Aubert Chards are giant monsters. They can be boozy and are very rich. I can appreciate them for what they are, but they are far from the style of Chardonnay I want to drink.


While they will be near impossible to find in europe, but for us americans, Liquid Farm has really caught me for domestic chards. I've had a small spattering of them, but I need to sign up for their list and make sure I get my hands on them consistently.

http://liquidfarm.com
sounds/looks amazing.

2001 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
nose: this nose is screaming right off the bat with all sorts of black fruits, red fruits, bright red cherries, raspberries, kirsch liqueur, raspberries and hints of pepper. Almost new worldish as there is definitely a brighter tones to the fruit on the nose

taste: lovely feel with good tannins. Very rich tones of sweet perfumes, kirsch liqueur, raspberries, red cherries, red fruits, and some hints of pepper. Great depth on the palate with wonderful length

overall: this will need more time. Very youthful, but a tremendous wine already that can get better. Needs to evolve a bit more and let some of the tannins subside a slight bit, but those that have this in their cellars should be very happy (94 pts.)

+1 to liquid farm

So, this was my night:



It's not the easiest to see, but that is about 17 bottles of Rhys. The quality showed through. While they aren't cheap, I really don't think you can get a better Pinot Noir in the US.

and here are the notes from the event:

AN EPIC NIGHT OF RHYS - Sun Wah BBQ, Chicago IL (7/18/2014)

Jay Carroll hatched this brilliant idea for a tasting when he saw that there were other Rhys tasting threads in Wine Berserkers. Many of us agreed that this was a great idea, so a date was worked out and there were 11 of us that sat down to dig into 18 bottles of Rhys Chards and Pinots. To top things off, Kevin Harvey sent us 2 12s to sample along with everything else. That's what I call a major win!
Starting Chard Flight

• 2008 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: The nose starts off with a richness to it with marshmallows, vanilla beans, lemons, pears, red apples, and navel oranges. There is excellent layering and depth to it that really draws you in.
  
  Taste: Full bodied with crisp medium/high acidity. The acidity is absolutely lip smacking and shows through with marshmallows, lemons, pears, red apples, and navel oranges.
  
  Overall: This was served at room temperature and could've used a slight chill. Still, this was showing real class and depth. I would love to see where this goes with age as it feels like there is some baby fat that still needs to be shed. (93 pts.)
• 2009 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: The nose is deep, precise, and balanced with white fruits, pears, peaches, red apples, rocky minerals, and white florals. The nose really draws you in and this is more aromatic and high-toned than the 08.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium/high acidity. The structure is very youthful and the acidity is prominent. The feel is on the more nuanced side with white fruits, pears, red apples, navel oranges, rocky minerals, and white florals.
  
  Overall: While this is very much on the young side, it is also a tremendous Chardonnay. This doesn't have the power of the 08, but instead there is a beautiful precision and nuanced side to this. (93 pts.)
• 2010 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: The nose is certainly on the tighter side and it takes several passes to get the tones of red apples, pears, marshmallows, white fruits, and some papaya. There is excellent depth that shows through the tightness.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with tart medium/high acidity. There is a sharpness to the acidity that is a bit overpowering with red apples, pears, white fruits, and some papaya notes.
  
  Overall: This is most certainly on the young side. There are some excellent raw materials here and it needs time to fully show itself. (91 pts.)
• 2009 Rhys Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: Even with a lot of air, there is a very rich quality to the nose with roasted marshmallows, vanilla, some clarified butter, and meyer lemons.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium acidity. The feel shows a much richer side, but it isn't overdone or flabby with roasted marshmallows, vanilla beans, meyer lemons, and some white peaches.
  
  Overall: It wasn't fair having this right after a vertical of Alpine Chards. I did decant this for most of the afternoon to make sure air wouldn't be a problem. While I would like to know where this will go with time, this was my last bottle. It's still a very good Chardonnay, but it did suffer with the company. (88 pts.)

