As stated in my previous post, I was in Paris in November, and while it took forever to post these notes, I am happy to finally be getting to them at this point. The total number of boxes in our hotel room, much like in June, still makes me laugh!

As I stated, in my previous post, I kept to my hotel room for much of the trip. I was joined by Avi Davidowitz from Kosher Wine Unfiltered. Even vaccinated, I was worried, as such we kept to ourselves, where possible. Almost all the wines below were tasted with Avi, in our hotel room, a few were tasted after he returned home to Israel.

Marmorieres Wines

I truly enjoyed the Château de Marmorières Les Amandiers, La Clape, Languedoc we had in June. So, I made sure Avi tasted that along with other wines from the winery, which was only released after I left Paris in June. The rose and white were nice while the Cab and Merlot were less interesting.

White wines from all over France

For the most part, the list was weak as it had too many boring Chablis. There were one or two nice wines, so look for those WINNERS. The best of that group has the worst name I have ever seen – LaCheteau Sauvignon Blanc – like seriously??? Anyway, horrible name – great wine!

Charles Pere & Fils Burgundy Wines

I was hoping to enjoy some 2020 Burgundy wines, but sadly, none of them stood out in a good way. They felt rushed, not complete, and overall, lackluster. I hope subsequent vintages will be better.

Rhone Wines

We had wines from Famille Daubree and Les Vins De Vienne and neither of them stood out. Again, they were very ripe, and we gave them days to come around, they never did. These are not what I am looking for. They are well made but too ripe for me. If you like well-made ripe French wine, try them out.

Various Bordeaux Wines

This group was a total loser, just like in June, except this time – there were no new wines to save me! Thankfully, for Avi, there were many of the wines I enjoyed in June, but for me, there was not a SINGLE red wine I would drink. That is how bad the options were!

German Weingut Gehring Wines

These wines were the most enjoyable and reasonably priced wines we tasted in our own tasting. The wines were made for an Israeli entrepreneur, who was going to sell them to hotels and restaurants, but sadly, he died, and the wines just sat in Germany! Some of them made their way to Israel anyway and that is where Avi and a few others saw them and worked crazy hard to buy them. Avi brought one wine with him, but I wanted to taste them all, there are three of them.

Weingut Gehring made three kosher wines with this gentleman who passed away, a Riesling, Grauer Burgunder (Pinot Gris), and an off-dry muscat. So, while I was in France I called the winery and paid them to ship the wines to my hotel, which worked perfectly! That was how I was able to taste all three of them. The wines that were sent to me all have Hebrew back labels as they were meant for the Israeli market and while the Hechsher is good it is not one many would know.

Thoughts on this tasting

Overall, these wines were unimpressive, but wow did we find some real sleepers! The 2020 LaCheteau Sauvignon Blanc, Les Cimes, Haut-Poitou, Loire Valley is a no-brainer for those in France/Europe. Same for the two german wines. Other than that it was a total mess and I hope the next trip will have better options!

Though none of these wines will ever make it to the USA shores, some are in Israel and I feel bad for you. The LeChateau is in Israel, but I have no idea if there were transport issues, like with many other French wines imported into Israel, in the past. The two German wines were in Israel but I have no idea about their distribution. Either way, thankfully, these wines can stay in France/Europe, there is nothing I want here, other than maybe the German wines, but I think they are all spoken for.

The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

Chevalier Wines

2020 Chevalier De Marmorieres Rose, Vin de France – Score: 90.5 (QPR: GREAT)
Clean smelling rose with good lines, bright fruit, floral notes of violet, honeysuckle, raspberry, honeyed fruit, and tart lemon. Nice job, the mouth on this medium-bodied rose is tart, right on the money, well priced, with lovely strawberry, sweet pomelo, mango, with searing acidity, tart lemon, lemon pith, sweet peach, and nice refreshing acidity to bring it all together – nice! The finish is long, ripe, and well-balanced, with slate, acid, and good fruit. Nice! Drink now! (tasted November 2021)

2020 Chevalier De Marmorieres Blanc, Vin de France – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose on this wine is very fruity, smells a lot like Viognier, with white peach, apricot, funk, guava, and sweet fruit. The mouth on this opens slowly, with nice acidity, that is slow to fully show, nice acidity, with guava, ripe peach, Pomelo, sweet honeysuckle, honeyed tropical fruit, and ripe melon. The finish is long, tart, ripe, and well balanced, with more funk, saline, mineral, and slate. Nice! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.50%)

