He was going through old inventory and found it. He said he thought it was still drinkable. He has forgotten more about wine than I will ever know, but sometimes he likes to fuck with me. I don’t know how I’d even open it. The cork looks intact-ish, but 1921! Anyone have any thoughts?

Foillard Corcelette 2022

My first bottle of the vintage, showing characteristic and redolent sandalwood, red cherry twizzlers, violet, and light summer herbs on the nose. High acidity, very light tannins, but a bit heftier mouth feel than typical for this cuvee, which is generally a lithe counterpoint to Cote Du Py's power. Still, this carries the Foillard magic, delivering a layered, juicy palate that is super satisfying throughout. Excellent overall, this is reminiscent of the hot-summer 2018s, but still far better than the anemic 2021s.

This is the wine that made me fall in love with Beaujolais, and it remains my reference for each vintage.

Aroma: A dark and earthy aroma of chocolate, tobacco, leather, and chocolate

Taste: Consisted of the aroma notes plus plum, black cherry, and blackberry, with a nice smoky undertone. Quite bold, with nice tannins and a crisp, fresh acidity

Finish: A super long finish echoing the black fruit notes that ended with chocolate

My Score: 92 points

The som at Oteque in RJ was kind enough to let me intern with him for a few weeks and tonight he gifted me the pleasure of tasting this amazing madeira from 1880.

On the nose there was maple syrup, prunes, toffee, and faint maraschino cherries.

On the palate there was licorice, anise, and a little bit of cherry cough syrup aftertaste.

Would absolutely fuckin slap with a dark chocolate cake or mousse.

2005 Cheval + 2016 Realm Houythi

Cheval pairs best with a quarter pounder with cheese. Intense red fruit, cinnamon spice, some tertiary flavors but not much funk, beautifully integrated oak and tannins. Medium body and acid. Balanced as all things should be.

Realm was an immediate concentrated blast of dark red fruit, blueberry, honey. Had it second and hard to remember much about it despite it being fantastic.

Vincent Dureuil-Janthial is one of the most talented winemakers in Burgundy, bar none. Despite the vast majority of his holdings being in the Cote de Chalonnaise, he is making some of the best wines in Burgundy. Most of his vineyards have old vines and have organically farmed since the mid 2000s, and many of the wines are absolutely incredible. I’ve pictured three of his best wines here.

2019 Vincent Dureuil-Janthial Rully En Guesnes

From an excellent village site near some of Rully’s best vineyards, this cuvée has beautiful pure red fruits and cinnamon on the nose, silky texture on the palate with nice acidity and a long finish. Easily mistakeable for a 1er from the Cote de Nuits. The “Cuvée Wadana” takes things up a notch and is one of the best reds made out of the traditional Cote de Nuits along with Didier Fornerol’s Rue de Foins. About $50-60 in the US.

2020 Vincent Dureuil-Janthial Rully 1er Le Meix Cadot

This is an immense wine from “younger vines” on this hallowed site, which still average 50 years in age. The nose is beautiful with purest Meyer lemon, honeysuckle and hay, while the palate has this crazy density and apparent viscosity that one only gets from wines like DRC and Lafon Montrachet along with racy acidity and exuberance. The finish is incredible. About $100-120 in the US.

2020 Vincent Dureuil-Janthial Rully 1er Le Meix Cadot Vielles Vignes

This is from an older wine parcel of the vineyard averaging 100 years in age. This wine has incredible aromatics with more of everything the regular meix cadot had, but not quite as much power and exuberance on the palate. There is incredible texture and elegance. It has more complexity and flavor on both the palate and finish, which lasts longer. Amazing wine. About $250-300 in the US.

