Search results for: 'model a one plot'

98 Points! This is one of the most structured L’Ifs I have had with currants and cherries, and chalk and salt undertones. Full and muscular. Long, long finish. The tannins and fruit go on and on. Give it three or four years to soften. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Coming mostly from vines near Troplong Mondot and based on 79% Merlot and 21% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 L'If is a smoking good Saint-Emilion that sports a deep ruby/purple hue, notes of ripe black fruits, chocolate, graphite, earth, and tobacco, full-bodied richness, and sweet, integrated tannins. The balance here is spot on, and while this opens up with air, it shows the structured, classic, incredibly impressive style of the vintage perfectly. Give bottles just 4-6 years if you can (it offers pleasure even today) and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

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92 Points! The 2022 Les Grands Chênes is plump, juicy and wonderfully expressive right out of the gate. Succulent red cherry, plum, leather, rose petal and sweet spice are beautifully amplified in this racy, engaging red from Bernard Magrez. Sweet floral and spice notes reappear on the finish. The 2022 is an absolute delight. Tasted two times. Drinking window : 2025-2034 - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

92 Points! Fine baking spices, ripe but fresh plums and berries on the nose. Juicy and medium-bodied, with soft-grained tannins and a nicely fluid and juicy finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! Darker currants, leafy tobacco, chocolate, and spring flower notes all emerge from the 2022 Château Les Grands Chênes, a charming, medium-bodied, elegant 2022 that has beautiful purity of fruit, supple yet present tannins, and nicely integrated acidity. It's not massive, yet it shines for its balance and elegance. - Jeb Dunnuck

 

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One of the most lush and rich Whiskeys on the market. The nose is walnuts, prunes, and floral notes. The palate mimics the nose with walnuts, prunes, spices, intertwined with lavender and balanced with the perfect amount of acid, that leads you down a path of lingering burnt caramel. Learn More

The Forest Marié Brut 1er Cru Millésime 2012 is their current release. Love that. The blend here is 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay, sourced from 67–80-year-old vines grown on calcareous soils in their Chaillots and Mont des Chrétiens vineyards. Their microscopic production of 523 cases aged en tirage for nearly 12 years before disgorgement in December 2024.

Again, we look to wines like Dom Perignon Oenotheque and Cristal’s Vinotheque program as comparables, when you talk about the quality of the fruit, the aging time, the farming costs, all the same.

Those aforementioned wines sell for thousands of dollars a bottle.

This one? $64.98.

The level of value here borders on the absurd. No fluff, no gimmicks, no scores, no marketing team, just a hellaciously good bottle of Champagne from one of the best harvests of the last 25 years. It’s drinking great now, and it’ll continue to provide glorious drinking for another decade of you so choose.

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98 Points! The 2023 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #10 is very clear, fresh and precise on the spring-like nose. Flavors of crushed rocks, salts and lime zest drag into the glass, and the wine, once on the palate, is full of energy and very fine raisin, even blueberry and wax leaf aromas. This beautifully balanced and silky Domprobst Spätlese is full of finesse and reveals a playful, irresistible character with perfectly ripe fruit that is like an idea of fruit rather than material on the palate. This is a subtle stunner and one day will probably be even finer than the gorgeous Himmelreich Spätlese. 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in August 2024. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

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Always one of the best bang for buck wines from Chianti.

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Falanghina Benevento is one of two sub varieties typically grown inland of Campania, whereas Falanghina Flegrea is the known coastal variety. This is 100% Falanghina from a Practicing Organic vineyard of 20-30 year-old vines grown in Sannio on chalk, clay and sand. Fermentation and aging in stainless steel.

