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| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.9 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 113 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Purple Tooth on 5/5/2024 & rated 94 points: Fantastic bottle of la Dominique that I’ve been lugging around for years. Got turned on by a serious collector years ago. He said, “son, buy the big wines to impress your friends. Buy the 82 Dominque to drink by yourself “. That’s what I did. This is so rich and jam packed with mature and almost syrupy fruit and interlaced with beautiful barnyard and forest mushrooms growing everywhere, all around you. A real Bordeaux journey through the woods and back in time. I have one bottle left, and yes you guessed it. I will be drinking it all by my self. Drink! (162 views) | | | Tasted by DaleW on 5/4/2023: ). Soft and ready, sweet ‘82 dark berry fruit with leather, mushrooms, cedar. Nice. B+/B (949 views) | | | Tasted by Jd6725 on 2/10/2023 flawed bottle: Badly Corked (980 views) | | | Tasted by zachb1125 on 2/9/2023 & rated 91 points: Intensely dusty, forrest floor, feel like a lot of the primary fruit has faded. Very pleasant secondary flavors though. Bay leaves, more dust. On the older side, past its prime, but still quite enjoyable. (1107 views) | | | Tasted by blanquito on 1/31/2023: A beautiful, classic bottle. Actually stank of TCA when I first opened it, and I was like here-we-go-again!, but whatever that was blew off. Smoky, cedar, spice-laden nose, nice verve on the palate, still layered and sweet. Glorious, tertiary stuff, still at peak. (1200 views) | | | Tasted by williamc on 12/26/2022 & rated 93 points: Vegetal, peppery nose. Decanted for one hour before dinner. Wine was soft and light with mostly resolved tannins. Palate consisted of fresh red berries. Enjoyed with family for Christmas :) (1095 views) | | | Tasted by Jeff Leve on 12/24/2022 & rated 91 points: Medium-bodied, though it is almost closer to light, the wine retains its freshness, silky, soft, polished tannins, and sweet, ripe, red fruits. There is not a lot of weight, instead, you find vibrant, red berries, purity, and refinement. Do not decant, just pop, pour and enjoy if you have a bottle. Drink from 2023-2027. (2375 views) | | | Tasted by Jd6725 on 8/13/2022 & rated 93 points: Another good showing for this bottle. More structured than I remember the first one being. Very classic right bank that held up well next to stiff competition. (798 views) | | | Tasted by Jd6725 on 10/2/2021 & rated 93 points: Very good bottle, although not quite as impressive as the last one. This one edged out the 89 next to and held up much better. (1548 views) | | | Tasted by Burgnick on 8/21/2021 & rated 93 points: In magnum. Double decanted before serving. So fresh and vibrant with cassis, dark fruit, earth, herbs and smoke. Good power on the palate with layere of fruit. A good mix and primary and secondary element. (1898 views) | | | Tasted by Geoff7777 on 6/11/2021: Deep scarlet in colour with bricking at the edges. A voluminous nose with flowers, smokey plums, coffee, red berries and meat. More of the same on the palate with lovely freshness from the acidity at the finish. A sexy St Emillon, and the perfect carpaccio wine, again, 18.5. (713 views) | | | Tasted by Triforwine on 2/12/2021 & rated 93 points: First time tasted. Dad’s cellar so perfect provenance. Mid neck fill. Durand Opened cork funky but none lost. Open for lunch and decanted. Saved half for dinner as back up option against 1990 Du Cru Beaucaillou.
The wine looks light ruby colored with orange rim. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like forest floor and cedar. The nose is initially quite muted but much more open after hours of air with faint red fruit and cedar chest and the wine gained some weight.
It tastes like red currant and rose with a bit of smoke. Smooth mouthfeel. Tannins resolved. Medium finish. Drink now. Decant 2-3 hours if possible. Excellent. 93 (2186 views) | | | Tasted by jordanj on 1/30/2021 & rated 92 points: Initial sniff - bruised red apple and not much else. Initial taste. Surprising. Fresh, smooth, Smokey with polished tannins and a clean streak of acidity. Palate gives me hope this will open up nicely.