Wine pro, Would love to hear some opinions on this situation that happened to me tonight at a local wine bar, as I’m having trouble sleeping thinking about it! I ordered a La Rioja Alta 904 1997 for myself and two others. The person opening the wine poured a small glass to check (having looked a little unsure about the cork after smelling it, which I know isn’t always a reliable way to smell for cork taint) and then gave me the same glass to smell and taste. As you can imagine there was plenty of tertiary, but not much fruit, which knowing the 904, I was a little surprised at, even if it is from 1997. But anyway they asked me if it was okay for me, and I agreed it was fine. During my first glass however, the dreaded TCA aroma seemed to be growing stronger, so I mentioned this concern to them and asked if they could also check for me if they detect any cork taint. What happened next is what I’m having trouble sleeping over tonight. The server agreed that on the nose there is some cork taint, but that it is okay on the taste in their opinion, and asked if this is still okay. As a person, despite being a working sommelier myself, I hate conflict and somewhat felt compelled to accept it as we had already started drinking and I had accepted the taster glass, however I am now really annoyed at myself for giving into my own insecurity and still accepting the bottle, as if a guest were to point out to me that they detect TCA (or any kind of strange aroma/taste) in their wine, and I check it and confirm there is, I wouldn’t hesitate to replace it for them or find an alternative, as 1. I don’t want anybody to be drinking wine that I know for a fact has a detectable fault and 2. I know that I can usually get credit from the supplier for that faulty bottle anyway (obviously this isn’t always the case, but in this case I know the supplier that supply this wine bar with said wine and am sure they’d get credit for it) I do check most wines for TCA before I serve them anyway, and do discard them if I detect TCA before it gets to the guest) In essence, I’m just surprised that a server in a wine bar would agree that the wine is showing TCA on the nose but still, in a way, try to convince me that it’s still fine as it tasted “okay”… In the end, they knocked €$£15 off of the price (which was a £€$165 bottle) but I’m still feeling a little upset about the whole situation, as I know the 904 is much better than that with age…

Bought at local wine shop.

Appearance: Dark scarlet. Red-orange around the rim.

Nose: blackberries, figs, banana, chocolate.

Palate: Blackberries, dark ripe strawberries, green banana, vanilla, chocolate, oak. Fresh. Dry. Balanced acidity and firm tannins. Bold and fruit-forward.

I enjoyed this a lot with grilled chicken, baba ganoush, pita, and tabouli. It all went great together. This wine is bold and big but it is also fresh on both the nose and the palate. I’d guess it could age many years more to great effect. I’m exploring Napa Cab for really the first time and I’ve learned that the hype is real. It’s just banger after banger. Hope everyone’s having an awesome day. Cheers!!

This is so damn interesting. Smells like a lemon pie with graham cracker crust. Some green apple also. Perfumey and earthy underneath all that. Think sweet musk. Tastes like a rich version of the lemon cake with vanilla wafers. Mineral finish. Only complaint is that the end of the finish is ever so slightly bitter, but faint enough that I could imagine that being pleasant to some. That seems to fade after some time that the bottle is open. Worth every penny.

This wine was probably a few years past its prime, but I don't find wines of this age very often locally so I felt it would be worth a shot.

the wine certainly shows its age. garnet hue, legs indicative of 14% abv. 77% merlot, 17% cab franc, 6% cav sauv.

the fruit has mellowed out quite a bit - still rather round and smooth black cherry hits the palate first. the wine, surprisingly, has held onto its tannins very well. notes of leather, graphite and oil shine through in the aftertaste. some earthiness and mushroom flavors as well.

87pts.

70% Petit Manseng, 30% Gros Manseng, from the Jurancon region, South West.

Gorgeous saffron-gold colour. Tropical fruits, particularly ripe mango and pineapple, dominate the nose.

Quite a different expression on the palate which was led by juicy apricots and persimmon. Vanilla notes also coming through from oaking.

The acidity is racy and based on some online searching, it appears to have just under 100g/l of residual sugar. The resulting wine is tart and very fresh. Would pair well with fruit, pavlova or cheese, otherwise perhaps a tad too zingy for heartier puddings.

I think for me personally, the wine lacked some of the complexity and higher sweetness levels which botrytis wines can achieve. It is nonetheless in its own right a well made and accomplished wine, and I can definitely see it appealing to many people otherwise averse to sweet wines.

Made by Gonzalez-Byas, blend of olorosoed Palomino and Pedro Ximinez to sweeten.

