Great bottle of Beau Paysage.
10° !!
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Patrice Colin in Coteaux Vendômois is known for his vielles vignes Pineau d’Aunis, it’s quite good. He also makes a still white ‘Blanc de noir’ from it that is an interesting find.
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No votes for Domaine de Montrieux? Very old vines. I haven’t tried them under the new ownership which admittedly took place a long time ago. I think the new owners are supposed to be doing well.
I see notes on mostly European wines. Here is one from California.
2022 Conduit Syrah, Gold Dust Vineyard, Fair Play, El Dorado County. Unfined and unfiltered, low sulfur addition. 22 year old vines. Planted on decomposed granite, this wine is very minerally and composed on a medium bodied frame. Flavors of blackberry and some bacon fat with a hint of raspberry. Excellent lip smacking texture with 13% ABV and a long cascading finish. No funkiness and evolving over several hours. A wine that intrigues changes in the glass, stimulates the tastebuds and senses and inspires curiosity, it is a very nice match with Merguez lamb sausage on the Weber.
My only criticism is a shy nose that hopefully should fill out with some bottle age.
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I mean, I did forget CRB Pineau d’Aunis, but my god it’s not easy to find.
@Russell_Faulkner How is your read on this stuff — better now or after 5 years? There aren’t any older notes to reflect on of course…
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On the Mang? I reckon it’s good enough now not to worry too much. Might lose some vibrancy but gain some subtlety.
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Opened a magnum of 2006 Metras Fleurie yesterday. I really liked this wine. Soulful and interesting with some tertiary notes starting to emerge. There was a bit of funkiness and VA that bothered some people, but I believe most enjoyed it quite a bit…
I have a 06 Ultime left in my cellar, super excited to open that at some point 
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I’ve just had two Metras and no l’Ultime, but I don’t think anything outside of Jules Desjourneys comes close.
Haroon Rahimi Architecte (no vintage was listed)
I mentioned this wine in the Food and Wine section. Mika friend and owner of Les Enfants du Marche sent word ahead that I needed to try it. Of course without hesitation I said yes! All I knew was that it was Pinot from Alsace! It was a stunning soulful wine that grabbed my attention. It had a shocking and lovely hit of Rose with the silky texture of a high end Pinot but with a lively natural wine energy. And it was clean, very clean! But the hint of Rose was what took it from a very good wine to a great wine!
I discovered after the fact it is co-fermented with Rose pedals! F/#$ I have always poo pooed co-ferments, well I guess the joke is on me.
If anyone knows where to get these wines I am all ears. It reminds me of my first Xavier Caillard wine!
https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2024/11/a-winemakers-journey-from-afghanistan-to-alsace
And it turns out the wine is made in miniscule quantities by an Afghan war refugee who is living in Alsace. WOW!
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That’s great to know - thanks - because it’s fairly close to where I live and I’ve started to wonder about « local » wines.
But this whole thread is wonderful, full of new ideas and is really inspiring. I’ll try to contribute myself when I can try some of those mentioned.
Absolutely superb wine. Perhaps the best I’ve had in 2025 so far. Pulled the cork was instantly greeted with intense florals and ripe fruit - jasmine, magnolia, ylang ylang, peach, nectarine, and mango. Similar flavors on the palette with the addition of some herbs - sorrel, tarragon, and thyme - and lots of flinty minerality. Luxurious mouth filling texture matched by wonderfully potent acidity. Other than a hint of fizz that quickly calmed down, an extremely clean wine. Hauntingly delicious. I will be going out of my way to find more of this.
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If i was to replace Bruno Schueller in my cellar, Dreyer would be first pick. Ok maybe after Bannwarth… 
2016 Rojac Refosk
No picture this time. Close to 10 years from the vintage and if I compare to the last bottle which I had in 2020 or so, it’s mellowed a bit from the full on quite explosive intensity. Still lovely and energetic, but otherwise pretty much the same with a darker fruits, herbs, spices and still some bite to the tannins.
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Today it’s all Greek to me.
Another Greek Rose, from an unheard of variety. No intervention, cloudy. More strawberry juice, rose petals, watermelon, herbs. Good acidity, juicy, medium body. Not unlike the recent (possibly flawed?) Sylvain Pataille. Between solid and good.
100% Assyrtiko now. All kinds of citrus fruit, bananas(?), hazelnuts, herbal honey, oak. Dense and viscous. Little in common with Santorini, more like Northern Rhone Whites, but with more nerve. A bit stolid yet solid (sorry).
Domaine Labet Fleur de Savagnin 2018
This deeply particular smell that Savagnin has… After 12 hours the wine is open for business and has manifested itself with that strong sesame, apple, and acacia smell. The first sip is a battle between malo, oxidation, and acidity. Pears are the main dominant fruit here. The heat of the vintage is shining through. Amazing. I have one bottle left and will leave it for 8 years for the heck of it.
Domaine Rietsch - Quand le Chat n’est Pas la 2020
Roses, a bit of VA, and a creamy note. Strawberry, and a good dose of tannins and acidity. Love these Pinot Gris macerations. Is it red or orange? I don’t care. Fantastic value for the money at 20€.
I mean the Labet even more so for the 23€ I paid, but those days are long gone now…
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Had a bottle of Domaine Takahiko, Nana Tsu Mori 2022 over the weekend. Pickle juice.
Sounds like a wonderful pairing with Fermented Japanese foods?
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It was a huge birthday dinner (12 people) and half the bottle was full at the end.
i am not sure what people are expecting, take a look at the climate in hokkaido. cold and wet! i think more consistent ripeness is achieved with the main land regions and/or other varietals.