As stated in my previous post, I was in Paris in Late May, with Avi Davidowitz from Kosher Wine Unfiltered. The number of boxes in our room was not nearly as insane as two years ago. That was a tower of boxes. Still, we had a lot of wines to taste through and some good wines to talk about.
Two years ago, we had some 80 wines, this May we were at 60 wines. There was one wine that Avi missed and there are a couple of wines I think were bad bottles, so I will not post them, so I guess it comes to some 58 or so bottles.
Half of these wines were tasted blind and the rest were not. Let me make this simple, unless we can find someone to pay to help us manage the tastings, tasting blind, and then gathering all the metadata and the forms, and sheets, it is just INSANE! We really need to get a helper, who understands English enough and can handle sheets and the such, in Paris and wherever else we taste wines. Until then, we will have to give up on tasting blind.
The wines were tasted in classic region/style order, whites, reds from Burgundy, Rhone-like areas, Bordeaux/Blend wines, and I think that is it.
Barbera, Rhone, Burgundy, Provence, Loire, and Germany
These were some of the blind wines we tasted. I honestly grabbed bottles shaped in anything other than Bordeaux and we did the tasting blind. It was eclectic and we retasted them twice, so they got their chance. There were two wines in the lineup that were off, and they were removed from the scoring. Otherwise, the wines fell into what I expected, with the real find being the Rhone from Ventoux. The German red wine was nice while the white wine, we tasted later, was a total loss.
There were a total of 13 wines on this flight and one of them was a bad bottle, so we have 12 wines scored below. Six of the 12 were from Taieb Wines. Yoni and his family continue to make well-priced wines and garner QPR WINNER scores. This tasting was no exception, with two WINNER for the Burgundies and other QPR WINNER scores for other wines we tasted in the hotel.
I have posted often about Taieb wines and if you want to read the full background read the first post I made here.
There were four Burgundies made by kosher Taieb in 2022 and we received three of them for tasting. The notes on these wines changed a bit but the scores were consistent. We also got some Loire Valley wines and they showed well as well. There was a Burgundy from Ribeauville that I had already tasted but needed to have Avi taste it, so I made sure to make that happen.
The real find was the Rhone from Ventoux, I have no idea who made the wine, maybe the winery did, but it is a nice wine. I have no idea why it sat around until now, nor do I know why the 2016 wine we tasted later sat around until now!
White and Sparking Wines
We tasted through a lot of white wines and sparkling wines. The Sparkling wines came from Taieb and they were nice to WINNER. The Elvi Vina Encina were both solid and the Herenza White are lovely WINNER wines. I have no idea why the Herenza Whites do not sell in the USA, no idea! Folks buy a few and try.
On a slight rant, I will start with the positives, thankfully, we have more kosher white wine available now than ever before, PERIOD! However, what is clear is that the kosher-buying public has made Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay their next Cabernet Sauvignon! I am happy you are all starting to enjoy white wines – finally! But good Lord, there are OTHER white wines out there! As stated, I am firmly on the ABC train, outside of a few Cali and France. Sauvignon Blanc is a wonderful grape and please ignore EVERYTHING that Avi says to the contrary, it is not his fault, he has issues with good wine!
Now, all I see is that white wines that are not Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc linger on physical or virtual shelves. Thankfully, most of you get Riesling, almost. But that is it! You guys killed the only good Albarino from Ramon Cardova because you all refused to buy it! The Herenza is the same, and this wine is 30 to 40 percent Sauvignon Blanc! OK, I’ll give up and stop my rant here! TRY OTHER white wines – please!
There was a new Sancerre and the new 2023 Domaine Lebrun Pouilly-Fume and they were nice. The 2023 Domaine Lebrun Pouilly-Fume is truly exceptional, it keeps up with the great 2021. Though I would be drinking the 2021 already! This one will be good for a few years.
Also, Avi brought an Israeli white wine! Yes! The 2021 Recanati Sauvignon Blanc, Odem Vineyards, Atelier! Lovely wine, and further proof that what Israel needs is good white wine!
The rest of them are wines that you can try and see if you like.
Italy, Spain, and Bordeaux
OK, half of the wines we tasted fall into these two categories and they garnered 8 QPR WINNER scores. Once again, Taieb had many GREAT to WINNER scores here along with some new Italian wines. There was one SHOCKER from Luzzatto, who until now have been really uninspiring wines. However, the 2019 Luzzatto Barolo is a clear WINNER, and yes, it is Mevushal. It started out very slow but with time, it came out of its shell, and showed nicely!
Avi brought the 2022 El Orador Rioja, Rioja Alta from Israel, and that also started very slowly, but it came out of its shell as well. We then tasted three Elvi red wines, which I had last year after Avi had already left. Those were the 2021 Elvi Clos Mesorah, the 2020 Elvi EL26, and the 2019 Elvi Adar. I had the 2019 Elvi Adar in Israel, and the EL26 at home.
