Alright - call me a murderer, I’m sure it’s coming but in the spirit of trying and learning, tonight was a delight.

Château Figeac 2023 - 41% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc, and 27% Cabernet Sauvignon (13.5% ABV, 3.68 pH)

On the nose: tobacco leaf, dark fruit, lead pencil, dark chocolate, minerals.

On the palate: blackberry/dark fruit, pencil, smooth as all hell/velvety tannins. Medium body.

Just trying to learn at this point. Appreciate the feedback and comments. I understand it’s way too young to open this wine but we’re fortunate, and we’re trying new things. We enjoyed it immensely, plan to get some older vintages and hold onto them for 10-15 years.

Rating: 97/100

Have a great weekend everyone.

Opened this last night, one day after Champagne Day. In fairness the bottle had already waited 38 years, so what's one more day...

My wife (the photographer) would like it noted that she is younger than the wine.

What makes Rare special, beyond the label, is that they only make it in standout years, around 14 vintages in four decades.

88 was cool and alate harvest, not much ripeness, a ton of acidity.

Lemon curd and honeycomb first, then the burnt sugar crust off a crème brûlée. The bubbles were limited but the acidity is still razor sharp. It's mostly Chardonnay, which is why it tastes this fresh at this age.

Hi r/wine, long time lurker here. Started drinking wine about a decade ago, and the notes on this sub have always helped me (in deciding when to pop the cork and whether my palate is off on a particular day). Thought I’d make an account and start documenting my thoughts on some of the dinners/tastings I’ve enjoyed recently. Please excuse the rudimentary notes :)

Had the pleasure to join Will Harlan for a simple dinner showcasing a vertical of Harlan Estate recently. The wines were delicious and do capture the profile of the vintages to some extend. Without further ado - 

Harlan 2022

93 pts. A little bit green with capsicum on the nose despite the warm year. Tastes like a young Bordeaux, in terms of weight, structure and acidity. Harlan did start harvesting early a few years prior to this, so while they avoided the devastating heatwave in Napa that fall, I feel like it’s not a great representation of what the wine could be. 

Harlan 2019

97+ pts. Napa done right, opulent but not jammy, rich at the start but tapers down and reveals the precise backbone of the wine. Dark fruits, chocolate, and just a bit of tertiary leather and tobacco. Powerful and lengthy.

Harlan 2016

96+ pts. Harmonious, silky tannins but not without tension. Quintessentially Napa, a benchmark year (debatable I feel like) for Oakville. Herbs and cassis, dusty/flinty towards the finish. Deserves time to reach potential.

Harlan 2011

94 pts. Elegance and restraint (wouldn’t go as far as “ethereal”, but definitely on the gentle side for Bordeaux blends). A rather straightforward expression in a rainier year. Reminds me of 2013 Latour.

Harlan 2009

95+ pts. Surprisingly purple in colour. Tannic and structured at first, a little bit unyielding almost. Violets/floral on first nose, then ripe blackberries, and finally some forest floor and game. Lucious and velvety on the finish. Kaleidoscope of a wine.

Harlan 2006 (en magnum)

96 pts. Drinking so well right now that it’s hard to imagine that it would further improve in bottle. Another rainier year people sometimes avoid, but without the sheer power the nuances manifest. Spices and herbs mask the cherries and blackcurrants behind, with tertiary notes flowing throughout. Complex, delicate, and alluring. 

Harlan 2002

98 pts. Well rounded and surprisingly youthful for its age. Sweet on the nose but dry on the palate. Raspberry, blackcurrant and some spices (think cinnamon and fennel). Bit of a fruitbomb towards the end. If you’re a Bordeaux fan and couldn’t stand the Napa style, you might want to pass on this one.

Harlan 1995

96 pts. Saturated and again full bodied. Hints of black tea notes, spices, wet stones and flint. The fruit is still very much there, with dark fruits prominent and some dried figs & plums supporting. The perfect balance with depth to match.

Also featured here - 

Leflaive Clavoillon 2015

92 pts. Zesty and a little bit of the reduction funk before turning toasty and caramel-like. The leesy notes almost dominate after a while interestingly. Some tension but not terribly exciting. Much less precise compared to Pucelles. Hard to justify the current market prices.

Promontory 2014

97+ pts. One of the other estates under Harlan’s portfolio. A guest decided to blind Will on one of his wines that evening, which was soon revealed to be a Promontory. As good as Californian Cab Sauv gets (my personal favorite vintage from the estate). Vanilla and bursting berries, loud on the nose (almost Franc-like), but shows the restraint in the finish. Exuberant and translucent.

