Trust me…Pataille & Bubbles are DEFINITELY a thing!!!
https://youtube.com/shorts/DeRMFr0ppGM?si=0nGP6BQU3ieO8Acm
Doing my best to champion the wines of Austria, unfortunately here the ripeness is pushing the envelope and unlike the 2016 GV Lamm last December this is definitely not a rebuy. It’s not at an FX Pichler level - there is some freshness to it and the ABV is modest 13% on paper - but the aniseedy quality of the fruit is something I wish to avoid when possible.
- 2020 Weingut Hirsch Riesling 1ÖTW Ried Gaisberg - Austria, Niederösterreich, Kamptal (27.4.2026)
A very bright and detailed, pleasantly reductive nose of white peach, lime, crushed rock and smoke. On the palate this is dry and clearly quite ripe with a fruit profile that while akin to the nose tilts somewhat towards aniseedy. Powerful and fairly concentrated with a bit of weight too but there is good acidity here that does a lot of heavy lifting to keep things plenty drinkable. With a plate of fish this is very enjoyable and evaporates fast. On its own the ripeness is a bit too much for me but overall I get the feeling that this is a pretty successful effort in what must have been a warm year.
Posted from CellarTracker
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2017 Carlisle Papera Ranch Zin. Lovely, as expected. Huge floral nose. Perfect with homemade pulled pork.
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Used the coravin to taste half a glass of the new Rhys chard and liked it enough that I brought the rest to drink the next day with sushi. Exceptionally good that second day with some air. I never think California wine tastes like Chablis, but this one did.
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I’m in the minority here, but I’ve always found that LF rosé somewhat shrill.
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The color looks appropriate, but the cloudiness suggests the sediment adversely affected the wine. I’m very careful with these, either standing them for 3 months then carefully decanting the morning of serving, or better yet, keeping them on their side and using my decanting stand. Old Nebbiolo’s sediment has a more deleterious effect on wine than any grape I know. It’s too fine to even filter.
“N” of 1 bottle, but same reaction here.
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Entertaining guests from Belgium and Sydney so it had to be something local.
The Bowen Estate was now mature, dense satsuma plums, but lovely fine spice notes. Nicely integrated and slippery.
The Katnook Odyssey was a classic Coonawarra CS, still quite youthful, but lovely dimension and complexity. It’s not a block buster, but lovely undertstated ripeness and fruit definition. Top shelf. Every time i drink one of these I think of the winemaker at the time Wayne Stehbens, who was a great bloke and left us too soon. Wines like this are a great legacy.
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Brodie, out of curiosity do you know if that Tondonia was original release or from the library offering within the last couple years? I have one bottle from the library sale and have noticed some split notes on CT, with the original release bottles reported as showing reasonable development and the library bottles more youthful.
From the library release. I found it ready to go but of course these wines are basically immortal!
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Back in the days before kids and while living in London I joined quite a few mailing lists in the US - one of those was Kapcsandy. I had the 2010s and 2011s shipped over and enjoyed most of them relatively young. This was my last bottle - one I’ve held onto for the best part of 13-14 years.
I did not have super high expectations as the last bottle I opened was a 2011 Roberta’s Reserve about 5 years ago that left me a little underwhelmed. This was different - and absolutely beautiful. One hour in the decanter and was smooth as silk, sweet on the palate, luscious is the best way to describe it. Incredible balance. For a supposedly difficult vintage the wine was exceptional - much better than the 2010s I had in the past, but maybe they just needed more time?
These are quite hard to find in the EU so tempted to rejoin the list! Does anyone know what the release price is these days? I think I paid $300 or $400 back then which was already quite high.
If you have any, try one soon!
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2017 Jean-Marc Bouley Volnay VV
This hits all the right notes. Very fragrant red-berry nose introduces a palate of crunchy, freshly picked red and dark fruits. Just the right amount of structure. Bright and mineral. Quite expressive but with room to unfurl further. Exactly what I look for in a Volnay villages.
I have loved these wines forever. WK has elevated them but I still think they are a value in the marketplace (as is the case with other top Cote de Beaune wines). They capture everything I love about Burgundy, and this cost me only $50. Now it’s a bit more than that but still worth it.
9 Likes
Celebrated a friend’s birthday who I went to elementary school with and have kept in touch all these years. We went to a restaurant called Up on Market in Frederick MD. Food and service were excellent. Only $25/bottle corkage and no limit.
2015 Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Les Crayères - Very, very fine bubbles. Creamy and toasty with lemon and some bruised apple notes. Very nice. This went fast!
2017 Domaine Testut Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles - Drinking great now. Nice golden color with a very floral nose. Big mouth feel on this wine, just coats it. Plenty of tropical fruits well integrated with a touch of oak. Must seek out more! Elegant bottle BTW.
2015 Occidental Pinot Noir SWK - Wow, this had a huge nose of crushed berries to it! Big wine with lots of dark cherry flavors with a woodsy finish. Definitely a California style Pinot!
1996 La Jota Cabernet Sauvignon Anniversary Release - My favorite of the night. My last La Jota of a streak when I bought a ton. Lots of cedar on the nose followed by leather and tobacco on the palate. So smooth. Loved it.
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Glad to see I am not the only one with scarred labels- from storage on the end of a row in the wine fridge?
Agreed.
There’s nothing really wrong with the original releases, as those and the more recent library offerings were all bottled at the same time, with library releases staying home in their very moldy, dank, dark bodegas. Obviously, the original releases were from same bottled batch but released sooner and had more time spent in the outside world.
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Oh wasn’t saying anything wrong with the original release - more just that the notes I’ve seen on the library release make it sound like those more pristine bottles aren’t as ready. (And the bottles that have been banging around out in the wild are more open.)