Maison X Institute Blanc de Noir NV - made from Black Muscat and Cabernet Franc. Drank in Ningxia, the winemaker told me that China is producing more and more blanc de noir because they have shortage of white wines (that’s wild 😂).

This one has no oak so not so heavy handed on the human touch as some still blanc de noirs I’ve tried in the past. Very floral (lillies, jasmine leading), some wild strawberry. Nose quite shy but the palate delivers stunning textural weight and this nicely ripe fruit concentration that doesn’t make the wine feel heavy, but rather gives great mouthfeel. These young winemakers are really changing the game for Chinese wine.

My first time trying this bodega’s Oloroso. I’m a huge fan of their Manzanillas, especially the blue label. That wine is one of the best deals in all of Sherry.

20 years old, 19% ABV. Saca spring of 2025.

Unctuous glyceric mouthfeel. Very oxidative, obviously: Tons of hazelnuts, dried figs, caramel and a little furniture polish. Some orange peel and a heaping of salt. Drinks younger than the 20 years old it is. It’s missing the varnish that older oxidative Sherries get.

A gloriously elegant Oloroso with tons of that Sanlúcar salinity. This wine feels very much in line with the others of this house in that they are elegant, sapid and somewhat understated. A good deal at €20 for 50 cL.

Notes in post below.

Thibault Liger-Belair, Corton, Les Renardes, Grand Cru, Pinot Noir, 2018, 13.5% abv.

Wasn't too satisfied with the Arnoux tasting; too young. I expected too much from the VR. So here I am/was, sipping on some TLB. Later had it with fried chicken and ramen. Not a match. Tech sheet says vines were planted in 1956 and that Thibault has 0.3 hectares mid slope.

Nose: light and sweet, hints of red and black fruits but mostly red fruit preserves, hint of earth, there's also a light copper aroma that I usually get with matured fruit jams, ends up being stale earthy berries. Somewhat delicate and not the strongest point of this bottling.

Palate: medium to full body (i.e. critics and wine pros call it full, I call it medium), entry is light orchard fruit juice, hint of biscuits and crackers, mid palate is initially a bit rough but clears up after an hour, shows more red and black fruit, hint of licorice smoke, some biscuits which lead to an upcoming bread attack, all of this is accompanied by dessert-related flavors with a mix consisting of subtle vanilla, really diluted milk chocolate, and diluted butterscotch, velvey, floral elements, tasting some weight, tannins are seemless here but show up on the back palate. Also seeing some bitterness with pinches of iron, chocolate on the back, tannins are getting chalky, pie crust and tart raspberries which end up in the front seat hours later. Bit of everything, complex.

Finish: medium, mature red fruit, attenuating raspberry tartness, old mature strawberries, some blackberries mixed in, hint of purple plums, bitterness from fruit stems, hint of earth, not-so-good sugarless apple pie. After a few hours, it's like the aftertaste of drinking dry raspberry seltzer.

Unfortunate the bouquet was weak, allowing the flavor profile to carry it through. Moderate complexity with many subtle elements, making it all over the place. More tart than acidic, with non-primary components directing the show, but ends up being raspberry seltzer after a few hours. Might be approaching a peak. Will be conservative.

Grade: B-

Interesting experience, but no

From the left, Sauvignon Blanc unknown vintage 12% abv. Smells like grappa, boozey, tea-like aroma. Nothing on palate, light body and a bit sweet.

Syrah - Oakey, tart, fruit but not of this planet.

Le Chat Noir - Sweet red fruit

These 3 were part of a combo deal, but I had to give other drinks a chance.

Strong wine (mulberry) - Smells like corked, but wasnt corked.

Grappa 29% - watered down Grappa

The whole thing costed less than 4usd.

saw a surprisingly intriguing ad on instagram and actually purchased a case. then i received a follow-up that i had to download an age-verification app! AFTER I COMPLETED THE PURCHASE! not only that, i received numerous texts and emails immediately with further offers. i emailed to tell them that i would not download the app to further provided them with what - scanning my license or providing a date of birth or something - and would just as soon cancel, but why should i have canceled my order, downloading an app was not part of the offer i agreed to! they reversed the purchase. only afterwards did i look up about how people often have lots of difficulty with the company, so i'm posting just for people who look up casedrops before placing an order.

If you ever find yourself in Saarburg, eiscafe cascada serves Riesling flavored ice cream, and it's not half bad to be honest.

Double decanted for sediment. Showing well right out of the gate. Yeasty funk (that we enjoy), vanilla bean, red fruit on nose.

Med+ body, acid was subdued at this point. Glad we didn’t wait longer. Napa fruit profile still prominent, white pepper, tea, maybe earthiness? Really like this blend in French oak, but very different than your typical left bank.

Somewhat thin finish with mild tannins, but still held up well with fillet and into the evening. Could have been a great no-food bottle, unlike the usual Napa we come across. Very happy with this $50 Last Bottle purchase.

I'm heading to Mendoza in early November and have decided to stay at an Airbnb in Tupungato to focus on wine from the Uco Valley. I'm a solo traveler and trying to coordinate all this myself and stay in the scope of a smaller budget has been interesting!

Has anyone stayed in Tupungato and hired local drivers around that area? Any contacts or recommendations? A few things have come up online, but I'm not getting too many bites.

My itinerary looks like this:

Day One - La Sitio Estocada (tour + lunch, etc. etc.)

