Search results for: 'mostly a one plot'

93 Points! Based on Bourboulenc, Viognier, and Marsanne, the 2024 Côtes Du Rhône Coudoulet De Beaucastel Blanc is a killer white offering honeyed peach, orange blossom, white flowers, and a kiss of minerality. It's medium-bodied, pure, focused, and elegant, with a layered mouthfeel, integrated acidity, and a great finish. This is legit fabulous stuff that's as good as many a top Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc and will drink beautifully over the coming 4-6 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

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95 Points! The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Côte Ronde is an even split of Grenache and Syrah, and as usual, was brought up all in new oak. It has an awesome nose of cassis, blackberries, graphite, ground pepper, and violets, with its new oak perfectly integrated into the wine. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has impressive tannins, terrific overall balance, and a great finish. This brilliant effort will keep for 10-15 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

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92-94 Points! The 2011 Pinot Noir La Caprice, which was harvested before any damaging rains arrived and is above the fog line on the Sonoma Coast, exhibits classic notes of black raspberries, graphite, flowers, red and black fruits, spice and forest floor. Not quite as rich or dense as the 2010, or as structured and chewy as the 2009, the evolved, seductive 2011 should provide enormous pleasure over the next 10-12 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

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97+ Points! The expressive, complex and nuanced 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a textbook traditional Rioja in the making. 2016 was a very elegant year, with aging potential, volume and very good acidity and freshness. It's full-bodied but fine-boned, has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.6 and 5.25 grams per liter acidity. It has terrific balance, with all the components in the right proportion to age superbly in bottle. They have also been working on the selection of wood used. This wine matured in French and American oak barrels for three years, and the oak is super integrated. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

97 Points! Spiced red and black fruits, new saddle leather, smoky tobacco, and lead pencil are just some of the nuances in the 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva, a pure, medium to full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, beautifully textured Rioja from this team. With beautiful yet building tannins, a pure, focused style, and awesome length on the finish, it's a brilliant wine with a solid two decades of prime drinking ahead of it. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! Complex aromas of dark fruit with violets, walnuts and chocolate. Classy. It's full-bodied with plush yet fine velvety tannins, and a precise and pointed finish. Juicy and savory. Tight finish. It's very long. This is beautiful now but will be even better in three or four years. Linear and vertical at the same time. Try after 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

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94 Points! The 2011 Reserva red is a field blend from old vines (with 80% of the grapes sourced from vines 80+ years old), plus 20% combined of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca from vines of approximately 20 years of average age. The blend was aged in French barriques (70% new) for 17 months. In one of Douro's biggest vintages, Vallado managed to produce a surprisingly elegant and nuanced wine. That was true the first and second time I saw this long ago. This has evolved well. It shows finesse and grace at this point. The big tannins have moderated, and the wine never seems as ripe or as jammy as the 2007. (That's a relative term—the 2007 isn't all that jammy as these things go.) Yet this is a prime-time wine with finesse, elegance and fine fruit, finishing with some understatement in flavor. Unlike the 2007, this isn't as likely today to hit you over the head or grab your attention, but it is completely seductive and perfectly balanced. The texture caresses the palate with velvet. The tannins are much riper. The fruit is still there and tasty but never too obvious. It will be interesting to see how this holds and how it evolves. Unlike the 2007 or even the 2008, this seems ready without a lot of concern over whether future aging will make it a lot better. - Mark Squires, robertparker.com

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97 Points! The 2024 Syrah ODE is a stone-cold stunner. Powerfully extracted but completely weightless, it casts a dizzying number of layers and mind-bending complexity into your nose and onto your palate with complete confidence and utter grace. Blueberry, incense, oyster shell, lavender and chalk explode through the polished, precise statuesque finish. Truly impressive- there's not much else to say here. Hands-off Winemaking yielded a wine of sublime balance and resonant harmony. The 2024 spent just ten months in neutral oak with 45% whole clusters, native fermentations and no added sulfur. Vineyard sites are Bassi, Spanish Springs and Hi Kite. - Billy Norris, Vinous

96 Points! One of the most impressive wines I tasted from the San Luis Obispo Coast is the 2024 Syrah Ode, a compelling testament to Syrah's potential in the region that evokes Gonon Saint-Joseph by way of the Pacific Ocean. It is comprised predominantly of fruit from Bassi, with smaller additions from Spanish Springs and Hi-Kite. Off the bat, it displays Bassi's signature combination of intensely perfumed, floral energy mixed with distinctly umami-driven aromas of nori and soy, with a black- and blue-fruited backdrop, all delivered with crystalline purity. The texture is a paradoxical and impressive combination of ethereal energy, measured richness and enveloping elegance, culminating in a weightless, saturated and remarkably precise finish that lingers with saline, spice and floral notes. - Matthew Luczy, robertparker.com

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98+ Points! In contrast, the 2021 Syrah Il Padrino Bien Nacido Vineyard is more masculine and feral, with ripe black fruits, cracked black pepper, leather, iron, and spring flowers, and a certain bloody character developing with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, it has a similar level of polish but is a touch more concentrated and lengthy on the palate, with ripe, building tannins and awesome length. Drink this spectacular Syrah over the coming 10-12 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

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93 Points! A succulent, juicy young red with plum, dark berry and some tile and bark undertones. It’s full-bodied with layers of pure fruit and fine tannins. Lightly chewy at the end of the palate with a savory and fruity finish. Better after 2024.  - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! Alluring, with melted red licorice draped over a core of lush cassis and plum compote notes. An apple wood edge is nicely inlaid on the finish. Drink now through 2028. - Wine Spectator

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Winemaker Notes:

Coquelicot Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley - 170 Cases 

PH 3.5 TA 5.4 Alcohol 13% Picked 10-4-2022 Bottled 6-06-2024

Certified CCOF Organic. 100% whole cluster fermentation, native yeast, fermented in a tall steel open top fermenter, foot stomped, free run gravity fed daily, then gravity fed back over the top for a very long slow fermentation over three weeks.

