3/23/2024 - pjaines wrote:

This is all Loire-esque pleasure of green peppers and raspy tannins - imagine being licked by 20 cats. No screechy end notes here though - there is enough depth to provide some bass notes. Really really impressive.

12/3/2023 - Mwc33 wrote:

This was something of a disappointment, given the price and vintage. Color not showing the age at all, a full nose of blackberry, tobacco, and other savory notes, and then a bit of a one-act play on the palate. A classic, unmistakable Medoc flavor, and then . . . Nothing. No complexity, character, or backbone - which, again, was a bit disappointing given the pedigree and price. Was totally outshone at dinner (paired with beef bourguignon) by a West Sonoma Coast wine that cost about 60% of the Lynch-Moussas. Meh.

7/26/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This is probably my "Bordeaux of the year" - 15 quid and this is layered with flavours and aromas that you have no right to expect at this price. Classic Graves - crushed rock, dry earth, cigar box - and then classic 2016 - all that delicious fruit that is plump but not fat. The finish has a damp-clay, cool black fruit element to it. It feels like a grown up wine at student prices. Superb.

5/3/2023 - chatters wrote:

First Wednesday Wine Club (Francobollo, Haberfield): "Served Blind.
Ripe plums, sweet spice, slight red berry underpin, a little leather, earth. Medium plus intensity acidity, plenty of chalky tannins, slightly sour red over black fruits.
I was a bit stumped by this one"

4/14/2023 - chatters wrote:

Coravin fun - Domaine de Chevalier (My place, Kent Street): From Coravin. Cream, blackberry, a little cherry, plum, sweet spice, cedar. A very slight baked fruit quality. With time some blackcurrant and biscuit. On the palate it's very fresh black fruits, cedar, cream, sweet spice with plentiful drying coarse sandpaper tannins. All in balance. Long. Yum.

1/19/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Wow! This really is pure essence of sea breeze. Genuinely saline on the palate with zingy lemons and almost mouth-puckering acidity. This is quite wonderful. Will age for years. My brain is constructing a Venn diagram of sea water, Chablis-at-its-most-Chablis, chalk, fresh air and a view from a mountain overlooking the Adriatic sea.

12/26/2021 - pjaines Does not like this wine:

This wine is a complete disgrace and insult to moderation... taste.. good wine making. This is sweet... stewed... it is not even a fruit bomb but a tired flabby crappy peice of junk. The best phrase i hear about Parker ( who gave this peice of crap wine 100 points) is that in wine terms he likes blondes with big boobs. Ignore the cellartracker scores on this crime scene of a wine and search out better things.

3/2/2022 - chatters wrote:

Coravin fun - Domaine de Chevalier; 2/23/2022-3/6/2022 (My place, Kent Street): From Coravin. Brambles, blackcurrant, a little plum, cream, sweet spice, cedar, a little leather, toast with time. Juicy, fleshy, generous, brambles, tannins are softly textured with a slight drying tug, long, lovely , showing really well today.

8/25/2021 - pjaines Likes this wine:

If you love Burgundy but recoil and the prices then you need to get your ass over to Franche-Comte to see Msr Guillaume because these wines (and indeed all his pinot noir) are truly brilliant and superbly affordable.

The VV is the mid-range wine (a heart swelling 12 euros!!) and the 2017 is just about opening up for business now. Where the 2012 is driving along in topo gear, this is just waking up - but still has the trademark mix of acidity and soupy strawberry/sous bois notes. Some bottles are a touch grumpy right now...some are more open.... but give them time.

Stupendous value for money - superb wines across the range. I fell in love with these wines years ago and now they are a year-on-year multi-case purchase. Excellent.

Will age a long time....the 2012 has years left on it yet.

4/8/2021 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This is SPECTACULAR wine... it has all those layers of Etna Rosso rose and perfume notes but then there is an earthy, tannic backbone that lifts this above the other standard wines from the estate (the Don Peppino is another level - and price level), lifting it to Grand Cru burgundy levels of texture-meets-aroma-meets-potential. Rose, earth, grip, cherry. Wonderful.