N.V. Chevalier de Marmorieres Merlot, Vin de France – Score: 80 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is scary bad, bubblegum, plum, raspberry lifesaver, ripe and unbalanced wine that does not do it for me. It has a drop of acid and tannin, overall, not for me. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.50%)

N.V. Chevalier de Marmorieres Cabernet Sauvignon, Vin de France – Score: 80 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is less offensive than the merlot, with nice earth, fruit, and ripe fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is too ripe, flat, uninteresting, and offensive at the finish with cooked rhubarb, and plum. Move on! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.50%)

White Wines from around Europe

2020 Chateau Massieu Boutet Sauvignon Blanc, Bordeaux – Score: 65 (QPR: NA)
This wine is so vile it tastes like cooked white trash, it starts with a drop of acid and by the time you have removed the plastic trash cork from your corkscrew – the wine has devolved into the nastiest chemical and manipulated wine you have ever had. HARD PASS! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12%)

2020 LaCheteau Sauvignon Blanc, Les Cimes, Haut-Poitou, Loire Valley – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
OMG, this is what I want in a wine, classic elegant new-world Sauvignon Blanc. Nice! The nose on this wine is dead on! The nose starts with wheel barrels full of gooseberry, rich Kafir lime, grapefruit, mineral, slate, funk, fume, all perfectly well made, Nice! The mouth of this wine is a WINNER, in France, with great acid, lovely fruit focus, a really fun, refreshing, acid-driven wine. The finish is long, tart, with great minerality, good flint, fume, and smoke. Drink until 2023. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12%)

N.V. Cherrier Freres Sancerre, Les Mangellerie, Sancerre – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose on this wine starts slow, but with time, becomes pure heavenly funk! The nose on this wine is filled with funk, more funk, and yet more funk, followed by mineral, slate, metal, ripe gooseberry, grapefruit, lemongrass, and lime. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is nice, again, it starts slow, but with time, it opens to nice gooseberry, ripe peach, with nice balancing acid, ripe and tart grapefruit, and some ripeness that is not covered by all the acid. The finish is a bit ripe but well balanced with acidity, funk, mineral, slate, orange pith, and nice spice. Drink 2023. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2018 Cave de Ribeauville Riesling, Vendanges Manuelles, Alsace (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine started feeling cheap and that may have been caused by the trash cork they closed the wine with. No one should be closing wine with plastic corks! Use cheap DIAM or use screw caps. When you use a plastic cork in a wine bottle that shows me you think the wine is trash and I should think the same! Which is sad for a nice wine like this. tell me you think the wine The nose on this wine is nice, it shows a bit of funk, mostly soap, peach, and mineral. The mouth of this wine is funky, but mostly what assaults you is the acid, layers of acid, followed by more funk, peach, grapefruit, apricot, ripe stone fruit, ripe honeydew melon, and mineral. This wine is refreshing, ripe, almost around, but the acidity brings it around and makes the heaviness of the wine feel lighter. The finish is long, ripe, almost round, with great acidity, heavy apricot notes, and tart acid lingering very long. Drink until 2023. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.50%)

2020 Domaine des Beaumonts Petit Chablis, Petit Chablis – Score: 77 (QPR: BAD)
I will keep this simple – this is a useless white liquid that is taking up very needed bottle space! This wine smells like apples, tastes like apples, and not much else. next! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.50%)

2020 Domaine des Beaumonts Chablis, Chablis – Score: 70 (QPR: BAD)
Another useless Chablis that is taking up very valuable bottle space – I do not need to write notes – RUN!!!! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2019 Cantine Leuci Fiano, Fiano del Salento (M) – Score: 50 (QPR: BAD)
Another useless and horrible that was forcibly subjecting upon me by myself. This wine is floral water – useless. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