The rest of what mattered was a mix of Bordeaux wines ranging from 2016 to 2023. Yes, we tasted a 2016 Chateau Croque Michotte! Why it was not released until now is beyond me. Sadly, I think that wine was oxidized. I have no idea if it was the wine or the bottle. I tried to get another and no matter the emails/WhatsApp chats I could not get another one to try.
The 2023 Baron David and the 2023 Palais de L’Ombriere were solid wines that are available now in Paris and ones I would pick up for a nice Shabbat! Two great wines from Taieb.
Then we had three mid-level quality wines from the 2022 Bordeaux vintage. If these wines prove to be the flag-bearer for that vaunted vintage I may come around and have as much faith as Avi does. Avi believes every vintage is innocent until proven guilty, sadly, I see things differently. I guess, I see wine as uninteresting until the glass proves me wrong.
The three QPR WINNER wines were the 2022 Chateau Tour Perey, 2022 Chateau La Fleur Perey, and the
2022 Chateau Tour Seran. We had issues with the 2022 Chateau Rollan de By. One bottle was bad and one bottle was OK to bad. At this point, if you buy it, I would not hold it for long, if at all. Buy it, open it, and enjoy!
We also tasted a 2012 Chateau Cru DuCasse, a wine I had not tasted for two years and it was on crazy sale at Winess.com. This was a wine that Avi had not yet tasted, as I tasted it back in June of 2021 when Paris was just coming to life from under the cloud of Covid. It had evolved a fair amount and was deeply closed at the start. Another crazy closeout wine I saw at Winess was the 2020 Chateau Taillefer Pavillon de Taillefer. It was selling for 40 or so dollars. I tasted that wine last year May 2023, a trip Avi missed, so I wanted him to taste the wine.
We tasted the white and rose wines from Cantina Giuliano and they are fine, I am sure some people will like them more than I did.
The one wine that Avi was not around for was the 2023 Cave D’Esclans Whispering Angel. It reminded me of the 2021. A solid showing.
Where can you buy these wines?
The Taieb wines will find their way to the USA through a menagerie of importers. Those include Liquid Kosher, Kosher Wine, and Victor Wines which I continue to be baffled at where these wines actually sell, outside of Florida! The Elvi wines are in the USA already. The Cantina Giuliano wines are in the USA already. The 2020 Chateau Haut Brisson is already in the USA, the other Corcos wines, I am not sure.
The Mercier wines will find their way here once the previous vintages are sold. As for the rest of the wines, I have no idea!
Thoughts on this tasting
OK, so overall, this tasting was solid! This was better than previous tastings because the 2021 vintage is mostly played out, unlike other hotel wine tastings. Still, Kosher plonk exists in spades in all regions of the world! The USA may have the largest availability to them, but Paris is not far behind! I am still not buying into the 2022 hype but as stated before, I will reserve happiness until I taste good wine!
Regarding other wines from France that people will ask me about, the answer is we tried. We sent out emails and got initial responses and then all follow-up emails went into the Spam Bucket. Sometimes, I wonder if French people hate us Americans! Anyway, the winning lineup, which always is the heading photo for the hotel wine-tasting posts, was solid, and wines I would drink! Sadly, that winning lineup photo is nowhere because I got really sick at the end of the week. I barely made it into Shabbat. I slept it off all Shabbat.
Before I forget – Avi took all the pictures from this trip so if you dislike them, blame him. If you love them disregard the previous sentence! Thanks, buddy!! I was flat out and Avi was trying to get out for his flight back to Israel. Sorry buddy I could not help.
Finally, 90% of the the deliveries were to the hotel this time, my man Ari Cohen, AKA El-Presidente of Bakus Wines, was totally AWOL this trip! I think the more I go to Paris the less I get to see him – maybe I am finally becoming a Parisian! Thanks as always! Thanks for all the help as always buddy!