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Located on the slope of the Roche de Solutré (one of two ancient reefs that dramatically mark the landscape of Vergisson), ‘En Buland’ faces northeast. Soils mix limestone and clay. Vines planted in 1934. Hand-harvested. Pressed full cluster; juice placed in
temperature-controlled tanks overnight to settle; transferred via gravity to French oak barrels to ferment on indigenous yeasts. Aged in barrel (20% new oak) for 12 months; after racking, the wine ages an additional three months in tank. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

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96 Points! On the nose, this refined and silky wine shows violets, raspberries, blackcurrants and crushed stone. Medium-bodied, with cocoa and sandalwood. The center palate is deep and flavorful, solid fruit and a wonderful texture going long and horizontal. It makes you smile. Drinkable now but better in a year or two. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Perfumed nose, full of pot pourri, scented flowers, dried raspberries and cherries. Really quite evocative, maybe in a vertical you'd pick this out from the nose but it smells wonderful and rich with cool blueberries. Round and charming, this is gorgeously soft, tannins are so inviting, caressing the mouth, not deep at all, this is delicate and primed to float across the tongue, registering the flavours but no heaviness. Almost ethereal in its performance. Really very delicious, full of flavour and character. Gorgeous styling and only got better after half an hour in the glass. Succulent, mineral, graphite, limestone touches on the finish remind you where you are. - Decanter Magazine

 

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Tropical and mature, with the texture of melted chocolate and one of the finest finishes a single malt can bring, this stunning whisky calls for quiet admiration. Round and velvety, yet developed and fresh. Smoothed over by time, but with a beating heart.

Leatherwood honey and spicy gingerbread followed by juicy prunes and fresh lemon peel on the nose followed by a palate bursting with dark chocolate, tropical fruit and spices. Long and mellow on the finish with notes of creamy vanilla and citrus.

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From the winery:

The 2022 Bald Mountain Zinfandel is the second release of our single vineyard Zinfandel and is comprised of 100% fruit from the Bald Mountain Vineyard. This old vine Zinfandel is grown in the mountain vineyard off of Wall Rd and is one of the most stunning vineyards in the North Coast. The old vines produce a concentrated and ripe Zinfandel that will age for years.The fruit was picked on September 23rd, 2022 and arrived at the winery early in the morning before being destemmed to tank. The wine was then macerated for 14 days until the completion of alcoholic fermentation.  After draining it was racked to 30% new American Oak barrels where is aged for one year before being bottled in August.

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97 Points! This has rich dark-fruit and smoky character with notes of ripe plums, black olives, spices, cocoa and clay-like soil. Some sweet tobacco, too. Full body, layers of fine, polished tannins and a round, creamy texture. Pure fruit with a touch of blue flowers. Rich and complex, yet fresh and delicious. Long and firm with a polished, earthy finish. Really impressive and rather decadent at the end. Le Pin-like. Try after 2025. - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

98 Points! The 2019 Enclos Tourmaline is a tiny production Pomerol coming from a one-hectare vineyard beside Clinet. It's a rich, powerful, yet incredibly elegant Pomerol that does everything right, offering beautiful cassis and darker cherry fruits, notes of cedarwood, spicy oak, and chocolate, full-bodied richness, silky tannins, and a great finish. It marries opulence with finesse perfectly and is one heck of an impressive Pomerol that can be drunk any time over the coming 25 years or so. Pomerol was one of the standout appellations in 2019, and this shows it. - Jeb Dunnuck

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From the importer: Giuseppe Gorelli’s first Brunello vintage was in 1987 under his grandfather’s label, Due Portine-Gorelli. A decade later, his family sold the estate to Il Palazzone so that Giuseppe could start his own estate with his wife, Gigliola Gianetti, who left Biondi Santi so they could create Tenuta Le Potazzine, which over the following decades collected some of the highest praise awarded to any-classically-styled grower of Brunello di Montalcino.

Gianetti and Gorelli split a few years ago, with their daughters taking over the reins at Le Potazzine, and Giuseppe keeping 6 hectares of their old vines (5ha on the north side of the city of Montalcino, plus one south-facing hectare in Sant’Angelo in Colle) to continue farming himself. His unique situation on the North side of the hill of Montalcino, combined with an immacultate dedication to organic farming, gives a freshness and fine aromas to his wines. The new cellar he built for this final act is simple but spotless, and likewise, his style of winemaking is one of restraint and precision.