Rhone Wines

2020 Famille Daubree Corps de Loup Condrieu, Condrieu – Score: 70 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is very professional but not for me! The wine is too pushed, too ripe, and too candied for it to impress me. The nose on this wine is pure peach juice, followed by sweet spices, cinnamon, cloves, loads of sweet oak, and overall sweet makeup, not fun for me! The mouth on this wine is flat, no acid, all you get is triple helpings of candied and almost artificially flavored peach juice, crazy, this is not my cup of tea. Drink until 2024. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2019 Famille Daubree Corps de Loup Cotie-Rotie, Corps de Loup, Cotie-Rotie – Score: 87 (QPR: POOR)
The nose on this wine is richly floral, with clear ripe peach notes, even though the label says 100% Syrah, with overly ripe boysenberry, earth, sweet and ripe fruit, with sweet tobacco, roasted meat, and more sweet peach. The mouth on this full-bodied is balanced, but it is showing the peach, at this point, with boysenberry, violets, blackberry, nice acidity, floral notes, dark fruit, with sweet notes of brown sugar and purple fruit. The finish is long, fruity, sweet, ripe, but well balanced, with good acidity, and sweet tobacco. Drink from 2025 until 2032. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2019 Famille Daubree Corps de Loup Cotie-Rotie, Marions-Les, Cotie-Rotie – Score: 75 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is almost all pure Peach juice, with the sole exception of sweet oak. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is equally sweet, ripe, and mainly peach, with hints of blueberry, sweet oak, nice acidity, good balance, sweet pith, and nice minerality. This wine needs time to open. Drink from 2023 until 2027. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2019 Les Vins De Vienne Cote-Rotie, Les Essartailles, Cote-Rotie – Score: 83 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine smells of overripe plum, floral notes of violet, ripe notes of blueberry, roasted meat, and an overall ripe wine. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is super ripe, over the top, with no acidity, sweet tannin, ripe boysenberry, juicy ripe plum, sweet tobacco, and sweet oak. The finish is long, ripe, and not enough acid to bring it all together, but for me, it is all over the place and lacks the acidity and fruit focus to make it out of the maelstrom. Drink from 2025 until 2029. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.50%)

2017 Les Vins de Vienne Cote-Rotie, Les Essartailles, Cote-Rotie – Score: 82 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine starts with peach, with really ripe plum/prune, blackcurrant, ripe boysenberry, plum cobbler, sweet tobacco. The mouth on this wine has fully fallen apart from 2 years ago, the acid is gone, and all we have now is stewed plum and boysenberry, and it is now a total mess. Drink up! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2018 Les Vins de Vienne Crozes-Hermitage, Les Chaponeres, Crozes-Hermitage – Score: 82 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine smells correct, with ripe blue and red fruit, nice loam, smoke, roasted animal, tar, and forest floor. The mouth on this wine is flat, the ripe fruit is all over the place, the loam, menthol, smoke, tar, blackberry, boysenberry, and ripe fruit, all lack in the mouth. A true disappointment, drink by 2024. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

Charles Pere & Fils Wines

2020 Charles Pere & Fils Bourgogne, Hautes Cotes De Beaune, Vieilles Vignes, Hautes Cotes De Beaune – Score: 82 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is ripe, with ripe plum, dark raspberry, ripe fruit, and sweet herbs. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is ripe, syrup-like, sour cherry, bubblegum, with intense acidity, overall the wine is all over the place and not for me. Drink from 2026 until 2032. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.50%)

2020 Charles Pere & Fils Pommard, Pommard – Score: 83 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is super ripe, with grape-flavored bubblegum, dark plum, boysenberry, raspberry, and ripe tart fruit. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is too ripe for me, showing no control, it has acidity, but the ripeness is over the top, all over the place, and not ready to be tasted, with sweet spices, sweet oak, and sweet violet. This is not a Pommard or a Pinot Noir at this point. Drink from 2025 until 2032. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.50%)

2020 Charles Pere & Fils Beaune 1er Cru, Les Epenottes, Beaune 1er Cru – Score: 83 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is super ripe, over the top, with notes of ripe clove-studded plum, sweet ripe notes all over the place, lots of toasted fruit notes, and oak. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is crazy ripe, with over the top ripe plum, blackberry, boysenberry, and plum, and overall fruit bomb of a wine, with nice acidity, but no control or approach. This is not Pinot Noir to me, but I am sure many will like it. Drink from 2025 until 2032. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.50%)

