Tag Archives: $60

Yamhill Valley Vineyards Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2017, McMinnville, Oregon

18 Tuesday Nov 2025

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Pale garnet colored, with medium viscosity (13.5% ABV).  The nose has medium intensity aromas of red cherry, strawberry coulis, straw, red currant, cherry cola, and a hint of plumcot. It’s New World in nature, lacking any funk, but not candied.  The palate is dry, with medium (+) acidity, a medium (-) body, and medium (-) tannins that are fine grained.  The red fruit dominates the medium (+) intensity flavor profile with some earthy dry vegetal notes and a touch of cola.  The finish is medium in length and refreshingly tart.  This is a very tasty wine, albeit somewhat one dimensional, but it’s going to go well with baked Salmon.  It gets 90 points from me and for the $60 price point- 3 stars.  Drink till 2028.  Salut….

Yamhill Valley Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir

Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal 2017, Pauillac, France

20 Monday Nov 2023

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Medium ruby colored with high viscosity and slight staining on the walls- (13.5% ABV).  The nose of this Cabernet blend has medium (+) intensity aromas of cassis, tobacco, leather, cocoa, coffee, blackberry coulis, lavender, vanilla bean and violets.  The palate is dry with medium acidity and medium (+) tannins that are chalky.  Medium to full bodied, this wine has flavors of slightly underripe blackberry, tomato stalk, cocoa, coffee, leather, vanilla and some cassis.  The finish is medium in length and slightly tart.  It has telltale Pauillac notes that I love but is a touch underripe.  I am glad I have a few bottles in the cellar so I can watch the evolution, I think it has some more cellaring capacity and should get better.  Serving it tonight with Sunday Roast.  90 points, $60 and 4 stars.  Salut….

Coopers Hawk Camille Audacious NV, South Australia, Australia

13 Monday Nov 2023

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Deep ruby with some staining and high viscosity (14.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (+) intensity aromas of black plum, violets, acai berry, cassis, mint, crushed gravel, charred oak and some baking spice.  The palate is dry with medium acidity and medium (+) tannins that are silky.  A full body awaits with ripe black currants, black plum, mint, charred oak, a pretty floral note and some mineral tones.  The finish is long and full of ripe black fruit and some oak influence, delicious.  It goes on for quite a while.  The structure is very balanced and the wine has a generous mouthfeel.   This Shiraz based wine is going to pair well with our Roast Rib dinner but I would also throw it at some grilled lamb chops, a venison roast or even beef brisket in the smoker.  At $60, it’s not a weekday pounder but it gets high marks from me with 93 points.  Drink this 4 star effort till 2030.  Salut….

Chateau Destieux 2015, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France

14 Monday Aug 2023

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Deep ink/ruby colored with high viscosity (14.5% ABV) and slight staining on the walls. The nose gives me aromas of blackberry compote, charcoal, black raspberry, mint, rooibos tea, blueberry jam and vanilla bean.  The palate is dry with medium acidity and high tannins.  A full body with lush flavors of ripe black fruit, oak influence and some tea- rooibos and black.  The tannins are a touch chalky and young.  There is a tartness on the mid palate that carries through to the long finish.  This wine has a good pedigree that will allow it to age gracefully, for now it is still youthful.  Drink this 92 point Merlot blend till 2032.  I’m grilling super thick Strip steaks on the charcoal and pairing some roasted King Oyster mushrooms.  We bough this bottle in St. Emilion, a beautiful town btw.  It’s not widely available but if my memory serves- $60 making it a 4 star wine.  Salut….

Puklus Pinceszet Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos 2013, Tokaj, Hungary

29 Wednesday Mar 2023

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Medium gold colored with medium viscosity legs (11% ABV). Intense aromas of orange marmalade, peach, honey, marzipan, almond paste, vanilla bean pod and apricot mash.  The palate is sweet and silky with honey, orange peel, marzipan, baked peach, bitter orange, apricots and a balancing acidity. This full bodied beauty is so easy to sip- the balance between structural components is perfect and the fruit is fresh yet showing some tertiary character- it finishes long, with excellent mouthfeel.  I am going with 94 points and for $60 per 500ml it gets 5 stars from me.  Delicious stuff to savor after a big meal.  Salut….

Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Petite Chapelle – La Maison Bleue 2019, Rhone, France

17 Sunday Jul 2022

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Closing out the 28th virtual tasting session was this stunning Syrah from the Northern Rhone.  Opaque- deep purple in color it revealed a rich nose of game, licorice, iodine, anise, blood/iron, boysenberry, very dark fruit compote with a medicinal note as well as an image of really black blackberries.  The palate was smooth.  Dry with low acidity and fine-grained medium (+) tannins that led to  flavors of meat, cinnamon, caramel, blackberry coulis, iodine, charred oak and iron.  This full bodied wine finished with a medium length burst of delicious, complex flavors.  It tied at 19 points on our scale as my WOTN and garners 94 points.  For $60 this stunner is a 5 star treat wine to be drunk till 2039.  I would pair it with grilled Hangar steak slathered in a Roquefort sauce.  Salut….

Hubert Meyer Riesling Winzenberg 2018, Alsace Grand Cru, France

20 Monday Jun 2022

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The thing that annoys me about Riesling is that most labels don’t tell you if it’s going to be dry, off-dry or sweet.  Deductive reasoning tells me this bottle is going to be dry due to it’s 13.5% ABV.  A very pretty medium lemon color in the glass with pronounced aromas of lemon zest, grapefruit pith, petrol, geranium and ripe pear.  It tastes dry as expected with very high acidity and a delicious cut of lemon/grapefruit.  The ripe pear note is more a green pear note on the palate but I do get florals and petrol.  I can sense the alcohol if I breath out through my nose, which is unusual for me as my threshold is pretty high to sense the burn.  I would say this wine is medium bodied and it has a juicy, tart finish that is medium in length.  It begs for Asian dishes or a grilled seafood platter.  I like it but think it will develop over time.  Right now it is really zesty with just a few primary flavors.  It should flesh out and develop with time as it has great structure for cellaring.  92 points from me for this $60 bottle makes it a 4 star effort.  Salut….

Albert Morot Beaune Bressandes 2019, Beaune Premier Cru, France

13 Friday May 2022

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Every so often I get thrown a curveball.  This Burgundian Pinot Noir was tasted blind at my WSET class.  I barely passed the assessment.  This 92 point wine was not at all what I tasted- bottle variation?  Storage issues?  Did the invigilator know this was a $60 Premiere Cru and made his mind up with that knowledge?  Who knows.  My notes are pretty consistent with the majority of the class.  This wine is medium ruby colored with medium (-) intensity aromas of red currant, raspberry, red cherry, pomegranate and red plum.  I called it simple.  On the palate it is dry with medium acidity, medium (-) tannins, medium body and high alcohol.  I got medium (-) intensity flavors of the above descriptors and found the wine to have a short finish.  I marked it as being of acceptable quality with a drink now recommendation.  In my world this is barely an 85 pointer and for the cash- 1 star.  It was a real disappointment to find out it had such pedigree yet did not deliver.  I almost want to buy a bottle and have another industry pro blind taste it to confirm my suspicions- but why waste $60?  Major pass.  Salut…

Bodegas Valduero Gran Reserva 2001, Ribera del Duero, Spain

08 Sunday May 2022

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It’s been nine years since I last tasted the 2001 Valduero, which I opened by accident.  Today’s bottle is intentional- Mothers Day Sunday roast.  It is deep garnet colored with definite signs of aging.  The nose smells divine- leather, earth, blackberry jam, cassis, mint, coffee bean, vanilla, baked blueberry and a medicinal note.  The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity and melded tannins which caress my gums.  This 100% Tempranillo is full bodied and I get flavors of stewed/cooked black and blue fruits, earth, leather, oak influence (coffee, vanilla and the medicinal note) and a tart black cherry note on the long finish.  The tannins start to grip on the back end and cover my teeth and gums with a ‘hairy’ feeling.  This 21 year old wine is still showing youth in structure and some fruit, amazing.  It will go beautifully with our dinner and could potentially cellar some more with a drinking window out to 2027.  I paid $60 back in the day for this 95 point wine which I would award 5 stars to.  Salut….

Cakebread Cellars Apple Barn Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019, Anderson Valley, California

05 Thursday May 2022

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From one of the coolest California AVA’s comes this Pinot Noir that is medium ruby in the glass with thick watery legs.  The nose is medium intensity with aromas of steeped strawberry, red plum, orange peel, baking spices, black raspberry and rosewater.  The palate is dry with high acidity, medium, well ingrained tannins, a medium body and lovely flavors of dark red fruit, oak influence by way of orange peel and baking spices and some freshness from the rose component.  The wine is very silky, balanced and slippery with a medium length finish.  I like this wine, even though it’s not my style of Pinot.  91 points for this $60 beauty makes it a 5 star effort that I am pairing with beer-can Chicken and sautéed spinach.  Drink till 2030.  Salut….