4/3/2023 - brigcampbell wrote:

Blind. I was all over the map on this one but ultimately thought it was a brunello.

Dark plum and sandalwood with an oaky cherry finish. Shocking how useful this wine is.

10/28/2023 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

I don’t agree with the last review. This is high quality brunello that is drinking well now and may even improve with more age.

12/30/2022 - speverest54 wrote:

$10. Dusty farmyard and medicinal. Looks clear, bright, pale, no gas, no sediment. Ruby with Garnet hue, no staining, runny tears. Nose brett, pronounced, vinous. Desiccated red & black fruits. Dusty, farmyard, old blanket, no wood, medicinal. Fruit fresher on palate. Low acidity, med low tannin coddles the tongue then gums. Long finish, good balance, called 13% alch. Better with food. Would drink again at home. Copertino is found in Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot aka ‘the place with no rain’. Negroamaro is the grape ~2k yrs old translates to ‘bitter black’. Try one from Salice Salentino DOC

11/16/2022 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

This is a blend of nebbiolo and barbera (50/50 according to online sources) aged in new oak. I’m typically resistant to anything untraditional in the wine world, but this wine works for me. It has exceptional weight and intensity, good structural balance, and a complex flavor profile. It tastes like it is still on the upswing and certainly will drink well a decade from now. For under $40 a bottle at KLWines auction, this is a steal.

2/18/2022 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Although 2000 Bordeaux is characterized as ripe and round by many online sources, that is not what I taste here. This wine is lean and mean with no excess weight or sweetness. It is excellent wine, without question, but it is decidedly dry and savory. The aromas remind me of tapenade, old leather, and eucalyptus. Not much fruit. I really like this wine. It tastes sophisticated. But truthfully, I’d prefer more sweet black fruit. This wine is a little too serious for me to love.

2/11/2022 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

This is a unique and special wine. It has a pretty bronze-salmon color. The nose is exotic and unlike any other rosé I’ve tasted, with aromas of toffee, walnuts, yeast, raspberries, and fino-like funk and salinity. This wine has more in common with sherry than a Provençal rosé. The wine’s waxy texture is reminiscent of this producer’s white wines. There is no questioning the complexity, intensity, and distinctiveness of this wine. If I were a sommelier looking to make premium wine pairings, I would treasure this wine. But it is not a crowd pleaser by any means, nor does it really appeal to my tastes, which are getting stodgier as I grow older.

1/3/2022 - rmalloy wrote:

I’ve given German rieslings a fair chance. I’m taking the gloves off now. This is another sugary sweet abomination. The weak, alcohol-deficient structure and syrupiness ruin the grape’s outstanding character and complexity. Alsace is where it’s at for riesling.

6/22/2021 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

I’ve yet to rate any vermentino higher than 90 in ten or so reviews. It isn’t a very impressive grape in my opinion. This wine is, however, soft and likable, with peach, green apple, floral, and almond flavors.

4/23/2021 - rmalloy wrote:

Lots of Brett, which I liked years ago but now consider a flaw. Beyond that, concentrated red berry fruits (especially strawberries) with classic green bell pepper notes. A little too tannic now. Probably would have scored 90+ with me but for the Brett.

1/1/2021 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Excellent wine. More elegant than powerful. Notes of tart red cherries, roses, and tobacco, with some dried prunes and figs starting to emerge. This still tastes young, though it's certainly read to drink now.

10/12/2020 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Very good. Balanced flavors and texture. Tastes exactly like what I would expect right bank Bordeaux of this pedigree to taste like, but a little boring.

7/11/2020 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Interesting aromas that I find appealing. Although I agree with the tasting notes referencing horse manure and bandaid (brett, I believe), I find sweet floral and fig aromas more prominent. In my view, the weakness of this wine is not in the aromas but rather in the structure, where the acidity is so low that the wine seems flat and dull. Low acidity is the Achilles' heel of CdP, but some wines can overcome it with outstanding concentration, which this wine does not have. Sorry to say, this wine does not come close to the 96-98 reviews I see from prominent critics.

I would drink now.

2/9/2020 - rmalloy wrote:

Although this wine is tasty and elegant, I felt it lacks depth and profundity. I discerned notes of chocolate (cocoa), graham cracker, orange zest, and grapefruit. I think this wine would benefit from extended aging to develop more complexity.

I do not have a well-developed palate for champagne, so I give limited weight to my own assessment. If I had to give a rating, I would rate it 91.

7/14/2016 - rmalloy wrote:

Smoky, ungiving nose. Tart cherries and blackberries. Not bad, a serious wine, but too acidic and liquidy for me to enjoy. Ample tannins on the finish. I think this wine has good aging potential, but I doubt it will age into a wine I want to drink. I expect the tannins to integrate into the texture, which would be an improvement.

