France

• Alsace
• Bergerac
• Bordeaux
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• Burgundy
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  • Cornas
  • Crozes-Hermitage
  • Gigondas
  • Hermitage
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• Provence
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• Tavel

Pop and pour.  Gorgeous wine for $15.  One of the great wine values in the world.  Can it age?  At age 13, I think it is a bit improved but certainly it has been harmed by cellaring.  Light golden in color.  The nose has great salinity.  Sear air, crushed shells/minerals and slight lime.  On the palate, this is deep and complex.  Crushed shells and minerals with some citrusy notes.  Nice finish.  Worked great with food.  should have bought more but the new versions are great as well.  

Opened late in the evening (probably should have skipped it) but it was a nice treat.  Drinking great right now.  Golden in color, but not that dark for an 01 (purchased on release).  The nose is gorgeous with apricots and honey and a bit of burnt sugar.  On the palate, not quite as expressive but still quite nice.  Burnt sugar and apricots carry thru.  Viscous but not cloying.  Sweet but not overtly.  Ok acidity.  Long finish.  This was from a 375 and even in that format, has a long life left.  

Update. 

This bottle was popped open at 9:00 am and decanted at 9:00 pm and served immediately.  Seemed to be about right although the wine is still youthful.  Purple in color.  The nose is classic with cassis,  tobacco, leather, and slight funk.  On the palate, slight tannins.  Cassis layered with earthy forest floor/tobacco.  great balance.  Long finish.  Went well with a Roasted Eggplant and mildly spicy peppers casserole.  At 26 years from vintage, this might even have a bit of upside.  Seemed to be the crowds WOTN but I have had slightly better (more exuberant) bottles of this.  nitpicking of c

A lot of people question whether cellaring white wine makes any sense.  This is one white that not only lasts but improves in the cellar.  At 13 years from vintage, this showed wonderfully with nothing "past prime" at all.  Medium golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has a nice minerality to it with plenty of depth.  Also come melon (cantaloupe) and a bit of salinity.  On the palate, this is complex.  Slightly oily texture.  Notes of minerals, sea shells, but nice melon and peach fruit.  But the minerality was sublime.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  Went quite well with a spring sala

Light golden in color.  A nice mousse with a good amount of small bubbles.  On the nose, this is slightly smokey with nice minerality.  Also a bit of lemon.  On the palate, this is nice.  Just the slightest hint of sweetness to it.  Nice minerals.  A lemon candy sort of note.  Decent acidity.  Worked well with bread and cheese.  

This is an example of why to buy and cellar "lesser" wines in great vintages.  This is certainly improved since the last time I had it in 2010.  Right now it seems to be at peak.  It probably should be consumed in the next couple of years but should last longer.  Purple in color, with ruby swirls.  The wine took about 20 minutes to shed some bottle stink and then kept opening for the next hour at which point is plateaued until the bottle was emptied.  The nose is great with boysenberries, raspberries, roasted meat, spice and slight floral notes.  With air a bit of roasted herbs as well.  On

What a great value.  This wine is in a wonderful place right now.  Still youthful with some upside but delicious.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, black olives, slight bacon fact and slight violets.  On the palate, there is a lot of fruit here.  Black raspberries.  Also plenty of depth.  It unwinds in the glass with layers of fruit and earth.  Delicious.  It got better and better with air.  Worked grteat with food.  A Fass Selection wine.  

Hard for me to score this since I have no real frame of reference.  Given though that it was made the year I graduated from high school.  That I bought it at the winery in Alsace.  And that I was sharing it with friends who apprecciated it, it gets an easy A.

Very nice showing.  Perhaps a bit past prime, but very good nonetheless.  Golden in color.  The nose has a very slight oxidation to it.  Minerals, limes, slight wax, slight melon notes.  On the palate, this has a nice, slightly oily texture.  Melons and waxy notes.  Slightly burnt orange peel.  Nice finish.  The fruit is persistent but certainly no longer boisterous.  It wored well with vegetarian matzoh ball soup. Still, I would drink these sooner than later at this point.  

What a week.  My second time trying this amazing Champagne.  I opened this bottle about an hour prior to serving and I think it helped it.  It seemed to bring out more fruit.  Light golden in color.  The nose is great with a bit of toast, pears, green apples and minerals.  On the palate, there is a tartness I didn't get previously.  Tart green apples which I really enjoyed.  Minerals.  Slight lemon notes.  This is deep.  It explodes on the palate.  So smooth and easy though.  An amazingly long finish.  Just a baby, this has years left to maturity.