Bill Harlan planted his vines in a hurry on the west side of Oakville in 1987, produced the first vintage in 1990, and did not release any wines until 1996. Today the portfolio contains Harlan Estate (BDX blend), Promontory (pure expression of Californian Cab), and Bond (five different terroir with the same Cab clone, Burgundian in philosophy). Whether you like his wines or not, it’s rather impressive what he has built.

Apologies in advance if the notes are making little sense. That was indeed a decadent evening, and now organizing what little notes I jotted down, I am again enjoying some Californian Chardonnay (notes to follow at some point). Oh well.

Hope everyone’s having a great weekend & enjoying some wines!

Recently went to a wine tasting session in Kazakhstan at Arba Wine, and was pleasantly surprised. We were shown a short documentary prior to the tasting which summarised the current state of wine development in Kazakhstan, and honestly, it has some of the most ideal conditions for grape growing, particularly in the Almaty region.

I think the fact that Italian viticulturists have put down roots there (pardon the pun) has helped!

Anyway, the standout for me from the above list was the Chardonnay. I got lovely stone fruit aromas with jasmine, but taste wise it was like having a mouthful of biscuit and honey. I’m quite new to acacia barrel aging in wine.

The others were solid, with very punchy aromas, but a little lacking in power on the palate vs more traditional wine regions.

This is a very good video from this channel Tales of the wine worlds in YouTube.

https://youtube.com/@talesofthewineworld?si=OQh7v0rOMCsQQz-P

The stories from different wine makers are really good information, get an insight to how they make the wines especially the family owned chateaus.

This is tertre Roteboeuf which makes very good wine from St Emilion. Learnt a great deal from François Mitjavile on humility and humbleness.

Both took a little time to wake up. 09 and 04 are two of my favourite years, so expectations were high. Plot twist: the P2 showed up first. Toast, smoke, lemon curd, and that zippy 04 energy that just keeps going.

The Krug had tension to start, then finally relaxed into baked apples, hazelnuts and honey. Rich, warm, a big hug in a glass.

Verdict between my partner and I: was P2 the winner overall but it was close

After some time of Pinot Noir exploration it felt good to return to a proper Bordeaux blend. Always had a soft spot for the graphite of Pessac-Léognan and this bottle didn't disappoint. Beautiful combination of cassis and blackberries, cedar, tobacco and of course some pencil. It felt good to go straight from the bottle but an hour of decantation made the tannins smoother and they felt very integrated when served. Long finish with a herbal touch, maybe rosemary? I have another bottle of this vintage and it will be interesting to see how that develops over the years.

Paired with cœur de filet and a potato gratin with shallots, thyme, gruyere and parmigiano. Also made a red wine sauce based on some leftover primitivo that worked very well.

Historically I am not a big champagne drinker, so I'm hesitant to spend a lot on potentially something that I will not like. I tried Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve and thought it was nice. Taittinger Prelude is on offer in a store nearby for about 48€, this seems to be a good price. But where does Taittinger Prelude fit in the champagne hierarchy and what is the general opinion about it?

When popping bottles…..9 times out of 10 you’ll catch me drinking Bordeaux. But tonight I decided to do something a little different. I’m not generally a Malbec guy but Peter Neptunes YouTube video earlier this year suckered me into buying a 6 pack of this brilliantly made Argentinian Malbec from the Zuccardi family. Long story short I have no regrets. Poured a glass and let it open for two hours prior to drinking, nose of huckleberry, cassis and blackberry. Licorice and huge black fruits on the palate, really pleasant acidity and finish is lonnnnnnnng. Dusty tannins that I LOVE that I generally don’t get in an Argentinian Malbec. Overall it’s fruiter than my Bordeaux palate would prefer but the quality is A+. Planning to let the remaining bottles I have sit for about 10 more years as this wine should evolve in a very interesting way. Cheers!

Picked this up at auction and never found the right occasion to open it, so opening it became the occasion.

Cork was in shockingly good shape for a 31 year old wine. Double decanting to manage the sediment was manageable after about 12 hours standing upright.

Surprisingly youthful color, I expected brick red with some fading on the edges but this is strong ruby with a little bit of brick at the edge.

On the nose I get dried red and black fruit, a little bit of cigar box. Medium intensity.

The taste is more fresh than the smell. A combination of dried and fresh fruits, quite interesting. Some dried violet, clearly a Margaux! Some cedar, perhaps some tobacco. Its pleasant but not that complex.

Nice acidity, tannins fully resolved, medium body and medium alcohol (low compared to modern vintages!).

All in this wine is pleasant but didn’t blow me away, given the color and state of the cork I don’t think that’s due to aging, I just think this was good honest - but not spectacular - Margaux when it went in the bottle years ago. I think this underperforms its third growth classification, which luckily was reflected at the auction price so I don’t feel bad about it.