1/11/2022 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This was much more open than I had expected - the tannins have retreated a touch and left an elegant wine with powdery-tannins. Even a touch of sweetness coming thru on the finish. Great pleasure!

7/2/2017 - pjaines wrote:

Back in the old days (2009) before I had started drinking Burgundy I had a Bachelet 2004 Cotes d Nuits and remarked how is smelled of charcoal. And here we are in 2017 with a lot of Burgundy under the bridge and there it comes up again: Charcoal. This time my brain can cope with it and this time it sits atop a beautiful wine with deep red fruit but punctured through like those charcoal and tangy notes that defy explanation when you dont have the Burg-tongue; I guess these days I'd call it meaty and briny and some other word, but charcoal seems to work. Great stuff. Could really do with 5 more years, but you wont be killing it by opening one right now.

11/14/2021 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Black fruit pulled taut so there is no looseness or flab anyway. A mineral spine gives an element of strictness - beautifully understated.

10/17/2021 - StefanAkiko wrote:

Capital Punishment in a bottle.
The wine is ... green!?!?
Smells totally like coolant and the wine is ... Green!?!?
No way in Hell I put this in my mouth.

7/5/2021 - WoodieBayArea wrote:

OK but not great, magnum format, felt a tad shut down (which for the first time for this vintage, in the last 6 months, I've felt with a few of my 2010's be shut... are they going to sleep???)... anyway, a bit shut, not friendly and open, but didn't have say a brutish structure / blockishness (like maybe 2006 is showing now)... this still felt like '10 but just shut... hoping I won't open my next magnum for 10 years

9/29/2020 - Ara Kafafian Likes this wine:

Hold on a second, let me buy a case and when I return, I will complete this review. Ok, I’m back. Blind, dark purple, tar, ink, darkest of berries glass staining richness, full body, ending on a restrained as it’s too young finish. Just wow! Earlier this year, I had rated the top end cuvée La Marguerite 93 points which costed $88 CAD. I am rating the Laquets 94 points which costs less than half at $42 CAD so you decide which one to buy. I can’t recommend enough. It will last at least 20 years. A monster.

4/26/2018 - chatters wrote:

Leeuwin Estate Birthday dinner (with ringins) (Bitton Restaurant, Erskinville): Muted savoury and slightly baked black fruits; berries an currant and dusty spice. Slight herbaceous notes & cedar, vanilla. Savoury, peppery, spicy oak married to muted dark fruits, tannins are quite drying and broad and close the palate down. With time a herbaceous note and some slightly unripe blackcurrant, spice. good.

12/19/2020 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Where the hell did this come from? out of nowhere like a sneaky little unexpected guest, this is now one of the best wines I've had this year. Regal, elegant, it just got better and better as it unwound. At first tight and very much at the "chiselled from rock" end of the spectrum, it slowly unfurled to show whisps of black fruit and tannins that pulled off the trick of being there, but not being there. Schrodinger's Tannins. The drive and focus of the wine is stunning - it is neither fruit bomb, nor austere, neither mature, nor old. It just exists in its own space-time continuum. If you could plot out its taste and smell on a graph then it would be narrow but deep - there is no waste here. God, I only purchased one bottle. I rushed back across London today for their last bottle this morning. "Sorry, it has gone". My heart cracked.

11/20/2020 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Well, this is truly wonderful and unexpected and quite amazing on a Friday night... a swirly mix of Loire red, Burgundy and Bordeaux with a splash of "not from Kansas". No idea what is in the glass, but it is brilliant.

7/19/2015 - pjaines Likes this wine:

This is a proper grown-ups wine - so much refinement, complexity and less-is-more elegance. Very fined boned but the years have given this a touch of meaty hung-game and funky cherry on the nose - there is a lurking sweetness on the nose that comes up on the palate as acidic and tarte - they work well together. Needs food (a nice fatty duck would be brilliant) as the acidity really starts to show after 2 hours.

As a side note I drank from both a Zalto Burgundy glass and a Spiegelau Burgundy glass - the Zalto really accentuated the game and perfume, whereas the Spiegelau brought out the fruit.

