Historical Monfortino Vertical Tasting With Roberto Conterno 1929-2006. We had 38 vintages of Monfortino, Barolo’s greatest wine, on tap and ready to go at Legacy Records. There are few people in the wine world as intensely passionate and amicably knowledgeable as Roberto Conterno. He is precise and confident in his expertise, as he should be. He is one of the wine world’s greatest winemakers.

Mount Edelstone 70th Anniversary Tasting 1956-2022

Perfect 100 points Graham 80 year old Tawny Port – Only 600 bottles of the 80y old were bottled and the shelf price will be well above 1.000 GBP. For Charles Symington the blending process was very emotional, as his father, Peter Symington, was born in 1944. When turning 80, Peter very much enjoyed this special Port. Dark red colour with intense reflections and a green-gold rim. Gentle and perfectly balanced Douro Bake aromas on the nose with coffee, dried orange and tobacco. Complex, dense herbal notes in the bouquet, chocolate, malt, tobacco leaves and caramel, floral notes and a hint of chocolate and toffee in the background. Incredibly complex notes on the palate. Herbal mix, chocolate, tea, malt, honey, tobacco. Perfectly long, balanced and complex finish with many overlapping layers. A perfect Port! 100

Tb tasted the lates vintages of the TOR Wines - several 100 points wines! Tasting showcased an extraordinary lineup of Napa Valley powerhouses, highlighting pristine vintage variation and legendary site specificity. Across both whites and reds, the collection demonstrated a seamless balance between broad Napa Valley richness and laser-focused structural precision.

The Chardonnays (Cuvée Susan 2023–2024) set a high benchmark with their crystalline acidity, white stone fruit depth, and subtle oak integration. Meanwhile, the Cabernet Sauvignons from iconic sites like Beckstoffer To Kalon, Vine Hill Ranch, Vaca Ridge, and Melanson Vineyard delivered masterclasses in terroir expression. The cool 2023 vintage offered energetic, chiseled profiles with vibrant acidity and refined tannins, while the 2022s brought plush volume and ripe dark-fruit intensity. Unquestionable pinnacles were reached in the monumental 2021 vintage: the 100-point To Kalon and Black Magic cuvées stood out as timeless masterpieces of architectural depth, graphite minerality, and endless finishing power.

Australian New Releases / Claymore Wines The Fields of Anfield Road 2024 ($75) – When one thinks of Claymore wines, two things come to mind – cracking Clare Valley wines and an unfathomable devotion to the Liverpool Football Club (I guess you can’t have everything). Those who follow the sport will know that the mugsmashers, as they are fondly known, snuck in to win the competition earlier this year. To celebrate that, they have released this Shiraz Cabernet blend and a bottle can be yours for literally just 0.00000025% of what the Club has spent on players in the off-season. 

An inky maroon hue with a purple rim, there are notes of cocoa powder, blackberries, cassis, mocha, cold tea, dried herbs, chocolate and smoked meats. The oak is deftly handled and there is an intriguing saline/iodine notes running through the wine. Good balance and focus, with bright acidity, there is excellent length. It will drink well over the next decade and continue to improve. Those who are not fans of Liverpool are probably hoping that this is a one-off. 93.

The preview of the new vintages of VDP Grosses Gewächs was held in Wiesbaden and featured over 400 different wines. This year I was focussing on the grape varities Silvaner, Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc) and Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) of the vintage 2025 as well as some 2005 Rieslings from Franconia and the 2024 Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Baden.

Penfolds Part II: This time Tastingbook tasted nearly 100 Penfolds wines, and not a single wine scored below 90 points across 11 wine professionals. When combining Parts I and II, we tasted over 130 of Penfolds’ finest wines spanning 2002 to 2024, with the overall average score reaching nearly 97 points. Amazing result!

A Masterclass in Tuscan Coastal Terroir: A Vertical Exploration of Monteverro and Ornellaia. This tasting showcases a world-class vertical lineup from the Tuscan coast. It contrasts Ornellaia’s classic, structured Bolgheri elegance against Monteverro’s powerful Maremma precision across seven distinct vintages. Featuring highly precise 2016 and 2021 vintages alongside the exceptionally rare, balanced 2020 whites, it offers an ultimate study in coastal terroir, climate variability, and structural longevity.

Dom Ruinart Rosé 1988 / “Onionskin-hued cherry red colour. Really powerful toast, spice, meat, and gunflint nose that comes with a charming coffee and cream note. A wild one. Ripe and massive, yet vibrant and super silky. Impressive in 75cl bottle and out-of-this-world in magnum. ”

Mature wines from Margaux can be a pure pleasure as proven by the Baron de Brane 2011.

Head-to-Head Blind Tasting Report: Monteverro vs. Ornellaia

A distinguished group of Tastingbook professionals gathered to evaluate seven critical vintages from both estates in a completely blind format. The lineup spanned over a decade of winemaking, showcasing the evolutionary arc of both properties.

The wines were tasted blindly side-by-side across the following years: 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.