2005 - A magnificent red wine vintage. This was a dry year, though never particularly hot, save for a heat-wave in May. A hail-storm on 17 July devastated the vines between the villages of Santenay and Chassagne-Montrachet. After a mixed August, and much-needed rain on 6 September, the skies cleared and it became increasingly sunny and warm. The Côte d'Or harvest began in the middle of the month and was all but complete by the week-end of 1st. October.

A complete Unico vertical from 1921 to 2008 with over 30 vintages.

California 1974 tasting / Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet 1974

 Possibly the most famous American wine worldwide, eucalyptus laced, hauntingly beautiful. Where Mayacamas is the classicist, Heitz is also classic in style, but iconoclastic, akin to virtually nothing else you will experience. Eucalyptus, cherries, coffee and game abound on the nose.

On the palate, there is a medley of fruit and spice, blackberries and hazelnuts next, with a slight honeyed element towards the smooth, silky finish. This wine is well nigh timeless, the inner mouth complexity past the mid palate on to the finish is just remarkable. I believe this has a further several notches to climb -- its uniqueness married with its brilliance continue to astound. 99 Points

Le Pin 2017 -97 points. Superb visit at at Le Pin with Fiona and Jacques. The 2017 Le Pin was a very elegant and promising wine, already now, after spending only one day in barrels, even compared to the great vintages 2016 and 2017.

Harlan Estate 2009 / The third year in a row with below-average rainfall, 2009 will go down as being a relatively even growing season, with very few heat surges during the summer months. September provided ideal ripening conditions with 12 days in the 90°s. Harvest began September 2. Nearly all lots were “in the barn” prior to a looming rainstorm (6 inches) that arrived on October 12. We gathered the final few blocks on October 18.

tasting notes

At this writing, the 2009 vintage is still in various stages of production, with some tanks still being pressed off, others having been barreled down and undergoing malolactic. Overall, a superlative vintage.

Hill of Grace 2012 / So how did one of our most iconic wines fare in a great year? If anything, it exceeded the enormously lofty heights expected of it. Technically, 85% French oak, the remainder American. 58% of all oak was new. 18 months in the oak before the separate parcels from the vineyard were blended. Great intensity, complexity, immaculate balance, extraordinary length. Black cherries, aniseed, bacon fat, animal hides, soy sauce and an eerily smoky note that weaves amongst the flavours. So silky, you feel that you’d slip if you tried to get a hold of it. This is undoubtedly a great HoG, but only time, and lots of it, will tell if it is the greatest of all. It is a contender. 

Score: 99/100

Best drinking: how long have you got? 30 years? 40, 50? 

Alc: 14.5%

Today, Bolgheri is among Italy’s famed wine producing regions, but this seemed far from a possibility in 1983, the year Le Macchiole was founded and a time when the area was known simply for a close proximity to the sea and having abundant fruit and grain agriculture. Yet, two native Bolgheresi, Eugenio Campolmi and Cinzia Merli, were devoted to the idea of vine growing in their home even when it was not considered a viable way to start a living. “My husband Eugenio and I started off with very limited, if almost no, resources,” Cinzia recalls. “We gave up working his parents’ retail and restaurant business and bought a few hectares of land planted to wheat.

We decided to plant vineyards starting with many varieties - sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, syrah, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and vermentino - so that we might see what grew best on our little property. That is how our life project began and, for me, our learning is still in progress. I believe that Bolgheri is in the early stage of development. It has just become aware of its potential and understanding of which grape varieties give their best to each part of the different soils; much is still yet to be accomplished here.”

Deutz Vintage Champagne 1904-2008 / Deutz 1959 Wagner, Mahler, Brahms, Rubens, Churchill, St. Peter's in Rome, Karelia – they would all pale in the face of the monumental dark power of this wine! What Aÿ muscles and what a truffle-garnished cannonade of autumn flavours.

97 points

Harlan Estate 2013 /Dark brooding blackberry, forest fruit and tobacco flavors - there is more density here than in the 2012. This is a powerful, dense, intense Harlan that will take time to unfold but will eventually offer much more than the 2012 and probably keep longer in the cellar. Firm, chewy tannins. This vintage had a lot of wind leaving small berries with thick skins. 98 points

Pierre Peters ‘Les Chetillons’ Blanc de Blancs 2008, 99 points /Nervously close to perfect.  I can’t think of a thing I would add or take away to this complete wine.  It is walking on a tightrope of acidity, tension, expansive minerality and restrained fruit.  There is finesse and power here at once. Devastatingly, my one and only bottle.  But worth it.  INCREDIBLE.

Dominus 2009 / great aromatics, an earth and tobacco component, excellent cassis and red fruit with silky mouth feel, long, balanced, not as extracted as some but very well knit- 94 points"    This was a bit of a surprise;  I love Dominus but usually feel that it needs 10+ years of bottle age to show its stuff.  36th wine of the tasting.