6/6/2021 - casoe Likes this wine:

This was a positive surprise. Red berries, cherry, roses, oak, acidity ... but most of all extemely balanced, and everything just seems in the right place now.

3/18/2021 - casoe Likes this wine:

By far the best experience with this wine. Very dark and too heavy for my taste, but nice acidity and great depth and complexity. Dark berries, plum and vanilla.

3/14/2021 - casoe Likes this wine:

This is evolving nicely. Oak better integrated now. Not a very complicated wine but just such a pleasure to drink.

3/14/2021 - casoe Likes this wine:

Well made wine, but much too heavy for my taste. Nice acidity, but bordering cooked fruit. Not my kind of Rioja.

3/14/2021 - casoe wrote:

Fantastic nose - tar, roses, vanilla, licorice, dark berries, really textbook Barolo in perfect harmony. Still plenty of structure, and could evolve from here - but compared to my last bottle the taste is much more evolved and rounded. All in all a really great wine in a good place.

9/19/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Still very lean and best with food. Citrus, grape, green apples. Very balanced and high quality Chardonnay, would have a hard time to find same quality/price ratio in Burgundy.

9/19/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Nice, tasty, long and European style. But for me this is much more clumsy and uninteresting than the other and less expensive wines from here.

8/24/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Very drinkable, fruity, Burgundish. Red berries, fantastic nose, ends a little quick but otherwise really great.

6/12/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Much fresher and better than the bottle I had one year ago. Quite dark color, dark berries, tobacco, mint. High acidity and mature tannins. Very long and a real pleasure to drink. Still very young with clear upside.

5/20/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Roses, red berries, campher, tar. A little simple in the beginning and still quite primary, but gains significantly with some air, and ends up being a very nice experience in every way. Not as structured as I would have expected. Guessed older.

4/20/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Nicely balanced. Citrus, apple, but also some heavier red fruit notes.

4/17/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Even better than a couple of years ago. Not super complex but extremely balanced and long. Put it in a real wine glass and few top white Burgundies would be able to compete imo.

4/12/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Even better than last year. Chablis at its best. minerality, lime, green apples, but also some classical chardonnay buttery, oaky notes. Long, balanced and very drinkable. Grand cru level.

4/9/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Love everything except the price about this one. Just so easy to drink and perfectly balanced. Not as complex as Burgundy at the same price point, but for pure drinking pleasure this does very well. Raspberry, blueberries, more spicy than a typical French, but not over the top as most Germans. Crisp acidity and great lenght. I would and could drink a hole bottle of this any day and be willing to live with the consequences the next morning.

4/8/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Nice typical German pinot. Spicy and some syntetic baking spices I’m not so crazy about. Quite unimpressive. Like the cheaper Arthos much better.

3/27/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

What a pleasant surprise. Ananas, tropical fruit, but also still a refreshing acidity and balance. Fantastic length. Has aged very well and I think it will still improve from here.

3/27/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Still lots of fruit. Dark cherry, vanilla but also some balsamic tertiary things going on. Great length and complexity. Would have liked a little bit more structure, and not sure how this will age from here.

3/21/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

High expectations, probably the biggest issue here. It is on all accounts a very good wine. Deep dark fruit, pepper, perfect balance and incredible length. Sure it will be something very special 10-20 yrs from now, but at the moment it is quite one dimensional and generic.

3/18/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Fresh and quite fruity, with strawberry and blueberry. Some balsamic notes and still plenty of structure. Will wait at least a year before next bottle.

3/18/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Fresh, mineral, citrus, fine bubbles and extremely long aftertaste. Very nice but also a little simple and one-dimensional for what you pay, at least at its current state

3/6/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Dark berries, menthol, balsamic but also some strange rubber, medicine notes. Drank it with pleasure, but for the price I’m not impressed.

3/2/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Not quite living up to the large expectations this time. A little bit reluctant to give a lot in the nose and what it gives is pretty generic dark berries. In the mouth however it still is very impressive both in balance and especially in extreme length.

3/2/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

When you put the glass to your nose you pretty much get everything you could ever wish for in a Barolo. Cherry, tar, roses, truffles, licorice, tobacco .... something new everytime you raise the glass. The taste however is much less impressive. Quite thin and short. Not bad, but not aligned with the nose in any way. Perhaps just too young?

3/2/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Very Burgundy in style with very high acidity. Raspberry, light cherries. Reminds me of a good Savigny or Beaune in a lean year. Don't know if I like it better than French pinot at the same price point, but impressive this is possible in South Africa.

3/2/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Still very lively with both bubbles and acidity. Creamy, lemon, toast and butter, but a little shy and shorter than I would have liked and expected.

2/20/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

High quality wine in a very French style. Grape, lime, anis - very balanced, very long. Chablis acidity but more creamy and fruity. Not the most complex wine in the world, but really tasty.

