Share the best/favorite wine note you've written (any type of wine welcome, even ones you disliked)

WINE TALK
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I occasionally stumble in CT across notes I wrote a while ago, and re-reading some of them makes me think, this dude really knows what he’s talking about and has a certain flair to boot!

If you ever do this, share some of the of the best (real, not satire, but snark embraced if that’s where your writing shines) tasting notes you think you’ve written and the rest of us will get to see your best and hopefully learn something about your palate and what the wine universe has to share (I admit, choosing one’s favorites is hard, like picking amongst your [checks notes] 1500 children).

Here are two of my personal best (criteria agnostic):

For a wine I liked:
1996 Sociando Mallet
A thread critical of the 1996 Sociando Mallet prompted me open a bottle of it, as I hadn’t had it since DC '16 en magnum…
I have to say, I’m really digging these first few sips. Not a blockbuster to be sure, but I get enough ripeness to be content. The midpalate is a tad lean, but not dilute. It has the signature SM greenery- pine resin, pyrazines, black pepper, a little ash. Yum.
Ok, this won’t make you forget the 96 Pichon Lalande, but for the $30 this cost as recently as 2005, I’ll take it.
My bottle tonight of the 96 S-M is brimming with character. It really is the antithesis of a Rollandized wine. Folks who prefer modern-styled St. Emilion probably hate wines like this. I’m in love.
This wine is not perfect. Not by any means. It’s a little lean, a little green. But my bottle (at least) is wonderfully aromatic and interesting. It is fresh and engaging. There is the essence of juniper and pine and woodsy notes. There’s enough fruit to be charming, but this is a food wine. And it has plenty of gravitas. In my opinion, it is a style of claret that should be celebrated, not hounded out of existence by market forces.

For a wine I (really) disliked:
2005 The Winemakers’ Collection Michel Rolland Cuvée No. 1 Château d’Arsac
Wow, it’s not every day you get to smell and drink (and spit!) liquid oak… crazy new oak bouquet redolent of fresh coconut, star anise, vanilla, espresso grounds, and finishing with a burnt-acrid note. If I considered this bouquet “wine”, I would hate it, but if I think of it as a scented candle, it puts me in a certain holiday frame of mind… the palate isn’t nearly as oaky as the bouquet, rather it is distinguished by its silky smooth mouthfeel, and while sweet, it’s not particularly heavy. I often get this disconnect in Rolland’s wines, where the nose is garish with oak and fruit, and then the taste isn’t as extreme as you’d expect. Still, I’m not sure I like it per se, it’s so smooth there must be some serious tannin management here given the vintage (micro-bullage anyone?) and some acrid oak kicks in on the finish. A modern “masterpiece” par excellence, leaving me longing for the olden days (I poured the rest down the sink). Gotta love the label though!

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My favorite tasting note that I ever wrote:

  • 2001 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (12/6/2020)
    Walk into an antique shop that also sells dried flowers, and even some old school hard candy sticks. There’s an aroma that is present in every nook and cranny. It’s like a whisper, but always there. In the back there’s a room with some boots, and an old horse saddle. Out the back door is a cherry tree, the fruit starting to fall because it hasn’t been picked. A floor board creaks, and the spell is broken.

For favorite notes on wines I hated, please see numerous entries in my Tales from the Crypt thread. :rofl:

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Here is my most controversial note that generated some PM’s from some annoyed peeps…

2012 Horsepower Syrah Tribe Vineyard
Decanted for two hours. This is a caveman’s wine. This is a Paleo and Atkins diet wine. This is a wine crafted for a T-Rex. This wine is a 48oz. Peter Luger porterhouse steak. This is a Medieval Times eat your meat off a leg bone wine. A blood suckers wine. This is not a namby-pamby vegan or vegetarian’s wine. This is not a suburban soccer mom pumpkin spice wine. This is not a 1999 98-point Parker Australian Shiraz ooze monster. This is a Pizza Hut meat lover’s wine that should have a warning sticker on the label that reads, “Meat Only…No Fruits Allowed!” I’d love to hand a glass of this wine to a vegan/vegetarian and ask them to describe what they are smelling. I think they’d lack descriptors because this wine smells only like various types and preparations of meat. Grilled, smoked, sauteed, fried, even a la plancha. A carnivores delight, this wine is. This wine is not for the masses and I wouldn’t presume to serve it to friends at a Saturday night dinner while playing Cards Against Humanity. This is an old school Cornas syrah lover’s wine. Drink at your own risk. 98pts.

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2021 Meiomi Pinot Noir
Handed a glass at a dinner party.
Smells of slowly rotting/fermenting plums under the tree, complete with wasps buzzing about…
Taste is what one would expect - sappy molasses mixed with cough syrup and aspartame.
Bitter finish.
There are so many quality wines one can try between $15-20. This is not one.

