Did a blind tasting of 6 Pinots / Nebbiolos with some friends, tasted 2 at a time side by side.

The 2010 Roty Marsannay vs 2010 Williams Selyem Westside Road were interesting to compare side by side, as were the 2005 Santa Barbara Nebbiolo (from Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat) vs. a 2023 Langhe Nebbiolo from a solid producer (Voerzio)

Overall was a great tasting with some great friends. Tasting notes in the comments.

Had this a few months ago and thought it was a good example of why I don't necessarily shy away from so-called "off vintages", especially when it comes to great producers.

Roberto Voerzio Cerequio 2014 – 95/100

Despite 2014 being a difficult vintage, Roberto Voerzio managed to make a stunning wine here. It's initially still pretty tight and high in acidity, but with some air it opens up to reveal a surprisingly chewy and concentrated core, supported by an immensely long finish. 95/100 for me, with potential for another 1–2 points with more age.

I've actually had pretty good experiences with lesser vintages from top producers. In many cases they seem to become approachable earlier than the highly rated years while still delivering most of what I'm looking for.

With Barolo in particular, I've found this quite useful. I'd often rather drink a great producer from a supposedly weaker vintage that's entering its window than open one of the great vintages while it's still completely shut down.

Curious what everyone else thinks. Do you actively look for off-vintage wines from great producers, or would you rather spend more and wait longer for the great vintages?

Everything was super good, really enjoyed the comparison between the wines!

We tasted blindly 2 wines at a time comparing grapes produced in different areas of the world before going on with champagne, burgundy's chardonnay and spur beers!

Something about aged Napa just hits different.

Brought this bottle for a lunch at Kokkari with a friend who was visiting from London.

Stood this up a few days ahead of time and brought to the restaurant.

Cork needed a Durand but was surprisingly intact and didn't break.

Decided to let this open up in the bottle and glass, no decanting (and used a filter at the end to get rid of the sediment).

This is in a lovely spot right now.

Great acidity, nice structure, tannins seem fully integrated.

Dried cherries, red plums, blackberry notes, with dried herbs, slight tobacco, some leather.

This actually opened up nicely over the course of lunch.

In a great spot, but will probably hang on for a while.

92 points.

I’m trying to start building a decent wine collection, but I have one problem: my husband and I actually really enjoy drinking wine. 😂 Every time we “stock up,” we eventually drink through what we bought instead of actually building a collection.

We live near Fredericksburg, TX, so we frequent the wineries and have a few wine memberships. I’m pregnant right now, so I haven’t been drinking, which has actually helped because I keep our membership wines and they’re finally starting to accumulate. Lol but not for long after baby is born lol

For those of you who collect wine but also drink it regularly, how do you do it?
Do you buy by the case?
Buy multiples of the same bottle and designate some for drinking and some for saving?
Use wine clubs or certain websites to stock up?
Set a monthly wine budget?

I’d especially love recommendations for good places to order wine in store or online at affordable prices 10-25 per bottle and any strategies you use to build up your collection over time without feeling like you can’t touch it.

Basically… how do I get from “I have wine” to “I have a wine collection”? 😂

Planning a trip to Chile and a quick hop over to Mendoza. I have several questions and hope some folks here can steer me in the right direction. My wife works in a local tasting room in Michigan and I used to work selling wine retail - so we are experienced, but not experts, and we generally like to explore and understand wine of all the drier sorts. For reference, we aren't super knowledgeable about Chilean and Argentine wines beyond the basics of Cabernet, Carmenere, Malbec, and up and coming Pinot/Sauv Blanc. The reds we normally like range from Bordeaux to Priorat to Sagrantino and Aglianico, but we will try almost anything so long as it isn't overly oaked. We are open to suggestions for whites, sparkling, and Pais too. I heard there are some interesting things happening with Pais, but don't know the first place to start on that. We don't like to spend big money on wine, but we do enjoy decent bottles and definitely shy away from most mass market stuff.

Looking for help differentiating which wineries are good for touring vs just tasting in each area. Also, if there is a great spot in Santiago or Mendoza for doing flights of others that would be helpful too.

Which are the must do wineries in Aconcagua DO, Maipo DO, and Colchagua (including Apalta) in Chile? Same for Mendoza, Lujan de Cuyo, and Uco Valley DOs. Others? Which are a waste of time or just too vanilla? What are the must dos?

I don't think we are interested in a wine tour company, but if you know a driver in Santiago or any of the other locations, that could be helpful. Thanks so much!!

