Not to be tacky or anything but I've had just about every hyped Champagne and bling Champagne to have been released in the last two decades and frankly it's pretty rare for them to provoke any reaction in me beyond, "Yeah, pretty good, tastes like Champagne" and then I find myself scratching my head wondering what is making everyone swoon other than the price tag or the fancy packaging. This is an exception so dramatic that the first sip just leaves me standing there, stupefied. The effect is positively transporting. Outside it's a miserable winter night and then with a sip of this, the fruit turns the inside of your mouth into Katrina & the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine"... More

Decanted 5 hours in advance. Translucent light ruby. Fennel, menthol, and sour cherry greet you. Medium light weight. Less tobacco and tar than before but increasing fine perfume, and an interesting sweet/sour palate contrast from both ripe fruit and a cranberry aspect. Vibrant (if ever so slightly intrusive) acidity, light earth, and just gorgeous, fine tannic structure with quite a bit of grip at the end. Four or five months ago, I said I would keep opening bottles until it convinced me that it was intent on shutting down. The acidity has welled up and for now, the wine seems less harmonious than in the very early going... More

Oh boy, Rayas, Rayas, Rayas. This has all of the white pepper, pine needle and searing cherry that I associate with this magical wine. It really as if Burgundy was somehow transported to Châteauneuf-du-Pape or somehow Grenache were planted in a Burgundy vineyard. There is just nothing else like Rayas, and this was a textbook example. Remarkable. More