2/20/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Very sauvignon blanc. Grass, tropical fruit - good balance and acidity, very aromatic. Easy to drink and like, but quite one dimensional

2/3/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

A really impressive wine. Will obviously improve but I'll expect this will be great in all phases of its development. Tasted blind, and while I was never in doubt that this was a high quality wine, placing it as pure sangiovese was more difficult. In the current phase this wine is all about balanced red fruit and well balanced french oak. What makes it stand out is the quality of the fruit - not unlike the feeling you get when a Burgundy really performs. Looking forward to follow this over the next many years.

1/22/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

A really good wine, hard to imagine anyone not liking this. Deep dark core of black berries, mint, iron, campher, super balanced, super long and super structured. Clearly improved on day 2. Hope this will gain a litlle more complexity over the years - right now it is too expensive for what you get.

1/21/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Cassis, dark berries, high acidity and a very lean style. Still very much bordeaux in a good but non extraordinary way.

1/10/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Okay, but not what I hoped for. Cigarbox, blackcurrant, dark cherry in the nose. Very extracted dark fruit and vanilla in the mouth. Very long, but also somewhat unbalanced with a burning sensation of alcohol. High acidity, so may find a better balance in a couple of years.

1/6/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

A real pleasure, and easy - almost too easy - to drink. Cherries, rasperries, vanilla, good acidity. Quite primary, but balanced.

1/5/2020 - casoe wrote:

Not giving a lot away currently. Dark fruit, high acidity but needs time to integrate.

1/5/2020 - casoe Likes this wine:

Very nice. A dark and heavy wine nicely balanced and structured. Dark cherries, licorice, spices, classical northern Rhone. Still very primary, will try to keep my hands of the last bottle for a couple of years.

12/25/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

In a good place. Still fruit, tannins and acidity, but nicely balanced with more tertiary earthy notes setting in. Did well with the Christmas dinner.

12/25/2019 - casoe Does not like this wine:

Next time I’ll serve ice cold in shots glass. Too heavy, burning alcohol, out of balance and certainly not my style. Licorice and cooked dark berries. But you certainly get a lot of everything, and impressive power and lenght.

12/16/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Not very complex, and quite sweet candy-like fruit. But also a good amount of acidity and freshness making it a really nice easy drinking crowd pleaser.

12/16/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Quite lean, but gains more weight and balance as it gets some air. Blackcurrant, spices. A little thin and short, but for the price this is very good and will certainly improve with time.

12/4/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Tasty, fat, oily and dark. Spicy, dark fruit, almost Barossa, but not completely over the top. Hope it will develop into something more balanced, because right now it is pretty far from the elegance I expect from a Northern Rhone

11/29/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Still doing well and would have loved to have more bottles to get back to over the next decade. Dropped a lot of the heaviness and nicely balanced elderflower, grape, citrus, acidity and still a sense of some sweetness.

11/27/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Still drinking very nicely. Not overly sweet or extracted but nicely balanced with dark berries amd lots of spices. Not super complex or long, but a very nice Gigondas.

11/22/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Nice, balanced but also very generic and unexciting. Could be well made chardonnay from anywhere - but you can do a lot worse than well made chardonnay, and quite okay QPR.

11/21/2019 - casoe wrote:

For the price this is a nice and fresh wine to drink without too much analysis.

11/21/2019 - casoe wrote:

Heavy, dark, clumsy and over the top, but not undrinkable.

11/19/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Really nice ... also day 3. Clear but dark, floral, black cherries, licorice, tar, mushrooms. A little bit flabby and soft, but very expressive and tasty. Almost unchanged over 3 days.

11/19/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Not as oxidated as expected. Mineral and very high acidity as a good chablis, but more orange and oxidated in the fruit. Grape, yellow apples and champagne like "nuttiness". Interesting to try something else - and for 15-20 euro I would buy again, but for twice that I'll look elsewhere.

11/14/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Always a good sign when a wine tops after being opened for 3 days. High acidity, good integration of oak and this nice elderflower, anais, citrus combination I also get in good Chablis grand cru. A really good wine that will certainly improve from here.

11/14/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Transparent ruby color with brown edges showing some devopment. Dark berries and a nice aroma of roses, tar, campher. Well balanced, with a good structure. Not as many tannins as expected, but still very “nebbiolo”. A little short currently, but probably will benefit from some further bottle age.

11/10/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

So much there, lots of raw tannins, high acidity and a very very dark expression on sangiovese. Black fruit, cigarbox, mushrooms. Still feels too young, but has the stuffing to become something special if you catch it at the right time.

11/10/2019 - casoe Likes this wine:

Cherry, roses, licorice and a lot of floral in the nose. Balanced and polished and difficult not to like if you love nebbiolo. But drinks more like a 2013 than a 2001, will certainly not touch my last bottle in the near future.