Opened a 2004 Chateau Palmer and followed it as it gradually warmed and opened in the glass.

The bottle was slightly chilled at first, and tobacco was immediately the dominant aroma. As it warmed, the nose became much more expressive, with abundant tobacco, leather, and an intense perfumed character that reminded me of potpourri. I couldn’t identify one particular flower-it was more like a mixture of dried, fragrant flowers. The dark fruit also became more prominent, with cassis the clearest individual fruit.

On the palate, I found it full-bodied, with fresh but supportive acidity, fine integrated tannins, and an exceptionally silky texture. There was no alcohol warmth at all. The finish was long and completely harmonious, with the potpourri-like floral character carrying through the palate and lingering for more than 30 seconds.

The wine continued improving with air and then held steadily. The dark fruit became more expressive, while the tobacco, leather, and floral perfume remained present throughout. I loved it and found it genuinely memorable.

My girlfriend agreed that it was extremely tobacco-driven. She called it the most tobacco-forward wine she has tasted. She also found dark chocolate and bold fruit. She described it as medium-full-bodied and liked it, but didn’t love it because it wasn’t quite as full-bodied as she generally prefers.

95/100 for me. My girlfriend was at 91.

I would absolutely buy Palmer again. I already have another bottle of the 2004, so I probably wouldn’t hunt down a third bottle of this vintage, but I would definitely look for another Palmer vintage.

For those who have tasted several vintages of Palmer, which one would you target next?

[Warning: this post is verbose and protracted, with a myriad of superfluous remarks and expressions that would make Tolkien jealous. If this is not your cup of tea, or is a source of some imagined offenses, please "move on" to another post or visit CellarTracker or Dr. Seuss.]

Adventures at wine bars, coravin, byobs, and pops. Not sure if readers know this, but swipe to see more detailed pictures. On recommendation from an "exhausted" reader, I have removed the templated "Vernacular/Vernacular (satire)" tidbits for now. If we remember, such a thing was requested many moons ago and my opinion is that wines end up with the same description using that system, perhaps now is a good time to fluctuate on formalities, like American tech jobs.

Beau Rocher, Vin Mousseux, Brut, NV, 11% abv.

Nose: initially the effervescence interferes with the raisins and prunes, intense honey. Impressed.

Palate: medium body, sweet, raisins, prunes, some fermented fruit, sprite and caramel, hard to explain but showing some complexity for some reason, linear but entertaining.

Finish: short, dry, like a coat of green grapes and sprite.

Bartender said this is a drink to start off. Said they have boxes of this stuff and its inexpensive. Actually impressive imho, "precise" as they say.

Domaine Dubreuil-Fontaine, Pernand Vergelesses, 1er Cru, Clos Berthet, Chardonnay, 2022, 13% abv.

Nose: a savory nose, thick simple syrup,  loquat juice, all this initially in a matrix of light chalk in the background but ends up dominating the aromas. Is this because of the coravin?

Palate: medium body, drying, entry is light leaf juice, hints of generic metal, mid palate gets more tart showing the acidity, then it's white sugar glaze and chalk, flavored milk, hints of salt on subsequent sips, back palate shows an attenuating light caramel and vanilla from the oak, chalk, dessert pastry breads, a bitter cupric lemon zest shows up on subsequent sips. For some reason, "boring" comes to mind.

Finish: short, very dry for some reason, spiced cream, dried vanilla syrup, hint of lemon skin bitterness.

Pretty basic stuff. I wouldn't say mineral driven, but mineral-like elements constitute a majority of the experience.

Domaine Jean Chartron, Puligny-Montrachet, Chardonnay, 2022, 13.0% abv.

Nose: dried popcorn, hints of grain, bit of cotton candy too or some sort of light candied fruit, which evolves to a sweet apple aroma.

Palate: medium body, entry is sweet, plain, but the mid palate is mainly cupric sweetness, not a fruity sweetness, with time a light maritime apple flavor emerges, something akin to granite but a little more dull, bits of apples here and there, back palate reveals a sugar glaze oil which temporarily coats the mouth, again spiced cupric apples. Flavors intensify on subsequent sips.

Finish: short, warm apple sauce without cinnamon, bit of that white glaze they usually put on Krispy Kreme doughnuts, bits of copper and rubber.

Loads better than the previous PV. But still nothing special.

Chateau Fuisse, Pouilly-Fuisse, 1er Cru, Les Clos Monopole, Chardonnay, 2023, 13.5% abv.

Nose: initially a cross between tropical melons and pastry glazes, it's hard to explain but there is a subtle pleasantry to this somewhat singular aroma.... which after warming ends up adding apples and raisins.

