Doug Powers

9.3

[8 hour decant] This is from a very fine lot of 1977 Graham’s I purchased in the mid-to-late 1990s from a small Napa importer, and is at the level of the 1977 Fonseca we drank last week, sweet, nice weight and balance, long, lingering finish, very nice!! — a month ago

with Jim

Paul J

9.1

Solid Riesling. A tad too sweet for me. Very fruit forward with medium minus acidity. Peaches and candied pineapple dominate. — 5 months ago

with Brooke

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Deep Ruby color with aromas of red berry fruit and sweet spices. On the palate flavors of ripe black cherry and blackberry flavors, with some dried fruit notes, toasty oak, cinnamon spice and cola tones. Fine tannins with balanced acidity, medium+ finish ending with fruit and spice. Will age a little. — 9 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.5

A stunning showing and 16 might be the best vintage ever at Walter. Nose is late season cherries, some framing oak, spice, tobacco, stunning minerality and just endless depth. So floral and complex. I could smell this all day. Smells like elite NSG right now. Palate is just amazing. Ridiculous dark cherry fruit that is so crunchy, fresh and concentrated. Wow this is so precise and succulent. Insane balance and hidden power. What depth and length. Amazing stuff in that it’s so silky and juicy and sweet and the oak is already so well integrated on the palate. This has sexy, velvety tannins and an amazingly long finish. 9.5 now but this will go higher. — 3 years ago

Dan Michael

9.4

What a stunner! Great nose with fresh red fruit and some toasty aromas, very full and complex on the palate, perfect mousse, so supple, long delicious finish. Such a satisfying sparkling wine and goes with anything and everything on the table. — 4 years ago

Shawn Drenning

9.4

Don’t always love white wines, but enjoyed this one a lot — 5 years ago

Larry Johnson

9.5

I might have a new favorite wine. Absolutely loved this! Nose, taste, finish all just so good. Obviously highly recommended — 5 years ago

Meredith Moody

9.3

This wine is exactly what I think of when I think of a California cab, and this is a compliment. Dark fruit off the bat, I got blackberry and black cherry. I also think this is pretty oaky, which is hit or miss for me, but in this case it gave a night light spiciness. Had a fuller body and good structure. Tannins present but smooth. I feel like this would be a good crowd pleaser as it was good and easy drinking. I bet it would be great with some grilled meats. — 2 months ago

Adam Guenther

9.0

A nice easy Pinot Gris. We had it with a pesto salmon dinner and it was a perfect compliment! — 5 months ago

Kelley Raymond

9.1

A little jammy - needs air and time — 6 months ago

Emily Gross

9.7

Drank with Thanksgiving dinner. A delight! — 3 years ago

Daniel P. Drake

8.9

We had the pleasure of opening the 2021 Hermann J. Wiemer.

On the nose there was nice strawberry, cranberry, raspberry, herbaceous notes and green bell pepper.

On the palate there was good strawberry, raspberry, red plum, green bell pepper, a bit of oak and crushed gravel.

This is a medium bodied wine with light velvety mouthfeel medium to medium + acidity and medium to medium + fine tannins that leaves with a medium to medium + red fruit gravel dust finish. Well it looks as though spring can't make up her mind. This weekend looks to be a bit on the cooler side so lets get out and enjoy ourselves. Please stay safe and healthy. Nostrovia! 🍷🍷🍷🍷 — 3 years ago

John Malcolm

9.0

Dry, but not flinty, with a touch of fruit and a lot of minerality. Peach, apricot, apple, and honey. Light and crisp! — 5 years ago

Severn G

9.5

Nose has ripe black cherry, blackberry, spring violets, vanilla, melted bittersweet chocolate and dry earth.

Palate has dried black cherry, ripe black currant, ripe plum, wet tree bark, molasses bread and under-ripe cherry, slightly tart with medium tannins.

Bottled under Stelvin closure, opened for slow oxidation 6H, then decanted 2H, more time appreciated. Notes to be updated.

24H Update:
Nose exudes ripe, sappy dark red fruits, just overrunning the Gabriel Glas, light (warm) molasses, brown bread dough and black cherry syrup reduction. Palate is crazy, all prior traits but with a sweet reduction and the acidity actually picked up. Moving this score from 9.4 to 9.5, likely one of the finest red German wines I've ever tasted. An equal to finely aged Burgundy wine. — 5 years ago

Joe Christenson

9.3

Cherry, raspberry, hints of cola and eucalyptus. Others said loamy soil, and now I have a better way to describe the earthiness of wines like this. Balanced and pairs beautifully with salmon and lentils. — 4 months ago

Marc Melser

9.2

We had a vertical tasting of 2018 and 2020 Little Hill Single Vineyard PN. Both have similar bouquets and palates. Black cherry and minerality. 2020 is a little more floral. 2018 has a more darker tone; and that is good. Both have nice mouthfeels with smoothed out tannins. 2018 is a little more velvety. Both very good. It seems these PN need more time in the bottle — 4 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

The 2012 J. Lassalle Special Club is made from 60% Pinot Noir & 40% Chardonnay. The vines average 50 yrs old. Hails from Chigny-Les-Roses. Winemakers Chantal Decelle-Lassalle and Angéline Templier farm using the practice of Lutte Raisonnée, which means they fall just short of organic. Sustainable but use minimal chemicals. Rain during and at the end of the season when Mother Nature doesn’t dry the grape clusters, chemicals are often necessary to prevent mold. This isn’t Sauternes!

Texturally, it is quite nice. Beautiful fine mousse and micro oxygenation. Lively but not aggressive acidity.

Green & golden apples, pear, pineapple, lime/lemon with zest, orange citrus blend, green melon & kiwi. White spice, bread dough, nougat, limestone bits, thick chalky powder, graham cracker crust, melted caramel, vanillin, saline, sea fossils, understated herbaceous notes, fruit blossoms, spring flowers with an elegant, smartly polished, well balanced, nicely structured-crafted finish that lasts 90 seconds & lands on volcanics & spice on the long set.

You could make case for 94 here. Perhaps fully with a few more yrs of bottle age.

Pairs well with the Jasper Hill Farms Limited Edition of their Champagne washed Harbison soft white. — 6 months ago

John Bratincevic

8.9

NOSE: Melon, flower nectar, lychee, papaya. Distinct mint - Wintergreen (??). A little pine sol. Huh! Smell keeps changing, a lot going on here.

TASTE: basically as it smells … tropical fruit and flowers with a dash of pine sol and mint. There’s almost an artificial sugar taste … mouthwash-like. Weird! 89. — 4 years ago

PS Michaels

9.4

In a great spot now. Wowza. — 5 years ago

Mikey T

9.0

Last of my cellars club high quality shipments, end of an era. Really going to miss wines like this one. 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir. Drank the whole bottle in one sitting with a bag of Boom Chicka Pop because that was the best tip I’ve received in the caves. — 5 years ago