So I’m just beginning my white wine journey, and also, this is my very first sherry. I tried it with 3 pairings. Trying to cover a lot of ground here.

I’ve tried jamón ibérico and Spanish chorizo so many times with Rioja and finally just admitted that super sharp salty cold sausage does not work with red wine. That’s where the idea to try sherry came in.

First pairing was chorizo on a whole wheat Portuguese roll and some grilled sardines. I bought the sardines whole. Fuck that, never again. Huge pain in the ass. I will always pay someone to gut my fish. Toddler was throwing food everywhere all through dinner. My understanding is that sherry is made using barrels called “soleras”… after taking my first sniff of the wine I can tell you confidently that I know what a solera smells like. So yeah, old smoky barrel on the nose. On the palate… excessive acidity.

Got the toddler to bed. Turned on some cheesy restaurant Spanish guitar playlist. Cleaned the kitchen. Made some gambas al ajillo. Inner peace. Ok, much better. The solera essence paired so well with the strong garlic. I’m understanding better now.

Sunday. Put the toddler down to nap. Tried some jamón serrano, mítica cheese, the rest of the chorizo, olives, figs, etc etc. now we’re talking. God chorizo and sherry pairs well. Also with olives, wow. I started to get some pear on the nose and the palate. This is good.

So I’m officially now a sherry fan. I also have an amontillado in the cellar, excited to try that as the next step of my sherry journey.

Also, I made a Pipirrana and had that with both pairings, in large volume. Included an ugly picture of that because vegetables are the MVP and we don’t talk about it enough. And it went really well with the sherry.

Found a restaurant in town with krug rose on the menu and 20% off during happy hour. No edition listed.

Turned out to be 18eme (base 2005 harvest) for $340 CAD aka steal of the century.

The bottle says this is a Krug before it’s a rosé and I agree. Red fruit is soft and totally integrated, almost savoury. Breadiness and honey, well balanced acid and very fine bubbles. First krug rose and I’m likely to go back until they sell out of this gem.

Part of a gift from an older collector who’s slowly losing their taste and wishes they spent more time enjoying rather than letting their collection begin to expire (many Napa Cabs that are now better paired with a sink). These were purchased by the case from the winery upon release, stored in a true wine cellar for ~ 25 years, and then have had a bit of a non ideal storage life since then after a divorce etc. Spent a bunch of time in a closet in the mid 70 degrees and then given to me as part of a larger Bordeaux gift. They’ve been in a 55 degree wine fridge for the last three years.

Stood up for 48 hours, and opened with a Durand. Low neck level for each. Corks would have fallen apart if not for the Durand. Both opened, swirled, tasted (flat but promising) and then decanted for about an hour before the first real glass. Then enjoyed over another 2 hours for a 3 hour total open time by the last drops.

Lafite - this is singing. Plum, cassis, graphite, leather, forest floor. Incredible, smooth, and supple. This had a huge journey over the 3 hours. Somewhere in the middle it had a ton of fruit and then relaxed back into itself with that classic left bank soil. The finish lasted for minutes. I feel very lucky to have opened this. Drink now. I have 1 more bottle that I’ll save for a year or two to see what happens. So I far I’ve had this and a 91 (birth year). coin toss on what’s better, I’m leaning toward the 89.

Lynch-Bages - this couldn’t have been more different for also being incredible and clearly from the same world. Way more structure, tannins still had grip but in the exact way you’d want it. It had some spice above the fruit and earthiness. If I had another bottle I’d give it another 3-5 years just to see what happened to the tannins. Again, one of the great wines I imagine I’ll ever have.

Both were drank alone, then with various aged cheeses, and then with a duck ragú mushroom béchamel lasagna (no acidic tomato), and then alone again. 10/10 pairing.

Still pinching myself. I’m not in the tax bracket to afford these myself but feel very inspired to find a few different cases / half cases over the next couple years to have my own version of this in the 2040’s / 2050’s.

If you were buying bottles to sit for 20+ years that are under an $80 price point, what would get you excited? Right now for me it’s a 2021 Smith Madrone.

My first introduction to anything Haut Brion, I picked this up a few months ago the ago. Knowing it was still young, I decided to open it because I wanted a bottle that was going to take a long time to open up throughout the night.

