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Enjoying this beautiful 2017 BdB Champagne from the producer Jack Legras, who is located in the beautiful village of Chouilly in the cote des blanc. This is their single-vineyard bottling from the Mont Aigu vineyard, known for its highly compact chalky soils, which results in low yield mineral-driven Chardonnay of great concentration and depth.

This is a wine I’ve had on numerous occasions over the past 5 years. Astor Wines is one of the only retailers in the US that imports it and they occasionally put it on sale for under $50 which is a screaming deal for the quality. Something I’ve noticed with this wine is that each time I bought the 2017, the disgorgement date was different and kept getting later. The first time I had this wine, the disgorgement was 2022 I believe. This bottle I had last weekend was disgorged 2026 - 9 years lees aging! I didn’t realize that some Champagne producers will not disgorge the entire vintage at once but instead will release it over years. It has been a very educational experience to follow this wine over the years at different disgorgement dates and see how much it changed.

I could really tell with this one how complex and savory it had become with the extended lees aging compared to the first couple times I had it. It still had that gorgeous Chouilly chalky character, but with strong aromas of baked bread, roasted almonds, and a bit of white truffle. There was a salty character to the palate as well, and a great rich silky texture. I reached out to the winemaker on Instagram and he let me know that the 2026 disgorgement was the last disgorgement for the 2017 vintage. I’ll have to grab another before it’s out for good! This was for sure the best iteration of this bottling I’ve had

This month I attended a very fun tasting at SommCellars, NYC. The theme of the tasting was Napa vs Bordeaux with wines from 1989 to 1974.

Prior to this tasting, some of the oldest Bordeaux and Napa wines I’ve tried were mid-2000’s, so I was really excited to try some much older examples. The wines really impressed me, and not one wine was over the hill, all had plenty of depth and fruit and some even felt like they still had decades ahead.

My top 3 wines of the night in order:

1. 1982 Vieux Chateau Certan
2. 1989 Ridge Monte Bello
3. 1985 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace

1989: Ridge ‘Monte Bello’ vs Pichon Lalande
The Pichon Lalande still had impressive tannin and acdity, with notes of cedar and leather and medium-bodied profile. The Monte Bello was fantastic, and felt decades younger than it was, with powerful deep concentrated cassis, cedar, graphite, and a super long plush finish. The MB won this round for me, and it was my initial choice for WOTN until changing my mind later.

1986: Montelena vs Beychevelle
This round was very close, both were great wines. The Montelena was still showing more primary fruit and aromas, whereas the Beychevelle felt more developed with more tertiary complex aromas. I narrowly chose Beychevelle

1985: Diamond Creek ‘Red Rock Terrace’ vs Batailley
The Diamond Creek was an easy top 3 for me and ended up being a few people’s WOTN. One of the most elegant wines of the night, but with impressive depth and power and a seemingly endless finish. It almost felt like a powerful Burgundy when tasted next to most of the other wines, with its crunchy red berry profile. Fantastic wine. The Batailley was very ripe, developed, and tertiary with mushroomy notes. DC easily won this round.

1982: Joseph Phelps vs Vieux Chateau Certan
The VCC was mind blowing and ended up being mine and several other people’s WOTN. Truly an iron fist in a velvet glove. The texture was like silk, with a depth and balance that stunned me. This was simply one of the best wines I’ve ever had and it was clearly a step above the rest of the wines that night. The Joseph Phelps was showing well, but it was no competition, VCC won this round.

1979: Silver Oak vs Cos d’Estournel
Silver Oak felt like it had some residual sugar, and the overall profile was more ripe and round. The Cos was still impressively tannic and acidic in comparison, with wild gamey notes. Cos won this.

1976: Joran vs Lynch-Bages
I don’t have many notes from this round, they were actually fairly similar. I think the Lynch-Bages was my preference but I do remember being surprised by how well the Jordan showed.

1975: Bealieu Vineyard ‘Georges Latour’ vs Pontet-Canet
Tbh I was pretty tipsy by this round so my notes are light. Both were complex and tertiary but not at all over the hill, with plenty of fruit left. I think I’ll call this one a tie.

1974 (bonus round): Louis Martini ‘California Mountain’
Everyone was really surprised with this one. It’s not one of Napa’s greatest wines and it’s over 50 years old, one would assume it’s way over the hill. But this ended up being a few people’s WOTN. It was very tertiary and complex, it had aromas of mushroom and almost an aged sharp cheese note, but the fruit was still deep and concentrated surprisingly.

Enjoyed this lovely super Tuscan last night which was gifted to me from a friend. Oreno is the flagship cuvée of Tenuta Sette Ponti. The estate sits in the Arno Valley in eastern Tuscany and the estate has a mixture of clay-rich soils suitable for merlot as well as gravely soils suitable for Cabernet. Oreno is a pure Bordeaux blend with no Italian varietals. The 2023 was a blend of 45% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cab Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine spent 18 months in French oak barriques and additional year bottle aging in the cellar.

On the nose, this wine had beautiful deep and complex aromas of cedar, cigar box, baking spice, blackberry, and black cherry. On the palate, the flavor was intense, ripe, plush and concentrated with a super long finish. It immediately reminded me of a great Pomerol. At this stage, the flavors were primary fruits with blackberry and cherry at the forefront, with bright acidity and fine velvety ripe tannin. The oak integration on this wine was really impressive already. There’s no sense of overt oakiness but just a background of this incredible sweet toasty cedar that really compliments the fruit.