2020 Charles Pere & Fils Volnay 1 er Cru, Les Fremiets, Volnay 1 er Cru – Score: 87 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is the most balanced of the 4 Pinot Noir we have tasted tonight, dark, brooding, and ripe, with overripe plum, blueberry, blackberry, smoke, tar, and roasted meat. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is still all over the place, but it has hope, with brooding fruit, good acidity, nice loam, dirt, dark plum, juicy boysenberry, ripe fruit, smoke, and a density that is not Pinot Noir, more akin to Syrah, with searing tannin, and loam. Drink from 2025 until 2034. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.50%)

Cantine Leuci Wines

2018 Cantine Leuci Rosso Negroamaro, Salento (M) – Score: 70 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is pure evil, the only note I can write is cooked plum. This wine is evil and is undeserving of the glass it lives in. Next (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2018 Cantine Leuci Primitivo Rosso, Sassi Del Salento (M) – Score: 70 (QPR: BAD)
Another wine and another disaster. This wine smells like pure lifesaver raspberry candy and nothing else. Move on! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2018 Cantine Leuci Primitivo, Salento (M) – Score: 62 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is the new “pure evil” – if that is even possible. This one is an acidic train wreck with even more candied and artificial raspberry lifesaver – I am not sure what people were thinking about when they bottled it. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2017 Cantine Leuci Idume, Salice Salentino (M) – Score: 72 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is evil, undrinkable, and I have nothing else to say. The nose on this wine is candied and cooked cherry, tinny, and green, nasty. The mouth on this wine is evil, but better than the Zinfandel, with overripe and boiled sweet cherry, no acid, some tannin, and that is it! Nasty! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

Red wines from Europe

2019 Bodegas Faustino Faustino VI, Rioja – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is simple but very enjoyable, I wish there were more wines like this on the market. The nose on this Rioja is dirty, smelly, stinky, with all the right notes, showing cranberry, raspberry, cherry, rich smoke, loam, and forest floor. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is essentially a Coca-Cola wine, the winery mass produces this stuff and it really needs more acid and more love, but overall, not a bad wine. Showing cranberry, cherry, tart red berry, loam, clay, and smoke. The finish is long and dirty, with a bit of tannin, and more earth. Drink by 2023. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2016 Clos Amado Douro, Douro – Score: 50 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is dead and vile – NEXT! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.50%)

2019 Domaines Bunan Belouve Rouge, Cotes de Provence – Score: 30 (QPR: BAD)
I am speechless – this bottle of wine is a rotting fruit corpse that should never be created. Next! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 15%)

2019 Vignobles David Le Mourre De L’Isle, Cotes du Rhone – Score: 70 (QPR: POOR)
This wine is flat, useless, lifeless, with a hint of fruit, smoke, and not much else. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Domaine de Coste Chaude La Source de L’Argentier, Côtes du Rhône – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of 60% Syrah and 40% Grenache. This wine shows balance, great acidity, is a bit simple, with no flaws, really a fun wine to enjoy throughout the meal. This wine is lovely from the start but it improves with time, I would give this wine a good year or two before starting in on them. If you need to try now, I would open it and watch it evolve, slowly, in the glass, really fun actually to see it go from red to dirty red, to mushroom, and then rich loam, nice! The nose on this wine eventually evolves to rich saline, black and blue fruit, with bright raspberry, cherry, rich smoke, roasted animal, mushroom, wet loam, and forest floor, really fun! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is perfectly balanced, with nice acidity, showing good tart cherry, blueberry, ripe blackcurrants, lovely ripe and defined raspberry, lovely wet loam, mushroom, dark plum, black olives, and rich smoke. The finish is long, dark, with blue fruit, great balance, more rich saline, charcoal, smoke, roasted animal, and rich graphite/saline with tart red and blue fruit lingering long. Nice!!! Drink from 2022 until 2025. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

Bordeaux Wines

2019 Chateau La Siganerie, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 83 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose on this wine is ripe with green notes, foliage, earth, tinny notes, and an overall simple approach to this wine. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is ripe with green notes, more of that simple tinny style, with loam, cherry, raspberry, and not much else. The finish is long, green, and tinny. Move on! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2019 Grand Gibaud, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 85 (QPR: EVEN)
Another one of those wonderful green and tinny wines, with some more balanced than the previous one, but equally uninteresting. The nose on this wine shows ripe fruit, earth, loam, more tinny notes, with loads of green notes, raspberry, and that is it. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is boring, green, tinny, though it shows a bit more class, overall, the Mevushal process made it worse. Move on. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Chateau Timberlay, Bordeaux Superieur – Score: 86 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a bit closed but with time it opens to show rich menthol, forest floor, mushroom, roasted herb, green notes, and spice. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is OK, it has intense acid, with green notes, herb, menthol, Eucalyptus, raspberry, and not much else. The finish is long, green, and very simple. The acid sticks out like a sore thumb as the wine is too simple for such an extreme acid structure. Drink by 2024. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.50%)

