steve1000's Wines Subscribe to this Feed

steve1000's Review:

Yes, it's as good as you have heard. Crazy dense, concentrated, with many layers of flavor that I will let the winegeeks debate in fruity metaphor, the real accomplishment of this wine is BALANCE! Think about it: Making a dark, extracted, ripe wine from old vines in Australia? (OK, that's good...) Taming all that alcohol and tannin and engineering a wine that has focus, and is velvety, and has an ease about it? (that's Genius!) Great for BIG RED Lover's and probably a great value when compared to other ultra-high rated reds from California and France.

steve1000's Review:

This dry Vourvray (Chenin Blanc) from Champalou is quite consistently delicious, but the 2005 is a step above that. It's not a wine that knocks you over the head--but give it a few minutes and it will win you over with it's ripe pear fruit, excellent acid-balance and a remarkably graceful texture. Easy to drink by itself, a real crowd-pleaser, and nice weight for a wine of this type. If your wine philosophy is "RED ONLY--BIGGER THE BETTER" this wine can start your healing.

steve1000's Review:

Big. Excellent quality. Best bottle of Barnaut yet. A sure sign that grower (Recoltant Manipulant) Champagnes have indeed arrived. Ageable and more than worthy of your cellar, this vintage Barnaut continued to impress me right to the end of the bottle. Vintage Grand Crus from small producers now compete with any big name champagne house--don't just reach for the names you recognize! If you are unfamiliar with the farmer champagne revolution, read the complete argument in support, (by Terry Theise) in the Skurnik Wine catalog from 2006.

steve1000's Review:

Obviously, it was an incredible experience to not simply sample this wine, but to enjoy the entire bottle between four people during a very special evening out. It was more like some sort of wine ceremony. Neighboring tables whispered and pointed when the bottle was brought out, and the waiter took unusual care pulling the cork. It was quite a bottle of Burgundy, and I like to think I have had a enough Grand Crus to adequately prepare for the experience. If you love a tooth-staining red monster, don't waste your money on this--buy 50 bottles of (really good) Aussie Shiraz instead. But if you can appreciate a multi-layered, incredibly exotic, palate awakening experience--and have an unusually generous friend like I do--this wine will not disappoint.