As the wine benefited from a decant and air the roles reversed. Odd. The nose developed a beautiful complex detailed bouquet of dried cigar tobacco, smoke, loads of herbs both fresh and dried, antique dresser drawer, a pot roast (think dried beef with a slight vegetal character), soy and old leather baseball glove. Intense and containing plenty of that hmm what is that? However, the palate became thinner, had some strange aged cheese taste. Still led to a long spicy finish. Keep in mind, there is little to no fruit to grab hold of. Past it’s prime but still a delight to drink, perhaps more so sniff anyway. A very easy cerebral 92-93 points. (2073 views) | | | Tasted by DaleW on 1/5/2021: Mature, not tired, soft resolved tannins, dark fruit with a little cocoa and cigarbox. B+ (2126 views) | | | Tasted by Burgnick on 12/31/2020 & rated 93 points: In magnum. Double decanted to serve. Leather, gravel, sweet dark currant and tobacco. Very smoothe and silky on the palate with round fruit. Still very fresh in magnum format. It has evolved nicely throughout the night. Great wine for NYE party. (1931 views) | | | Tasted by Jd6725 on 12/3/2020 & rated 94 points: This came out really nicely out of the gate. Doesn't need much air. Clean nose. Integrated and balanced. Almost no tannins left. Floral with just a small amount of fruit left. I haven't tasted a lot of older St Emilion, but I would not peg this for a left bank like I have others. However I could easily guess Pomerol. Touch of pretty sweetness on the finish. Very good wine. My guess is that this just rounded its peak and is slightly on the way down. No big hurry but I'll drink my last 3 bottles within 3 years. (1506 views) | | | Tasted by odds on 11/27/2020: Very nice treat of a well aged La Dominique. It certainly needed the decanting thought 60-90 minutes at home were sufficient before dinner. Secondary tastes certainly evolve over dinner, and it did not seem to fade in 2-3 hours 'parked'. The house also enjoyed a nice taste. I would say that pending your bottle history, you'd certainly want some tools (durand, etc) for the cork. Aging notes wise, it felt somewhat older than a '82. But YMMV pending on bottle and storage history.
Current rating is 91.9 and I think that's an under-rating. I would recommend to have a back up bottle in access though (1084 views) | | | Tasted by Sean Tay on 11/24/2020 & rated 90 points: Medium garnet in colour. Medium+ nose intensity, i feel that the wine feel closed. It will benefit from slow ox not decanting as the wine does not have enough acidity to hold. Developed notes of smoke, toast, herbaceous, wet forest, leather and barnyard. Its declining and had past its peak. Drink up fast. (1099 views) | | | Tasted by StefanAkiko on 10/29/2020 & rated 96 points: La Rochelle Aoyama FTW (Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan): Started out thin from the plopp. Grew tremendously over the 3 hours we enjoyed it. Contrary to fruitlovers, I'm sure this is but a padawan who will evolve further and become one of the wines that remains awesome also as an advanced wine.
Great aromatics, stunning personality and requires listening to rather than expecting to be served a phat fruit punch in the face.
Some prefer young pop stars, others (like me) prefer old, quirky professors because they have so much more amazing stories to share.
Wish I had more!
Cork was mushy, crumbled completely and required the whole toolbox to get out of the bottle.
BYOB to formidable La Rochelle Aoyama (Tokyo). (1314 views) | | | Tasted by DaleW on 9/28/2020: Recent acquisition, when I touched cork with screw of Durand it slid into bottle. But decanted this turns out just fine. Soft and ready, moderate acids, resolved tannins. Black plum, a little mocha, plenty of cedar. Drinking very well right now. B+/A- (1188 views) | | | Tasted by Tim Heaton on 8/10/2020: Double-decanted for sediment only. Clearly a grand dame, but as clear in that it's on the back side of its curve. As an openly confessed lover of dirt/place, as well as elegance, and balance, this one checks all the boxes, and adds some detailed forest/mushroom/pine notes that gave a pretty good thrill. Drink now, not improving. recommended (1910 views) | | | Tasted by Quiet Lion on 7/13/2020 & rated 94 points: Decanted briefly. A great showing for this fully mature St.-Emilion with menthol pipe tobacco on the nose, liquid saddle leather, dried cherry, dried herbs with resolved tannins on the palate. Flavors still robust if not terribly complex, but what do you want for a 38-year-old wine that cost $75 a CASE on release? (1754 views) | | | Tasted by Gunakadeit on 4/4/2020 & rated 92 points: Cork soaked through. Cedar, sweet pipe tobacco, red currants, herbal tea, green pepper, wet earth. Herbal notes are dominant—chinon-esque. Downside is it is a little acidic. (1614 views) | | | Tasted by AWBryce on 11/22/2019: Started red, cedar, wood shavings, moving to smokey bacon, silky smooth mouthfeel, tannins well resolved. Excellent and changing over 2 hours. Wouldn't hold this any longer, a beautiful wine. (1856 views) | | | Tasted by Ben Christiansen on 9/16/2019 & rated 54 points: In a flight of 1982s. Delicious and more herbal than all of them. Noticeably so. Delicious. (2866 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Château La Dominique Producer Website - Read more about Chateau La DominiqueRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBordeaux Bordeaux Wine Guide
