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Tasting notes sorted by producer, then vintage and wine.
On the left bank in Labarde in the Margaux region and close to the Gironde lies Château Siran. Wines from this château can be traced back to the 15th century. More importantly, Ch. Siran has been in the hands of the current owners, the Miailhe family, since 1859. Today, Édouard Miailhe runs the estate in the sixth generation. As of this writing in 2023, the estate comprises 25ha of vineyards. Ch. Siran is not classified. However, it produces wines of exceptional quality (at a comparatively low price). In most vintages, the cuvée has been balanced between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot at 40 to 50% each and around 10% of Petit Verdot. Hubert de Boüard (Ch. Angélus) has been consulting since 2014.
Premier Cru Classé en 1855.
Collovray et Terrier, with its headquarters in the Mâconnais, today consists of two wine estates: Domaine Deux Roches in the Mâconnais in Burgundy, founded in 1928, and Domaine Altugnac in the Languedoc, founded in 1997.
Today, the winery is run by Susanna Crociani. She used to be a concert promoter for Italian artists. After the death of her father Arnaldo and her brother Giorgio, she returned to the estate to carry on the family tradition. About 10 hectares of vineyards in Caggiole near the town of Montepulciano.
Joachim Heger, who is now the third generation to run Weingut Dr. Heger, founded his own winery, Weinhaus Heger, after completing his viticultural studies in 1986, before joining his parents' winery in 1992. While Weingut Dr. Heger is a member of the VDP and concentrates primarily on wines from first and great growths, Weinhaus Heger offers estate wines and village wines as well as cuvées consistently and separately from the VDP estate. Another difference is that Weingut Dr. Heger only processes its own grapes, whereas Weinhaus Heger can also purchase grapes from other winegrowers.
Duemani is the project of wine consultant Luca D'Attoma, known for his successful work with Tua Rita (Redigaffi) amongst others, and his partner Elena Celli. All wines are certified organic by BioAgriCert and biodynamic by Demeter. At Duemani, they focus on growing the international varieties Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Merlot.
The Felix Weber winery is located in Wiltingen on the Saar. Felix Weber founded the winery while he was still an apprentice at the age of 21 in 2015. If I am correctly informed, he gained experience with Egon Müller, among others. Today, having taken over vineyards from his family, he cultivates two hectares.
The Georg Breuer winery from Rüdesheim today cultivates around 40 hectares in the Rheingau. Most of it is in the steep, top Riesling vineyards around Rüdesheim. Since 2004, the winery has been managed by Theresa Breuer and the long-serving operations manager Hermann Schmoranz, supported by cellar master Markus Lundén. They have made Georg Breuer one of the most sought-after producers of highest-quality Rieslings in the world.
Jean-Baptist Becker founded the winery in 1893. Today, it is run by his grandson Johann Josef Becker, whom most people call Hans-Josef, or simply "Hajo". Hans-Josef Becker, born in 1945, completed his apprenticeship at Weingut Graf Eltz in Eltville in 1963, followed by his studies in Geisenheim from 1966 through 1969, after which he joined the family business. He was one of the first winemakers to produce dry Riesling, something that was unheard of in the Rheingau at the time.
Hans-Josef Becker is a believer in organic viticulture. He hasn't used fertilizer for almost fifty years, but he only decided to become certified Bio (engl.: organic) in 2011. Weingut J.B. Becker is relatively small, producing just over 60,000 bottles per year, and dedicates itself strongly to traditionally produced highest-quality Rheingau wines. In some years, Becker harvests less than 40 hectolitres per hectare due to rigorous pruning, far below the regional average of 70 to 80 hectolitres and the maximum allowed quantity of 100 hectolitres. Though best-known for dry and off-dry Riesling as well as Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder), the winery also produces a bit of Müller-Thurgau.
Weingut Künstler is a long-standing winery from Hochheim in the Rheingau. While the family’s winemaking tradition dates back more than 370 years, the winery as it is today was established in Hochheim in 1965. Today, the estate is run by Gunter Künstler. Künstler cultivates a total of over 50 hectares, of which around 40 hectares are planted with Riesling.
Maison Louis Jadot was founded in Beaune in 1859. Today, they're one of the big players in Burgundy, producing wine from 250 hectares of vines. Jadot typically prefer extended maceration for their red wines. For maturation, they typically use 1/3 new oak.
Maison Champy is one of the oldest existing wineries in Burgundy. In fact, they claim to be the oldest. Champy started out as a tonnellerie in the 19th century, then moved on to purchase grapes or grape must for vinification and bottling in their role as négociants, and eventually started growing their own vines, too.
Today, Champy owns more than 20 hectares on the Côte de Beaune, including plots on the Hill of Corton. Since 2016, the company belongs to AdVini, who also own Domaine Laroche in Chablis among several other estates around the world.
Maison Champy still keeps all of its production facilities within the city of Beaune. Controlled fermentation takes place in steel tanks to keep much of the expression of each terroir. For maturation, they use Burgundian pièces with only a medium toast. More new oak for the bigger wines.
Martin Waßmer and his family have been making their own wines in the Markgräflerland in Baden since 1997. High-density planting, between 10,000 and 12,000 vines per hectare. Yields of around 40 hectolitres per hectare on average. Spontaneous fermentation. Their estate wines (Gutsweine) are typically produced in steel tanks whereas the higher-quality wines mature in barriques sourced from Burgundian coopers.
Philippe Pacalet is a négociant based in Beaune. He has been making wine since the early 2000s. Today, he processes grapes from around 20 hectares of vineyards.
His style of winemaking is natural in that he relies on spontaneous fermentation (whole-bunch for reds) and not too much new oak. For whites, he directly presses whole-bunch grapes and then lets the juice settle before filling it into barrels for alcoholic fermentation. Philippe Pacalet uses Tronçais wood for the barrels. Maturation typically takes 14 to 18 months.
His wines can be fairly strong in terms of extraction due to punching down (pigeage), making for expressive wines.
Founded by Robert Gerald Mondavi in 1966. Mondavi started out producing Cabernet Sauvignon as well as Sauvignon Blanc ("Fumé Blanc") with fruit from the To Kalon vineyard in Oakville. Later, Mondavi's sons expanded the range to include wines in the lower price segment - a controversial decision that caused much internal debate. In 2004, Constellation Brands bought the Robert Mondavi Winery for a reported sum of 1.36 billion US dollars.
This is an association of several female winegrowers with no local ties. Wine Girls United therefore offers wines from different regions of Germany, such as the Rheingau or Rheinhessen.
This is a chronological list of all the tasting notes I have published. Keep in mind that this is not my main job, but a hobby. However, I usually manage to write at least one new note per week.