Alpine Pinot Vertical

• 2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: The nose was just was wide open and had a quiet yell to it with red cherries, roses, rhubarb, baking spices, dark red florals, and dark red berries. There is excellent depth with a real attractive dark red fruit core.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. There is very good structure to the wine with rhubarb, red cherries, roses, baking spices, dark red florals, and earth tones. While there is excellent complexity, this did thin out quickly on the mid-palate and finish.
  
  Overall: This was given an afternoon in the decanter. The nose and complexity on the palate offer up a lot, so, hopefully my next bottles show more flesh on the mid-palate and finish. (90 pts.)
• 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: This was on the tighter side with red fruits, rhubarb, fresh picked berries, currants, roses, and some mineral tones. While this is on the tight side, there is a real attractiveness and elegance to the tones.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium/high acidity and noticeable tannins. The structure shows The feel leans more towards elegance with red fruits, fresh picked berries, currants, roses, and mineral tones.
  
  Overall: This is a very young and elegant pinot. This needs time to allow itself to be as good as it can be. I would love to try this again in another 5 years. (91 pts.)
• 2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  A real bummer. You could sense the real good fruit underneath, but this was sadly corked. NR (flawed)
• 2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: Absolutely gorgeous and stunning nose of dark red fruits, rhubarb, wild flowers, fresh picked berries, spice tones, and raspberries. There is a lot of depth and style going on with a layered effect to the tones already.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium/high acidity and silky, but noticeable tannins. The feel is polished and gorgeous with dark red fruits, rhubarb, wild flowers, spices, and raspberries.
  
  Overall: This is a stunning young pinot. There is much room to grow, but also a ton here already. Given where it's at right now, I can only imagine where it will go from here. (93 pts.)
• 2012 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: There is a lot of youth to the nose, and though it was on the tight side, there was real beauty to the tones of baking spices, red fruits, red cherries, floral tones, berries, and some chalky notes.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and chewy tannins. The structure is really showing itself in this nascent stage along with baking spices, red fruits, red cherries, berries, chalky notes, and some earth tones.
  
  Overall: This isn't ready for primetime right now. There is a ton to like and this has all of it. (92 pts.)

Bearwallow Pinot Vertical

• 2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Nose: While there is a lot of youth to the nose, there is serious complexity with tart red cherries, spice tones, red florals, fresh picked berries, earth tones, red fruits, and some wild flowers too.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium/high acidity and youthful tannins. The structure certainly shows off the youth along with tart red cherries, spice tones, red florals, fresh picked berries, and some hints of earth creeping in on the back end.
  
  Overall: This was a stunning young wine. I can't wait to see where this goes with age as there is a ton of complexity and depth that is there right now. (93 pts.)
• 2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Nose: There is a sappiness to the nose that was slightly unexpected with dark red fruits, spice tones, dark red cherries, berries, and some earth tones. While complex, the nose was on the tighter side, but there is excellent depth behind all of it.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The structure was on the sneakier side as the tannins and acidity seemed to emerge later on. The feel was polished and silky with dark red fruits, spice tones, dark red cherries, and earth tones.
  
  Overall: The sappiness on the nose didn't follow through on the palate. This needs about 5 years to fully rev up as there feels like a lot of baby fat that needs to be shed. (91 pts.)
• 2011 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  While the 09 Alpine showed some actual fruit, this was absolutely, positively corked. NR (flawed)
• 2012 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Nose: The nose is extremely tight. It takes some serious coaxing to reveal red fruits, red florals, fresh picked berries, currants, red cherries, and spice tones. There is excellent depth when it actually shows, but the tightness is very serious.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and good tannins. The structure is pretty imposing right now with red fruits, fresh picked berries, currants, red cherries, and spice tones poking through underneath.
  
  Overall: This isn't even close to ready for primetime. The stuffing is really good, it will just take a good while to fully show itself. (91 pts.)

Horseshoe intermezo

• 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Nose: The nose is wide open with seamless tones of currants, berries, licorice, red fruits, and red cherries. There is excellent depth with a pungent red fruit core.
  
