todd10

Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf Du Pape 2015

This wine had one of the best aromas that I have had in a long time. Beautiful scents of cherry and plum were so easy to detect that even my wife that always tells me that all she smells is "alcohol", this is the first time she could smell the cherry. Taste of fruit with a nice balance. I loved the finish. The tasty wine seemed to linger on my tongue for a while. A little heat on the finish, but I enjoy a bit of heat so I am not complaining.

Tasted May 2020

Urbina Reserva 1998, Doca Rioja

The was my first wine that I had that was over 20 years old. I realized right away that all the almost all the primary fruit flavors are gone. I was getting hints of tobacco and leather. At this point I was happy. As the night progressed, the wine did not get any better. The wine was good at the beginning, I loved the secondary notes of leather, tobacco and oak. But as the night progressed, the already very light tannin's seemed to get even light taking the balance out of wack. I would suggest do not decant this and the faster you can drink this (share with friends) the better.
Tasted Feb 2020

Le Clos Jordanne Le Grand Clos Chardonnay 2019, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Escarpment

I purchased this when I saw that it won Platinum. It was a nice wine with some complexity. I started drinking this wine at 10C. At that temperature, I was getting aromas of butter, with a hint of lemon and stone. Of course while this cooled down it lost some of its complexity, so I would suggest serving this at 10C to 13C.
Nice balanced wine. Medium finish and medium bodied.
Tasted August 2022

Tournon Shays Flat Vineyard Shiraz 2016, Pyrenees, Victoria

I was expecting mouth drying tannins, but I found them smooth. It was still a good amount to match with food.
As for aromas. I was getting plum and chocolate.
Throughout the evening, I did not notice this wine opening much more than at the beginning of the night so I see no reason to decant except to filter out the sediment. I poured the last glass slowly and that was enough to prevent the sediment from going into my glass.
Tasted Feb 2024.

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2018, Marlborough, South Island

I had the 2017 vintage a couple months ago. The 2017 was better. This was good too though.
The top take away from this wine was the length. I thought the length was well above average.
Aromas of lemon and fresh cut grass.
Taste of green apple and lychee. Very good acidity.
Although the wine was good at around 8C, while it sat in my wine chiller and got cooler, I did enjoy the wine more. It became more crisp and balanced.

Tasted May 2020

Zuccardi Poligonos Malbec 2016, Tupungato Alto, Mendoza

The wine is dark purple. When first opened, it had wonderful aromas of cassis, black pepper and vanilla. Very strong tannin's. It will dry your mouth very fast. At this point, I would have loved to have a steak with it. About an hour later, I found the aromas dissipated a bit but the tannin's smoothed out a bit too. Even though the aromas soften, another aroma started to emerge...dark chocolate. This wine has dark fruit flavors. I would say the sweet spot for this wine is about an hour after opening.

Tasted May 2020

Regaleali Cavallo Delle Fate Grillo 2022, Doc Sicilia, Sustainable

This wine was good but I guess I was expecting more. I did get some tropical fruit on the nose including a hint of banana.
It was a refreshing drink and I would drink it again but it was not too special. I may have made an error of drinking it too cold. I am guessing I was drinking it around 8 or 9C. Maybe do not chill it too much so more character can pop out.

Bodega Garzón Reserva Albariño 2018, Maldonado

Albarino is one of my favorite white wines. However this one disappointed me. The nose was a subtle hint of lychee. The taste I can best describe as apple. The mouth feel was not what I was expecting. It was a little spritzy. When swirling it in my mouth, it almost felt like I was swirling a cola drink in my mouth. Acidity was okay. Overall, I have learned that perhaps when I buy Albarino wines, I should stick with Portugal and Spain.

Château Clarke 2015, Ac Listrac Médoc

I feel I should have waited a few more years before I tasted this. I did not fine the aromas or flavors as complexed as I was hoping for. In the nose, I was getting black current with a little oak. On the palate very grippy tannins. That surprised me considering the wine is 70% Merlot. Dark fruit flavors.
The tannins did smooth out a little after the bottle was opened for a while so I do recommend to decant for at least 30 minutes, maybe an hour.

Tasted June 2020

Mission Hill Reserve Chardonnay 2019, Okanagan Valley

This was a nice wine but nothing stood out for me that makes it deserve a 90+ review. It does have aromas of tree fruit with a hint of lime zest. Nice length. I once even had a nice buttery flavor on the finish. This wine was very finicky when it came to temperature. I started with 12C but it did not suit this wine. I say around 8 or 9C was the sweet spot. When it got cooler than that, it closed up as expected.
Tasted April2022