The wine notes follow below in the order that they were tasted. The explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2022 Jean-Philippe Marchand Aloxe Corton, Sous Chaillots, Aloxe Corton – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is quite nice with darker plum, raspberry, cherry, and sweet spices, along with sweet herbs, floral notes, lavender, dark smoke, and minerality. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine feels rich, layered, and smokey, dirty, with nice mushroom, forest floor, nice funk, lovely minerality, plum, ripe raspberry, dark cherry, herbal, with nice tannin, and great acidity. The finish is long, tannic, herbal, and funky, but also richer, a bit rounder, but tannic, tart, and refreshing, Bravo! Drink until 2032. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%) (tasted Blind)
2022 Jean-Philippe Marchand Pommard, Le Dome, Pommard – Score: 93 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine really draws you in and makes you take notice, with its intense brightness, refreshing, but yet rich with its fruit and minerality, with dense smoke, hints of floral notes, and rose, but the focus is the toast, char, tar, rich minerality, funk, loam, dirt, and dark red fruit. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is intoxicating, rich, and tart, layered, dirty, with nice mushroom, forest floor, nice funk, lovely minerality, dark plum, ripe raspberry, tart cherry, elegant mouth-draping tannin, and great acidity. The finish is long, tannic, herbal, and funky, but also richer, with more tannin, more fruit-focus, lovely graphite, rock, tart, and deeply refreshing, Bravo! Drink until 2033. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%) (tasted Blind)
2022 Jean-Philippe Marchand Bourgogne, Hautes-Cotes de Beaune, Hautes-Cotes de Beaune – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine opens to show pomegranate, sour Bing cherry, rosehip, English lavender, and funk, with loads of dirt, earth, minerality, and rich smoke. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, with great acidity, a bit beefier than the Hautes-Cotes de Nuits, rich, layered, and earthy, with loads of floral notes, lavender, rosehip, smoked meat, black plum, and classic dark cherry. What stands out is the sweet oak influence of cedar, mouth-draping tannin, tart cherry/dark plum, minerality, and how refreshing and inviting it is. The finish is floral, and very feminine, with sweet spices, floral notes, dark red fruit, graphite, toast, and mushroom. Nice! Drink until 2030. (tasted May 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%) (tasted Blind)
2022 Charles Pere & Fille Bourgogne, Hautes Cotes De Beaune, Le Closeau, Vieilles Vignes, Hautes Cotes De Beaune – Score: 90.5 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is ripe, bold, in your face, with loads of American Oak, sweet vanilla, and hickory, with cherry, pomegranate, and cranberry. With time the nose calms but sadly the wine loses its fruit and verve. The mouth of this full-bodied is ripe, but the acidity helps, with the good tannin structure, blackberry, plum, cherry, sweet oak, vanilla, and slight tension. The finish is long, dirty, tannic, and earthy with menthol, tobacco, and sweet vanilla. Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%) (tasted Blind)
2019 Cave de Ribeauville Pinot Noir, Vendanges Manuelles, Alsace – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
Finally, after more than a decade of subpar Alsace kosher Pinot Noir, we FINALLY have a WINNER!! This wine is dirty, earthy, stinky, funky, and light-bodied, with nice floral notes, great acidity, mouthfeel, BRAVO! And Not Mevu! Finally!
The nose of this wine is already stated, it is dirty, floral, earthy, with rosehip, violet, dry red berry, loads of loam, and just a funky joy!
The mouth of this light-bodied wine is popping with acidity, nice floral notes, good dirt, dark cherry, currant, floral notes, and more loam that is rich.
The finish is long, dirty, and complex enough with the funk, acidity, floral notes, and salinity. Nice! Drink by 2025. (tasted November 2023, May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%) (tasted Blind)
2022 Moise Taieb Julienas, Reserve du Fondateur, Beaujolais – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is again very ripe, a bit too fruit-forward for me, with tar, cranberry, sweet liqueur, ripe green notes, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, very fruit-forward, and bold with more cranberry, plum, purple fruit, and green notes. The wine calmed down over a day and it is now nice to enjoy! Drink until 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12%) (tasted Blind)
2018 Louis Blanc Morcantel Bourgogne, Bourgogne – Score: 88 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is ripe, and candied, with intense American oak, hickory, vanilla, all the wonderful notes of America in a bottle of wine! You get no fruit, all oak, smoke, and vanilla. The mouth of this full-bodied is better than the nose, showing some acidity, I wish there was more, with good fruit, raspberry, cherry, plum, earth, and nice mouth-coating tannin. An overall good approach, if it had more acidity this could be a winner. For now, solid wine and enjoy by 2025. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%) (tasted Blind)
2022 Moise Taieb, La Petite Metairie Chinon, Vieilles Vignes, Loire Valley – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is a solid Chinon, with good brightness, green notes, sweet herbs, menthol, garrigue, and sweet loam. The mouth of this light-bodied wine has great acidity, with good green notes, cherry, smoke, earth, and enough tannin. The finish is long and enjoyable. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%) (tasted Blind)
2022 Chateau Saint-Martin Rouge, Cotes de Provence – Score: 91.5 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is a blend of 50% Syrah, 20% Carignan, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Grenache.
The nose of this wine is ripe, and hot again, like others, with dirty diapers, sweet plum, and dark cherry. After 18 hours the nose cleans up completely to show purple people eater, with black and white pepper, root beer, tar, and rich smoke.
The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine has good structure, tannin, and good acidity, but the fruit is dark, ripe, and liquor-like, with smoke, and earth. After a time, the mouth of this wine shows good structure, rich acid, lovely mouth-draping tannin, rich graphite, rich smoke, boysenberry, plum, ripe, and brooding with loads of potential. Lots of fun! This wine has a tight window but is enjoyable. Another option is to decant the wine for 2 to 3 hours in advance now. Drink this from 2025 until 2027. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%) (tasted Blind)
2020 Domaine Marsaleix Ventoux Naître & Renaître Rouge, Ventoux – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is nice, balanced, smoky, earthy, dirty, and funky wine, with good ripe cherry, raspberry, and plum, but the dirt, loam, smoke, and fruit are all balanced and the saline in the back is really fun.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is a beast with great acidity, rich fruit, and big mouthfeel, with nice cherry, raspberry, and ripe fruit, balanced, with saline, smoke, earth, and sweet spices, all wrapped in tension, body, acidity, and loam. Nice!