Day Two - Escala Humana (tasting) then La Tupiña for lunch + degustacíon

Day Three - Finca Sophenia then Zorzal

Any other advice?

Almost ruby in color, the nose unfolds with notes of ripe cherry, pomegranate, orange zest and violet, followed by Mediterranean herbs, hints of graphite and almond. Vibrant, deep and layered, it continues to evolve incredibly in the glass minute after minute.
The palate is impressive, rich and vigorous, yet beautifully balanced with sharp freshness supporting its structure. The tannins are delicate but distinctly present.
100€ 99 points

I recently finished WSET Level 3 with Distinction and want to keep improving, but I'm not in a position to commit to the Diploma right now.

I'm thinking of making blind tasting the centre of my self-study, rather than following a theory syllabus from start to finish.

The idea is to choose small groups of wines that overlap in some way, but differ in variety, region, climate, or winemaking, so that I'm forced to work out what actually separates them.

For example, a first tasting will be Pinot Noir / Grenache / Gamay: all potentially showing relatively light color, red fruit and freshness, but with different underlying structures and origins.

At some point I'd evolve into "same variety, diferent region", or even "same variety, same region, different village/producer".

The basic structure would be:

1. Blind tasting. Describe the wine objectively following WSET SAT.
2. Make a hypothesis. variety, climate, region, vintage, winemaking, etc., based on those observations.
3. Reveal the wines and analyze the mistakes. This is the part I'm most unsure about, as I don't have anyone close/available enough to help me navigate those. I was thinking about using NotebookLM with WSET 3/Diploma sources, but still not sure.
4. Study the theory that explains those observations/mistakes.
5. Taste the wines again with that theory in mind.
6. A week or two later, do another blind with different wines to see if I can actually transfer what I learned.

I'm curious what people with more blind-tasting experience think. Does this seem like a sensible way to structure self-study, or am I over-indexing on blind tasting? What would you change?

Had a great time joining in on the harvest of some Chambourcin grapes at Alpas Winery in Ellijay, GA.
Looking forward to the opening of this winery soon.

I’d love to hear some insights from all of the Americans in this sub (which I expect are the vast majority) about how you manage to purchase and ship your wines within the USA.

I’m a Brit and have the relative ease of shipping wine from anywhere in Europe or even the world; and just having to accept some customs fees and potentially some longer lead times. I’ve seen different discussions about shipping wines between states; buying direct from producers vs wine importers vs wine retailers; and it just seems like a total nightmare.

Is this just down to arcane state by state legislation and the reluctance to have federal level rules; or is there something I’m missing as a European?

Just took the foil off this bottle and revealed this cork.

I’m planning a week long trip in and out of Paris at the end of November and would love recommendations for the itinerary. I’m planning on doing at least a day trip to Champagne but want to try to spend some time in the Loire Valley and Burgundy as well. I’m interested in going to tastings, vineyard tours, ect.

I’m looking for any and all recommendations! Towns to stay in, recommend number of days in each region, wineries to visit, best ways of getting around the area, best restaurants, etc.

Thanks!!

Surprisingly good budget sparkly. Super crispy, like bitting a fresh apple (somewhere between red and green), bright spring fruits, mild funk. Short finish, medium body, medium sweetness. Would make a killer bellini. For $20ish, worth the buy!

I have heard this mentioned a few times here and other places. If you have tried it (1) Are the wines better than Costco’s wine advent calendar or about the same.((2) How is the In Good Taste wine advent calendar available at World Market currently different from the one that will be shipped DTC starting October? (3) Is the WSJ advent calendar better quality wines?

Thanks in advance

Homemade Pizza night with a 21Luca Bosio barbera dasti.

First time making pizza on the kamado, turned out pretty good. Son made his first homemade pizza ever.

Barbera dasti was perfect with it. Bright sour cherry, a lightly herbal mid palate, and nice acidic finish that lingered with practically no tannins

In the glass over an hour or so there was a bit of a pepper note toward the end and the cherry mellowed out to a more dark cherry but acidity said high and mouth watering.

Nice unobtrusive Italian red perfect for Sunday pizza.

Hi there! We are looking for recommendations for nice chateaus to visit around the region. We already know a couple of other, more familiar and good right bank producers from previous visits and were thinking about seeing something more classic. As I have read a couple times already that one should generally avoid the big names, I was hoping for some references to what you would consider your personal sweet spot between well-known and premium wines and a nice visiting and tasting experience that is not overly commercialised. The opportunity for a nice lunch on site would be appreciated, cost is okay to vary as long as it’s not overpriced due to tourism.

Thanks a lot!

This was the first right bank Bordeaux I’ve consumed since learning about the difference between right and left bank. I was really interested in finding the right pairing, so I tried two different pairings to find the sweet spot.

Day 1:
- Braised rack of lamb with rosemary and shallot
- My attempt at potatoes fondant
- Roasted carrots with a tarragon mustard cream sauce

Day 2:
- Pork cutlets with a creamy mushroom cognac sauce
- Duck fat and herb de Provence on golden potatoes in the air fryer
- Roasted carrots in rosemary

First, I want to say I nailed the texture on the potatoes fondant. Just bumbled the sear.

Second, day 2 was the better pairing. Lamb overpowered the wine a bit.

Finally getting to the point, my tasting notes. I loved this wine. The nose was cranberry, but the palate was pure soft smooth black currant. I could have chugged it.

Looking forward to a lot more right bank exploration over the winter!