2019 Domaines Baron de Rothschild Lafite Les Legendes, Bordeaux – Score: 89 (QPR: EVEN)
This is a mass-produced wine from the famous wine producer Domaines Baron de Rothschild Lafite. Still, it is a nice wine that is simple. The nose on this wine is nice, dirty, earthy, and fun, with good loam, spice, forest floor, and red fruit, with some black fruit in the far background. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, a bit warm, a bit disjointed, but overall a nice simple wine, with green notes, herb, earth, raspberry, smoke, tar, dark cherry, but without enough acid to bring it all together. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, and not much else. Still, far better wine than what we tasted all day today and the price is too high but overall a nice enough quaff. Drink by 2024. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Le Baron de Selicate, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 71 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is a classic tinny green French wine, with Jalapeno, foliage, green notes, white pepper, and red fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is sweet, with RS, flat, and useless. Next! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2019 Chateau Bellerives Dubois, Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux (M) – Score: 76 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is green, tinny, Jalapeno, pepper, red fruit, and a bit of dirt. The mouth of this wine is fruity, sweet, flat, and useless. Next! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Chateau Haut Philippon, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 65 (QPR: BAD)
The nose and mouth on this wine are ripe, with RS, flat as a pancake, and useless. Drink now. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Grand Pontey, Medoc – Score: 70 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is ripe, simple, and uninteresting, with plum, raspberry, dirt, and green notes. The mouth of this wine shows Jalapeno, raspberry, green notes, no acidity, light tannin, and no finish. Hard pass. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2014 Chateau La Patche Chateau La Patache, Pomerol – Score: 91 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine has evolved nicely since the last time I had it! The nose on this wine is lovely, layered, ripe, and tart, with beautiful mushroom, dirt, lovely earth, violet, with ripe fruit, cherry, raspberry, and nice fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is well balanced, with mounds of dill, earth, red fruit, juicy strawberry, nice mouth coating tannin, and green notes of foliage, loam, mushroom, and lovely mineral. The finish is long and juicy, with juicy tart fruit, lovely herb, showing rich minerality, earth, foliage, and mineral/graphite galore. Nice! Drink by 2024. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2019 Vignac, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose on this wine is not as evil as we have had today, with notes of black and red fruit, raspberry, cherry, and foliage. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is simple, just enough acid, just enough tannin, raspberry, dirt, loam, and green notes. The finish is long, green, red, and dirty. Drink now. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Chateau Massieu Boutet, Bordeaux – Score: 70 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is green, dirty, and nasty (and not in a good way), with clear notes of manure (again not in a good way). The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is flat, useless, with more manure, dirt, and flat and round plum juice. This is evil. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Chateau Massieu Boutet Grande Cuvee, Bordeaux Superieur – Score: 80 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is nasty, with cooked notes of fruit, overripe plum, cherry, and nothing else. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is ripe, round, with a drop of acid, almost no tannin, and some dirt. The finish is short, with more tannin, green notes, and foliage. Drink now. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Chateau Tour de Belegarde, Bordeaux Superieur (M) – Score: 75 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is candied cherry, dark plum, candied currants, and red lifesaver. Hard pass. The mouth on this wine is tannic and nothing else, scary, a wine with so much tannin and no good flavors. Next! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2017 Chateau LaGrange, Bordeaux Superieur – Score: 40 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is not going in my mouth! Done! Oxidized trash. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Chateau le Clos Du Merle, Cotes de Bourg – Score: 70 (QPR: BAD)
Yet another lovely tinny green useless French Bordeaux, wow, there sure are a lot of these useless kosher Bordeaux wines! The nose on this wine is yet again, useless, green, tinny, flat, and Jalapeno. The mouth on this wine is useless, flat, with no acid, and no tannin, aka red water with RS! Nasty!!! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.50%)