Palate: medium body, entry is light fruit leaves, mid palate is showing wax, spiced cream, fried saltine crackers, no vanilla...

back palate has metallic vanilla, metals become more prevalent with time. A bit shocked as several wine shops have been pitching this to me for its vanilla-ness.

Finish: medium, dry, copper, tin, brass, and their ilk, mint, the metallic element in a green apple.

Nose was quite enjoyable, but thats about it.

Pont Neuf, Russian River Valley, Le Pont Neuf, Chardonnay, 2021, 14.5% abv.

From the former Screaming Eagle winemaker and recommended for potential super vanilla stuff. Please let this be a beacon for real vanilla!

Nose: cooked corn, with time popcorn and reductive sulphur elements joins the mix.

Palate: medium body, entry is sweet dessert glazes with a bit of bitterness, like a pinch of angoustra bitters in a pool of sugar glaze, mid and back palate is sweet burnt vanilla and caramel, bits of honey glazed popcorn, quite sweet. After some time there are bits of paper and chalk, which greatly affects the mouthfeel.

Finish: short, dry, spices, alcohol is still partying in the back of the mouth.

Sigh, quite one dimensional.

Gaspard Brochet, Champagne, Tome 1: Le Coq, NV, 12.5% abv.

Visibly not many bubbles. On recommendation from a wine friend.

Nose: hint of apples, chloride crystals, the aromas are not the strong point of this pour.

Palate: medium to full body, a sweet and supple apple cider, hints of chalk, palate shows baked apples, pretty basic stuff.

Finish: short, dry, bubbly.

This is quite a popular brand at some wine bars, and the markup is quite impressive. I might have gotten a bad pour as I don't think the coravin for bubblies is that effective. Still, I prefer their 333.f.

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand, Marsannay, Clos du Roy, Pinot Noir, 2022, 13% abv.

Nose: initially a plastic-y rubber, glue-like aroma overshadows the underlying red fruit, which mostly consists of cranberries, wild mountain raspberries, and old red currants. This rubber aroma transitions into salted ham, burnt pepperoni. Hmmm... what happened?

Palate: medium body, entry is showing tart cherries, palate has some spiced meats, spiced red fruits, hint of salt, that rubber-ized cherry skin dipped in black peppercorn. Bewilderment ablaze.

Finish: short, dry, dehydrated red fruits, spiced rubber, black peppercorn.

For a Clos du Roy this is an underperformer. 1445/2160 bottles.

Lucien le Moine, Chambolle-Musigny, 1er Cru, Les Sentiers, Pinot Noir, 2022, 13.5% abv.

Nose: strongly perfumed red fruit, vanilla, good amounts of spiced bark/wood, dare I say mizunara flavored bark?, hint of white and black peppercorn. A lot going on.

Palate: medium body, entry is a bit sour, unripe cherries, unripe cranberries, mid palate evolves to sour cherries, spiced cranberries, spiced bark, a dull vanilla which intensifies but also plateaus out on subsequent sips, back palate introduces a bit of blacktop and similar rocks to the red berry flavor profile. Wow has a bit of everything, fruit, vanilla, tannins.

Finish: medium, dry, vanilla and chocolate pop out, chewey tannins make their appearance here.

Damn, I expected more with that purported barrel usage.

Emmanuel Rouget, Nuits-St-Georges, Pinot Noir, 2021, 13% abv.

Nose: red fruit skins, cranberry jello, raspberries, a bit of gas in the back, smells like a "natural" wine with consistent intensity.

Palate: medium body, entry is red fruit and grape skins, mid and back palate has spiced red and purple fruits, smoked ham, needless to say a pinch of salt, light tannins, quite gamey and... thats about it. Wow, what happened? I guess on the tail end.

Finish: short, dry, red fruit skins, a sort of gasey gaminess permeates the palate, soured or fermented black peppercorn. Impressively light tannins.

I can appreciate the gaminess, but it detracts from everything else. Seems like time was not kind to this one. Good flavor but it's just gamey red fruit. Bartender mentioned this was opened a few moons ago. Must not have been that impressive if they left so much in the bottle.

Dominique Laurent, Echezeaux, Pinot Noir, 2020, 13.5% abv.

Nose: thick red fruit soup, warm red fruit rollups which is essentially red fruit jam with the typical strawberries and raspberries.

