Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

Brilliant nose. Unreal barrel spice, green apple skins, ripe pear and some melon. Staggeringly pure. Wafting salty minerals. Really gorgeous. Palate is ripe and rich with just insane complexity. Juicy and so clean. Unreal finesse and delicacy. So mouthwatering and pure. Super juicy and clean. Terrific inner mouth aromas and endless depth. Outrageous. A stunning Equinces. Wow the nose on this wine is incredible. Wafting! — 5 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

The very definition of velvet wrapped in an iron fist. It is singing on my palate.

This Dry Creek is better than the Select Terraces I’ve opened lately. Deep, black, ripe, ruby, currants, blackberries, black plum, plum, black raspberries, boysenberries, blue hues, dark cherries, crazy, deep, Indian spices, dark berry cola, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, vanilla, caramel, malt balls, fresh tobacco, used leather, tree bark w/ sap, steeped fruit tea, limestone, crushed risks, river stone, forest floor with dry leaves, dry herbaceous notes, endless rainbow of florals, beautiful acidity and well balanced, structure and tension that is tightly knit with finish for days.

Crazy, stupid, producer that continues to fly well below the radar. I am thankful it does.

This 2010 has 10 years plus of life left ahead. The best Ca Cabernet I’ve had in many years. Wine affects me differently than most but this wine is like a full body massage. Maybe, that is why I discovered my palate. — 3 years ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.7

Mind-boggling confectionary aromas; part cotton candy, part spiced treat in a Moroccan bazaar. Then citrus, quince and vanilla cream. Palate is pure energy. Ripping acid, endless concentration. The vinous equivalent of seeing god?

Need to check in… 15 years? — 5 years ago

Jeroen Koenen

9.4

From 0,375l.
So unique, so rare. Equally thick, concentrated and complex.
What a privilege to savour this elixir.
Dark nuances of dried fruit (dates, raisins), mocha, spicebox, orange marmelade, earlgrey tea and honeysuckle.
Endless finish....
Heartwarming and humbling...
A wine for contemplation. — 6 years ago

K. Kasper

9.1

If there is better rosé from Sonoma County, I haven’t had it! — 7 years ago

Scott Rowe

9.2

Tooo smashable but at the same time easy to savour the endless red fruit spectrum. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Nice evolution and well integrated. 92 that pushes 93.

The other wine from the great Napa producer, Philip Togni.

The mouthfeel is supple, round, soft, yet meaty and tarry tannins. Ripe, juicy, rich; blackberries, baked plum for days, dark cherries, black raspberries, hues of raspberries & boysenberries. Black licorice, berry cola, muddy, volcanic clay, herbaceous notes, soft baking spices, slightly, melted chocolate, dark spice with a touch of heat, coffee, dry crushed, rocks, dry stem, dry tobacco, new leather, oak to cedar shavings, volcanic ash, dark, slightly withering, red, blue flowers framed in a field of endless violets, rainfall acidity, great balance, nice tension/structure and a smartly polished finish that last a full minute.

If you own, I would drink over the next 3-4 years before it starts to slide.

Photos of; Philip Togni vineyard, barrel room, vineyard soil & Philip Togni and his daughter Lisa. — 2 years ago

Raul Puga

9.3

So delicious. Paired perfectly with fresh Florida grouper. Yummm — 3 years ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.9

Vintage 1989 | 3/4 transparant, Italian rooftiles brown rim. A very intense bouquet: cedar, forrest wood, laurel, flint, cherries, só multi layered you tend to smell endless. Powerful taste, prominent bitters, still too young imo, the taste comes together with the entrecôte, awesome harmony. A benchmark for wine lovers. Fine that HB delivers to mark a special moment! I bought this when my daughter was born | at restaurant Pollevie — 5 years ago

Manny Abascal

9.5

1971. Bright gold color, wax with bit of petrol on nose, gorgeous silky palate with honey, lemon oil, and an endless finish. 30 minute decant helped to blow off some funk. Brilliant wine. — 6 years ago

Simone Pizzi

10

Tasted at the estate with the owner, it has been an emotional explosion. It's hard to describe... Authentic, elegant and complex, although still young this wine is pure emotion, with an endless aftertaste that favours meditation. The vines are grown according to respectful and natural methods, Flavio is a true depositary of piedmontese ancestral viticulture. The vineyard itself is idyllic, bursting with biodiversity and showing all the mastery of the man who works it. The winemaking technique is traditional, slow, the cellar is carved in the tuff soil, extra humid with the bare stone still visible. For me it is a perfect match — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Angelo Gaja, owner of Gaja Winery, began a new venture - Ca'Marcanda, Piedmontese term for “house of endless negotiations”-Blend of 55% Merlot, 35% Syrah & 10% Sangiovese, aromas of berry fruits and sweet oak and floral notes. On the palate fresh red berry fruits with a smoky oak character. Fine tannins, lingering, ending with fruit and oak character. Nice! Tasting Sample! — 8 years ago

Manuel Buergi

10

After the first nose (right after opening), it was clear that the wine needed like 6+ hours of decanting. Following it open it in the decanter was amazing, you could really see and smell how it evolved and started to blossom. It also seemed to get darker in color, as if it was gathering power and strenght (but of course, this must have been my personal impression only).

