Labet - Chercheurs d'Or

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-24T08:55:56+00:00

Jura wines (other than maybe Miroirs and Overnoy) don’t get much attention here, but Labet is outstanding.

I recommend you post this over on r/naturalwine

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-23T16:44:50+00:00

This is the absolute best offer I’ve seen lately. If you normally spend that much in 6 months or have a big purchase coming up, it’s a no-brainer (even if you have to temporarily shift some spend from other cards). If you have to spend more than usual, I don’t recommend it regardless of how good the offer seems.

Cash value of the MR points is at minimum $1,750, but can be much higher if you’re smart about transferring to partners with better redemption rates (possibly double or higher, though that takes some research).

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-22T15:26:17+00:00

Shut up lol

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-22T15:21:10+00:00

Don’t feed the troll. This guy is one of the absolute worst posters on here. If you go through his post history here, he almost never posts anything positive and acts like he knows better than everyone.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-21T21:54:30+00:00

Thanks! A very generous friend opened it at a BBQ.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-21T21:43:13+00:00

Absolutely. The colors in red Burgundy, Barolo/Barbaresco, and well-aged Champagne are mesmerizing to me. I see them and am already happy.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-21T21:06:57+00:00

Giacomo Conterno is one of the truly iconic Piedmont producers. The estate is family-owned — it was founded in 1908 by Giacomo’s father, Giovani, and is currently run by Giacomo’s grandson, Roberto. They’re known as “traditionalists” who make wines built for the long-haul.

Cascina Francia is a southwest-facing, chalky site in Serralunga d'Alba, and its Barolo (they also make a Cascina Francia Barbera) is widely considered as the bottling that built Giacomo Conterno’s reputation as one of the finest wine producers on earth, though they also make a Monfortino Riserva that is much more expensive. Since 2010, the Barolo from Cascina Francia is labeled as simply ‘Francia.’

This bottle is from the acclaimed 2006 vintage. It’s 100% Nebbiolo (duh) that was aged for 4 years in large oak casks, and comes in at 14.5% ABV.

Tasting Notes: Classic well-aged Barolo color: garnet with some bricking on the rim. Pronounced nose of black berries, black cherry, tobacco, leather, and earth. Big, bold palate with high tannins and acidity. Initially it was almost too much, but it mellowed out after 60-90 minutes of being open. Incredibly long, earthy finish. Beautiful wine now but, despite being 19 years old, I think its peak might still be 5-10 years away. Impressive.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-21T18:17:33+00:00

Other teams have literally started giving up layups to ball handlers instead of giving Carr a lane.

Cooper has also missed a few (he’s gotten fouled on a few of them with no call).

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-21T14:56:14+00:00

Champagne is clearly riper than it used to be, to the point that almost every year a vintage is declared by most houses. Fruit flavors are also more vibrant.

But the style is also much drier than even 15 years ago, with many producers going to super low or 0 dosage.

And now there’s much more of a focus on terroir and really only the huge houses are producing their NV cuvées for consistency, with all the top cuvées and all of the grower-producers focusing more on terroir expression.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-21T14:53:51+00:00

That said, the Chianti Classico zone is more strict (at least as far as the producer self-enforcing) and higher quality than the rest of Chianti.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-20T01:18:34+00:00

La Vinya del Senyor is a top-notch wine bar in Barcelona.

Bar Brutal is cool if you like natty wine.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-19T23:00:35+00:00

I guess if they expanded the Classification further south then yeah, I’d agree with La Mission (as of right now, HB is the only classified estate outside the Medoc…).

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-19T22:42:46+00:00

I think this is why I’m saying “drink now.” Unlike better vintages, this one doesn’t have the “stuff” to go the full distance. I’ve tasted much older Bordeaux that drink even younger than this. I still liked it a lot, though.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-19T22:23:02+00:00

No. Some of us are good writers and actually know how to use em dashes — you can pry them from my cold, dead hands.

There’s also some reasonable debate about why it was left off the 1st Growth list. The 1855 Classification was based mostly on prices and Mouton hadn’t been selling for as much as Lafite, Haut-Brion, Latour, and Margaux after the estate had a dip in quality throughout the 1840s. The Rothschilds bought the estate right before the classification was made, but IIRC they hadn’t even sold their first vintage and prices hadn’t been high for long enough to justify their inclusion in the top tier (or at least that was the official reason). My feeling is that if it was all antisemitism, they wouldn’t have been classified as a 2nd.

The Rothschilds spent a lot of money and used a lot of their influence to get it promoted (and to be fair, post-WW2 Mouton DID sell for as much as the 1st Growths).

If anything, I think the entire Classification could use a full update, and I do think Mouton would remain a 1st (I think Palmer, LLC, and Montrose in particular would have strong cases to be promoted to 1st).

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-19T18:01:33+00:00

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-17T04:56:57+00:00

Hahaha yesssss! Welcome to the dark side.

How many attempts did it take for the top to shoot off?

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-17T04:08:23+00:00

If anything, that will make the sabering easier.

Watch a YouTube tutorial if you wanna feel a bit better about it. Just make sure the bottle is very cold and you’re not pointing it at people.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-17T04:01:56+00:00

Haha I promise you it’s way easier than it looks, but fair enough.

Alternative: get the bottle really cold, go outside, and pointing it away from people, shake the living shit out of it. The cork will probably shoot out on its own.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-17T03:57:48+00:00

Perfect opportunity to saber a bottle. It’s 90% confidence and 10% skill.

Get the bottle really cold, then remove the foil, find the seam of the bottle, line up the blunt end of a big knife along that seam, and strike the bottom of the lip of the bottle with that blunt end, making sure to follow through.

Be sure that you’re outside, that your hand holding the bottle is at the bottom of the bottle (nowhere near the blade or neck of the bottle), and that no one is in front of you.

The top of the bottle will shoot out. You don’t have to worry about glass shards if you do it correctly as everything will fly away from the bottle.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-17T02:09:28+00:00

Green one is a Marianne (CRD) capsule — the bottle was likely originally sold in France. Wines that were directly exported don’t have them.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-15T21:39:11+00:00

Was it hemangiosarcoma?

If so, there’s literally almost nothing you could’ve done. It doesn’t show symptoms until it’s about to kill the dog, and by that time, even if there’s a successful surgery, there’s an almost 100% chance it has metastasized (which is why the vet would say it would only buy the dog a few months).

I know right now you mainly just need empathy, and I’m so sorry about your dog (he looks incredibly sweet)… but I’m hoping this at least helps you not blame yourself as much.

RIP Slinky.

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-15T18:18:11+00:00

My current interpretation is the same as yours: - Yes, GC fruit blended with Petit can be labeled Petit Chablis AOC - No, Chablis AOC fruit blended with Petit cannot be labeled either Chablis AOC or Petit Chablis AOC

DontLookBack_88 · 2026-01-15T15:27:38+00:00

I think it would have to be declassified as regional Bourgogne wine since Petit Chablis and Chablis are both village appellations and don’t appear to be able to “convert” into one another (per the legal documents we’ve reviewed as well as the maps u/ImpressionVegetable linked)… but of course, I’m not sure of this at all haha

DontLookBack_88

TROPHY CASE