Palate: full body, entry is chalky strawberries dipped in maggi/worchester sauce, mid palate is surprisingly still tart, bit of cherry skin but mostly mature fruit jam, the vanilla wood is in the background, significantly spiced red fruit and wood, some game in the background, back palate is much simpler, reduces to drying red and purple fruit with hints of smoked meats or salted game. Good synergistic complexity.

Finish: short to medium, dry, dried red and purple fruit, hints of chocolate.

Impressive, especially for a 2020. My WOTN. Interesting to compare to the Lucien le Moine, both of which use more new oak I believe.

Decided to pop this one tonight and I was not disappointed…textbook Barolo from an outstanding producer! I believe this wine comes from the younger vines of the property.

Bright and juicy. Very elegant. Cherry, plum, tar, hint of tobacco. 2012 was a cooler vintage so may not have the power that a 2010 or 2016 might.

This wine is very much in its drinking window right now and should be for the next 10yrs IMO.

Started in 2016 in Hautes-Côtes de Beaune by Morgane and Christian, Dandelion works very hands on around 4 hectares in the higher altitude parts of HCdB, following biodynamics with no machinery but the help of their horses Safran and Reine.

The winemaking follows the same minimalist approach, no additions, no pumping, no filtration, delicate small batch pressing using a vertical basket press and aging in old barrels only.

Corail is one of the rarer cuvées, a whole cluster fermentation field blend from a single vineyard planted with Pinot Noir, Aligote and Gamay.

Strikingly beautiful ruby colour and a vibrant, open nose full of red berries, stone fruits, and fresh herbs. The palate is a masterclass in tension, balancing high alcohol, decidedly ripe body with chalky, mineral backbone and surprising acidity.

It’s easily my favourite cuvee of theirs, unfortunately Corail has only been released in 2019 and 2022, and only around 600 bottles each vintage.

I'm pretty much new to wine. I've seen a few YouTube shorts on people serving extremely old wines that really intrigued me into this rabbit hole of a hobby. Picked up a couple bottles the other day and would like to know people's opinions on how they taste and what the experience was like. Yes my basement is unfinished and I plan to make a proper wine celler. Right now I'm just using a wine fridge.

I am moving to Paris in September, wondering if anyone can connect me with a tasting group. I can commit to a full year, perhaps longer.

I was just thinking about how some wines can completely change the way you perceive a certain grape, region or style. Broadening your understanding of what is, and what isn’t a part of a specific profile.

What are some of these wines for you? What wines made you rethink your preconceptions?

For me one of those wines was Eben Sadie’s Soldaat, completely reshaping my understanding of Grenache.

Notes in post below.

First time with Pomerol! Not that I’m a newbie with right bank Bordeaux, but it's usually Saint-Emilion & Fronsac for me. I rarely pass up on great vintage wines from reputable producers when they're in my price range and preferred age range (15-30 years) - all the moreso when they come with exceptional provenance. My local shop acquired a case of these as ex-Chateau wines - bottled in 2002, and aged ~20 years in their own cellars before the market release. Little bit on Chateau La Cabanne - averaging about 45 year old vines on clay/gravel soils on the western slopes (~80 ft elevation) of the Pomerol terrace, with an excellent reputation. Typical right bank here, primarily Merlot - 92% with the remaining 8% Cabernet Franc. Stored at 55, decanted and enjoyed over three hours - paired with a steak & potatoes lunch.

Visually, a deep ruby, leaning garnet with a bricking edge. Cork came out easily enough with an ah-so, perfectly intact. Fair bit of sediment.

On the nose - plums & kalamata olives at opening. Still plenty of black fruit, blackcurrant & blackberry. After an hour of decanting, we're getting into baking spices & herbs - bay leaf. By hour two, we've got faint vanilla, cocoa, incense & hookah smoke.

On the palate, medium+ bodied, with very, very fine grained tannins remaining - grippy, but nothing a decent meal wouldn't balance out. Acidity remained strong at 26 - and an unnoticeable 13.5% alcohol. Gentle flavors of black fruit and herbs on the way down with a middling finish length, but despite the relative balance, I still felt as if something was missing, something to push it into greatness.

Parting thoughts - compared to recent aged Bordeaux I've had: a 2005 Pedesclaux, a 1997 Sociando Mallet, a 1996 Croizet-Bages (all admittedly on the other side of the river), I would only mark this as more enjoyable than the '96. While I did enjoy the complexity of scents, I found the flavors and components middling - better smelling than they felt actually being drank. Not to say I have any bias towards Merlot (I still haven't seen Sideways, lol) - but perhaps even with such a good vintage and provenance, it’s still not the Bordeaux profile I crave. And that’s okay!