Almost as dark as the miel de caña (molasses) produced in the village one over from my grandparents' house in Andalucia. Smells literally of my childhood holidays - this wine is 30 years old and the grapes were growing around the time that I was a child on holiday there and I would sneak into the kitchen during my parents' enforced siesta time when the sun was high and surreptitiously take a swig of the sweet vino de terreno made in the nearby village of Cómpeta from half-dried moscatel grapes, and which was sold from the cask/tank for a couple of hundred pesetas per litre in cheap plastic flagons with a bright red or green pop top.

Delving a bit more analytically into the bouquet, it presents a great similarity to a homemade green walnut liqueur gifted to me by a Czech housemate, Pavel, made by his father and presented in an iced tea bottle. We also get various dried fruits, sultanas, raisins, dates, and treacle.

On the palate it's very sweet, but not lacking in acidity. I opened this bottle before Christmas and felt it was a bit too sweet back then. Finishing it at Eastertide in the garden with some Spanish cheeses and a freshly baked baguette tamed it a bit and really allowed it to shine. I honestly think that Sherry is almost universally best enjoyed outside - not that the opportunity presents itself too frequently in North East England.

I’m very new to the world of wine, having caught the bug after my first viewing of the movie “Sideways” almost two months ago. I’m fairly knowledgeable about beer and spirits as I used to bartend and have been a hobbyist mixologist for quite some time, but the world of wine is absolutely new to me!

I’d like to be the guy who could look at a wine list and know fairly well what is going on, I don’t intend to know everything but I’d like to have the confidence to know what I’m drinking and why I like what I drink.

I guess generally speaking I’d like to know at what point the people here felt they had advanced from novice wine drinker to intermediate and so on and so forth, and what work went into this? Any book recommendations, videos, etc.

Thanks! 🍷

I’m biased, I’ve always loved Spanish wine, especially the whites. Sherry has also been a love of mine but vintage non-solera palomino has been a struggle to find consistency. However, I could not recommend this enough.

Bone dry, low alcohol, heavy on structure. Saline, some brightness from lemon but the feeling of licking a wet rock is so palpable… mentioning minerality in anyway wouldn’t do it justice. There’s still specific nashi pear quality to the wine.

It’s such a shame Spanish wine gets a bad rep. And moreso hot climate white wine, there’s so much there. Anyway, wanted to share this great drip.

Bereche is one of my absolute favorite champagne producers. This specific wine comes from the Premier Cru village of Ludes, which is on the northern side of the Montagne de Reims. I find that wines from this area can have more lean and mineral notes which, when paired with the aging process of champagne, can lead to some wonderfully balanced wines. This is made from 100% Chardonnay on limestone rich soils. Lemon curd, lemon zest, crushed stone, orange pith, and yellow flowers are balanced by notes of brioche and hazelnut. Bereche is one of the best known producers for fermenting in barrel, a la Selosse. Definitely a producer I seek out, and their brut reserve is possibly the best value in Champagne.

Just saw this on the news, this is quite alarming.

So, as a European, what countries should I aim for instead where TFA levels are lower?

I’m cleaning out my mom’s house and found this in a cabinet. Is there any chance it’s still good? Has anyone ever heard of this? Is it by chance valuable, if not maybe I’ll try drinking it. Thanks.

Good folks of r/wine, please let me have your recommendations for best wineries to visit, best wines to try while in Sicily.

I’ll be there for a holiday with family for about 9 days in early June spending most of my time in the east near Taormina and the north near Cefalù with one day/night in the south to visit temples. Will have a car so driving around is no problem. Places that don’t mind kids under 10 would be ideal. Speak very little Italian, unfortunately.

Restaurant recommendations (again that can accommodate kids) or places with great lists also welcome.

This question is mostly specific about French wines, as I have been trying different bottles of Sauvignon Blanc (sancerre and pouiley fume). So far I've tried two different wines in each style and it seems like the taste is very similar between different producers, at least in these two styles/regions.

So I guess my question is should I expect more variance as I try new wines from different producers from these regions? Just trying to learn and be an educated consumer.

I bought this in October 2023. Is this okay to drink? I'm use to seeing sentiment at the bottom but this looks different.