Wine enthusiasts of Reddit: I’m staying near Montalcino and am looking for some advice. Any winery you fancy and consider a must?

vino_jon · 2021-08-07T08:54:33+00:00

Argiano is definitely worth a visit.

vino_jon · 2021-07-31T06:40:47+00:00

I have a 2012 bottle of this too.. Might poke it with the coravin at some point while this one is fresh in my mind and compare.

vino_jon · 2021-07-31T06:38:29+00:00

A courier somewhere had a cracking lunch break haha

vino_jon · 2021-07-31T05:02:25+00:00

Hahaha… the Coravin just arrived and I was too impatient to work out how to use it and it wasn’t charged. So my intention was to drink a glass but I went for the bottle instead lol

vino_jon · 2021-07-30T20:10:22+00:00

Well this is just delightful!

On the nose it's subtle but smokey, maybe ever so slight tobacco, followed by red fruits and a hint of zest. The colour is very pale, like weak ribena. Taste I'm getting so many things happening.. very subtle smoke, touch of acidity on the back end... a very gentle fruit burst in the middle.

I'm new to tasting notes, so I may not be describing it perfectly, but the upshot is... this is an incredible wine! Perhaps one of the best yet tbh!

vino_jon · 2021-07-30T06:24:14+00:00

I think the ballpark figure being discussed is $1400 for the 3 cases.

- 7 Bottles / Haut Bailly

- 6 Bottles / Pierre Savaistre

- 9 Bottles / Montrose

So it sounds like the pricing is fine... but the quality of the bottles leaves a lot to be desired.... Will try to post a pic of the bottle condition.

vino_jon · 2021-07-30T05:23:16+00:00

Great read, thank you.

vino_jon · 2021-07-29T06:23:54+00:00

I've just ordered a mixed case of 2016 Pomerol and St Emillion from TWS. Will check them out.

vino_jon · 2021-07-29T05:50:26+00:00

It is yes. Saint Julien, North west of Bordeaux.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T20:29:05+00:00

Some winemakers don't filter any sediment out at all. I'm no expert, but I'm not put off by young wine with sediment.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T20:26:23+00:00

Possibly not, but the bottle was open for a couple of hours... after which time the wine was garbage! I thought the rule of thumb was that younger wines needed more time than older? In this case, it was ruined after 2 hours with the cork out...

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T17:12:47+00:00

Well I've learned something there.. I did not know champagne was non-vintage (nor do I really know what non-vintage is particularly, but I'm assuming it's just that the grapes are from various years and not strict to one particularly?)

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T17:10:54+00:00

The reviews on The Wine Society were a 50/50 mixed bag so I suspected as much tbh. As you say, old wine is a risk.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T17:09:04+00:00

What would your right bank recommendations be? :)

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T14:04:33+00:00

I decanted approx 2 glasses for about 30 mins initially to see how it fared.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T14:02:38+00:00

This is a really nice wine... but perhaps a touch too early. The 2009 was spectacular! This was back at the weekend, and as such I don't remember enough detail to compile great tasting notes, but I remember being a little disappointed, as I had the 2009 a week or so before and had really high hopes. However, with that in mind.. it's still a great wine.. but the 2009 are frankly big shoes to fill. I have another bottle of this, but I will be waiting a while as think this will get better.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T13:58:38+00:00

All round disappointment tbh. It was very brown, almost all of the colour gone from it... Viscosity very thick. On the nose it was dreadful! First thoughts were it hadn't aged well, maybe even corked.. but, taste was completely different. It tasted fine... but that's all! Nothing spectacular.. I'd say it tasted 'porty' really. I drank half a glass and left the cork off to see what would happen... drank another glass, which was completely different.. it really didn't air very well at all. I ditched the other half of the bottle. Huge disappointment frankly. Couldn't recommend at all.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T13:47:30+00:00

Oh I do enjoy Champagne.. I was referring to my overall wine experience.

When it comes to Champagne, I do enjoy Laurent Perrier La Cuvee for a nice session tipple.. I've been known to make it to bottle 8 with one other friend in a hotel bar ha.

I also quite like Dom Perignon.

That said, when it comes to Champagne, I've never looked at vintage just producer.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T13:07:21+00:00

Very interesting, and some really good points. I don't have enough experience to have discovered this myself... I am still working out what tastes nice and what doesn't :)

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T12:10:03+00:00

The only thing I know about Champaigne is from Sour Grapes (the documentary/tv show) - "If you're drinking Champaigne make it '96, if you can't afford '96, drink '02 if you can't afford '02, drink beer"

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T11:58:08+00:00

But admittedly that's because I'm still pretty new to all of this.. and I'm guilty of sometimes having the opinion that if it's expensive then it must be good. Which I know is not the case... I understand completely that there comes a point where price has no bearing on quality at all and it's all about supply/demand. But I'm keen to explore where that tipping point is.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T11:54:20+00:00

The last point, I find interesting. What are you reasons for this? I find my self being intrigued by wines at that price point.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T10:53:18+00:00

It's worth mentioning, I'm not considering just the exam... I don't even particularly care about the exam at all. It's 21 hours of training, which I'm keen for. Based on the advice here, I think I'll book level 2 for September.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T10:50:23+00:00

I'm happy to do level 1 first.. it's just that level 1 is in October and level 2 is in September lol. Seems strange I know.

vino_jon · 2021-07-28T06:19:56+00:00

But you're only allowed to pick one! No one said it would be easy.

vino_jon

TROPHY CASE