Gevrey Chambertin is the most northern of the great communes of the Côte de Nuits. There are 26 Premiers Crus and 8 Grands Crus. Half of the Premiers Crus surrounds Grands Crus (near Morey); the other half is at the North close to La Combe de Lavaux with a chalky and clayey soil.
The vineyard of Latricières is situated on the south part of the village, near Morey Saint Denis, just above Mazoyères Chambertin Grand Cru and close to Chambertin. The soil is chalky with presence of clayey marl.

On the nose this wine exhibits intoxicating aromas of cherries, rusted metal, sandalwood, leather, and plum.   The wine shows beautiful complexity and secondary aromas of mineral, dried herbs, and teal leaf.

On the palate the wine is deliciously savory and delivers exquisite flavors of stewed bing cherries, dried red currant, cranberry, leather, unsweetened cocoa powder, mineral, salt (savory quality), plum, tobacco, and tea leaf.

In tems of layers, this wine has most the complexity one would expect from a Grand Cru Burgundy, and the wine is impeccably balanced. However, the brightnes of fruit and deliciousness that some of the Sonoma Coast Pinot's are showing in this particular moment sadly dwarf this wine in terms of pleasure and true hedonism. I would never recommend this wine to a "California sunshine head", but for my "Burghounds" I'd say this wine delivers quite masterfully. 90 points


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I just sat down with Kevin Carriker the owner and winemaker of Kobalt and tasted through his selection of small production wines that included a Sauvignon Blanc, a proprietary red blend called "Window Pane", his 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Cabernet port. The wines were all really impressive, but I wanted to give my quick review of his flagship wine, the Kobalt Cabernet Sauvignon.

Having tasted this wine in previous vintages, I wasn't at all shocked at the deep and almost black color that the wine exhibits in the glass. On the nose the wine bursts with aromas of ripe cassis, kirsch, toasted oak, vanilla, espresso bean, and some very beautiful and exotic baking spices.

On the palate the wine is fresh and vibrant and displays gorgeous flavors of black cherry, blackberry, espresso, dark chocolate, black plum, and toasted oak. The finish is long and lingering.

The wine might benefit from a few years of bottle age, but I think it's drinking wonderfully right now and so it may be wise to just drink it now and enjoy the vibrant fruit and impeccable balance. 94 points


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Clos de los Siete is a project brought forth by the famed wine consultant Michel Rolland and six of his Bordelaise partners. It's a wine from Argentina's Uco Valley that expresses the amazing fruit quality of the region and the talent of Rolland as a winemaker and his ability to produce world class wines that are ready to consume upon release. The wine is composed of 57% Malbec, 15% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, and 3% Petite Verdot. It was aged for 11 months in French oak.

As one might suspect this wine has a dark and practically opaque color at the core of the wine glass, and on the edges the wine it's youthful and purple in color.

The nose express really nice black currant, blackberry, cassis, melted black licorice, and a touch of cinnamon graham cracker. There's also a touch of cedar-spice and new toasted French oak. There is a seductive quality to the wine and a toasted deliciousness that draws you in and makes you want to taste this dark animal!!.....

On the palate the wine displays a round and silky texture and shows delicious flavors of cassis, espresso, dark chocolate, cedar-box, toasted oak, and graham cracker. The dark fruit flavors are abundant and the rich savory dark chocolate and espresso tones makes the wine seductive and savory. There is a nice balance between fruit and oak here and the acidity and tannin structture seem to also be very harmonistic. It's a wine that really drinks well in it's youth and completely characteriszes what Michel Rolland has excelled at in his wine career......that is, creating wines that are both big and expressive, and show well in their youth.  90 points


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The "Serpentiéres" vineyard is regarded as one of the finest vineyards in all of Savigny. Its full southern exposure and chalky, mineral-rich soils; as well as ancient vines—some pushing 80 years old, produce a wine of beautiful complexity and expression. The 2009 vintage in Burgundy is already becoming known as a benchmark vintage for Pinot Noir, and it should be interesting to see how this young Savigny is showing at this early stage.

I first want to admit that I opened this wine last night and it was practically undrinkable due to it's astringent tannin and high acidity levels....I almost dumped it down the drain because I thought perhaps it could have been a flawed bottle. However, after 24 hours on top of my refrigerator the wine has transformed into a masterpiece.

On the nose I get stunning aromas of stewed bing cherries, red raspberry, sarsaparilla, and crushed rocks. There is a really nice balance between mineral character and red fruit.

On the palate the wine glides across the palate with a lovely silky texture and expresses elegant flavors of cherry sauce, cranberry, red currant, leather, and dried herbs. The soft and vidid red fruit flavors express a certain savory character that makes the mouth water in anticipation of the next sip.

This is true Burgundy folks.....the elegance, the complexity, the acidity and overall balance, this is what defines the varietal and region. The wine is however extremely young and will drink much better with a minimum of 5 years in the bottle. If you do plan on drinking it at this stage, I would strongly suggest a few hours in decanter or a night of being open with the cork in the top. 93 points

The applellation of Vinsobres is situated in the southern part of the Cotes du Rhone, between Valréas and Nyons. The Perrin family traditionally makes this wine by blending 65% Syrah and 35% Grenache. The wine is usually partially aged in French oak barrels.

On the nose this wine exhibits ripe black fruit aromas, earth, pepper, pencil led, mineral, and a touch of dried herbs and flowers. It certainly displays a rustic and very Rhone-like muskiness, which is actually quite appealing and a nice change from the every day fruit-driven wines made in the sunny appellations of California.

On the palate the wine shows some really nice mixed berry flavors that combine with hints of cedar, mineral, pavement, and again pencil led. This is definitely a food wine that I can see paring quite nicely with some rosemary rubbed lamb chops! It is rustic and bloody wine that cries out for game meats and funky chunks of meat.....cool stuff...87 points.

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