Although this wine is very young still, I was surprised at how open and enjoyable this was already. The aromas were jumping out of the glass and the tannins were already so silky and integrated. Oreno is an absolute stunner, and although it’s pricey (around $80-$100), this is simply one of the best super Tuscans I’ve ever had and I’d choose this over some super Tuscans that are 4-5x the price any day.

1. Chateau Margaux: Not open to the public and the property is usually gated off. Drove by and the gates were open so I was able to take this nice picture. Seeing the famous image of the estate that’s on the label was really special. Can’t explain it, but I could feel the greatness and legacy of this property while standing in front of it. I grabbed a stone from their vineyard and brought it home with me (shh)

2. Chateau Pichon Baron: We booked a full tour here and it was a great experience. We were upset at first because when we arrived at the property, it was absolutely pouring rain. But by the end of our tour (which was spent inside touring the vat rooms, cellars, and tasting room) the weather miraculously cleared up and we had some gorgeous sunny clear skies for a good hour before it started raining again. A truly stunning property. It really feels like something out of a fairy tale. I stood there taking it in for a good 30 minutes.

3. Chateau Palmer: Not open to the public for tours, but you can walk around the perimeter of the estate. I loved the colors of this chateau with the dark navy accents. While it’s not as grand or majestic as the first two, it’s incredibly charming and manicured. There were staff walking around and greeting us. There was a buzzing energy in the air, the vibe seemed very friendly and down to earth as opposed to ultra posh and pretentious.

4 & 5: Chateau Smith-haut Lafite: This is actually the hotel that my wife and I stayed at. They have an incredible hotel on the property - Les Sources de Caudalie, yes like the skincare brand. The daughter of the owner of this estate actually started the skincare brand Caudalie and the whole idea of using grape skin extract started on this estate, hence the name. They have an amazing spa and hotel here with some of the kindest hotel staff I’ve ever encountered. The actual chateau is also beautiful and very unique compared to the other estates. The style is Scottish, as the original owner of the estate was Scottish. Sadly, the owner Daniel Cathiard passed away earlier this year, and I’m honored that we got to meet him during our tour. He was not the tour guide and he just happened to be in the cellars during our tour, but he graciously spent 15 minutes with us explaining his story and the story of the estate and then opened for us some older wines that were not included in the tour. A super friendly charming guy, rest in peace.

Enjoyed this lovely Champagne from Vilmart on Friday night. Vilmart is one of the most beloved grower Champagnes amongst Champagne fans. The estate is located in the Montagne de Reims. However, although the subregion is known for Pinot Noir, Vilmart’s blends contain mostly Chardonnay.

The Grand Cellier is their flagship NV made with 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, sourced primarily from the village of Rilly-la-Montagne, which is a cooler north-facing village with chalk and limestone soils, with older vines of 50-60 years, which produces Chardonnay of freshness, tension, and concentration.

One thing that makes Vilmart special is their skill in using oak. Vilmart both ferments and ages their wines in neutral oak barrels. This gives their wines a great texture and spicy complexity, without ever bordering on “oaky”. Vilmart blocks malolactic fermentation, so their wines are super fresh and zippy.

This wine has a beautifully lifted nose of lemon peel, green and yellow apple, white flowers and crushed rock. On the palate, the wine is ultra-focused and intense, with laser-like acidity that shoots across your palate and a minerally backbone. The fruit is beautifully rich and balanced. An outstanding Champagne.

Picked up this 2022 CdP on sale at Astor Wines. Southern Rhône is a region I rarely seek out as I tend to dislike some of the big alcoholic reds that are produced there, but this wine is a good reminder not to write off any single region as a whole.

Domaine Bois de Boursan is a classic traditional-style producer that is known for producing a real old school style of Chateaneuf du Pape with finesse and terroir at the forefront. They have some very old vines on the property over 100 years old, with most of their vines in the 50-80 year range, producing some complex and concentrated Grenache and Syrah.

The aromas are deep and complex, with lifted bright aromas of red and black cherry, along with savory background aromas of olive brine, dried lavender, smoke, and peppercorn.

On the palate, it is youthful and powerful but elegant and refined. There is ample fruit with good acidity and a mineral backbone. There is no denying the weight and intensity, but there is a great balance of fresh acidity, minerality, and tannin that keeps this from feeling heavy or jammy in the slightest. This wine is sunshine in a glass, it really does show its origin and the beautiful rusticity of the warm southern Rhône. An absolute steal for the price!

A fantastic old school Chianti producer from Radda. This is the top wine of the estate, it’s a single-vineyard Chianti from their “Doccio a Matteo” vineyard.

Radda is one of the 5 classic communes of the Chianti Classico region. Radda is the highest elevation commune of the region, with rocky iron-rich soils and cool temperatures that tends produces savory Sangiovese of finesse and elegance. This wine was aged in large neutral oak and the winemaker used only indigenous yeasts with no filtration.

Stylistically, this is a very elegant traditional style. Beautiful lifted aromas of cherry, violets, dried herbs, baking spice, and cigar box. On the palate, it’s savory, mineral, and structured with pure sour cherry, fine-grained tannin, and high acidity. This is really gorgeous stuff and one of the best Chianti I’ve ever had. Just a pure expression of Sangiovese. Enjoyed it with some homemade eggplant parm!