2019 Château Pres Neufs, Bordeax Superieur (M) – Score: 70 (QPR: BAD)
WOW, there sure are a LOT of useless tinny green Bordeaux wines in Paris! Impressive! The nose on this wine is green and tinny, that is it. The mouth on this wine is red-colored water, with a drop of tannin, manure, and green notes – wow, useless. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.50%)

2016 Chateau Fontaneau, Medoc – Score: 83
The nose on this wine is nice, dirty, earthy, smoky, with lovely menthol, raspberry, cranberry, and cassis. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is flat, has no acid, bright red fruit, dirt, and smoke. Drink up. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2017 Chateau Des Places, Graves – Score: 88 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose on this wine is tart, with green notes, earth, good loam, red fruit, and smoke. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is in drink-up now mode, with tart red fruit, just enough acid left, with smoke, dirt, loam, and graphite. DRINK UP!!!! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2018 Pavillon Mougneau, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)
Yet another green and tinny red Bordeaux wine, though this one is a bit better than other ones we have tasted on this trip. The nose on this wine is green, tinny, with some redeeming red fruit but it is hard to get to it behind all those green notes, with dirt, and foliage. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine calms down from its green and tinny notes after an hour, with nice tannin, loam, raspberry, dark cherry, herbs, and roasted green notes. The finish is long, green, balanced, with nice acidity, herbs, loam, forest floor, and tar. Drink until 2024. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.50%)

Assorted White/sweet wines

N.V. Hafner Sparkling Riesling, Troken, Austria (M) – Score: 82 (QPR: BAD)
The nose on this wine is sweet, candied, much like an off-dry Riesling than a dry one, with notes of citrus, honeysuckle, guava, melon, and lime. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has just enough acidity to be ok, but it really could have used more acid, with melon, honeyed guava, pomelo, litchi, and sweet passion fruit. The finish is a bit short, with sweet fruit, brown sugar, and a touch of mineral. Drink now! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 10.50%)

2020 Chateau Keresztur Takaji, Late Harvest, Tokaj – Score: 80 (QPR: BAD)
Flat useless pineapple and guava juice. No thanks! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 9.50%)

German Weingut Gehring Wines

2019 Weingut Gehring Grauer Burgunder Trocken, Nierstein, Rheinhessen – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine is pure heaven, pure epic FUNK heaven! OMG, this is what wine should smell like. This is the best Pinot Gris I have ever had! The nose on this wine is funk heaven, followed by lovely hay, straw, rich mineral, green apple, quince, Asian Pear, smoke heaven, almost lore-valley like, epic! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is layered, with more funk, green apple, quince, lovely tart acidity, nicely refreshing, with ripe pear, tart apple, lemon, and lovely tart stone fruit. The finish is long, green, lemongrass, candied mint, with pear, flint, smoke, and funk long. Nice!! Drink until 2024. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.50%)

2019 Weingut Gehring Rotewr Hang Riesling, Trocken, Nierstein, Rheinhessen – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
Oh my goodness – this wine is a simple Riesling, sells for 9.5 Euro, and tastes better than most wines I have tasted this entire year! Give me a break, why is the good stuff stuck in Germany! The story around this wine is sad but my goodness would it sell out in a second at 20 dollars in the USA. The nose on this wine is pure honeysuckle heaven, enough said, throw in lovely honeyed lemon, citrus, peach, apricot, rich orange blossom, rich saline, with clear leanings of Petrol and you have a bombshell wine. The mouth of this lovely wine is rich, tart, showing a lovely concentration of stone fruit, peach, apricot, all wrapped in an intense singularity of focused acidity, ripe Kefir lime, Meyer lemon, lovely galangal, ginger, and ripe gooseberry. The finish is long, mineral-driven, with petrol, good acidity, slate, rock, and limestone, all backed by gooseberry, orange blossom, and honeysuckle. Nice! Drink until 2024. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.50%)

2019 Weingut Gehring Gelber Muskateller, Nierstein, Rheinhessen – Score: 83 (QPR: EVEN)
I loved the Pinot Gris and Riesling but this off-dry Muscat starts flat as a pancake and with time shows a bit worse than the Bartenura Blue Bottle, so I do not need to write notes here. The acidity does come out to play with time, but otherwise, not balanced enough. Next wine! (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 9.50%)