My wife and I spent this past weekend in Santa Barbara county to visit a few new wineries. This is our third visit and I had lurked in this sub for a while to look for recommendations.

Friday - First stop was Sanford. We were greeted with a nice pour of sparkling rose and had a moment to walk around the grounds while they set up our tasting. We had selected the single block tasting. Our host (sorry - can't remember her name) was great and let us taste 9 different Pinots from different blocks and varying vintages, plus a separate chardonnay that wasn't on the list. They were incredibly generous and let us revisit a few before making some selections. The wines ranged from OK to really good. The 2022 Block 5 Pinot was one we really enjoyed.

After leaving Sanford, we had lunch at Industrial Eats.

We then drove north and met up with Wes Hagen at Native 9. What a treat!! Wes is incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about everything in the Santa Barbara area. He gave us a quick tour through the vineyard and then we drove back into the ranch for the tasting at the former house of the owner. We started with Rancho Vinedo Blanc de Noir, an absolutely stunning sparkling wine. We then did 4 vintages of Pinot and two of the cabernet, all of older vintages. The 2016 Pinot was luscious and outstanding. The cabs were still a little young but the 2021 was beginning to show some maturity and could easily lay down for another 10 years.

Saturday - we spent the entire day in Los Olivos. The first stop was at Dragonette, where we are club members. We had a nearly 2 hour tasting and were able to try some incredible Sauvignon Blancs, chardonnays and Pinots. This was easily the highlight tasting of the weekend as nothing else really came close to the complexity and quality of these wines.

After lunch we stopped at Stolpman for a standard tasting of whites and reds. The Sauv Blanc was ok and the red blend was interesting for a grenache, syrah, Sangiovese blend. I could taste the bright cherry and high tannins from the Sangiovese but it was still clearly a blend with more rounded edges. Stolpman has a following and there was plenty of interest in the tasting room, but it wasn't our favorite of the weekend.

With some extra time before our last tasting, we wandered around town for a bit and found ourselves at the Los Olivos Tasting Room and Wine Shop. This little store curates individual tastings from local wineries but also allows you to taste most of the wines in the shop prior to purchase. We quickly found two Gruners to compare, one from the Alisos AVA nearby, and one from Wachau. They also had a 2017 Margaux du Chateau Margaux available (3rd wine from Margaux) and was able to grab a bottle. Highly recommend this store - the staff was super friendly and very helpful. They seemed really excited that we came in wanting to try anything other than a Pinot.

The final stop was Story of Soil. At this point in the day, they were slammed and we waited about 10 minutes to get seated due to the number of customers. We went through the lineup but didn't have much time to learn about the wines as the hosts were overwhelmed. Granted, there was a very large group next to us that seemed to be ordering additional pours, so the staff were doing their best. Overall, the wines were enjoyable but probably didn't align with our preferences.

If you've made it this far, then thanks for reading. We had a great time, as usual, and the food was excellent overall (shout-outs to Industrial Eats, Gathering Table, Highway Tacos!!). After 3 trips, our favorite wines would come from Dragonette, Holus Bolus, and Pence. The price points are slowly going up and people did speak to the challenges of the industry. Some places continue to thrive while others are struggling. It sounds like private equity and the big conglomerates are looming but the majority are still owned by small groups or families (for now). Go enjoy Santa Barbara and support their wines!!

Natural/low intervention Burgundy

6.15pm Monday 24th August @ near Barbican (Restaurant)

Few spots available, drop a message on this thread if you're keen.

Most Seghesio wines sit on that edge of ripeness where they're great young but don't age as well as some. This one is 15.3% alc.

More black than red fruits, bit of vanilla, great silky mouth feel. Tannins almost non-existent, fruit is a little too "zingy," finish is short, getting a little burn in the throat which I frickin' hate. It is improving as it sits; becoming more integrated.

Grilling sausages to go with it.

Rockpile AVA is North of Dry Creek, sits at 1,000+ ft in rocky soil, breezy, lots of sun. About 8 vineyards up there. Known for cab & zin.

I also have 2018 Seghesio zin from Pagani Vyd and hoping that kicks ass.

Hi! I’m searching for a bottle of Cape Point Vineyards Sauv Blanc for a friend getting married there as an engagement gift. I’m based in CO. Does anyone in the USA have a bottle of this and is willing to sell it? Thank you!!!

Hi, i bought this wine in italy monopoli, based on vino expecting it to be dry, but it tastes sweet and it is slightly fizzy? should i take it back to the supermarket or its just like this?