  Taste: Full bodied with medium/high acidity and sneaky tannins. The structure is still quite youthful with currants, berries, licorice, red cherries, earth tones, and some hints of mineral tones.
  
  Overall: While this is drinking very well right now, it feels like that this can give some more with age. This made me take notice and had a real style of its own. (93 pts.)

Family Farm Vertical

• 2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County
  Nose: The nose is very attractive and deep with tart red fruits, red cherries, licorice, red florals, currants, red berries, chalky tones, and some minerals. The nose is insanely complex with a real nice cool intensity to it.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The structure lets itself be known, but it melds with the gorgeous tones of tart red fruits, red cherries, licorice, red florals, chalky tones, and minerals.
  
  Overall: This is a real stunner. It's still very young, but ever so gorgeous right now. This really roared from the outset and showed a lot of class and poise. (94 pts.)
• 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County
  Nose: The nose is poised and aromatic with licorice, red berries, black cherries, currants, spices, roses, and some red fruits. The fruit has a real nice tart quality along with excellent depth too.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. There is a plushness to the feel, but with real polish and poise to the tones of licorice, red berries, spices, roses, and red fruits.
  
  Overall: This is a gorgeous Pinot. It's can certainly age, but I wouldn't really fault someone for opening a bottle up if they have multiples. (93 pts.)
• 2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County
  Simply put, this was brett riddled. There was some fruit to it underneath and maybe it would've been written off as a funky pinot on its own. But, within the vertical of Family Farms it stood out as a flaw. NR (flawed)
• 2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County
  Nose: There was real poise to the nose with rhubarb, currants, baking spices, chalk tones, some tobacco notes, earth tones, cherries, and some whole cluster stem notes. There is excellent balance to the nose and the whole cluster does show itself off.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with crisp medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The structure is a little deceiving as it sneaks up on you on the end. There is a lot of polish and class with rhubarb, currants, baking spices, earth tones, cherries, and some whole cluster stems.
  
  Overall: This is most certainly a young wine. I would love to see where this goes when the whole cluster influences integrate more. There is a lot of polish and poise to the wine with a real good core of fruit. (92 pts.)

A major thank you to Jay Carroll for making this happen. The class of Rhys most certainly showed through on the night. While we sadly had 3 flawed bottles, there were still plenty of highlights to go around. At the same time, I wouldn't even remotely close to say that any of these wines are close to maturity. There is a ton to like now in many of them and a good ways to go as well.

This tasting made me very happy that I have a good amount of Rhys in my collection. While I haven't been able to buy the past couple of go arounds, I will certainly be a buyer when I can again. There is a reason that Rhys has gotten a lot of accolades, and this is a very positive look into why they have gotten the press they have.
Posted from CellarTracker

I have a group that is focused solely on Italian wine. We try to get together 8-10x a year and this month we focused on Friuli. A lot of these were orange wines and it was a great opportunity to dig into a very interesting and unique region of the world.

CHICAGO ITALIAN LOVERS ROUND 11- A FOCUS ON FRIULI - Han 202, Chicago IL (7/22/2014)

This tasting had been postponed twice, but finally the Italian group was able to get together and dig into some vino from Friuli. Mark, Bill, and I sourced the bottles to make sure we had a good range of wines from this interesting region.
Opening wines
These were paired with some sashimi tuna

• 2008 Ronco Severo Colli Orientali del Friuli Friulano Riserva - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Colli Orientali del Friuli
  Nose: The nose is very aromatic and balanced with marmalade, peaches, white fruits, red apples, pears, tangerines, and some mineral tones. There is excellent depth with a layered effect to the tones as well.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity. The acidity is definitely on the tart side, but it isn't overpowering with marmalade, peaches, red apples, pears, and some tangerines.
  
