216 was great last night!!!
had forgot that it was a $50 bottle
5 years in, only young once
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[list][*]2019 Xavier Vignon Gigondas - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas (5/15/2023)
Lovely dark ruby color with good clarity, no sediment.
Reserved nose of black cherry, anise, tar, and pepper.
Bright acidity, light tannins. The flavors seem quite locked down at the moment and the finish still has a vein of alcohol that I think will become less of a factor when this hits its prime. Maybe 3-4 years down the road. Scoring for today with a good 2-3 point upside, imho.
5+10+15+9= 89 (89 pts.)
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Posted from CellarTracker
[list][*]2019 Xavier Vignon Lirac - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Lirac (4/21/2023)
Pop n pour. Medium ruby red, about 70% opaque, clear and sediment-free. Medium intensity nose of red and blue berries with zippy lift to the perfume. Unexpected weight and body in the mouth, though it shouldn’t be a surprise at 15% abv. As I swish and swallow, a nice underpinning of minerality balances the whole experience. Medium length finish, very clean and pure. Seems like it would have a wide range of food pairing possibilities.
5+11+16+8= 90 (90 pts.)
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Posted from CellarTracker
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Sorry about the formatting… my first try at posting directly from CT
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Bob - looks good to me - thank you for the response.
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The author of the ‘Winetasting Scale of Threes ’ and wife are coming in from Portugal to be with us for a few days. This will be an all de Négoce wine event with various meals which will include Hungarian goulash, bacon wrapped w/dried beef baked chicken breast, key lime pie, etc (shucks, she doesn’t eat seafood).
Out of the following, please suggest for me the four wines you would consider serving for the occasion (before and w/meal), ~ L 17 Napa 2018 Cab Sauv; L 74 Walla Walla Syrah; L 85 Walla Walla Cab Franc; L 90 Walla Walla Merlot; L 142 Horse Heaven Hills Malbec; L 58 McDowell or L 161 Walla Walla Petit Sirah; L 165 Carneros Pinot Noir; L 197 Russian River Pinot Noir; L 219 Santa Ynez Grenache; L 229 Red Mt. Mourvedre/Syrah; L 240 Red Mt Cab Sauv; L 251 Sonoma Mt. Cab Sauv.
I have other dNé selections also in mind, but would appreciate your feedback with this listed task. I look forward to giving not only ‘Bob’s Scores’ but also the group’s reactions.
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De Negoce OG 343 2020 McLaren Vale Shiraz
From CT review:
Well, this third pass was a bottle driven to a restaurant and basically pnp - and miraculously it sang. The oak much more in check this time and went down a treat with Italian food. Not the most complicated wine but very enjoyable and certainly worth a lot more than the dN price. Excellent to outstanding value.
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Got into my stash of n.365 Santa Barbara County Syrah, and it’s waking up nicely:
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I have quite a bit…30 bottles or so.
Hard to do side by side except the Monte rosso cabs. I know those are from same source.
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Texas has been on summer hold since April. And so it is so interesting to see these reviews Roll in for stuff I likely won’t have until October. 385, 365, 330, the Italian Prosecco are all things that I get to see reviews roll in for…while I wait in anticipation.
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Opened a 2021 de Négoce Shiraz OG N.353 Narrow Road Vineyard last night. Real easy drinking and rich. Funny how a 2021 Shiraz can drink right away and the 2018 cabs we are still wafting on…
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N. 140, Milton-Freewater Syrah didn’t really do it for me last night. Had a bit of a bitter finish to me. Was OK, not great.
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I have only had the 240 and 74. The 240 is a reliable, easy-drinking cab, ready to go. Only one of the several bottles of 74 has been okay for a $10 syrah; the others (including recently) were hot, oaky, disjointed, and disappointing given the supposed source.
I’m not sure what the intent is, but these are every day cellar defenders for me, not something I would break out for a special occasion with a knowledgeable guest. ymmv.
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Eric, I have so far been underwhelmed by the WA syrahs, even for the price. Given the recent showing of 74 noted above, I’m afraid to even open a 99.
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Caved and bought a case!
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If you only sample a 1 oz pour of each you will be on “cruise control” by the time you make it 1/2 way through.
This is a serious tasting, and most likely your wives will be jelly that they missed it…
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OG N.28 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
3 years in the bottle, time to try my first #28.
Day of serving, early morning decant, some Brett (Brettanomyces) at first sniff. Then 1.25 hours later, back into bottle, the Brett has almost completely vanished.
At serving dominant notes of Leather, Dark Cherry and Cola. Plenty of oak tannins, Low acid/high pH?, similar structure to #100. Very approachable for a 2018.
Cam’s note said: kiss of Brett ( i was warned and a bit worried). Currently. at this point the minuscule brett adds to the overall complexity. It’s a benefit, not a bug, for my tastes.
I am very happy with this (60-70% NEW French Oak) ponderously delicious Napa CS!! The whole bottle was gone by 9pm, no Day2. It will likely age well for another couple of years. Hmmm… 1.5 Yums 
+
with Harris Ranch Choice grade Ribeye (shared the meat, not the wine)
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Hey Boris. I’m a huge fan of L219. One of my favorite dN wines ever. Very textbook Santa Ynez profile, but the 75% grenache gives it a lighter more expressive quality vs syrah. Wife and I just enjoyed a bottle with fresh tomato salad and crusty bread and it was like a culinary trip to Provence.
This was drinking better 18 mos ago. It’s gone to a dark place so I’m just sitting on the remaining inventory and hoping for improvement.
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We had the HHH 205 Merlot tonight. No time to decant, so the vinturi was drafted. Excellent, deep, rich, dark & expressive wine. Son-in-law said it reminded him of Pomerol. Sorry it’s no longer in the Bottle Shop
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Agree 100%! Drinking 244 tonight… delicious!!
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