DRC Montrachet tasting from 2002-2019. / The new style, the 2019 DRC Montrachet.  It was definitely a bit cleaner, and while 2019 is not supposed to be the best white wine vintage, there was a noticeable difference here from the last two. It was much less heavy, and while smoky it was also more oaky and oaty. It felt like it had more flaws, but don’t get me wrong, it was still DRC Montrachet. I will leave the vintage versus winemaker debate open to discussion (95).  

“50 Icons, 100 Vintages, One Extraordinary Tasting” Helsinki became the stage for one of the most ambitious wine events ever hosted by Tastingbook. Fifty of the world’s greatest estates, each represented by two remarkable vintages, were poured side by side and tasted blind. Sixteen wine professionals from nine countries—from India to Australia to the U.S.—came together for two days of discovery, debate, and pure vinous excitement.

Bond Estate 2022 + Harlan 2021 + Dominus 2021 + Inglenook 2021

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. ”

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1917 / 20 points : Absolutely sensational. Complex, expansive, and full-bodied. With optimal sweetness and fantastically integrated acidity. Côte brûlée, Birnel, molasses, and dried plums. Fig compote. Sensational.

Bordeaux 2024 Vintage / Pauillac / 2024 Lynch Bages: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and 3% Cabernet Franc. Tasted twice with the same impression. Freshness, red berries, violets. Delightfully fruity with finesse and elegance, fine complexity, mid-palate, structure, and aftertaste. Beautiful wine. 94p. Tasted in April 2025. 2028 to 2042.

The 100-Best Champagne 2024 Finalists reviewed!

Yalumba The Octavius Shiraz 1988-2020 tasting: 2019 vintage: Medium-deep crimson. Intense dark plum, black cherry, blackberry aromas with praline, vanilla, hint black pepper notes. Generously proportioned wine with superb pure blackberry pastille, cassis sage flavours, fine chocolaty firm tannins and beautiful integrated ginger, roasted chestnut oak. Finishes chocolaty and long. Wonderful follow-up vintage. Drink 2030–2048. 14.5% alc

When you are fortunate enough to taste nineteen Rousseau Chambertins at one meal, you can be sure you will have some perspective. The range of vintages was 2018 back to 1990 with almost all the most heralded vintages (no 1991), and the one that stood out above the rest was the 2005 Rousseau Chambertin. Make no mistake about it, there were many standouts, but the 2005 hit the highest note. It was deep but more hi-toned than some of its younger brethren, in a bright red way. It has a raspberry, cranberry and citrus mélange. While rich and saucy, it wasn’t like the other saucy vintages as it had more tension and style. This was a wine to restore one’s faith in the often glacial 2005 vintage. It had enough spice to satisfy the entire House of Atreides (99, Paris).

Tastingbook tasted Screaming Eagle 1997-2019 / Last Friday's tasting was a rare journey through Screaming Eagle’s legacy—Cabernet icons from 1997 to 2019, alongside the estate’s rarities: Blanc and Second Flight. The lineup highlights Napa’s defining vintages: the power of 1997 and 2013, the elegance of 2010 and 2019, and the charm of 2004 and 2014. The Blanc 2018 and 2019 reveal crystalline precision, while Second Flight 2019 shows approachability without compromise.

Together, these wines capture two decades of Napa Valley—its great vintages, its subtle shifts in style, and the consistent brilliance that makes Screaming Eagle a true modern icon.

Amazing Jacques Selosse Champagne tasting!!

Penfolds Grange La Chapelle 2021: A striking wine of poise and quiet power, the 2021 Grange La Chapelle immediately announces itself with a lifted, perfumed bouquet of dark cherries, wild violets, blackcurrant leaf and a fine thread of graphite. With air, subtle notes of cedar, crushed herbs, and warm earth emerge, giving the nose both depth and intrigue.

On the palate, this is beautifully sculpted – sleek and refined rather than overtly forceful. Juicy black fruits and red plum glide across the tongue, wrapped in silky yet firm tannins that promise graceful evolution. There’s a cool-climate precision to the vintage, with bright acidity carrying flavors of cassis, cocoa nibs, and a touch of savory spice into a long, mineral-etched finish.

Seamless tannins and well-balanced acidity reflect a blend that honors both the powerful side of La Chapelle and the elegance of Grange. This is not the most opulent wine, but one of the most finely detailed in recent memory – elegant, layered, and already harmonious, though its structure suggests it will unfurl magnificently over the next two decades. A wine of rare balance and inner radiance.

Grange La Chapelle represents the first-ever time Penfolds’ flagship wine has been blended with another estate’s product—an unprecedented move born from friendship and shared vision between winemakers Peter Gago (Penfolds) and Caroline Frey (La Chapelle). Ultra-limited release: Only a handful of bottles globally—plus a select few through Penfolds direct-to-consumer channels. Nick Ryan of The Australian awarded this vintage 99 points, calling it “unquestionably destined for greatness” and likening it to legendary past Grange releases