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In that vein…

  • 2020 Apothic Winemaker's Blend - USA, California (11/29/2022)
    PnP. Nice legs! Really coats the glass. Initial nose is plastic like new toys. Who doesn't love new toys? Not quite as fresh as the new car smell, unfortunately.

    Palate is watery, completely unlike the viscosity in the glass. It's disjointed, overly sweet and seems to be a created drink rather than naturally produced, almost soft drink like. Then you are left with a bitter finish that lingers for minutes.
  • 2019 Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California (1/29/2022)
    Pop and pour. Initial nose of cigar ash tray. Coaxing out a bit more complexity, we get a hint of macerated black cherry. More air brings out warm inner tube. It took me a while to drum up the courage to try a sip, but unfortunately I started sneezing uncontrollably. I think I'm allergic to this wine. I continue. Palate is thin and limp. A touch of cherry and menthol. There isn't nearly the flavor one might expect from the intense nose. I can't comment on the finish because it vanished like water.
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On 2014 Sociando Mallet

This wine starts out dark and rich, like my buddy @Robert.A.Jr - earthy and rustic profile, some blue fruits barely peek through, focusing more on earth and structure. In minutes a more powerfully elegant profile emerges - violets and red cherries, the palate has a beautiful weighty softness but with bright edges from the acidity and dusty tannic structure. Finish is long, circles back to the darker fruit and earth profile.

I really love the mouthfeel - it’s like rose petals, soft but with strength and resilience. Fruit is bright and lively on this wine, and I love how the dusty character clings just a bit to the lower gumline. Insane value, to me - I’m fully a convert to this Chateau and will definitely be on the lookout to backfill this vintage, in particular.

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Mic drop

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Phenomenal note, and as you know, I have a lot of this wine. I also just bought some of the 2014 Jean Gautreau Cuvee in 750 and mags, can’t wait to try that one!

Your dark and rich friend. Like a Cuban cigar Maduro.

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I just wish I liked the 2012 as much as that glorious 2014!

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The man, the myth, the legend (also not me). Has been linked here and on other boards before, but always appropriate for the topic.

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2006 Ghost Horse Cabernet Sauvignon Shadow

CABERNET SAUVIGNON

  • USA
  • California
  • Napa Valley

May 13, 2014 - On opening, and pouring for the table, I could smell from several glasses away the taint of volatility. When I did put some in my glass, it showed massive amounts of sweet, candied fruit. The palate was incredibly soft, fat, filled with overly ripe fruit and had a chewy, thick texture leaving an imprint of yet more sugar and sweetened blueberries.

I dislike this wine for so many reasons. Not only the winemaking flaws, but the philosophical ones. It begins with a complete absence of terroir, which should at least leave you with a sense of the grape variety. The fact that it was a Cabernet would have surprised me; blind I would have guessed that it had some overripe Syrah. Finally, the wine was simple, grape flavored ; every nuance, every complexity had been obliterated in both the vineyard and the cellar, leaving a sweetish beverage, with a slight overlay of vinegar. Nasty stuff. 70 points

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The Sociando Socios!

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I like this because I reference many of my favorite rosé champagnes:

"Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Rosé Emotion

My first of a case, and it was outstanding. It reinforces my impression that the Emotion might be my favorite wine from Vilmart.
Structured, with great balance and energy. It seemingly stole the ripe strawberries we bought at yesterday’s farmers’ market, and mixed them with creamy raspberry, citrus, and mineral.
We’ve been drinking a lot of magnificent rosé champagnes, and this stands proudly amongst them. Not as nervy as the Egly-Ouriet; less showy than the Taittinger Comtes. Some similar rose floral notes but less brioche than the Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon. It is distinctive from the brilliant Deutz Amour Rosé which showed cherries, cinnamon and grapefruit. Vilmart’s Emotion is unique, and on par with these other favorites.
Next to sample; 2014."

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That’s not nearly enough hate for that label. Maybe the worst wine label ever.

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95 or 96 points?

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Sir, that is a Citizen Kane of wine labels, a War and Peace of wine labels, a…a… a Michel Rolland of wine labels.

Btw Bloomberg had an article on some atrocious wine labels:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-05/terrible-labels-great-wine-six-amazing-bottles-hurt-by-bad-art#xj4y7vzkg

Now, most of the wines named probably fall a bit short of “amazing” - even with the debasement of that word in recent years.

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I recall liking an @alan_weinberg note where it was just a 1 or a 0 and a binary tasting note.

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2006 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes

6/8/2011 - I haven’t even tasted this but I think so much of Keith [97 pts] and Salil [95] that I’ll just split the difference preemptively here. (96 pts)

7/20/2011 - Ok, now I have a real note for this:
96 pts.