9/24/2018 - chatters wrote:

South African wine tour - Day three (Stellenbosch): A little wood glue, black cherry, slight cork taint…same on the palate, more savoury though. Bit meh for me.

8/7/2020 - pjaines Likes this wine:

A lovely little Friday night bargain here - made sure this was served just above cellar temperature and straight away this was raring to go. All the typical Nebbiolo notes come flowing out of the glass - a beautiful colour of mahogany and then on the palate the grip that is still there after 25 years. Not a super complex Barolo but a supremely enjoyable one. A glimpse of what this grape can do with age and for £35. Hazaar.

6/12/2020 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Hey you.... yeah you over..... there looking for a nice Bordeaux? Yeah I got me a nice one .... 12 quid... yeah really....., no wait....come back.... seriously 12 quid. That is, like, 15 bucks..... come on man. I know it dont have no fancy label .... but its good. Black fruit, red fruit ? yeah sure.,,, great stuff... Tannins? Yeah we got those as well... Balance and other stuff too...... serve this with no label and no one will know the difference between this and the $$$$ stuff. Sssshhhh

5/19/2020 - skurtz Likes this wine:

Last bottle from a case purchased at auction in 2015, and continuously sampled since then. I've noticed this wine slowly decline, losing some of the vibrancy of fruit that I enjoy. Tonight's bottle is similar to the last few I have tried in recent months, earth and tobacco on the nose, more earth, sousbois, faint red and black cherries, and an acid finish. Nice claret, to be sure, but I'm not too sad this is the end of the line for this particular case. Good but not great. 91/92

4/27/2016 - chatters wrote:

Moss Wood (Custom House, Circular Quay, Sydney): 2nd bottle tried for variation sake. Much of a muchness. Perhaps a touch more leathery and biscuity on the nose. With agitation the same qualities as the previous tasting are evinced….Perhaps this bottle is very slight butter. A briny quality joins blackcurrant fruit. Plentiful oak and spice. On the palate, yes, this is in slightly better condition. beautifully balanced with the tannins more resolved and harmonious, blackcurrant fruit, cream, briny elements, very slight leather and the tannins though firm are more integrated. Long. Very good.

3/1/2020 - pjaines wrote:

This lacks the verve and cut that this wine usually delivers - if tasted blind I would have said it was a generic picpoul.

10/6/2019 - huse wrote:

A big disappointment. A completely unbalanced wine with heavy caramelized aromas on the nose and strong stewed plum fruit on the palate. Just drinkable but not really enjoyable. Only a one-off setback, or the sign to drink up your remaining bottles?

Een zeer teleurstellende wijn, volledig uit balans, met een bouquet van stevig gekarameliseerde aroma’s en sterk gestoofd pruimenfruit in de mond. Drinkbaar maar ook niet meer dan dat. Ik weet niet, of dit een éénmalige tegenslag was, dan wel het signaal om uw resterende flessen snel op te drinken.

9/11/2019 - pjaines wrote:

Perfectly polite an well mannered Bordeaux that comes with a rather agreeable £9 price tag. Very much an early drinker with soft fruit but decent enough grip. A bit of a purple-fruited whack on the back of the palate but all-in-all decent stuff for the price of a bottle of supermarket plonk.

1/18/2019 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Like an unexpected night out that turns into a proper all-nighter that you end up talking about for weeks afterwards; First pour I could see this had that "otherness" of Burgundy; light, transparent and a nose of "yes, no, maybe". There is a lightness of touch here that blossoms out over 30 minutes and then you are fully engaged and the next thing you know you are talking about the greatness of Burgundy and how this is only £35 per. Such is the fickle nature of this region that it is a humble NSG yet it was way better than the Grand Cru you had last week. Plus ca change....etc

much more pefurmed than the 2010 (which was also excellent in a more mature way)..... I'd be very happy to have a case or 2 of this to drink over the next 10 years

6/16/2018 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Woooooo...... finally. This is slowly unfurling at long last. The 07 vintage is very much front and centre, especially if you taste the 93 which is only just getting out of its pyjamas and making a cup of tea but carries a hammer in its hand....just in case. The 07 is softer and friendlier and if it was your neighbour you could imagine inviting him around for a bbq and not feel threatened..... but underneath is a slowly developing feral smell that is growing year on year. Very good for now. Enjoy the 2007s whilst you wait for the 2010 and 2012s to turn into hardcore nutters who will cave your head in with an ice-pick when they are 40 years old.

