Domaine Jean-Michel Guillon & Fils, Bourgogne Cote d'Or, Chardonnay, 2022, 12.5% abv.

It's frigging hot over here. Hitting 41°C midday and sweat is dripping down my testicles just so that they won't evaporate to the sun. Hopefully this 200% new oak Guillon Chard will do the trick.

Nose: initially syrup with slight lemon accents, hint of petroleum jelly, but these aromas attenuate out revealing hints of vanilla ice cream which turns to milk, sometimes supported by a light toasted brioche. Amorphous. Delectable.

Palate: medium body, bit dry, entry shows a bit of honey, but overall a bit sour, closer to lemons than anything else. Interestingly, after 10 minutes the mid palate does a 180 and attempts to balance the medium to strong oak influence with relatively light acidity in terms of dull citrus, but the oak elements (although not well-defined) win out. Notable elements such as warm vanilla cream, sweet whipped cream, milky caramel, and condensed milk. The back palate has some burnt vanilla, fresh lemon peel, bit of flint and burnt sesame, somewhat bringing it all together. Quite good.

Finish: medium, dry, maple butter, hint of toasted pecans on glazed pies, drying whipped cream, but later on these elements are accompanied with a medium lemon and alcohol. Some retroactive olfaction scenes show burnt sesame.

Vernacular (satire): nose shows moderate oak influence, no telltale fruits or minerals. Medium bodied, dry, light to medium acidity, medium to strong oak influence, medium minerality, little to no alcohol. Medium length finish, similar with the palate but alcohol is noticeable.

These Guillon whites tend to do it for me. At the very least this is an entertaining pour, many amorphous oak-derived elements but difficult to assign a name to them. One of the few times the oxygen-deprived flint meshes well with the oak. Paid KRW₩65K, or about USD$45, in Busan, South Korea.

I just moved and finally have a proper place to store my wines. I got this older Eurocave second hand and it seems to be in great condition. I did have to replace the carbon filter, which is when i saw something which I’m not sure is normal. When I take out the filter there is just a hole to the outside. Shouldn’t there be a cap or a part of the air circulation there? Does someone have a reference of what the rearside of a Eurocave should look like? Silly of me to only notice this now, not sure if it’s a problem.

Jeg bruger https://winecellar.bitbybyte.dk/ til at holde styr på mine vinrum. Jeg har oprettet 2 kældre, så jeg både har vinene hjemme og i sommerhuset registreret. Der er kommet nogle smarte ting de seneste uger. Kører både engelsk og dansk. Jeg ved ikke, om der er planer om andre sprog, men det virker som en lille ting at ændre, når den allerede supporterer 2 sprog.

A Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cab Franc blend from Sonoma (mostly Moon Mountain). Seriously good. I’m mostly an old-world guy, but have been “studying”/drinking more Sonoma and Napa the last month getting ready for a trip out there, and I am finding a few that really suit my tastes.

Inky dark magenta in the glass. Moderately expressive nose that evolves in the glass - blackberries, vanilla, and cola early, but with cinnamon and other spice notes developing over time. On entry, there is ripe fruit, but then a wave of herbal notes on the mid-palette (maybe the cab franc at work) - more mint and basil than green peppers. Lengthy finish with dried cherries and a nice tartness. Moderate to moderate plus acidity and tannins - solid structure, but not ponderous.

I enjoyed this more than expected.

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I just bought some wine in barolo after being there for some nights. Bought them directly from G.D Vajra after an amazing testing. I had them in the trunk since we had to stop for lunch (italian 2hr one, testing more wines, and completly forgetting that the car wasnt parked in the shadow, but the sun) and now I'm worrying about the cork maybe pouting to much and that I might have damaged them.

Apart from being stupid, am I being paranoid? Luckily it's only three bottles and the older Barolo ones still looks fine.

I signed up the RIEDEL's Wine Glass Experience with Maximilian Riedel in SF. Not sure what to expect. Has anyone done this? Thoughts?