The finish is good enough with a nice acidity, fruit, vanilla, sweet oak, and sweet herbs. Nice! Drink until 2027. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%) (tasted Blind)
2022 Staatsweingut Weinsberg Lemberger “Le Chaim” trocken VDP.Gutswein, Wurttemberg (M) – Score: 88 (QPR: GREAT)
This may well be the first Kosher Lemberger, I do not know for sure.
The nose of this wine is fun, burnt rubber, tar, earth, rich charcoal, SMOKE BEAST, love it! I am not sure where the fruit is, but that is there in the background. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, dirty, earthy, and smoky, rich smoke overpowers the mouth, the fruit is cherry, and that is it. Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%) (tasted Blind)
N.V. Louis de Vignezac Cuvee Special, Brut, Champagne – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT (France))
The nose of this wine is very yeasty, with baked goods, lemon/lime, and green apple. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ok but uni-dimensional, with nice minerals, green/yellow apple, and lime, but not much more than the acid and the fruit to grab you. The mousse is ok, not bracing and not attacking, but the acidity is great. The finish is long, and tart, with pear, apple, and lime. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
N.V. Champagne Charles de Ponthieu, Champagne – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER (France))
The nose of this wine is screaming with bright fruit, rich minerality, slate, rock, baked goods, pear, and apple. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is fresh, with great fruit focus, a lovely small bubble mousse, pear, apple, lime, baked apple pie, and lovely yeast, with floral notes. The finish is long, fruity, balanced, tart, lovely, refreshing, and focused. Nice! Drink now! (tasted May 2024) (in San Diego, CA & Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
N.V. Baron Kramer Brut, Italy (M) – Score: 84 (QPR: EVEN)
This sparkling wine is good enough for this price. This has enough acidity but feels very unidimensional, with apples and bubbles. Nice for the price! (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 11%)
N.V. Baron Kramer Brut, Rose, Italy (M) – Score: 85 (QPR: EVEN)
This sparkling wine is nice with good fruit and has RS for those who like their bubbles slightly sweet. This has enough acidity but feels very unidimensional, but the fruit does come out here to play and shows nicely. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 11%)
2022 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Blanco, La Mancha (M) – Score: 88 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose is still solid and lovely with good passion fruit, lemon/lime, wet grass, lovely herbs, and an overall nice nose. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice enough but while the acidity is still strong the finish is gone. Drink now! (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
2023 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Blanco, La Mancha (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is nice with passionfruit, guava, lemon, and lime, but the issue here is that the wine is not as bright as the previous vintage. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has enough acidity but it feels a bit unbalanced without the cutting acidity and brightness to lift this wine. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2022 Elvi Wines Herenza, White, Alella – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 60% Pansa Blanca & 40% Sauvignon Blanc. This wine continues to develop but drink it soon. Still nice to see it. The nose of this lovely wine is in a mute state with lychee, pink grapefruit, orange fruit, nectarines, orange blossom, and nice minerality. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows lovely acidity, good precision, good fruit focus, minerality, saline, melon, Asian pear, pink grapefruit, lemon/lime, lychee, nice tension, refreshing, and honeyed citrus. There is a new development of wax notes in the mouthfeel but the rise of pith counteracts it. The pith is only in the front and it gives way to nice ripe fruit. The finish is long, ripe, tart, and mineral-focused, with great saline, flint, and sweet/tart fruit. Lovely! Drink until 2025. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
2023 Elvi Wines Herenza, White, Alella – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 70% Pansa Blanca & 30% Sauvignon Blanc. This vintage is riper and less acidic but still a nice wine overall. With time, that changes and the wine comes into its own and is riper, fruitier, and shows lovely acidity. The nose of this lovely wine is lychee, intense orange notes, pink grapefruit, nectarines, orange blossom, flint/smoke, and nice minerality. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows enough acidity, more acidity shows with time, minerality, melon, Asian pear, pink grapefruit, lemon/lime, and lychee, refreshing, with salinity, and honeyed citrus. The finish is long, ripe, and tart, with flint, and loads of orange fruit. Lovely! Drink until 2027. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2022 Alphonse Mellot Sancerre, La Moussiere, Sancerre – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is nice with good salinity, less than I would like, peach, grapefruit, gooseberry, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is showing nicely, with good fruit, salinity, flint, nice grip, and sweet fruit showing throughout. The finish is long with more minerality and smoke. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2021 Recanati Sauvignon Blanc, Odem Vineyards, Atelier, Galilee – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
