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Wine Scores
Below is a listing of the wine review scores we frequently reference in our notes. While these sources remain an excellent source of information, we always recommend that you trust your own palate. Scores in these publications often represent the personal taste of an individual critic, which may not always coincide with your own. We have a huge team of excellent wine professionals that can match wines you've had in the past with new arrivals that meet your flavor profile.
- Allen Meadows - Burghound
- Connoisseurs Guide
- Gambero Rosso
- James Halliday
- James Suckling
- Malt Advocate
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
- International Wine Cellar
- Wine & Spirits
- Wine Enthusiast
- Wine Spectator
- The Wine News
- Malt Advocate
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Customer Reviews - Jeff Hotchkiss
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Jeff Hotchkiss
I'm 36 in live in Cole Valley, SF. I’m a life-long Detroit Tigers fan but have warmly embraced the Giants, starting back in the 2002 pennant run and especially in the past few years. My fiancé and I have fallen hard for wine over the past 12-18 months, primarily reds and specifically BIG cabs and anything with Bordeaux varietals. We also love Pinot Noir/Red Burgundy paired with Salmon and all seafood, as well as the occasional Rhone and Tempranillo/Rioja varietals. We cook off the grill 2-4 nights a week so always pairing and matching with food. I’m still learning to assign descriptive words with what I smell and taste (see great documentary Blood Into Wine), but after all, that’s the entire point of falling in love with wine, right?
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Reviews |
2009 Haut-Vigneau, Pessac-Léognan
(out of stock)
Review Date: 8-17-2012
This has been our house "sipper" wine this summer but it goes well with a variety of weeknight home-cooked meals too. I think it smells like a rose garden, as good as many wines three or five times its price point. No surprise, the nose is excellent with candied berries and a hint of smoke, followed by a bing cherry wave across the mid-palate and finish. Only problem is that the finish is too short and disjointed. But if you like dirt, or more specifically the clay soils of Graves, contrasted with bright cherry, fruit flavors, than you'll dig this one. Solid QVR.
Drink from
2012
to
2016
Price: $17.99
2008 Jean-Louis Denois Grande Cuvée Limoux
(out of stock)
Review Date: 8-17-2012
A very solid, versatile, food wine that can go all the way to steak on one end and rich seafood on the other. Musty and earthy on the nose with an even, fruity middle palate and a dry, silky finish. Still felt slightly restrained but went down nicely with roast chicken stuffed with garlic, onion, lemon, and thyme. Great QPR!
Drink from
2012
to
2016
Price: $16.99
2007 J. Boutin "Bonnevaux" Côte-Rôtie (Stéphane Vedeau)
(out of stock)
Review Date: 9-27-2011
This is a very clean, balanced, new-world style Syrah. It smells French with the yeast in the nose, but carries through with lingering minerality, soft licorice, and a touch of tart cherry and rhubarb. The key is the low ABV - just 13.5% - which keeps the heat at bay and enables the wine to showcase it's flavors. Great easy-drinking Syrah that has some life ahead too!
Drink from
2011
to
2015
Price: $39.99
2005 Sterling "Three Palms" Napa Valley Merlot
(out of stock)
Review Date: 8-14-2011
No nose to speak of, but paradoxically, one of the strongest perfumed wines I've encountered in a while. You can smell it a few feet away. Lot's of crystal/sediment. Taste tangy raspberries with plum and hint of pencil lead on finish. Almost Bordeaux style but obvious Napa fruit. Great, versatile wine that can go with pork, chicken, and it has enough tannins to go with steak. Drink now or hold a few years.
Drink from
2011
to
2015
Price: $19.99
2007 Beaulieu Vineyard "Georges de Latour" Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
(out of stock)
Review Date: 8-14-2011
Very complex wine that isn't even showing off it's best stuff yet. Decanted for 3+ hours and it really helped. Very dark purple color, delicate silky texture, and variety of fruit flavors with licorice and classic Rutherford dust on the tail. Oak and tannins still coming into balance. We're getting a few magnums for guests to sign at our wedding, and will open them on our 10, 20, and 30 year anniversaries.
Drink from
2012
to
2040
Price: $129.99
2008 Camille Giroud Santenay
(out of stock)
Review Date: 8-14-2011
Solid summer afternoon sipping wine. We had it with sandwiches, cheese, and fruit. Lovely sour cherry on the nose and mid-palate followed by sharp acidity and minerality on the tail. Almost feels like a white or rose, so we chilled it slightly. Very refreshing summer wine! Should get even better over next five years.
Drink from
2011
to
2016
Price: $29.95
2008 Hall Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
(out of stock)
Review Date: 8-13-2011
This wine is super complex and I can see why it's received all of the hype. However, it's still too young. The tannins dominate and it's not quite integrated or in balance with the fruit. That said, this is a solid price so grab a few and put down for a few years. This one has tremendous upside!
Drink from
2014
to
2025
Price: $44.99
2004 Smith-Madrone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
(out of stock)
Review Date: 8-13-2011
This wine exhibits a very particular style: old school, mountain fruit, heavy cedar from the oak, and classic terroir from their Spring Mountain vineyard: eucalyptus, cranberries, leather, touch of tobacco, and forest floor. Decant and pair with anything off the grill or out of the broiler. My favorite wine right now, stocked up on a few cases.
Drink from
2010
to
2030
Price: $34.99
2001 Larrivet Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan
(out of stock)
Review Date: 8-7-2011
Paired with a blueberry-onion pork loin off the grill and cooked some of the wine in the sauce. I recommend letting decant for 30-45 minutes as it tasted burnt and woody after opening. During the dinner the fruit came out and mellowed the hard cedar and tobacco, and we tasted raspberries, touch of maple, cedar, and a very retrained tobacco.
Drink from
2011
to
2015
Price: $39.99