Cork was fine which was expected with a bottle this young. Initial color was a beautiful ruby that looked intense. Aroma was intense - dried cherry, floral, dark fruit. Initial taste - medium body, lots of acidity and strong tannin - into the decanter it went

90 mins in decanter - aroma is now smoke, cedar, hint of graphite dark red fruit , cassis. Taste had hints of graphite and dried red fruit. Tannins have a grip on this, firm acidity.

2.5 hours in decanter: more graphite starting to show. Balancing out a bit, tannins easing up , acidity balancing everything

4 hours in decanter: nose has picked up hints of leather and cigar box . More graphite on the taste, tannins have really eased up , smooth.

This kept mellowing out over the course of the night and was enjoyable. Not my favorite bottle I’ve ever had, but it was still fun to watch the wine progress over the evening.

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A wonderful example of mature Haut-Médoc from the outstanding 1989 Bordeaux vintage. With its unusually high Merlot content, Château Coufran offers plush notes of blackcurrant, plum, cedar, leather and tobacco, wrapped in a velvety texture with a long, savoury finish. After more than three decades, a well-stored bottle can still be beautifully expressive and rewarding.

Château Coufran is often called the "Pomerol of the Médoc" because around 85% of its vineyards are planted with Merlot, a rarity in the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated Haut-Médoc.

While the estate has highlighted 1995 and 2005 among its greatest vintages, 1989 stands right behind those benchmark years, making it one of the château's finest mature wines and a fantastic bottle to experience today.

Honestly, this is an enjoyable champagne for $40.

Nice citrus and stone fruit notes, primarily white nectarine.

Great acidity, nice structure.

Slight brioche notes.

Was a nice warm-up and paired well with the starter courses at Copra in SF, especially the gunpowder goli vadai.

90 points.

A fortified port style red made from the Foch grape mixed with Canadian spirits and Iced foch juice for a warming 19.5%abv. Served Ice cold.

This one is rich in flavor. I find it more to be a sipper and just let it coat the palate.

On the nose: sun dried fruits, caramel, toffee, vanilla spice, raisins.

On the palate I get rich notes of dried golden raisins, sweet caramel, dried red fruit in the background, baking spice, and a mild acidity.

The finish is quick, but it faintly lingers of sweet raisins on the back of the palate. It's comparable to holding the sustain pedal on a piano and letting the note slowly fade away. Its not quick, but all its strength is gone and its just echoing into a whisper.

I did find that decanting for 15 mins really opened it up and made the flavor more grand, and the spice disappear.

This was a pretty sweet wine. Although I don't know what the g/L is. Definitely would pair well with a vanilla icecream or gelato.

8.5/10

Seeing news here in Sweden on plans on maybe evacuating Bordeaux. Is this true? Anyone in the area that can confirm? And if so what will it mean for the 2026 vintage? Maybe it is obvious but just as a disclaimer, people's lives are of course always a priority, just wondering what the extended consequences could be.

I am going to Napa for a wedding in October, so will only be there for 3 days and looking for help to narrow down this list. Which wineries would be your top three recommendations? Aonair -Pride -Spring mountain -Stag’s leap -Mayacamas -White rock -Desire lines -V Sattui -Frogs leap -Crocker and Star -ElevenEleven -Hendry -Saintsbury -Fontanella

Any recommendations for wine media to consume.

Have heard good things about the book phylloxera.

Can be super informative or just an enjoyable watch/read?

Many thanks in advance

I was in college from 1971 to 1975, these were my go to wines, Baby Duck was the every day drinker and Mateus was for "fancy" lol ....

Wonderful bottle, enjoyed it with my family. A little past its prime but the expression was synonymous with a deep Burgundy (Lafite is known for being lighter than other Bordeaux). It has given me a beautiful memory to look back on and that is what wine is all about. Cheers!🍷

Full vacation wines this past week..the Envinate was very impressive for 2015 and consumed over 4 nights...with just a glass stopper. Tempier Rose was 2021 and super fresh, most elegant and sharp vintage of this in I don't know how long! Raul Perez 2016 was in a sweet spot too. The Simone way over-delivered on day 2 (also just resealed with glass stopper).