5/24/2018 - Mattshank wrote:

3 hour decant (mag decanter). Nose: Funk, earth, scorched black fruits and traces of bacon fat. Palate: Decent acid levels but tannins are quite soft making me question ageability of this wine. High toned blackberries with traces of cement and a medium length finish. Good effort but remaining bottles will probably be on a 6-9 month drink schedule (time frame between bottles) given the overly soft tannins and youthful approachability.

5/21/2018 - pjaines wrote:

This is starting to unfurl and reveal secondary characteristics, and I can admire the sheer "Bordeaux-ness" of the wine, although I think it lacks excitement and wedges itself firmly into the "very very good top end bordeaux" taste profile (insert generic Bordeaux aromas here)....

Lovely wine, and no doubt about the quality. Its just a bit boring.

4/29/2018 - khmark7 wrote:

Needs a decant to open up aromatically. Very plush with resolved tannins, and low acidity. Unfortunately i find this rather dull & monolithic. Not an easy wine to pair with food. Despite the pedigree I don't see this wine's trajectory anywhere but down. Cocktail wine.

4/13/2018 - chatters wrote:

Coravin fun - Bordeaux (My place, Kent Street): From Coravin. Savoury berry and blackcurrant, a touch of animal, polished oak. In the mouth there is fresh acidity, tangy black fruit, tight drying tannins and it's long and savoury. Needs time though it shows promised.

11/10/2017 - cjohnson2960 Likes this wine:

I respectfully disagree with Ms. Larner and Messrs. Galloni and Suckling. This Brunello is certainly good. At present, however, it is not very good much less exceptional - even after oxygenating with Menu and Vinturi and several hours of decanting. I will hold my other bottles until the reviews suggest the wine has improved. The reported drinking window of 2017-2030 should be re-evaluated.

10/15/2017 - pjaines wrote:

Proper Burgundy! A really good nose on this with all those high toned cherry notes and then slapped through with a tiny bit of feral, earthy action. Benefits from 30 minutes of air and being served at cellar temperature - lots of iron and minerals on the palate with a tangy finish. Reminds me of the Pataille Marsannay wines with its loose knit finish. Stupidly good value at £19.

12/25/2016 - pjaines Likes this wine:

BOOOOM! This is probably the most Grand Cru-like Grand Cru I've had in years - everything about this wine is about depth and quality and, counter-intuitively, reserved elegance. There a fantastic gritty, earthy depth that evokes the image of some hunchbacked serf toiling on the land .... and then the nose and finish are just regal and everything in the universe aligns and this is transformed into a perfumed Hepburn-like swan. Drinking well now but this will be spectacular in 10 years.

7/4/2017 - chatters wrote:

The finest of Bordeaux (Ivy Bottle Shop, Sydney): From Magnum. Cassis, plums, sweet fruit forward with oak and touches of liquorice. It's a little out of whack on the palate, the acidity feels a little out of order to the fruit and the whole feels less harmonious than the 2006. tannins are grippy but fine textured. Hmm. Actually, with time in the glass, this begins to calm and soften and integrate. Good to see this wine but far too young.

6/24/2017 - Tussius wrote:

Lime zest, papaya and peonies today, but was opened yesterday with a rather muted nose. It needed time.

Hits my palate with a combination of breadth and intensity that I rarely experience. It felt like a dual jolt to the spine and heart and left me slightly numb as I savored the aftertaste. What a finish it has! Leaves me with a dry yet fruity, zesty feeling that lasts and lasts. This has been the best white wine I've had in a very long time.

Must find more.