People think I do not like Israeli wines, but that is incorrect, I do not like bad wine, and this wine PROVES that Israel can make GREAT white wines and I wish there was more of it! The nose of this wine screams Loire Valley, rather than Galilee Israel, but it is 100% Israelian, with sweet fruit, balanced minerality, and less green notes than you would get in the Loire, with lemon/lime, minerality, classic flint, orange blossom, and sweet smoke, very nice! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is the tell that tells you this is not French, the fruit is aggressive, Israeli, with an incredible start, great flint, smoke, peach, lemon/lime, and then there is a slight lul in the middle, followed by a bid push to the finish. The fruit, acidity, salinity, and minerality is really nice. Drink by 2025. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
2022 Joseph Mellot Pouilly Fume, Le Chant des Vignes, Pouilly Fume – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER (France))
The nose of this wine screams Sancerre more than Pouilly Fume, with intense minerality, but the star of the show is the floral notes, jasmine, orange blossom, honey blossom, and sweet smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, with a round mouth showing lovely fruit, good focus, peach, apricot, orange blossom, orange juice, and great minerality. The finish is juicy, refreshing, mouth-watering happiness, nice work! Drink until 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2023 Domaine Lebrun Pouilly-Fume, Pouilly-Fume – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER (France))
The nose of this wine is lovely, showing notes of sweet fruit, lovely orange blossom, intense minerality, honeysuckle, and intense smoke/flint. The mouth on this lovely medium-plus-bodied is truly fresh, ripe/juicy, and well-balanced with screaming acid, smoke, flint, gooseberry, grapefruit, orange, lovely screaming acid, and layers upon layers of flint/slate! Showing a lovely weight and mouthfeel. The finish is long, green, ripe, and well balanced, with crazy mineral, screaming acid, and lovely rock, flint, and mineral. WOW!! Drink until 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2019 Cave de Ribeauville Sylvaner, Vendanges Manuelles, Alsace – Score: NA (QPR: NA)
DEAD (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
2023 Staatsweingut Weinsberg Riesling “Le Chaim” trocken VDP.Gutswein, Wurttemberg (M) – Score: 50 (QPR: TRASH)
The nose of this wine is NOT a Riesling, this is an alcoholic Orange Juice, I have no notes to write. I try to be helpful, so here is a piece of advice – RUN! This tastes like a flat perfumed sweet Muscat, hard pass! (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2020 Domaine Marsaleix Ventoux Naître & Renaître Blanc, Ventoux – Score: 87 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of 80% Clairette & 20% Roussanne The nose of this wine is funky, and dirty, with peach, apricot, dry hay, minerality, and smoke. The mouth of this wine medium-bodied wine is OK, I had higher hopes after the incredible we had earlier in the tastings. The mouth is a bit funky with more hay, peach, and apricot, and that is about it. No finish and a bit too much pith. Drink now! (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2023 Domaine de Perdrycourt Chablis, Remi Courty, Chablis – Score: 91 (QPR: GREAT)
This is a solid Chablis showing good minerality, slate, rock, saline, good apple, quince, and hints of peach. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, showing good acidity, good fruit focus, apple, peach, quince, screaming salinity, rock, and mineral. To me, the minerality on this Chablid really works in concert with the fruit! The finish is long, tart, fruity, and mineral-driven. Nice! Drink by 2025. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
2022 Charles Pere & Fille Bourgogne, Hautes Cotes De Beaune, La Combotte, Cuvee Du Menhir, Bourgogne, Hautes Cotes De Beaune – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is nice, but I cannot handle the American-style oak that sticks out with vanilla, hickory, butterscotch, and buttered popcorn, like a classic California Chardonnay. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is a perfectly good California Chardonnay, with bracing acidity and good enough minerality, the oak, vanilla, hickory, and butter are so overpowering I cannot sense the apple, peach, and apricot behind it, with rock and flint. The finish is long, oaky, sweet, with vanilla, smoke, and enough popcorn to feed a movie theater, though the acidity really saves it! Drink by 2028. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
2022 Luzzatto Barbera D’Alba, Barbera D’Alba (M) – Score: 86 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is hot, fat, round, and scary, with notes of red fruit, spice, and minerality. With time the nose straightens out and becomes nice, with bright fruit, earth, loam, and spices. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is evil, the front is pure fat fruit, the mid-palate, brings plum, and pomegranate, with screaming acid in the backend. This wine is unbalanced, the acidity, fruit, and minerality all come in at different times. I can live without it. Drink now if you must. With time, the mouth comes around to show good acidity, nice minerality, nice cherry, sweet oak, and loam. Nice! The wine is still simple but very drinkable. Drink by 2027. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2022 Luzzatto Nebbiolo, Langhe (M) – Score: 83 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine is not what I like, it is bad, I will stop there. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is not evil, but why write anything more, it has acidity, red fruit, and is deeply unbalanced, with no finish. Thanks next! With time the mouth is more balanced but otherwise not much else has happened. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2019 Luzzatto Barolo, Barolo (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is flat, green, muddy, and boring. The mouth of this medium to full-bodied wine has nice acidity and not much else. There is no fruit, it feels hollow in the middle, with acid, acid, and more acid and not much else, and tannin. I am fine without this wine. Drink by 2025 With time this wine really comes around, the nose is now dark, and brooding, with rich dirt, loam, earth smoke, good minerality, and nice salinity. The mouth of this wine is alive and kicking with great acidity, rich mouth-draping tannin, plum, cherry, and dark red fruit, with impressive mouthfeel, graphite, minerality, and fruit focus. Drink until 2030. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2021 Cascina Perrone Barbera d’Asti, Barbera D’Asti – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, tart, bright, earthy, and smoky, wrapped in sweet oak, bacon, garrigue, tar, and more earth. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, brooding, and dense, but balanced, with intense acidity, mouth-draping, and attacking tannin, the smoke and dense loam work with the rich and ripe/dark cherry, raspberry, plum, and boysenberry, all wrapped in sweet tannin and sweet oak. The finish is long, dirty, and earthy, really nice, a smokey wine that shines, the coconut and fig, rich tar, bacon, and other brooding dark fruit come at the end but it does not bother me much. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%) (tasted Blind)
2021 Cascina Perrone Nebbiolo, Monferrato – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is ripe. simple. highly tannic, with good loam, and sweet rose hip. The mouth of medium-plus-bodied wine is deeply tannic, with almost acid, but the issue is that it is very simple. The fruit is cherry, rhubarb, loam, and green notes, wrapped in a thick sheet of astringent tannin. The finish is long, tannic, ripe, and fruity. Drink NOW!! (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2022 El Orador Rioja, Rioja Alta, Rioja Alta – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This is an Israeli wine that Avi brought with him.
The nose of this wine is lovely, showing tar, ripe cherry, pomegranate, intense dirt, tar, and lovely rose hip. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, with good acidity, nice raspberry, dark cranberry, pomegranate, and rich smoke. The finish is long, nice, slightly candied, balanced, and enjoyable. With time this wine really shines, showing the same nose but the fruit has calmed. The mouth is bright, tart, and balanced with good acidity, and nice purple and red fruit, the pomegranate is gone replaced by blueberry, cherry, smoke, and dirt. Nice! Drink by 2027. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2021 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, showing already some funk, with rich salinity, roasted animal, soy sauce, blue and red fruit, ripe and juicy blueberry fruit, and lovely root beer.
The mouth of this medium-plus wine is ripe, rich, layered, elegant, not concentrated or extracted, with lovely acidity, intense blueberry, ripe raspberry, loam dirt, forest floor, lovely mouth-coating tannin, and good fruit focus. With time the fruit shows riper than at the start and less soy sauce.
The finish is long, dirty, earthy, smoky, and ripe, with tannin, dirt, minerality, graphite, and blue fruit, smoked animal lingering long. Nice! Drink by 2028. (tasted November 2023 & May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)
2020 Elvi Wines El26, Priorat – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 90% Grenache & 10% Carignan The nose of this wine is ripe to start at 15.5% ABV which should be clear, still, the brightness is lovely, with root beer, smoke, dirt, and earth, blue and black fruit, Eucalyptus, cola, rose, and tar. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, dense, and candied, with blackberry, dark plum, candied blackberry, and boysenberry, with a plush and ripe mouthfeel, concentrated and expressive with candied meat, chocolate, and minerality. The finish is long, ripe, dirty, smoky, and herbal, with cola, vanilla, strawberry, and graphite! Drink until 2030. (tasted March 2023, May 2024) (in San Jose, CA and Paris, France) (ABV = 15.5%)
2019 Elvi Wines Adar, Ribera del Jucar (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, and candied, but also enjoyable given its minerality, smoke, soy sauce, and roasted meat aromas. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, and the acidity is great, with soy sauce, sweet oak, blackberry, ripe blackcurrant that does bug me a bit, plum, screaming charcoal and graphite, nice sweet tannin, and roasted herb. The finish is long, ripe, and candied but balanced with acidity, charcoal, roasted meat, soy sauce, roasted coffee beans, and rich smoke. Drink by 2026. (tasted January 2024, May 2024) (in Jerusalem, Israel, Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2021 Chateau Tour de Bellegarde, Bordeaux Superieur (M) – Score: 84 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is akin to all of the 2021 Bordeaux we have tasted. The nose starts with green notes, candied Jalapeno, red currants, earth, dirt, and rosehip. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows great acidity, green notes, currants, cherry, and nice loam. The finish is long, herbal, green, and smoky. Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2021 Château La Naude, Bordeaux Superieur (M) – Score: 86 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is green, with bell pepper, red notes, currants, dirt, and loam. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is balanced, with good acidity, nice mouthfeel, smoke, loam, currants, cherry, and dirt. The finish is okay, with more green notes, nice acidity, and smoke. Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2022 Domaine de Grava, Bordeaux – Score: 87 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is ripe, and candied with good red fruit, tar, nice loam, roasted herbs, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has good acidity, with red fruit, sweet herbs, and loam. The finish of this wine is long, herbal, and smoky, with ripe fruit and tannin lingering. Drink by 2026 (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2023 Baron David, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 90.5 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is ripe, but balanced with violets, yellow flowers, ripe blueberry, raspberry, plum, earth, and nice smoke. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is nice, showing good acidity, great tannin, nice earth, and a bit too much fruit for me, but overall a wine that will show well to many, fruit-forward, and accessible to all that want a nice balanced fruity red wine. After a few hours, the wine opens up, calms the fruit down, opens the tannin floodgates and the wine is fun. Nice! Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2023 Palais de L’Ombriere, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, and candied, with sweet oak, toast, milk chocolate covered cherry, plum, and sweet spices. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, and candied, with plum, sweet oak, sweet spices, and herbs. The finish is long, tannic, and herbal. After a few hours, the wine opens nicely to show more control, lovely tannin, complexity, sweet oak, red and black fruit, and an all-around WINNER! Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2023 Pavillon Mougneau, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 84 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine shows good fruit, enough acidity, nice tannin, red fruit, currants, 0plum, earth, smoke, and blue fruit. The finish has dirty notes, earth, fruity notes, and smoke. Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2021 Relais de La Dominique, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is a bit simple with red fruit, sweet oak, dark chocolate, and sweet tobacco. With time, the nose opens with red currants, sweet oak, dark chocolate, and bright fruit. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, it has great acidity, some nice sweet tannin, nice weight, and sweet garrigue. I wish there was more fruit, still, it shows nicely with black and red fruit and great tannin. The finish is long, tannic, smokey, and herbal. Drink until 2027. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2022 Les Hauts de Mole, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is red and green with sweet spices, herbal notes, and red and green fruit, nice enough. The mouth of this simple wine has good acidity, a fair amount of tannin, sweet spices, roasted herbs, currants, cherry, plum, and dried basil/mint. The finish is long, herbal, smokey, with mint, menthol, and sweet tobacco. Drink by 2027. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 1%)4
2022 Chateau Tour Perey, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion, Grand Cru – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc. The nose of this wine is ripe, with blue and red fruit, smoke, earth, garrigue, and sweet roasted herbs. The mouth of this wine is well balanced with solid acidity, nice mouth-draping and drying tannin, sweet smoke, sweet cedar, boysenberry, plum, currants, dark chocolate, and solid fruit focus. The finish is long, dirty, ripe, and layered with blue and red fruit, sweet tobacco, and milk chocolate. Drink from 2026 until 2032. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2022 Chateau La Fleur Perey, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion, Grand Cru – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, with blue and red fruit, smoke, earth, garrigue, and sweet roasted herbs. The mouth of this wine is balanced with okay acidity, nice mouth-draping and drying tannin, sweet smoke, sweet cedar, boysenberry, plum, and sweet spices. The finish is long, dirty, ripe, and layered with blue and red fruit, sweet tobacco, and milk chocolate. Drink until 2026. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2022 Chateau Tour Seran, Medoc – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is green, herbal, smokey, and dirty, with loads of tar, garrigue, anise, and roasted animal. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is fruity, with dark plum, cassis, raspberry, dark currants, and rich salinity. The mouth is buoyed by the intense acidity, mouth-draping tannin, and sweet oak. The finish is long, herbal, smokey, dirty, and rich in minerality, graphite, tannin, and ripe fruit lingers long. Drink until 2030. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2022 Chateau Rollan de By, Medoc – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
I had two bottles of this wine. Taieb provided the first one, which was dead, with tingling on the finish. The second bottle, which I purchased, showed better, but the tingling was consistent. The nose of this second bottle is nice with smoke, ripe red and black fruit, minerality, and tar. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has enough acidity, with some bubbles in the background, followed by black plum, cherry, raspberry, nice tar, mouth-coating tannin, minerality, and loam. The finish is good enough with nice tannin, smoke, dark chocolate, graphite, and fruit lingering long. The tongue tingles still, I am not sure of the exact issue, but I would not hold this wine. Thankfully, with more time, this second bottle is better. The tingling is almost gone and the acidity, tannin, structure, minerality, and fruit linger. That said, this does not feel like a wine for holding. Drink until 2027. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2023 Cantina Giuliano Vermentino, Tuscany – Score: 82 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is ripe, with orange notes, orange pith, red grapefruit, and lime. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is missing some acidity, and I would have liked more of it, the fruit is mostly grapefruit and orange juice, along with some RS. The finish is a bit short and not much else. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris. France) (ABV = 14%)
