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The 2014 White Burgundies: What’s Not To Like? (Sep 2016)

(in barrel, with very little SO2 added to this point): White peach, minerals and a medicinal whiff of menthol on the nose. A far more austere wine than the 2015 version, dominated in the mouth by crushed-rock minerality and menthol. Showing little in the way of flattering fruit in the early going. This is remarkably…

New Languedoc/Roussillon Releases (Jul 2002)

(a blend of syrah, mourvedre and cabernet) Full red. An exotic head shop of a nose: blackberry, orange peel, roasted meat, mace, clove, grilled nuts. Then extremely intensely flavored and dense with extract; combines an almost confectionary late-harvest sweetness with bracing acid structure. Distinctly peppery, salty finish, like steak au poivre Laurent Vaille told me…

Focus on the Languedoc (Jul 2000)

Syrah: Bright ruby-red. Sauvage aromas of cherry, leather and roasted game. Sappy and fruit-driven in the mouth, with flavors of red berries, cherry, spicy oak and dark chocolate. Fat, concentrated and sweet. Cabernet sauvignon: Saturated bright ruby. Tobacco leaf, tar and currant aromas. Dense but juicy in the mouth, with jammy, liqueur-like fruit complicated by…

The Best from Mediterranean France (Sep 1999)

Saturated ruby-red. Big, ripe nose of bitter chocolate, black raspberry, resiny oak and a whiff of raisin. Very rich, sweet and thick but rather dumb today and lacking nuance. Suggestions of espresso and dark chocolate. Firm acids and substantial tannins give this a fairly sizable structure. Best today on the long finish.

The Best From Mediterranean France (Jul 1998)

Dark ruby-red. Sauvage aromas of raspberry, garrigue, roasted coffee, maple syrup and mint; distinctly cooked suggestions of surmaturite Very rich, sweet and thick; a big, spicy, superripe fruit bomb with a velvety texture and just enough balancing acidity. Finishes with fine tannins and port-like notes of raisin and damp earth.

Rioja: The Past Is Always Present (Apr 2021)

Shimmering garnet. Aromas of dried cherry, potpourri, vanilla, cigar box and exotic spices; a smoky mineral quality builds in the glass. Sweet, concentrated and seamless on the palate, offering cherry compote, red currant and rose pastille flavors that put on weight and pick up a spicy nuance on the back half. Conveys a suave blend…