William Brouwer

9.1

Smooth, rich, beautiful nose. — 10 days ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Wow. Intense and pure in the nose. A hint of tang with an amazing fresh core given the age. Dark tang fruit with underbrush and mineral/ iron/ iodine notes. Pure and delicious. A great bottle. — a month ago

Conrad Green

9.5

Dark plum and ink. Very pure and scented. Lovely texture and intensity. Plush — 3 months ago

with BOT, Matt and 1 other

Conrad Green

9.4

Light and bright and sappy. Red cherry, violets. Supple and mildly tangy with freshness and clarity. Clear and precise- quite light in character but pure and vivid. Very good.. — 4 months ago

with Steve and Amanda

Ericsson

9.8

1st Growth Bordeaux comparison. Mind blowing. I mean, from a weak Bordeaux vintage comes this masterpiece which can be enjoyed now or saved for decades to come. Beautiful nose and almost perfumed with roses and black cheery and blueberry, cedar, and pencil shavings. The palate is pure bliss full of complexity, intensity yet balanced and the finish just goes on and on. Cheers. — a month ago

Conrad Green

9.4

Powerful and pretty nose. Cherry, tang, gnarly inky wild stuff. Very pure with a bloody and saline mid palate. Gorgeous and intense and long. — a month ago

with Major-General

Shay A

9.4

My contribution to a large Rhône dinner. Standouts were ‘07 Chapoutier Le Meal Blanc, ‘89 and ‘90 Jaboulet La Chappelle, ‘11 Guigal La Mouline.

An over-generalization, but what I love about Cornas is the rusticity and sometimes feral nature of the wines (which I don’t find in Hermitage or CR) and this ‘05 is in that vein. I followed this from pop (after all, we are at the almost 20yr mark) and over the course of three hours.

Interplay of red and black berry fruits, black pepper, slightly herbal (maybe closer to potpurri floral) aromatically. Bright and nimble on the palate, nothing about this is ripe or soft. Energetic acidity all the way through surrounded by notes of iron (sanguine-like) and rocky minerality. Crunchy red and black fruits (whole-cluster?), hint of gaminess but not in the meaty-style I semi-expected. Clean and pure style of Syrah. Big structure at the finish…hard to imagine drinking this 10+yrs ago. Acidity and tannin will carry this a long time, but I think this is peak window for getting depth of fruit and complexity. — 3 months ago

Ira Schwartz

9.3

I’ve been fortunate to consume several bottles of this legend. However, this was the first bottle that did not have me babbling to my dinner guests. All the Rayas traits; elegance , pure fruit , spice were present just not oversized. — a month ago

Conrad Green

9.5

light and focused. Lime and chalk. Light compared to the 10 alongside. Very pure and translucent. Pretty — 2 months ago

with Walker and David

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.5

Layered and focused this wine is pure and concentrated. Balanced and thick.
Long lasting finish with a core of acidity that lifts it up.
94-96 — 4 months ago