an experiental level, but cannot be sufficiently e...

Well, all winning streaks have to come to an end. Thankfully, this wine was not very expensive, about $75, but you still hope it is going to be at least an excellent drinking experience. Perhaps if it had been purchased and consumed about 4 or 5 years ago, that would have been so. Having enjoyed a v...

Thank you Andy. They were both pretty outstanding wines, although offering different tasting experiences. I think it would be fair to describe this wine as a Hermitage in everything but name only. Finding a wine pushing 20 years of age for that kind of money, from anywhere in the world, is pretty lu...

First of all I wish to acknowledge and thank my great friend Lesley Saito, a sommelier, with whom I had the pleasure of sharing this wine yesterday. She made observations over the 2 hour course of this wine, which she has given me permission to share on this forum. If there are any discrepancies bet...

This older vintage comes from a vineyard called Chavanessieux (my thanks to the renowned Rhone wine expert John Livingstone-Learmonth for confirming this). It is just west of and up the same hill as Hermitage lieu-dit La Varonne (itself west of Les Bessards), on a rocky outcropping overlooking the r...

Thanks for the response and I would keep an eye on this negotiant's offerings based on this experience. If I may add a postscript, the tannins were not as refined as in some other Burgundies I have tasted, perhaps due to the challenges of the vintage. This lighter style may not appeal to all tastes,...

All in all, an excellent effort, for $35 a bottle certainly very fair value for the money, and pretty darn reasonable for a Vosne Romanee Premier Cru. This was sourced from the southernmost part, as I presently am aware, very near the Grand Cru Romanee St.-Vivant. It was much better than the tired 1...

After 3+ months of tax return preparation (not over yet), and a few bottles of good but unexceptional Cotes du Rhone, and finishing off the last dregs of the Broadbent 1996 Madeira opened at Christmas (which remained very drinkable for over 3 months), it was a treat to finally have a really good win...

My apologies for the late contribution due to an extremely heavy load of work since the middle of February (tax season is very much still in progress in Canada), but the news of his passing is a very sad event for lovers of fine Bordeaux. Chateau Margaux is very beautiful wine, an experience that is...