  Overall: This definitely falls into the orange category. This has a lot of complexity and depth at this point, but it does feel like it can age and develop further. (92 pts.)
• 2011 Larkmead Vineyards Tocai Friulano - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Nose: The nose is fresh and crisp with sea shells, apples, white fruits, pears, minerals, and even some berry tones. There is medium depth to this with excellent balance to the tones.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium acidity. There is a fatness with a deft touch to the feel with sea shells, some lychees, white fruits, minerals, peaches, and red apples.
  
  Overall: This was blind with a bunch of other friuli wines. This did confuse all of us, but it provided a nice contrast to the Italian wines. (89 pts.)

Ribolla Giallas
This flight was paired with Lobster Tails and Shrimp Toast

• 2008 Damijan Podversic Collio Ribolla Gialla - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Collio
  Nose: The nose is wide open and aromatic with roasted herbs, marmalade, peaches, floral tones, tangerines, oranges, red apples, and some bits of tar. There is excellent depth with a lot of layering to the tones.
  
  Taste: Full bodied with medium/high acidity. The feel is well layered and deep with roasted herbs, marmalade, peaches, oranges, red apples. The acidity is certainly on the youthful side and there is some real power behind the tones.
  
  Overall: This was a stunning Ribolla Gialla. This certainly feels on the younger side, but it is well balanced and deep already. (93 pts.)
• 2004 Gravner Ribolla Gialla Anfora Venezia Giulia IGT - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT
  Nose: There is a real elegance to the nose with peaches, white fruits, oranges, red apples, roasted herbs, and some floral notes. There is a refinement to the tones with excellent depth and class.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity. The acidity is well balanced and the feel is refined with peaches, pears, roasted herbs, red apples, and some oranges.
  
  Overall: This is a lovely Gravner. This leaned to a more elegant side rather than a wine with raw power. (91 pts.)
• 2005 Gravner Ribolla Gialla Anfora Venezia Giulia IGT - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT
  Nose: The nose is wide open and balanced with roasted herbs, red florals, cherries, peaches, minerals, tar tones, and marmalade. The nose is very savory and leads to a more nuanced side of things too.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium/high acidity and some silky tannins. There is a deftness to the feel with roasted herbs, red florals, peaches, cherries, marmalade, and oranges.
  
  Overall: This is a very pretty and savory Gravner. This leans more towards nuance and intrigue with excellent depth and balance to surround it. (92 pts.)

Reds
These were paired with Duck Breast and Sichuan Bean Sauce

• 2000 Bastianich Calabrone Venezia Giulia IGT - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT
  I honestly didn't know what to make of this wine. There were very green tones and over-ripe tones at the same time. I don't know if this is representative, so I'm withholding a score for now.
• 2007 Ronco Severo Colli Orientali del Friuli Schioppettino - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Colli Orientali del Friuli
  Nose: The nose is well balanced with dark red fruits, cherries, spice tones, herbs, and some earth notes. There is excellent depth with the nose being wide open.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The feel is smooth and rounded with dark red fruits, cherries, herbs, earth tones, cedar, and some mineral notes too.
  
  Overall: This was a new experience. I've never had a red from Friuli before and this was an excellent wine. (91 pts.)

Final (mostly) Whites
These were paired with a walnut tart

• 2011 Bastianich Vespa Bianco - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT
  Nose: The nose is very intriguing and balanced with lanolin, white fruits, pears, white peaches, red apples, and some floral tones. There is very good depth with there being a lot of complexity to the tones.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity. The acidity is on the refreshing side with lanolin, white fruits, red apples, white peaches, floral tones, and some mineral notes.
  
  Overall: This was served on the warmer side. Even with it being slightly warmer, it showed a lot of balanced and good acidity. (91 pts.)
• 2009 Ronco Severo Colli Orientali del Friuli Pinot Grigio - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Colli Orientali del Friuli
  Nose: The nose is on the more subtle and nuanced side with marmalade, peaches, tangerines, pears, herbs, and some floral notes. The nose melds together, but the tones do stand out on their own.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity. The acidity is crisp and refreshing with peaches, marmalade, tangerines, and some herbs. Like the nose, there is a subtlety to the tones with the feel being nice and polished.
  