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)
History of Bordeaux
History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification
"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson
"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson
"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson
"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon RimmermanLibournais Libournais (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) - Read more about St. Emilion and its wines - Read more about Pomerol and its wines
Saint Emilion Grat Classified Growth, Classified Growths, Grands Crus Classes, GCC
In 1954, while the "Graves" growths had just published their own classification, the wine syndicate of Saint-Emilion, composed by wine growers, brokers and wine traders with the approval of the INAO - Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (A.O.C), decided to work on a classification for the wines of Saint Emilion. Initially, four grades were defined. These were reduced to two - First Great Classified Growth (A and B) and Great Classified Growth - in 1984.
As of Medoc's 1855 historical grading, the Saint-Emilion Great Classified Growth classification is not only based on qualitative criteria by tasting the wines on a ten years period previous to the assessment, but also on commercial considerations such as:
- sales price levels
- national and international commercial distribution
- the estate's reputation on the market
Properties who don't manage to join the club of about sixty Classified Growths are given the denomination of Great Growth ("Grand Cru"), while the remaining wineries of the A.O.C are simply reported as "Saint-Emilion". It is to be noted that the owners must officially apply to appear in the official classification. Thus for example the famous Chateau Tertre-Roteboeuf, whose quality and reputation would easily justify to be listed among the First Great Classified Growths, does not appear here by the will of its owner, François Mitjaville.
The Saint-Emilion Great Growth classification was revised in 1969, 1985, 1996 and 2006. The only two guaranteed vintage (A.O.C) who can apply to the classification are the "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and "Saint-Emilion" areas.
By grading 61 properties, the 2006 revision confirmed many growths from the former classification, but also caused a number of surprises and a few inevitable disappointments. Many observers thought that the impressive progression of Perse's Chateau Pavie since 1998 would be rewarded by an upgrade into the First Great Classified Growths (A) category, but finally such was not the case.
Among the estates promoted to the First Great Classified Growths B category are Chateau Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin, whose efforts made since the Nineties fully justify their new grade. It should be noted that no First Great Classified Growth was relegated to the lower Great Classified Growth class.
Promoted growths from the status of Great Growth ("Grand Cru") to Great Classified Growth ("Grand Cru Classe") are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.
The demoted growths from the status of Great Classified Growth to Great Growth are: Chateaux Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet Saint-Julien, La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Belivier), La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Moueix), Lamarzelle, Petite Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay, Villemaurine and Yon-Figeac. If the recent samples of some of the above mentioned properties may justify their current downgrade, there are great chances that estates like Bellevue, Tertre Daugay or Yon-Figeac will be upgraded to their previous rankings by the next revision in 2016 as the progresses noted after 2000, but not entering in the range of vintages (1993 - 2002) appointed for the criteria of selection for the 2006 classification, are noticable.
The two following estates have completely disappeared from the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classification: Curé-Bon-la-Madeleine (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Canon) and La Clusière (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Pavie).
Finally, no estate considered as "garagiste" has integrated the classification. Valandraud, Mondotte, Le Dome, Bellevue-Mondotte or Magrez-Fombrauge have, for the least, the potential to be ranked as Great Classified Growths. In sight of the very fine quality reached by the above mentioned estates in recent vintages as well as all the innovative wine making methods used by the "garagistes", it remains to be seen whether the authorities will dare to cross the line in 2016..?St. Émilion Grand Cru Les Vins de St. Émilion (Syndicate Vitocole de Saint-Emilion) – Read about St. Emilion
Vins de Bordeaux:
Grape Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot
Soil: Sandy soils with alluvial gravel deposits
Surface Area: 4,160 ha |
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