2023 Cantina Giuliano Rosato, Tuscany – Score: 81 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a blend of 85% Sangiovese & 15% Vermentino. The nose of this wine has strawberry, lemon, grapefruit, orange, and pith. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine lacks the acidity needed to carry the fruit that is needed for this rose to be good. The orange, strawberry, and pith are all you get and in the end, it needs more. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2023 Cantine Leuci Cisaria, Rosato, Salento (M) – Score: 84 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is ripe and sweet with ripe strawberries, raspberries, and sweet fruit. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe and has RS, with strawberries, raspberries, good acidity, and not much else. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2016 Chateau Croque Michotte, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 87 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine started off showing oxidation, I am not sure if this is the wine or just a bad bottle, still, I will write the notes I see. The nose of this wine starts with light oxidation, showing good black and red fruit, rich smoke, dense anise, dense graphite, minerality, milk chocolate, loam, and sweet oak. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is dense, layered, concentrated, and extracted, with rich blackberry, plum, and cassis, good acidity, nice fruit focus, refreshing, mouth-draping, and drying tannin, minerality, and loam. The finish is long, with too much oxidation for me, but again, this wine is well made, with a lovely overall profile. Drink until 2026 (because of the oxidation). (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 15%)
2020 Chateau Haut Brisson, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER (France))
The nose of this wine is okay, it has red fruit, with plum, cherry, currants, milk chocolate, and sweet herbs. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine does not have enough acidity, the fruit is nice enough with cherry, currants, sweet spices, and herbs. The mouth feels plain and simple, I was hoping for more. The finish is long, with nice tannin, and smoke, but I am missing the fruit and acid to make this wine whole. Drink by 2026. With time, two days of time, this wine finally opens, it now has the right amount of acidity that it needs, with good enough complexity, I wish there was much more. This wine is still a shadow of the 14 and 16 vintages. Drink from 2027 until 2033. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2022 Moise Taieb, La Petite Metairie Bourgueil, Bourgueil, Loire Valley – Score: 77 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is green, like spinach juice green, with hints of red fruit, and violet, followed by more green notes. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is green, it has nice acidity, with some red fruit, followed by more green notes, and a short finish. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
2020 Chateau Taillefer Pavillon de Taillefer, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
It had been a year since I last tasted this wine, and it lost its green notes to start, instead now, it was just super closed. This wine is now closed to start. After a day it opens to a rich, layered, and extracted black and red wine, very nice! Needs time – lots of time!
The nose of this wine now starts closed, but with time, the nose changes totally, to show a beautiful expression of Saint-Emilion, with dark raspberry, dark cherry, black fruit, smoke, earth, loam, and brightness, with minerality, and precision.
The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, showing less balance than I hoped for, with blackberry, dark plum, aggressive chunky and mouth-drying tannin, graphite, loam, and nice smoke. With time, the mouth opens beautifully, to show its inner beauty, with notes of ripe blackberry, spiced plum liqueur, dark cherry, herbal notes, layers upon layers of sweet elegant tannin, intense minerality, graphite, scraping pencil shavings, hints of green garrigue, and lovely smoke, with roasted herbs. A complex, elegant expression that lingers long with extraction, minerality, and a rich focused body. The body is nice but a bit pushed for my tastes.
The finish is long, ripe, tart, and elegant, with leather, sweet tobacco, milk chocolate, and scraping graphite/pencil shavings lingering long with intense tannin and a lovely fruit body. Drink from 2026 until 2033. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2012 Chateau Cru Ducasse, Haut Médoc – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine has evolved a fair amount from the last tasting. It has lost a bit of its allure, I would not hold this wine much longer, it is funky and fun.
The nose of this wine starts a bit muted but then opens to ripe fruit, intense funk, barnyard, black and red fruit, with intense mineral, slate, graphite, loam, and rich clay, lovely!!!
The mouth on this full-bodied wine is crazy fun, it reminds me a bit of the 2008 Château Armens, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, all you feel at the start is rich barnyard, followed by scraping mineral, bold yet perfectly balanced fruit, rich and layered, dense and smoky, with rich blackberry, tart strawberry, dark plum, rich roasted herbs, all wrapped in dense and mouth-drying rich tannins, and more loam.
The finish is super long, rich, and tannic, with green notes, foliage, loam, mineral, pencil shavings, iron, and rich dark chocolate that is beautiful. Drink until 2027. Bravo!!! (tasted June 2021)
2023 Cave D’Esclans Whispering Angel, Cotes de Provence – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is screaming with ripe strawberry, raspberry, classic strawberry & Creme, followed by lovely minerality, smoke, pink flowers, and lovely honeysuckle. Nice! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is really on point, with no pith, ripe with fresh fruit, and great acidity, showing more strawberry & creme, plum, grapefruit, and gooseberry, along with great minerality, and slate. The finish is a bit short, but very refreshing, with more minerality, slate, and gooseberry. Nice! Drink now. (tasted June 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)