3/19/2019 - rmalloy wrote:

Very concentrated, but very mature. Profound aromas of cola, wood spice, dried brown figs, aged balsamic, and leather. Bright cherry preserves assert more on the palate. The texture is surprisingly thick, with both fleshy fruit and gritty tannins. The finish is quite bitter and tannic.

To be honest, I don't like this wine. It is too bitter and tannic, and I prefer more fruit sweetness.

8/9/2018 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Excellent. The best soave I've tasted. Multiple layers of flavor: flowers and peaches, citrus, yeast, and bitter almond. Good acidity. Interesting from start to finish. Held its own with good food.

Tasted at Factory Kitchen LA.

7/17/2018 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

I really like this wine. It has a good balance of drinkability and seriousness. It flows easily but has good weight from fruit flesh and integrated tannins. The taste profile offers sweet red and black fruit along with pencil shavings and licorice. This wine comes together as more than the sum of its parts and is a real winner.

2/24/2018 - WineRomance Likes this wine:

This is a very well-balanced and exuberant champagne. I particularly like the sweet fruity flavors (apple, banana and honey), which work in perfect harmony with the refreshing bright minerality, plus a light hint of yeast. The wine was served chill, and I really enjoyed it both by itself and accompanying oysters.

2/20/2018 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Excellent. This evokes memories of a bottle of Haut Brion I drank recently. There is a rich -- almost dried -- dark fruit character to the wine with streaks of cedar and warm brick undertones. Smooth and chocolatey with tea-like tannins and tingly minerality. Drinks easily now, and I see no reason to delay gratification.

7/21/2017 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Winefolly describe grenache as having an "unmistakable candied fruit roll-up and cinnamon flavor." Check. Winefolly also says: "When Grenache is grown in Old World regions such as Côtes du Rhône and Sardinia, it can have herbal notes of dried oregano and tobacco." Check for oregano. Perhaps the oregano is what provides the bitter edge that I find detracts from this wine, or perhaps it's the 14% alcohol level.

I don't like this wine very much. The fruit stagnates on the palate and fades into bitterness. I feel like grenache shows better when blended with mourvedre and syrah; otherwise, it is too one-dimensional.

7/11/2017 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Superb. The combination of complexity and smoothness reminds me, perhaps unsurprisingly, of the 2003 Quilceda Creek cabernet I drank recently. This wine doesn't have that kind of power, but it is more enjoyable to my tastes due to the livelier acidity. I love how the cedary herbaceousness is interwoven with the rich fruit; nothing sticks out. I love the deft touch of chocolate-y oak in the background. I like the fine but substantial tannins. It's getting hard for me to stay an Old World snob when I taste a wine like this, which surely outclasses 90%+ of Bordeaux in the same price range.

6/4/2017 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Good, but not one of my preferred Beaucastel vintages. Nose of brett-y red fruit, fig, game, and menthol. Sweet and voluptuous. Decent acidity. Lip-smacking, satisfyingly sweet finish. Good tannic grip. Bitter on the finish.

p.s.: Interesting that many reviewers perceive brett while many others say "no brett." I am not sure whether brett is the subject of bottle variation. But I am certain that my bottle was affected by brett, and negatively so in my opinion. There is an interesting tasting note from Famille Perrin on their website: "slightly Pinot." http://www.beaucastel.com/our-wines/?vincod=BR98E. Why should CdP in a good vintage taste like pinot? I think it's the brett that is reminiscent of many a cru-class red burgundy.

10/29/2016 - rmalloy wrote:

This port seems average and non-descript to me. Fine flavors but rather flat.

10/23/2016 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

Refined nose of green olives, caramelized nuts, dried fruit, and bitter yeast. Huge salinity. Unusually high intensity-to-body ratio

Despite my research efforts, I cannot determine what qualifies a sherry as "palo cortado." All I can say is that, like an amontillado, it has some characteristics of a fino and some characteristics of an oloroso.

10/9/2016 - rmalloy wrote:

Tasted blind. Reticent nose. Eventually gave up some herbs, tobacco, smoke, and blueberries, but not a whole lot of anything. Ripe blueberry and green tobacco in the mouth. Clear pyrazine character. Good mineral sparkle—perhaps the best quality about this wine. Tannins are pretty strong and dry in the throat. This needs a few more years.

I find this to be a strange wine. It seems balanced and well-made, but it is deadly dull. Putting aside the mineral sparkle, it just dies in the mouth. Rating: 85.

Guess the wine. I’m really not sure. It just seems like a mediocre Bordeaux blend.

Non-blind p.s.: I am curious how professional critics conduct their blind tastings. For example, is this wine up against great wines from Pauillac, St. Julien, and Margaux, or is it tasted against other wines from Moulis? I don't see how this wine can score 90+.

5/29/2015 - mpsocal wrote:

This had to be flawed. It was horrible. There was no fruit on this just a funky tar taste. Nose was just as bad. Kind of disappointing.