r/wine

I moved it further away from the edge of the table this time.

Textbook Barolo. Violets and a tiny bit of acetone/VA notes on the nose. Grippy tannins and a silky mouthfeel with notes of asphalt and flowers on the palette. I like my barolos on the younger side.

Paired with paneer tikka and chicken biryani. Picked up on auction for $45. Not bad for a weeknight wine.

My journey started with the southern Rhone, and I always love returning to it. Having recently opened a Costco Kirkland Gigondas as a weekday pour, I decided to open up a better one with this Domaine Saint-Damien bottling, more traditional in profile. This particular bottling is 80% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre. Production notes - vieilles vignes indeed with ~60 year old Grenache & ~50 year old Mourvedre vines, fully destemmed with a month long maceration in concrete tanks, followed by year long aging in 50 hl foudres of older oak to minimize the impact of oak on the final product. Stored at 55, popped and poured, aired out in the bottle and enjoyed over 3-4 hours.

Visually, a medium ruby in the glass.

On the nose - at opening, tea leaves, potpourri, with a smoky note leading to licorice. The fruit is all stewed/pastry filling - black cherries and plums, cherry jam. Two hours in, the herbs finally emerge - the classic garrigue & white pepper seasoning. Note that as it warms, the strong alcohol becomes very perceptible in the nose, watch out for the recoil!

On the palate, medium bodied with a strong tannic component at 7 years old - mouthcoating and mid-grained to start, with an average acidity but a very, very noticeable 15% alcohol - a hot vintage year very noticeable in the final wine. Good finish with strong cherry preserves & natural herb flavors. Definitely serve in the low to mid 60s to take some of the edge of the alcohol off, with a bit of airtime to mellow out the still grippy tannins.

Jeez, this needed a grilled lamb chop or something, that's what I was missing. A mistake to have it without a meal! With time and temperature (plus protein!) to offset the heat & tannins, this is a delicious Grenache blend with plenty of those classic Rhone herb & kirsch notes. Even after 4 hours, the southern Rhone note I chase the most, that meaty/chocolatey note found in some mourvedre/syrah containing blends, was not present, but it did not detract from the appreciation!

Since I know how much this subreddit loves López de Heredia, I thought I'd share a few photos of what I found at Costco here in Spain: Viña Tondonia Reserva 2013 and 2014 just casually sitting on the shelves.

Not exactly what I expected to find on Costco run, but I'm certainly not complaining.

There's something slightly dangerous about being able to buy a giant pack of toilet paper, a rotisserie chicken, and a bottle of Tondonia in the same place.

Anyway, I figured the LDH crowd here would appreciate the sight.

O Miolo Reserva Merlot é um tinto seco brasileiro da Campanha Meridional (RS), que une fruta vermelha madura e um toque sutil de madeira em um perfil macio, equilibrado e de boa persistência.

O que ele entrega no copo...

Visual: vermelho-rubi intenso, com reflexos púrpura que sugerem juventude e frescor.

Aroma: bouquet marcado por ameixa e morango maduros, com a madeira integrando-se de forma discreta, lembrando “fruta guardada em carvalho”.

Paladar: entrada aveludada, taninos suaves e estrutura de corpo médio a encorpado, com ótima persistência no retrogosto.

Estilo: vinho seco, harmônico e fácil de apreciar, com complexidade suficiente para agradar tanto quem busca elegância quanto quem prefere abordagem mais redonda.

Produzido com uvas Merlot de vinhedos próprios na Campanha Meridional, este rótulo tem peso histórico: foi o primeiro engarrafado pela Vinícola Miolo, em 1990. O estágio de 6 meses em barricas de carvalho (francês e americano) agrega camadas ao aroma e arredonda os taninos, sem dominar a fruta.

Harmoniza bem com carnes vermelhas assadas, massas com molhos de tomate e queijos de média intensidade, aproveitando a maciez e o perfil de fruta vermelha.

Do ponto de vista técnico, a vinificação prioriza preservação de aromas e extração controlada: desengace total sem esmagamento, enchimento por gravidade, maceração a frio por 3 dias, fermentação entre 25–28°C com remontagens, pigeages e delestages, seguida de maceração pós-fermentativa e fermentação malolática espontânea antes do amadurecimento em carvalho.

Aqui na minha região, a Miolo ficou bastante tempo vendendo vinhos bastante inferiores, e confesso que fiquei surpreso com essa linha Reserva.

Have this wine as a gift . Thinkin about crackin it open but don’t know much about wine. Usually get bottles of wine for 12$ and under. How is this one ? How to appreciate it ?

Enjoyed at Mili Wine Bar in San Francisco.

Gave this a decant and enjoyed over an hour.

Approachable right out the gate, wasn't tight at all, but did benefit from air.

Loads of cherry, raspberry, slight cassis notes. Also got a touch of vanilla and coconut and some slight cloves maybe?

Great acidity, pretty settled tannins.

A tiny bit thin at the mid-palate, would have prefered a bit more structure.

91 points.

I want to start off by saying that I had just broken my one and only wine glass and it was between this glass or a mason jar.