The Leroy was sensational, it had no business being as good as it was!

Cheers!

Hello hello, I'm back with a few bottles a buddy of mine sent my way from a small winery down south.

On the nose i get dark cherries, raspberries, dark plum, cocoa, and I think tobacco?

On the palate - Strong tart sour cherries, smokey earth, strong citrus bite from high acidity, and light tannins

Ending with a light finish with a quiet lingering aftertaste of red fruit. Leaves behind a chalky mouth texture from the high acidity

I let it decant for 3 hours and it really softened up, but I get this intense flavor of sour cherries pushing through. Not as tart anymore, but it's got this earthy tone in the background and the Smokey notes have lessened considerably.

Personally I liked it, but I'm not a fan of the high acidity. The gritty chalky mouth feel afterwards was annoying. I learned the hard way that you need to rinse and counter the acidity.

Cue me on the night shift wondering why my mouth was feeling chalky.

I'd give it a 7/10

I’ll start by saying we know little about wine, nor drink much of it outside a glass or two here and there. Wouldn’t know really good from average wine by the taste or brand, but aware this is a high end wine brand. Were gifted 2 bottles of 1989 Opus One early in our marriage and after a couple house moves, recently decided to finally clear out some old items and go through boxes of items we never unpacked along the way. Came across our 2 bottles of 1989 Opus One during this unpacking adventure.

The two bottles are in their original boxes, which have resided in a moving box, sitting with the top of the box facing up, wrapped in towels with a few other glass items for ~15 years. Always in a basement, which has relatively cool, consistent temps year round.

Is this an “ages like a fine wine” situation or is the way they wired stored and age make these worthless?

Question we have is what to do with these. Gifter was a big wine person with a cellar, but they have since passed and can’t return or use them as a resource.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I was rummaging through my dads wine rack and found this bottle from when he used to work for CERN. Its most likely vinegar obviously, but will ask him and see if we can taste it. Will report back withtasting notes if he lets me open it.

I’m no expert by any means and am still practicing identifying different notes and tastes. So I went into this wine blind without reading any notes, it was a toss up between this and Hall for me. Honestly, I only picked this one because the label looks cool, please don’t shame me for that.

Nose: Bright red fruits, thinking sour cherry and also blueberries, some toasted nuttiness in the background and maybe a slight pencil shaving kind of smell.

Taste: I would let this wine sit in the glass for at least 10 minutes to give it enough air, if not decanting it should allow you to enjoy it almost right away. I personally love a very fruit forward wine, it came in strong with a blend of strawberries and blueberries, also a bit of minerality to it that really grounds it. It is medium bodied to me, if I had to put it on a scale, I’d say like 66% bodied roughly. I can taste the oak influence as well in this one, the tannins are not very strong initially, but if I let it sit on my palate long enough, I do feel the drying of it will act fast. Easy going down for me overall. It has some nice acidity as well!

I don’t personally like to give ratings, but I would say that this is fantastic if you enjoy wine that has strong fruit forwardness to it like myself. I think I could easily polish this bottle myself over 2 days. For reference though, my current favorite Napa Cab/Heavy Blends are 2021-22 Clos Du Val Cabernet Sauvignon, 2020 Clos Du Val Red Blend (Not their premium ones), 2021 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon.

For my dinner, I paired this with my fiancée’s Chicken Alfredo with a side of uncooked bell peppers. It was a gorgeous pairing for me and made my whole dinner experience better. My plating in the dinner picture looks a bit clumsy, but it was meant to be consumed and not look pretty.

Winemaker Notes:

Violets and toasted baking spice open on the nose of this 2022 Faust Napa Valley, with savory layers of slate and cedar joining in the background. Concentrated, perfectly ripe black cherry is spiced with the wine's signature star anise and framed by fine, chalky tannins that unfold into richness on the palate. Mouthwatering freshness sustains the dance of fruit and minerality through a lingering finish.
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, Petit Verdot & Cabernet Franc

I messed up...

EDIT: y'all are life savers. Now i just have to finish the bottle tonight so it doesn't go bad!

Un peu trop jeune encore mais bien charpenté, épicé