7/4/2017 - pjaines wrote:

Ooof - much richer and less ready than the previous bottle. This has a very pronounced oaky finish and rugged tannins. Some bottle variation here (not in a bad way) - some just appear more ready than others. Stupidly good value for money.

4/28/2017 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Proper Burgundy for a bargain - this is striding into a great place now and will stay there for a long time; the 98 was drinking beautifully earlier this year. The palate shifts between dark fruit wiith meaty sous-bois to refined cherries and there is a finely woven structure across the palate that clicks this into place beautifully. Punching way above its appelation.

4/6/2017 - pjaines wrote:

Tight, unyielding and quite angular. Hmmmmmm. Either leave for 300 years or look elsewhere - a tough one to love.

3/26/2017 - chatters wrote:

Sunday lunch with the Wine-Ark boys (Frank's place in Matraville): Medium minus intensity aromas of green and black peppercorns over blackberry and plentiful sweet spice. Juicy, fleshy and peppery on the palate over the black berry fruit. Drying tannins as well but not out of whack My palate must be having a funny day - I enjoyed this. Good

2/18/2017 - Francophile1 Likes this wine:

Hard for me to write this review because my Francophile moment with wine occurred with a bottle of 1995 Pichon Lalande and the love affair has continued with the 1982 & 1996 vintages. However, this did not live up to my expectations. A decent nose, but reticent and not throwing classic Pauillac aromas except for black licorice, cedar, but still very primary. The tannin is resolved, fine, and silky smooth. However, there was an off putting plastic like after taste that I do not like. I far prefer the 2001 to the 2002 vintage.

1/9/2017 - pjaines Does not like this wine:

Utter filth. Just gloopy fruit and no structure. Massive heavy fruit. I really dont see how this could ever be rated so highly - everything is turned up to the max without any thought for how this ages. No tannins - all there is is just sweet fruit that flops onto the tongue and festers. I can't see this turning into a swan at all. Terrible.

6/9/2016 - Paul S wrote:

2007 Burgundy Grand Cru Dinner (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, Paragon): This really set the tone for a lovely evening - it was about the most elegant and easy-drinking young Corton as I ever had. In fact, it came across as even more feminine than the Volnay Champans that we had alongside, so much so that the table almost unanimously guessed that it was a Chambolle. It had lovely floral nose, with perfumy scents of roses and violets drifting around sweet red cherries and berries, and then just a minerally touch at the sides. Very pretty. The palate came across as soft and silky in its richly red-fruited attack, almost feigning a certain fresh lightness at first, but pay a bit of attention and one quickly realises that the wine was really quite dense, with a sweet depth of red fruit on the midpalate layered over a base of minerally earth. The finish showed slightly more austerity, with a grip of fine-boned tannins and some stern minerality coming to the fore as the fruit hides away a little. I found this to be a very accomplised, polished wine. Drinking surprisingly early, but with the chops to last. Lovely.

12/12/2016 - pjaines Likes this wine:

Well this has put its boots on in the last couple of years - a really impressive wine now with depth on the palate and impressive complexity on the nose. Black fruit layered over cherries and chocolate - still a good bit of bite on the palate. No rush to drink, I'd say this has just started to move into its drinking window. Very good.

7/15/2014 - chatters wrote:

Eden Road tasting and dinner (North Sydney Cellars): medium minus aromas of lemon curd, toast, slight butter, mineral hints and slight sweet spice notes. In the mouth the wine is zesty with a juicy lemon tang, some toast notes, slight mid palate grip and a mouth coating quality, fruit carries long. Mmm. niceish

11/29/2016 - pjaines Likes this wine:

A regal and fine specimen that exudes restrained class. Pure, clean with a firm spine but never angular. This is seriously polished and still a long way from really being ready, with no sign of heaviness at all. This will be going strong for another 30 years without breaking sweat. One for your kids to enjoy.

11/14/2016 - pjaines wrote:

This is closed up tight right now and even a long decant doesn't loosen it up much. Black fruits, some muted earthy elements and still a bit blocky. Come back in 5 years.