Light golden in color.
Beautiful nose of honeydew, apples, honeysuckle, tropical fruits, spices and melons.
Full-bodied with high acidity and long legs.
Sweet on the palate with apples, citrus, mangoes, spices, honeysuckle, herbs, honey and light earth.
Long finish with sweet honey notes.
This delicious 9 year old Sauternes is drinking beautifully now. Complex and interesting. Elegant and fruit forward. Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel.
Feels very fresh, but a bit subdued and earthier right now, compared to other vintages. Will continue to age nicely in the next 40 years.
Loved the nose more than the palate here. So expressive.
Wine Spectator 96 points. Robert Parker 99 points.
A blend of 75% Sémillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. Aged in all new French oak barrels for 24 months. Drank from a 750ml bottle.
14.5% alcohol by volume.
93 points.
$450. — a month ago

Phenomenal wine. Tannins are completely softened with dark fruits. Incredibly enjoyable. The 2009 still going strong 17 years later. This can easily stay in bottle another 5-10 years. — 3 months ago
It is time for my #FridayCabernetfix.
Dark ruby in color with a purple rim.
Beautiful nose and medium plus in body with medium plus acidity.
Dry on the palate with nice complexity.
Showing red and black fruits with cedar, licorice, chocolates, herbs, light earth, spices, tobacco leaf, dark coffee and light green vegetables.
Spicy finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.
This iconic Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Santa Cruz Mountains in California is still very young, but already delicious, even by itself.
Needs a few hours to open up properly, and will continue to age nicely in the next 30 years. Showing good potential to become a 95+ point wine.
A great sipping wine that paired beautifully with my Lamb chops.
A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Aged in American oak barrels for 20 months.
13.8% alcohol by volume.
92 points.
$300. — 3 months ago
At first I scored this 99 points, flirting with perfection just like the 1999 Dunn Howell Mountain we had in our glass moments before. However after 15-20 minutes in the glass it began to fade and aged characteristics like tea leaves and Maggi began to emerge and the color went much more brown. Still a very good wine. — 4 months ago
Tasted blind . Médium deep ruby with medium wide ruby rim , slightly younger looking than the rest. Quite spicy dark fruits , touch of pain grillé , mineral , grafite , cedar . On the palate this has a lot of grip and density , but also great balance . Spicy dark fruits , touch of grafite and earthy cedar . Quite rounded mouthfeel. Balanced acidity and grippy ripe tannins . Long balanced finish . Overall this showed well , with a roundness and balance , lovely fruit still , really quite open and fresh . With more time this show a floral character with lovely precision . Of all the wines this though very young is probably showing the most today . Even better in 5-10 years and will last well a further 10-20. Had this down as Haut Brion . This took the silver medal . 96
— 5 months ago
Tasted blind. Again medium deep ruby with medium wide garnet rim . Again slightly aloof , showing a touch of herbaceous blackcurrant , mineral and slate notes . Probably the most closed of all coming back . Quite deep and rich again , mineral , blackcurrant, wet stones . Muscular tannins and balanced acidity , deep with a slight herbaceous touch on the decent finish . Latour ? Compared with the rest this is slightly pedestrian, even though it is still an excellent wine it’s not as thrilling as its Pauillac stablemates Lafite or Mouton. Perhaps needs even more time , come back in 5 years and will last well a further 10 -15. — 4 days ago
Dark ruby/ inky in color with a short purple rim.
Red and black fruits on the nose with cedar, chocolates, spices, tobacco, coffee and black pepper.
Full-bodied and elegant with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry on the palate with sweet raspberries, cherries, black currants, black plums, cedar, licorice, chocolates, herbs, coffee, light earth, spices, tobacco leaf and light pencil lead.
Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.
This young Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Napa Valley is starting to drink beautifully now. Rich and easy drinking.
Fruit forward and complex, soft and smooth. Spicy and entertaining, powerful yet refined. Showing good balance albeit a little hot at the back of the throat, at this point.
Will continue to age nicely in the next 15 to 20 years and shows good potential to become a 94+ point wine.
A great sipping wine that will also pair nicely with food.
A blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot.
15% alcohol by volume.
92 points.
$250. — 2 months ago



Outstanding block 5. Much more concentration and power than precious vintages. Strawberry, raspberry, pepper, wood spice. The power of the very best from Central Otago but with an elegance.
Really great pinot.
— 4 months ago
Medium lemon straw , some fine lightly persistent perlage . Quite steely and minerally on the nose , some lemon pith , orange rind , white flowers , buttered brioche . Quite classic and lean in style. This has drive and persistence on the palate , electric acidity , with intense mineral , lemon rind , chalky depth . Still pretty young , taught , with good freshness and long length . With time drinking well but will improve over at least the next 5 years and last well a further 5 - 10 — 6 months ago
I recently had a conversation with a few Joseph Phelps Ambassador’s at Pebble Beach Food & Wine in April. I said, I had every vintage of Insignia back to 2006 in storage. They said, “you should really drink up the 2006.” So, I coravined an 06 last weekend, a taste. I agreed then. But tonight not the case, it shows it still has a fair amount of life. Another 5-8 yrs and perhaps plus.
My Ribcap, a definition of Medium Rare Plus.
The nose reveals floral; blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, poached strawberries, dark cherries and blue fruit notes. Melted dark chocolate, mocha, caramel, softly layered baking spices, very underrated graphite, steeped tea, mid berry cola, red licorice, limestone powder, dry top soil, dry twig, red, dark candied to slightly withering florals w/ liquid violet cola.
The palate shows well resolved, rounded, velvety M+ tannins. Nicely ripe fruits that are floral; blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, poached strawberries, dark cherries and blue fruit notes. Melted dark chocolate, mocha, caramel river, softly layered baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanillin, warm caramel, dark Asian spices with palate burrowing heat, dry tobacco/ leather, cedar, grilled meats, very underrated graphite, sweet tarriness, black licorice, steeped tea, mid berry cola, red licorice, limestone powder, dry top soil, dry twig, red, dark candied to slightly withering florals w/ liquid violet cola, candied to withering; dark, red, blue florals wrapped in liquid violets, epic rainfall acidity, well balanced-structured-toned, elegant finish that lasts minutes and falls on earth & heated spice.
95-96 peaking. — 2 months ago
This is lovely wine and 10 years later, it’s still not quite ready for prime time. It’s a long runner so no real hurry. The cassis and cocoa will integrate with the dark berry eventually but I’m gonna let this rest another 5-10 years to enjoy as this vintage and this wine deserves. It’s very good now. Don’t get me wrong and it’s perfectly approachable but greater potential lies Ashe’s — 3 months ago
Super clean and still quite youthful, this is a GREAT example of a 1980s CdP from a vintage of little surmaturite, so awesome balance and perfect acidity suggests this vintage will easily last another 5-10 years!! — 5 months ago

"Odedi"
#AgedWineTuesday
Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish/ brick rim.
Medium plus in body with medium acidity.
Dry on the palate with a beautiful nose.
Showing black plums, black currants, cedar, dried figs, licorice, dark chocolates, earth, rhubarb, tobacco leaf, light black tea and black pepper.
Long finish with soft tannins and tangy cherries.
This 32 year old Pauillac is still drinking beautifully, but a bit past its prime. Rich and elegant. Very complex and spicy.
This Second Growth Bordeaux needed 5 hours to open up properly, and was not that special right out of the bottle.
Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel, and still showing enough fruits to balance the earth notes.
Robert Parker 91 points.
Good by itself as a sipping wine, and with food.
A blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot.
12.5% alcohol by volume.
93 points.
$200. — 20 days ago