I think it is very vintage specific. I opened the 2016 based on another note. It is very precocious unlike the 2015.
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Have popped numerous 16s. Only 1 was tight even after multiple hours
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As the clouds finally fully lifted to a beautiful spring day, my wife said let’s have a glass of wine on the back porch before dinner. The wine matched the setting and one glass easily moved to two glasses. The wine, 2019 Samuel Billaud Chablis Premier Cru Montmains, was a classification up from our typical village level Chablis. And the taste profile was different too. Less acid, more fruit (apple with some citrus) , less mineral. But very well balanced and very delicious to drink alone.
Recommended for sure.
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That’s a calm day in Wellngton! Must be the only city in the world with a giant anemometer as you drive into the city from the airport. Have seen it past the 100 kmh mark 
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Dinner with the wife and being the lone alcohol drinker, I didn’t attempt to spend on obscenely marked-up name bottles and went with the 2023 Dom. de la Bastide Cotes du Rhone Villages Visage. An elegant, food-friendly old-wordishly CdR that truly complemented my food…
It was really my beef dishes that deservedly were the rock stars in this steak restaurant, Ushigoro in Tokyo’s Ginza neighborhood.
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Recently, the following:
2007 Johann Estate PN
2005 JK Carriere Anderson Family PN
2 more Grochau 2010 PN (these wines are such a bloody good go to that I feel like I’m cheating nature every time I open one)
2022 F Principiano Nebbiolo (young but yum)
I’m still in possession of a few bottles of the 04 and 06 Rancia. I oscillate between liking this and the regular CCR, with the White label usually winning. Aesthetically, I’ve never been a fan of the Black label they switched to a decade ago.
I just tasted my first St. Henri (2018), and was blown away. It had this interesting finish so reminiscent of those Australian licorice candies, and the neutral oak made for a very pure glass of wine. What’s it like with age on it?
My note is posted elsewhere, but here you go
- 1998 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri - Australia, South Australia (4/12/2025)
From my late father's cellar, this bottle was in perfect condition. The only thing that betrayed the 27 years of age was that the tannins had largely melted away. There was still enough for structure, but beyond that it was silky, still quite fruity, and perfectly balanced. Small accents of leather, roasted game, and wood smoke added complexity, and the wine carried a lot of depth while only being mid-weight. Beautiful and elegant - wish I had a cellar full of this, but sadly the only bottle.
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Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard River Malbec 2021. My first time drinking this and have to say it’s the best Malbec I’ve ever tasted. Cherry and vanilla on the nose; so light and smooth in the mouth with perfectly integrated silky tannins. Pinot-noir-esque
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2020 Guy Breton Morgon “P’tit Max”
Fairly good, though not amazing. As WK has noted on the forum, Breton has a knack for turning out relatively light, perfumed wines even in hot vintages. By comparison to another hot vintage, this was more powerful than his 2022 sub-appellation wines, though that is potentially the vintage character or age speaking. I am not sure what this cuvee is meant to be in the lineup, and so that could all be as expected.
Color was darker than some Bretons I’ve seen which usually tend to a cranberry pink in the glass. This was a darker garnet.
On the nose darker fruits, spices, crushed vitamins, purple and red flowers. Some leather/bandaid Brett but fairly light.
On the palate mid minus weight, mid plus acid, minus tannin, moderate finish. Remains dark berry fruited with a strongly spicy/stemmy finish.
Good work in a hot vintage. Curious whether this cuvee is meant to be more powerful as his 22’s (I think similarly hot) are much lighter toned both physically and sensorily.
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i believe this cuvee is nearly analogous to the foillard 3.14 or metras l’ultime. the oldest vines (up to 120 years) with slightly longer aging in slightly newer barrels. at any rate, breton makes superb wines that more than hold their own against his more illustrious neighbors.
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This was a few days ago at a lunch at Orsay in NYC (convenient location after seeing the Sargent in Paris early hours)
• 2022 Humbert Frères Fixin VV
This was surprisingly good and open for business
From CT note:
Superb villages wine. Cherry/raspberry, peony, flower shop scents. Lovely iodine salinity. Not overly hard or tannic at all, although tannins are present.
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