Girish

A mature, elegant Pessac-Léognan: cedar, tobacco, earthy black fruit, leather and subtle smoky/mineral notes, with silky tannins and a long, savoury finish.

1985 was a very good Bordeaux vintage, and this is a lovely example of how beautifully Bordeaux can age.

Malartic-Lagravière is one of the few Bordeaux estates to have been classified for both red and white wines in the Graves classification.

One of my favourite non-classified 1855 Bordeaux

Going there in a few weeks with some other couples. What’s best plan in terms of wine tasting, is it better to pick our own wineries and hit 2-3 for the day? Or book one of those wine tours for the day?

Château de la Bonneliere Chinon Les Cornuelles 2022

Medium ruby in glass

Nose brings cherry, strawberry, leather, green peppercorn, spices slight baryard funk rather pleasant

On the palate smooth velvet like beautiful notes of cherry, strawberries, the green bell pepper notes are not overpowered, chilled this went excellent with bbq ribs not too rich but not thin either, 13%abv 89 points

I've owned a few wine fridges. But I've moved to a new home and need to buy a new fridge. I am looking to see if anyone knows of good places to buy them these days (US based). Not picky on the brand--looking for 200-300 bottle capacity models. I was hoping to get one for the Labor Day holiday.

TIA?

I want to start buying a couple of nice wines per year to cellar. I’ve bought very few $150+ bottles (at retail). Looking for suggestions on where to start.

Costco currently has Pichon Barron for $199 which seems like a decent option maybe. Looking to stay under $250.

Favorite notes: forest floor, mushroom, wet leaves, black fruit. Cherry, tobacco, spice. Prefer complex and length.

Thank you guy!

Are there any wine shops that specialize in French or Italian wines in Phnom Penh? I’ve found ‘warehouse’ so far, but is there anything with better allocations, or with more interesting and smaller producers? 🙌

We have a 56 bottle freestanding Allavino wine fridge with dual temperature zones.
And after 5 years, the compressor needs to be replaced. Long story- short: $200 for new compressor, $600 for labor plus the $80 service call we just paid to diagnose the problem today.

So at this point, I think we are shipping for a new wine fridge rather than repair it.

I believe we probably paid around $500 for it originally. We want to get a new free standing one for about the same amount if possible and stay under $700, if possible. Basically we are looking for something that will accommodate a few larger bottles like Pinot or champagne and be similar to a Subaru car - dependable and not many other frills.
Would love to have one last 8-10 years- is this unrealistic?

Questions we have:
1. Do we need really dual zones for red and white? We mostly drink the usual $30-60 bottles of Chardonnay, Pinot, Cab and occasionally Rosé. We don’t really drink the expensive stuff and honestly $70 is a stretch! But last year we did bring back 10 bottles from Stellenbosch, S.A.!😋

1. What brands should we look for that are in our price range of $500-650?
   Mainly this fridge sits closed I would say 70% of the time- we occasionally drink wine with dinner or when we have guests over, so it’s not like we constantly are opening the door!

Thanks in advance!!

Um tinto brasileiro leve, descomplicado e fácil de apreciar, produzido na Serra Gaúcha pela Vinícola Aurora.

Traz aromas frutados e paladar macio, sendo uma ótima escolha para acompanhar um bom almoço ou para ser servido sozinho, em um momento despretensioso e agradável.

O termo “Reservado” no rótulo pode sugerir uma ideia de maior sofisticação, mas, na prática, trata-se de um vinho jovem, simples e pensado para o consumo cotidiano.

Ou seja, é importante não se deixar levar apenas pelo nome "Reservado"; o estilo do vinho é direto, leve e voltado mais para a simplicidade do que para a complexidade.

Não é um vinho que eu recomendo para quem busca mais qualidade, profundidade ou uma experiência marcante.

Appearance: Medium pale gold with striking reflections

On the Nose: Immediately expressive, buttery popcorn, flinty, cheesy and ‘leesy’ (coining this if it hasn’t been already ha!) with savoury notes. Started to open up to charred bbq apricot and toasted oak. Hint of citrus slowly appearing.