Aged in a large Puncheon on the lees until bottling. This wine is a stunner! Bright fruit, earth and spice.

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97 Points! I have heard gruner veltliner dismissed for supposedly not being elegant, but this is an extremely elegant example! Very complex nose of snow peas, green beans, wild herbs and green pepper. On the medium-bodied palate, this remarkable gruner veltliner has a discreet succulence, but what makes it amazing is the way it glides so gracefully over the palate, then splash lands in a deep pool of wet stone minerality. Underplayed power and concentration! Drinkable now, but best from 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

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95 Points! These village-specific wines are growing in popularity, and among the various expressions on the market today, this wine from Verduno is really quite special thanks to its highly distinctive floral aromas and its delicate sense of inner balance. A new project being inaugurated with this vintage, the Fratelli Alessandria 2019 Barolo del Comune di Verduno shows a fine, streamlined mouthfeel with polished tones of river stone, crushed rose and licorice root. The aromas are refined and fragile. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

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92 Points! The 2021 La Grande Pièce is derived from Chenin Blanc planted on sandstone and pouddingue soils within the Quarts-de-Chaume appellation but vinified as a dry wine. It reveals a flinty, reduced bouquet with aromas of vanilla pod, grapefruit, ripe orchard fruits and spring flowers, followed by a fleshy and incisive palate, enveloping and charming, a tense and perfectly balanced mid-palate and a mineral, saline, long finish. Matured for 12 months in barrels and terracotta containers. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

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94 Points! Their most limited cuvée for true connoisseurs, and also the warmest site of the three coastal vineyards, is the 2014 Pinot Noir Clos du Ciel. This is a vineyard planted on clay with a lot of rocks and basalt. The result is a Pinot Noir with plenty of earth, firm tannins, a touch of underbrush, spring flowers, and loads of raspberries and black cherry fruit. The acids seem well-integrated and the tannins moderate, but fine. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

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COLOR: Mahogany
NOSE: Butterscotch, maple and the rainbow of peppercorns
BODY: Full and robust
PALATE: Freshly polished leather, dried apricots, warm butter, dusty oak furniture in a fire, finishes with root beer and brown baking spice.
GENERAL: This forward and sexy rye will spice up your evening. Succulent and spicy on the entry yields to round, smooth, sweet bakery items and toasty oak. An experience akin to the pre-duel heightening of one’s senses followed by the euphoria of getting off the first shot.

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97 Points! From the same vineyard as the Ma Douce Chardonnay on the second ridge from the coast in Fort Ross-Seaview, the deep red/ruby 2021 Pinot Noir Coteaux Nobles comes out swinging. Packed with layered aromas of sassafras, framboise, roses, cedar, Asian spice, and coriander, it’s medium to full-bodied and propels through the palate with ripe tannins, a long finish, and a plush feel, although it also retains a more vertical spine of fresh acidity throughout. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

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97 Points! Wow. This is very powerful 2010 Barolo with a great depth of fruit and powerful tannins. Full and super-structured Barolo. Goes on for minutes. Great wine from a popular vintage. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Beginning to turn the corner, this red exhibits fragrant aromas of cherry, leather, mushroom and spice. Smooth and full of ripe fruit, with a firm structure for support. Still needs some time, but already shows complexity and harmony. Best from 2018 through 2035. - Wine Spectator

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91 Points! Readers looking for a delicious, impeccably made Sauvignon Blanc from Napa could do a lot worse than the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc from Amici. This lightly colored white offers textbook notes of white grapefruit, tart lime, and sappy green herbs to go with a medium-bodied, refreshing, yet beautifully balanced style on the palate. Drink bottles over the coming year or two. - Jeb Dunnuck Learn More

Don Fulano Blanco is a bright and colorful expression of highland agave. It’s fresh on the nose and yet profound with a beautiful elegance. There is harmony between a wide spectrum of aromas that only mature hillside agave offers; a myriad of delicate fruit notes is balanced by a light herbaceousness and a butterscotch oiliness. Reminiscent of damp red soil it opens the senses and awakens the appetite, it almost makes you want to chew it. A great aperitif or quintessence of a great cocktail. ?Producer Notes Learn More

98 Points! Possibly the “wine of the vintage,” the 2008 boasts an inky/blue/purple color as well as a glorious perfume of spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry liqueur, camphor, truffles and crushed rocks. With great fruit on the attack and mid-palate, a medium to full-bodied, multidimensional mouthfeel and a skyscraper-like finish, this prodigious effort over-delivers, even for this phenomenal terroir. Give it 5-8 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 40-50 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

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95 Points! This is a fantastic wine from Stefania Barbot that represents a spot-on interpretation of both vintage and territory. The 2016 Taurasi Fren is dark and luscious, boasting impressive depth and persistence. There is extreme purity of fruit with blackberry and blackcurrants interwoven into smoke, tar, ash and exotic spice. To the palate, the wine offers structure and ample fruit weight, resulting in a powerful, steak-worthy performance. Fruit comes from 70-year-old vines planted at 470 meters in altitude. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

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