Crimson red with some light brick-red/brown reflexes. The "Collina Rionda " showed simply fantastic in the nose and palate. A hugely perfumed nose, that just kept me captive for a while. Both in the nose and palate, it was like a kaleidoscope with all kinds of red (partly baked) fruits, fruitcake, a bit of hard candy, plums and prunes, tar, some truffle and hints of tobacco leaf of noble quality. Like an explosion with endless layers of the mentioned flavors in the mouth and a huge finish. The acidity and the tannins was perfectly balanced and integrated and gave the wine beautiful harmony.
Boom!! Vigna Rionda at it's best, a producer at his best and all that in an epic vintage!!

Perfect to drink now! But how will it evolve over another decade? I don't think that it has reached it's very best peak yet.

I 100% concur with Antonio Gallonis score of 100 and Ken Vastolas opinion that this might be the best wine ever made 

Can't wait to open the next one...   — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

This small Calistoga producer falls largely under the radar. I am thankful. The 12 vintage brings such fruit. However, this 12 Sisters rides the fence of 12 & 13. Shows dark currents, concreted mouthfeel in addition to its ripe, rich opulence.

The nose ascends with rich dark, purple, blue fruits, dark spice, violets framed in lavender for days.

The palate is ripe, ruby, lush, concentrated fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, black plum, boysenberries, very dark cherries, creamy raspberries, in & out strawberries & blueberries. Big, heated, dark spice-box, round, meaty, sweet tannins cigar ash, led pencil, tarriness, anise, moist, fresh tobacco, black licorice & cola, dark, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, vanilla, rich soil w/ dry leaves, dry, crush rocks/limestone, dry herbs-bay leaves, sage, parsley, notes of eucalyptus bark shavings, tree bark w/ hints of sap, touch of black sandalwood to barrel shavings, pepper, moist, volcanic clay, fresh & withering; dark, purple, red, blue floral bouquet framed in violets & lavender, excellent acidity with a lush, rich, big, round & meaty structure, still shows great tension, well balanced with endless polish & finish. 10 years of life ahead…properly stored. Wine post 4,600.

Such a deal at the Benchmark Bin Sale. @Paul T- Huntington Beach if you find any of this, just tell me about em, don’t buy em. 😂🤥 — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.8

Just a stunning and unique nose of startling originality. Wild mint, flowers and pollen. Marzipan. Really floral like a flower shop but also the pollen is really there and really unique! Stunning. Deep slate and minerality behind it all. Genius. The vividness and accuracy of the aromas is blowing my mind. 9.9 nose. Just magical. Smells Tolkienesque. My god how elegant this wine is and super fresh. Intense, exploding minerality and endless depth. The acid is perfection for all the wealth of material. Length is stupid long. This glides on the palate. What a mid palate and an almost tannic grip on the finish. This initially is 100% mineral on the palate and I’m curious if it will fruiten up. I know it will. That finish is full of pulverized slate and keeps going and going. Amazing concentration and mouthfeel. The acid is so straight. Doesn’t go up or down, weather stays right down the middle of the plate. I love this when. So unique, delicious and exciting. I’ll be back as it airs out. — 4 years ago

Stephen Mandy

9.3

This was a great surprise at first tight and closed in but with an hour of air opened into classic Pauilliac beauty. Cigar box nose deep juicy currant flavors and endless finish. Fourty years old and an average vintage - WOW — 6 years ago

Hanibal

9.4

wow....the lenght in this one is endless — 7 years ago

Kenji Cal

9.3

V03-2hrs not enough to decant this absolute beast. Endless power unfolding along splendid Margaux verticale. — 7 years ago

with Guillaume and Charles-Everard

Bryan Hopkins

9.0

Strong flavors of cantaloupe and slight brine. Pleasant and easy to drink. — 8 years ago

John Van Trijp

10

Today is a day to celebrate life. I saw this bottle in my cellar and did not look any further.....Unendlich.....(Endless).....perfect wine to finish this day — 8 years ago