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100 Points! The 2021 Masseto is a stunner. It also shows how much the estate has evolved in recent years. I was reminded of that recently when I drank the 2001, considered by many observers, including this one, to be one of the greatest wines ever made here. The 2021 represents a move towards a more refined style. There’s less of the bombastic intensity and extraction that were once the norm here. I remember young vintages that were impossible to taste young. The 2021, on the other hand, is an absolute delight. Crushed flowers, spice, blood orange and bright, red-toned fruit all grace the palate. Floral aromatics and saline underpinnings are at times reminiscent of the Cabernet Franc found in the 2019 and 2020, but the 2021 is back to the classic 100% Merlot. Readers will find a Masseto built on linear energy more than volume. The 2021 is quite simply the most exquisite, refined young Masseto I have ever tasted. Aging was 24 months in 100% new French oak. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

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98 Points! The 1996 Leoville-Las Cases is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 16% Cabernet Franc picked between 25 September and 10 October (for fascinating insight, read Robert Parker's remarks about the blend with Michel Delon in the original tasting note). Now at 20 years, it has evolved into an absolutely stunning Saint Julien, clearly one of the best wines from the estate this decade. The bouquet is beautifully defined with intense black cherries, cedar, mint and a touch of oyster shell that seems to gain intensity in the glass. The palate is seamless from start to finish, extraordinarily pure, the 70% new oak totally assimilated of course, impressive weight and power allied with genuine finesse and tension towards the silky smooth finish. It stands as one of the best wines of the vintage without one iota of doubt and it will last 30-40 years without problem. You might call it "proper Claret." You might call it "delicious." Tasted July 2016. - Neal Martin, robertparker.com

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97 Points! Lots of caramel and honey on the nose and palate, together with biscuits, dried lemons and mangoes. Full-bodied with a freshness that frames the wine nicely, giving it form and energy. Fantastic chardonnay. Best one from here in a long time. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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93 Points! The more traditional 2012 Gran Reserva comes from one of the driest years on record. It's mostly Tempranillo with some 3% Graciano matured in American oak barrels, 25% of them new, for 26 months, despite which, the wine is not excessively oaky. They wanted to keep the traditional profile but adjusted the toast on the barrels to adjust the excessive vanilla and coconut. This is structured, powerful, ripe without excess, spicy and balsamic, developing the bouquet, still young and with very good balance. It should be long lived. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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96 Points! From one of the warmer sites in the appellation, the 2023 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard is big in style, tannin, and dark berry flavor yet well-balanced, a showcase of intensely rich, layered fruit that is accented in sage, spice, and dried herb. Winemaker Sean Capiaux has worked with Pisoni since 1998, and as such is one of the longest-standing purchasers of that fruit, and his understanding of the site is in clear view here. This will be a long-lived wine; enjoy best 2028-2038. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

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From the importer: Nuits-Saint-Georges famously possesses no grand cru vineyards, but Les Vaucrains is widely considered one in all but name. Always the most complete of Chezeaux’s premier crus, Vaucrains rumbles with tension—an authoritative wine that exudes an impression of depth and solidity. Here, the fruit, mineral, and savory elements bind together more tightly, more seamlessly. Jérôme owns just over a quarter-hectare of east-facing vines in Vaucrains, and his conservative oak regimen—never more than one-third of the barrels are new—highlights the power of the terroir itself.

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From the Distillery: Our Master Distiller, Billy Walker, has worked tirelessly on perfecting this expression since day one; evaluating casks and refining recipes to create something special. We’re proud to present the jewel in our crown; the GlenAllachie 15 years old. The GlenAllachie 15 Year Old is bottled at 46%, non chill filtered and natural colour.

TASTING NOTES
COLOUR
Rich Mahogany.

NOSE
Waves of heather honey, dark chocolate and figs, with notes of fruit cake, mocha and cinnamon.

TASTE
Lashings of fig syrup, mocha and treacle, followed by dark chocolate, sweet spices and heather honey, fused with ginger on the finish.

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