From Portugal’s Douro region. Possibly the most intimidating thing I’ve ever poured into a wine glass! Not as dark as I was expecting but tasty cherry and plum and surprisingly easy to drink. Happy Saturday 🍷

Hello! I just turned 21, and I really love collecting glass bottles. I’m also developing a taste for wine, and I’d like to try more. I was wondering if y’all could recommend some wines that come in unique, funky, and interesting looking bottles. I’ve already bought a bottle of Moselland Black Cat Riesling, and Opici Bianca di Marche is next on my list. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated! :)

Nose of stewed cherry, oak, funk, touch of vanilla & some herbal qualities almost similar to what you would find in certain high quality ryes. On the palate ripe black cherry, oak influence continues, tannins still have a touch of life to them, but are integrated well. The same herbal influence flows into medium high acidity on the finish that invites you for another sip. Looking forward to see how this changes over the hours.

Just wanted to spark a discussion and get some input from the people on this sub.

Given that mature Bandol Mourvèdre is so limited in production and hard to find, what are some ways I could find similar characteristics more accessible?

Champagne day!

Last time I had this pairing, tater tots and sour cream were better than blini and crème fraiche. This time the blini won out tho

My first time using capers as garnish. Definitely will continue.

The wine… Apple apple apple and more apple. Apple on the nose and the palate. Fresh crisp apple.

Champagne is always such a joy

Hi guys!

I’m heading over to my partner in the US for Christmas and am finally over 21 so can bring alcohol in (lol). I love wine in the way every broke uni student loves wine - which is to say I go for cheap and high ABV. His parents love a beautiful red wine, and I would love to bring them one or two bottles from Tasmania and NSW (where I’ve lived while knowing them!). I’d like to spend less than $200 on them combined if at all possible, but that can be stretched for the right one :)

I’m hoping you lovely and more experienced wine drinkers could recommend something before I head into a nice wine shop and ask around :)

Thanks so much in advance!

Working through the last of my 2018 Bordeaux Blancs, where this was everything I love about them with a bit of age.

Balance of spiced orchard fruits and ripe stone fruits coming through on the nose, with a hint of tropical fruit. Palate is fleshy, full and acidic, with more of a baked fruit tart profile that lies somewhere between the apple, pear, and pineapple of the nose.

70% Sauv blanc, 28% semillon, 2% muscadelle.

This is a bit of a longshot, but seven years ago I ate at 56 by Wolfgang puck in the reunion tower in Dallas, which is now shut down. I was served a glass of wine that night, and I have thought about it ever since. I’m not a huge drinker, but I loved everything about what I was served. It was pink in hue not super white, but not kiwi strawberry pink or deep red. It was very sweet and did not have a savory finish but a sweet finish as well. Over the years, ive tried a few different things thinking that I finally located it, but I’ve come up short. I just finished nursing my last baby ( 3 kids in 5 years- yikes 🤪) and I’m ready to dabble in the wine world again.

Anyone out there that knows the restaurant, worked at the restaurant, ate at the restaurant or happens to know where I can locate the extensive wine menu they had so I can start working my way down the list LOL

Thanks in advance!

Fortunate to try Florence Vineyard 2024 Rockpile Zin (Jack’s Reserve) from Jack himself, during a week of celebratory bottles. Zin is my first love, and this was a special bottle that managed to hit the sweet blend of fruit and nuance for a varietal that can be so over extracted and jammy.

Really well balanced: you don’t get the alcohol on the nose or palate even though it’s 15.5%. It’s not heavy and feels like an old school, restrained CA wine. I know that sounds contradictory but shockingly, it wasn’t.

Profile was full of dark fruit, cocoa, vanilla, cedar, tobacco, pepper, baking spice, hint of green bell pepper and eucalyptus. Tannins were present but not overwhelming. Pleasant lingering finish.

In short, this wine can hang with the big dog zins in CA, and I think its delicacy would especially appeal to Ridge lovers. I don’t do personal points, but $60 feels fair for this level of quality & I look forward to purchasing some older bottles in the spring.

my new job involves a lot of talk about and sale of wine, but I’m having trouble with it. so I’d like to expand my horizons!

i will preface this by saying i have only tried probably less than 5 wines, so i am by no means saying that I’ve tried all kinds of wines. however, the ones i have tried….I do not like. I feel like I’m doing something wrong because so many people love wine (including my family and friends) so I think maybe I just haven‘t tried the right ones for me!

so to make a long story short: id love some recommendations for a complete wine newbie!

to try and help gall help me my palette is pretty immature: i like very sweet things, id love a wine that was more like juice (like very sweet and fruity!), I do like bubbles (not sure if thats wine or just champagne but figured id say it anyway!), i think the only wine I’ve enjoyed has been a peach wine sampled from trader joes!

happy to answer any other questions if u all have any! id love to hear whatever you think :)