  Overall: The color was on the lighter side as it was more of a orange-ish/salmon color. This certainly showed off the skin contact and it was done very well. (90 pts.)
• 2009 Lis Neris Friuli Isonzo Pinot Grigio Gris - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friuli Isonzo
  Nose: The nose is complex and intriguing with herbs, lemon curds, warm oils, peaches, citrus notes, and a real nice underlying minerality. There is a real expressive side to the nose with good depth.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity. The acidity is very refreshing and it doesn't overpower with herbs, lemon curds, peaches, white fruits, warm oils, with a racy mineral base.
  
  Overall: This is a really good bottle of Pinot Grigio. It's one of the more complex ones I've had and it does a fantastic job of showing off what Pinot Grigio can really be in the right hands. (91 pts.)

This was an absolute blast. Not only did the wines show extremely well, the food was absolutely killer. I really don't know of any way that this could've worked out better. This tasting is exactly what this group is about. I can't wait til we do this theme again.
Posted from CellarTracker

Looks awesome. no radikon?

I thought about adding some radikon, but there's only so much wine a group of 6 can drink. The next time this group does a friuli tasting, I think we'll focus more on the whites of the region.

I've read some early high praise for the 11 Barolos and Barbarescos. Yes, I know, we have yet to fully have the full onslaught of the 10s. But, a quick peek at what's to come is always beneficial for money allocation.

So, where am I going with this? I opened up a 11 Vietti Perbacco tonight, and I've been extremely happy with this. Vietti always declassifies down. So, this is basically a barolo that just doesn't have the extra year in wood. That means it drinks earlier, but it's good to let us know where things are going. This is really a steal for about $23-25.

Here's my note:

• 2011 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (7/30/2014)
  Nose: This takes a short while to get going, but when it does, it reveals strawberries, red cherries, roasted herbs, roses, and some bits of tar. There is a lot of complexity that shows off it's barolo roots, but the declassified nature does show through on the depth.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium/high acidity and silky tannins. The acidity has a real lip-smacking nature to it along with the tannins being on the sneakier side. The feel has a softer side to it along with strawberries, red cherries, roasted herbs, and some roses on the back end.
  
  Overall: If this is a sneak peak of the 11 vintage, I am a major fan. The aromatics on this are gorgeous and there is a real sense of class to the feel already. This really is an excellent value and wine on the whole. (90 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

Will snipe a couple bottles of that. The Bartolo Mascarello Langhe Nebbiolo, while very difficult to find, is great and along with their Barbera is usually how I get my glimpse into the upcoming Barolo vintages. I'm gonna go big on 2010 Barolo, especially Cappellano me thinks.

The 11 Vajra Langhe Nebbiolo is fantastic as well. It's lighter on its feet than the Perbacco, but still showing that money should also be put towards 11s.

I too will need to go heavy on cappellano as well as burlotto, vajra, and marcarini

For those that love syrah, you have to get your hands on some of Vincent Paris' Cornas.

If you're not familiar with Cornas, it's the only appellation in the Northern Rhone that mandates that the wines are 100% syrah. It's also know for having some ripping tannins, a lot of rustic appeal, and the wines being very backwards. I love the wines and they show a very animalistic side of Syrah.

While they are becoming much much more expensive, Vincent Paris does things in a more traditional way and offers his wines for great prices. Tonight I'm drinking his 2012 Granit 30 (for the hill grade) and it's ~$35 retail and it's easily a 25 year wine. I can't think of too many wines in that price range that can do just that.

Here's the note:

• 2012 Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 30 - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (8/9/2014)
  Nose: It took a while to open up but when it did, it showed off black cherries, crushed rocks, violets, leather, and some gamey notes sneaking in. While it did take a while, this nose got really good real fast with excellent depth and class.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and chewy tannins. At the 2 hour mark, the wine felt a bit dumb, but around the 3 hour mark the structure really showed up in a big way. Once this gets going, the weight is excellent with black cherries, crushed rocks, gamey notes, violets, and some charcoal tones.
  
