Wine	Like It	Don't Like
2020 Patrick Piuze Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Les Minots	Yes
2020 Calvert Vineyard Pinot Noir	Yes
2012 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape	Yes
2017 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Rully Vieilles Vignes	Yes
2014 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne	Yes
2013 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Bourgogne Pinot Fin	Yes
2015 Domaine Louis Boillot et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champonnets	Yes
2022 Te Kairanga Pinot Noir	Yes
2014 Blain-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets	Yes
2014 L. Aubry Fils Champagne Ivoire et Ebene	Yes

2010 Jurassic Ridge Syrah
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4/24/2024 - HowardNZ Likes this wine:
Under diam closure. Similar notes to my previous tasting notes. Dark fruited, minerally and suave, fine grained tannins. Elegant with decent, fresh acidity. Unoaked. The alcohol at 14.8% ABV is a surprise - no sense of excessive heat on palate. Not falling over - drinking similarly to four years ago - but probably at its best before around 2029.
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2020 Patrick Piuze Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Les Minots
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4/6/2024 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 92 Points
Quite impressive! Fresh, citric and flinty. Chalky and energetic with green apple acidity. Full with decent volume, ripeness and length. A touch of salinity on the finish. I'm surprised it's drinking this well this young. Ideally however hold until 2027+. I wouldn't think it would be ultra-long lived but, on the strength of this Vaillons, I look forward to drinking Piuze's 2020 Grand Crus in a few years! 92+.
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2020 Calvert Vineyard Pinot Noir
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3/31/2024 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 89 Points
Fruit forward Central Otago pinot but with some earthy, brambly nuance. Fresh acidity balances the ripe fruit. In the zone for drinking now, and may lose youthful vigour if cellared, but, under screwcap, should drink in this style out to 2032+.
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ChristopherB says:

3/17/2019 12:19:00 AM - Hi Howard, thanks for your message. Yes, Central Otago was a great discovery for me when I traveled to New Zealand in 2009. Prior to that, I wasn’t a great fan of pinot noir, but I quickly found that the way it was done in Central Otago pleased me a lot. I subsequently started to drink pinot noir from other areas and have found some good ones, though I do remain quite picky and occasionally buy one from NZ when I can find them. Kind regards, Christopher
Tim Heaton says:

7/20/2017 5:16:00 PM - Howard, sorry for the late reply, up to my ears here; visiting family just left, etc. Anyway, I saw your tasting note, and, not surprisinglly I agree with your comments. I had a chance to taste this on 2 April, marked it in CT (so I knew to come back to it, my dumb filing system, if you will), and was to taste with the full lineup with Andrea at the cantina during the first week of June, but was ill that day (had to cancel Brovia, too, damn!). hope you're well, keep up the fine notes! cheers
Burgundy Al says:

4/25/2015 10:11:00 PM - Howard, Re Coche 2009 CC - lots of acidity for the vintage. Really came through middle to finish, even is somewhat obscured by the ripe fruit and concentration.

HowardNZ