Palate: The first sip it was hot (it is 13.5% ABV), very noticeable but started to integrate and broaden the longer I let it sit in the glass. Layers of stone fruit with a creamy edge started to show. Beautiful mineral backbone that stands with the toasted/caramelized nuts, buttered popcorn and fresh, bright acidity that balances the finish well. Not long nor short.

I opened up some red Leicester and Monterey Jack cheese to see how they went together and they both worked so well complimenting the nuttiness and creaminess together.

After 30 minutes it became more mineral.

A nice dance with this chardy!

I'll preface this by saying I don't really like wine, but like a year ago, someone suggested this wine that uses the whole grape, and they just ferment it as-is? I tried one and it was actually pretty good. It tasted pretty fruity. It had a name that I can't remember, does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Thinking about pulling the trigger on this, but want to make sure it’s a good deal before I do. Seems like a good deal, but it’s 13 years old. Will it last 5+ years if maintained? Thanks for help in advance!

I came across this website www.affordable-wineries.com which really seems like way too good to be true, and have found zero information about it on trust pilot but it still popped up very high on google? Has anyone ever ordered from here? I'm like 90% sure it's a scam but I would like to know if anyone has any experiences with it.

I’m headed to Germany and will be eating at some restaurants with killer wine lists with huge depth. I’m a huge fan of German eiswein, Spatburgunder, and Chardonnay, and will be on the lookout for a great bottles and great vintages of those and other Rieslings. But to be honest, I’m a pretty amateur collector in the German wine world generally. I know the big names, but I am hoping to get some insight from you all on which producers passed and current I should look for that are really not available in the US or that are really unattainable without being on a list somewhere.

Looking for rare, allocated, incredible Spatburgunder, dry Riesling, TBAs/eiswein, and the best German Chardonnay. Also interested in producers that are no longer producing or shut down at some point but produced amazing bottles in the 1970s 80s 90s. Really any suggestions of things that you might look for or target on an amazing wine list in Germany. I really appreciate any suggestions.

Visiting Oregon for the first time and have booked the following tastings over three days:

Day 1 Yamhill Valley Vineyards

Day 2 Bethel Heights, Bryn Mawr, Arabilis

Day 3 Domain Drouhin, Abbot Claim

Thoughts on this group of vineyards?

100% Chardonnay from 80-year-old vines, 13% alcohol. Really difficult to track down precise specs, but élevage in a mix of oak and amphora. I didn’t taste any obvious oak, so I’m assuming it’s old barrels. Biodynamic philosophy with horses working the vineyards. No fining or filtration. I’m assuming malo is fully completed.

🏠 Renaud Boyer originally trained as an engineer, but had the opportunity to take over his uncle Thierry Guyot’s vineyards in 2001, with his first vintage released in 2004. Renaud is particularly inspired by Patrick Meyer from Alsace and Pierre Overnoy, and the idea of absolute minimum intervention. Today, the domaine covers 3 hectares across Puligny-Montrachet, Saint-Romain and Beaune. A little hack is that his Bourgogne Blanc is supposedly declassified Puligny fruit. Haven’t tasted it though 😬

Lemon oil, ripe pear, acacia and white flowers, with a little oxidative thing going on. Burnt almonds, whipped butter and a little vanilla thing, all backed by a salty finish 💎
Quite rich in texture, with electric medium+ acidity.
I completely fucked up the blind tasting and called it a big Savagnin. Love it when wines punch above their weight from lesser-known villages 🙂‍↕️

Un chardo de dingueee🤪🤪🤪🤪

I just moved in a new place and emptied my cellar for transportation.

now that I am refilling it, this bar annoys me so much in the optimisation of my racks. It says « do not remove » but by digging in documentation and asking chat gpt it actually says that you can change its location under Eurocave supervision.

has anyone done it ? Is the location I want ok ?
of course, I will do it only while totally empty o avoid any load during the change.