  Overall: This only started to fully show after 3 1/2 hours. Once it did open up, it was a gorgeous young Cornas that showed all of the hallmarks. I would love to see where this goes in another 10+ years. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

I'm hoping to have my notes up this week, but here is a pic of the damage my Italian group did last night (04 blind Nebbiolo was the theme):




Some general thoughts:

These are still very much in the hold category. There is a sweetness to the fruit and tannins that is very attractive, but they really aren't ready yet. There is a definite upward trajectory for the wines and they should be really lovely when they are at their peak.

I posted about the 11 Vietti Perbacco a few months ago. So, I recently did a vertical of them as I had been slowly working on one. These are great for mid-term aging at a very affordable price (generally between $20-25):

VIETTI PERBACCO VERTICAL: 2005-2011 - My place, Chicago IL (9/21/2014)

I've slowly been working on this Vertical. It all happened by accident as I had 3 vintages on hand. So, I decided to keep buying each vintage until I had a small run of them. I finally felt like I had enough wines to do a decent vertical, so I had a few friends over and made the food for everyone.

• NV Zoémie de Sousa Champagne Brut Merveille - France, Champagne, Avize, Champagne
  Nose: The nose is wide open and balanced with brioche, red apples, baking spices, yeasty tones, and some pears. There is excellent depth and style to this that comes with this being an older disgorgment.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with refreshing medium/high acidity. The acidity is certainly there, but it's more in the refreshing category. There is a silkiness to the feel with brioche, red apples, baking spices, fresh baked dough, and pears.
  
  Overall: This is from a 6/10 disgorgement. This showed off some real class and was a real pleasure to drink. (91 pts.)
• 2005 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
  Nose: The nose is wide open and perfumed with roses, red cherries, tar, fresh picked red berries, strawberries, and roasted herbs. There is excellent complexity with a good layering effect too.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The structure is there, but it is well in balance and doesn't overpower. The feel is polished and lovely with roses, red cherries, tar, strawberries, and roasted herbs.
  
  Overall: This feels like it's at a mature stage. It does show off Barolo-esque complexity, but it does lack the depth as expected. Still, this is gorgeous and shows off the benefit of aging. (90 pts.)
• 2006 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
  Nose: The nose just sings from the get-go with roses, violets, perfumes, incense, roasted herbs, tar, dark red cherries, and wild flowers. The complexity grabs you and really draws you in.
  
  Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium/high acidity and noticeable tannins. The structure is still there along with dark red cherries, licorice, tar, roasted herbs, and a good bit of wild flowers on the back end.
  
  Overall: This feels like it can still get better. This is punching very much above its level and was gorgeous. (91 pts.)
• 2008 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
  Nose: The nose is very perfumed and high-toned with red fruits, fresh picked red berries, roasted herbs, roses, and wild flowers. There is a feminine and airy quality to the nose that is quite attractive.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium/high acidity and silky tannins. There is noticeable structure, but it isn't overpowering. The feel is deft with red fruits, earth tones, fresh picked red berries, and wild flowers. The feel is pretty, but there is a lacking on the mid-palate that is disappointing.
  
  Overall: This is a pretty Perbacco. It is lacking slightly on the palate, but that doesn't take away from the higher-toned and attractive nature to it. (88 pts.)
• 2009 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
  Nose: There is a nice red fruit core with red cherries, spice tones, red fruits, tar, and some roses. This is lacking some depth and isn't showing as much complexity as the other Perbaccos.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The feel is rounded, but it is lacking on the mid-palate with red cherries, spice notes, tar, roses, and some herbs.
  