I bought this bottle a couple months ago at an estate sale in Topanga Canyon, CA for $10. My girlfriend of 3 years broke up with me last night and so it seemed like an obvious day to open.

The cork and fill level looked excellent for a 60 year old bottle. Upon opening the seal at the top, the cork was excessively moldy, and put up quite a fight getting out of the neck. Eventually after 20 minutes of meticulous work and cussing under my breath, I had to push the cork into the bottle, and resorted to pouring it into a pitcher through a coffee filter.

Upon opening it, the initial blast of volatile compounds and vinegar and fruit was extremely potent and almost unpleasant; very nauseating. I let it sit open for half an hour rather than decanting, hoping for the smell to change dramatically, as I’ve experienced in the past with old wines.

After letting it sit for half an hour my patience got the best of me and I had a small taste. Initially, it tasted like unremarkable wine, then almost immediately something dominated my palate and I’m really not sure how to describe it. The taste of mud from a river comes to mind (which I’ve heard can be called ‘terroir’ in some pretentious circles). The initial acidity spikes my tongue like I had just licked a live wire. The rest of the flavor is incredibly deep and leathery, it almost tastes like it’s alive. If grapes had bones, this is what the broth would taste like. The wall of flavor blocking the fruitiness I can only assume is probably tannins and sediment compounds; characteristic of old Bordeaux that’s past its prime but not entirely dead. It’s not gone, it’s just very tired.

Honestly, I’m not sure how to feel. It feels like I just drank the blood of an old french mythical creature. I’m gonna go my local winery and see if the guy that works there wants to come to my place after he gets off and share this experience with me. Thanks everyone.

Shiraz 2014 took me by surprise.

Many have said this isn't a bottle to keep for so long. Maybe that's true.

Flavour profile: Blueberry, oak with a hint of vanilla.

It tastes nice. Glad it worked out in the end.

I'm pretty much new to wine. I've seen a few YouTube shorts on people serving extremely old wines that really intrigued me into this rabbit hole of a hobby. Picked up a couple bottles the other day and would like to know people's opinions on how they taste and what the experience was like. Yes my basement is unfinished and I plan to make a proper wine celler. Right now I'm just using a wine fridge.

We have visted Arnot Roberts and I had the time of my live. It was the first winery I habe visited in the US and enjoyed the whole range. The staff was lovely and they opened a few very special bottles incl. ages Syrah and ages Cab.

What I liked most about Arnot Roberts was the focus on very fresh and loe alcohol wines. I have addes tasting notes of all wines we tried below

Chardonnay Watson Ranch 2024
Very atypical Napa Chardonnay. Very fresh, with restrained oak. Slightly reductive. Apple, pear, lemon and a mineral character. Aged in used oak.

2025 Falanghina, Las Cimas Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Fantastic Falanghina. Peach, salty minerality, pineapple, a touch of oak and lemon zest.

2024 Trousseau, North Coast
Brownish red in the glass. Very light-bodied red wine, typical of Trousseau. Strawberry, cherry, earth and a touch of oak.

2024 Zinfandel, Kirschmann Vineyards, Mokelumne River
Powerful Zinfandel. At 13% ABV, it is not overly extracted. No residual sweetness. Cherry, strawberry and rustic oak. Grippy tannins. Medium to high acidity.

2024 Syrah, Clary Ranch, Petaluma Gap
Very elegant and lean. Extremely precise. Blackberry, dark cherry, pepper, a touch of leather and spices, with a slightly rustic character. Grippy tannins.

2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, Clajeaux Vineyard, Chalk Hill
Wow, what a wine. Cassis, blackberry, tobacco and a slight green character. Medium to high acidity. Grippy tannins.

2017 Syrah, Clary Ranch, Petaluma Gap
A wonderful wine. Right in its perfect drinking window. Dark cherry, blackberry, cellar notes, leather, a touch of smoke and pepper. Medium to high acidity. Velvety tannins.

Our current new home has a wine cellar and I would request some ideas where do we begin. While buying the house I assured my wife we will convert it into some storage area. Now I have turned tail and told my wife it is sacrilegious to convert this cellar . The problem is none of us are wine drinkers but I am ready to be the change but at the same time don’t want this to be a costly hobby . Where do I begin how do I fill this up and ensure the cellar meet its purpose. Attached a few photos

Had this a few months ago and thought it was a good example of why I don't necessarily shy away from so-called "off vintages", especially when it comes to great producers.

Roberto Voerzio Cerequio 2014 – 95/100

Despite 2014 being a difficult vintage, Roberto Voerzio managed to make a stunning wine here. It's initially still pretty tight and high in acidity, but with some air it opens up to reveal a surprisingly chewy and concentrated core, supported by an immensely long finish. 95/100 for me, with potential for another 1–2 points with more age.

I've actually had pretty good experiences with lesser vintages from top producers. In many cases they seem to become approachable earlier than the highly rated years while still delivering most of what I'm looking for.

With Barolo in particular, I've found this quite useful. I'd often rather drink a great producer from a supposedly weaker vintage that's entering its window than open one of the great vintages while it's still completely shut down.

Curious what everyone else thinks. Do you actively look for off-vintage wines from great producers, or would you rather spend more and wait longer for the great vintages?