Fine Wine > Still > 92-95 Pts

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"A massive, pedal-to-the-metal Petite Sirah that looks like pen ink, the wine displays notes of creosote, pepper, spice box, blackberry, and blueberry, with hints of incense and floral undertones. It is dense and almost looks like syrup being poured into a glass. It is obviously not for everybody,..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2008 Vintage Tunina is terrific. The wine’s trademark expansive bouquet and generous fruit are beautifully balanced by a vein of minerality that is the hallmark of this cool year. All of the elements come together beautifully in the glass as the 2008 Vintage Tunina shows off layers of..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"Dark, full, generous and ripe to the far edge of elegance, this powerful Pinot is saturated with black fruits, annotated with fennel, pepper, smoke and espresso, the rich and varied flavors rolling right through a lush midpalate and on into a gently fading finish ..."-Paul Gregutt

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"Taking advantage of the delicious fruit of 2006, this Branaire-Ducru shows a charming side. It brings out ripe, spicy black plums and black cherry spice to go with the lively, fresh tannins. That’s not to say that there isn't structure, but today it is the fruit that dominates."

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2001 Imperial Gran Reserva has a more complex, better defined nose than the 2000, with black cherries, spice and Seville orange marmalade. The palate is medium-bodied, with fine tannins cloaked in sweet dark cherry, bitter orange and strawberry fruit. It is lighter on its feet than the 2000,..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"A candidate for wine of the vintage, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape (a tank-aged blend of 90% Grenache and the rest Mourvedre, Syrah and Cinsault from 80+ year old vines) is a naked expression of Chateauneuf du Pape that is pure fruit and complexity. Its dense purple color is followed by aromas of..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"I can’t say enough about how beautifully classic, racy, and gracious the wines of Brane Cantenac have become over the last decade. The stunningly elegant 2006 exhibits a sweet, subtle smoke note intermixed with creme de cassis in its medium-bodied style with superb nobility, concentration, and..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"The 2008 Barolo Vigna Marenca boasts a center of bright red berries that is surprisingly supple and elegant. Sweet red cherries, freshly cut flowers, spices and mint take shape in the glass as the 2008 shows off a refined, high-toned register that is rarely found in this wine. The 2008 boasts..

Cellar/Tasting Notes
[This] sensational Chateauneuf du Pape has fabulous fruit concentration. Full-bodied, pure and certainly a star of the vintage [it] is a brilliant achievement in 2009, and I kept going back to the glass for another whiff of the kirsch and black raspberry notes.

Cellar/Tasting Notes
"Firmly structured, dark-fruited wine, very solid and dense. It has weight along with black currant fruits and acidity. It’s a wine that is rich but seriously structured for aging. "