  Overall: This was the weakest of the Perbaccos. It's still a nice and balanced wine, but it just didn't have the complexity compared to the other wines on display. (87 pts.)
• 2010 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
  Nose: The nose is very perfumed and feminine with red cherries, red florals, violets, earth tones, and some berries. There is a higher-toned nature to the fruit, but there is a slight lack of depth.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium/high acidity and chewy tannins. The structure is very youthful and noticeable with red cherries, red florals, tar, roses, and some earth notes on the back end.
  
  Overall: If this gains some weight and complexity, it will be lovely. This shows off a more feminine and nuanced side that is very pretty. (89 pts.)
• 2011 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
  Nose: The nose is very savory and perfumed with roasted herbs, red cherries, wild flowers, tar, red berries, and strawberries. While there could be some more depth, the aromatics are very inviting.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium/high acidity and silky tannins. The acidity is certainly there, as are the tannins. There is a lot of youth to this with roasted herbs, red cherries, tar, strawberries, and roses.
  
  Overall: This is pretty and very young. The aromatics are extremely pretty and if the 05 and 06 show where these can go with age, this should be really good in about 7-10 years. (90 pts.)

I would've loved to have had the 07 in there, but it was not to be. Even still, this was a great way to see how these age as well as having the vintage differences right there on hand next to each other. This was a fun little tasting and I wish I bought a little deeper to do a bigger one of these down the road. C'est la vie, but this was well worth the gathering and it was a great time.
Posted from CellarTracker

So...we're moving to a new house where there's enough room for a Eurocave in the basement so I decided to shell out.

I noticed that a couple of years back you reviewed the 2010 Jemrose Gloria's Gem on CT -- Last Bottle has a Black Friday sale on it right now for $32, half off the listed price. That's a relative steal, right? I got a few bottles given that all the other vintages seem well-reviewed too.

Great thread here but not many posts

Had this last night and was one of the better wines I've had all year. It's the second label of Darioush. I've never had their signature cab but after having this is love to.

Popped and poured this with not much breathing time. It still drank like a champ showing off a nice mouth feel and silky tannins that belied it's young age. Paired well with the beef stew/mashed potato/rainbow chard dish I prepared.

Best wine I drank in 2014:



Drank alongside a 07 DRC Echezeaux and this outclassed it imo. Incredibly powerful, rich, concentrated yet extremely graceful and elegant. Mind blowing stuff. All the hype is well deserved, and I'm happy to have a few of his wines in my cellar.

People might kill me for this, but greystone 09 merlot is the best wine I've ever had. I've been scouring the internet for it but I don't really know where to look. Any suggestions?

I'd contact the winery directly.

I'm really sorry for just getting to this. $32 is maybe a little below what it normally costs. I think Jim was charging $39.99 for it, so it's not that major of a discount. I haven't had one in a while, so I don't know how they're drinking. Jim doesn't really open up as much of his own wine ATM as he opens more Barolo when I'm with him (I'm not complaining there at all)

bump because I dunno how kdawg doesn't enjoy this



Also, Had some stuff from Dirty and Rowdy and La Clarine Farm recently and was extremely impressed. The future is looking bright for the new generation of CA winemakers.

If I want to drop $30-45 on something from burgundy, I can get Pavelot, Ecard, or Bize around that. Either that or I'm buying some Matello or other awesome OR Pinots for what Foillard costs

Serving,

Man, they make some decent tasting stuff, but darioush is way overhyped and way overpriced. They are good at making wine, but waaaaaay better at making money.

since we're giving this a re-start, I had this again last night:

• 2012 Domaine Georges Vernay Vin de Pays Fleurs de Mai - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Vin de Pays (6/3/2015)
  Nose: The nose is classic Northern Rhone with black cherries, black pepper, florals, spice notes, and some leather.
  
  Taste: Medium bodied with medium acidity and medium tannins. There is a silkiness to the feel with black cherries, black pepper, florals, and some spice notes.
  
  Overall: This is everything I want it to be. It has a savory side with a classic profile. (90 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker



It's an absolute steal at $23 and definitely worth getting ones hands on a bottle or three