A pleasant surprise after I was rather disappointed by the '08. The oak's quite noticeable here, but it's matched by bright, ripe citrus fruits and nutty and doughy accents. There's a pleasant textural creaminess though it never feels heavy thanks to bright acidity beneath, and the balance is very good.
Last of my bottles, and another winner. All about pure, focused citrus and pear fruit tinged with floral and mineral notes on a gentle, lightweight frame with snappy acids keeping it very bright and vibrant. Lovely wine that has all the elegance and refreshment value of true Kabinett.
This is full of ripe plum and boysenberry fruit framed by some cedar and oaky notes, but it comes across rather clumsy on the palate. There's a lot of tannin here that seems to overwhelm the ripe fruit, and it feels rather coarse texturally with a rather warm, alcoholic finish.
Also quite ripe and tannic, but better balanced than the '10. There's a lot of ripe fruit here and it comes across a bit monolithic and dense, but there's brighter acidity on the palate here, and it's pleasant though not compelling right now.
Liked but didn't love this, it's got a pretty fragrance with sweet cedar and tobacco notes framing youthful dark fruit, but on the palate it's not as complex as the nose suggests, and with some air it actually seems to clamp down, as the tannin becomes more austere.
Surprised how mature this seemed, but it's drinking really nicely now. Bright blackcurrant and red fruited flavours framed by cedar, tobacco, and more developed leathery and earthy notes, all conveyed on a medium weight frame that's very polished and graceful. Liked this a lot.
Fantastic. Beautiful fragrance with tobacco, herbs, cedar wood, smoke, earth and sweet fruit all coming together seamlessly, and already quite complex and graceful on the palate. There's some fine grained tannin on the back end, but it's drinking remarkably well now and this is just textbook claret, powerful yet elegant at the same time with impeccable balance.
This is in such a great place. Really graceful with a silken texture, and an amazing fragrance combining mature leathery and smoky notes with spice, cedar, and a core of fruit that's still quite fresh and vibrant. The tannin's mostly resolved, and most of the structure here comes from the acidity, which makes this feel really lively and refreshing on the palate.
There's a faint stewed/slightly overripe character on the nose, but on the palate this is really nice with bright red and dark fruits tinged with leather and earth. Not as complex as the '89 or the '96 that preceded it and a little more angular on the palate, but nicely balanced.
Very savoury - the fruit's in the background here, and it's all about cedar, tobacco, and earthy notes. It's a touch lean on the palate, but not as tannic as I'd expect an '86 to be, overall nicely balanced though not particularly exciting.
Really liked this. It's equal parts fruit and developed tertiary earthy/smoky/leathery elements, with tobacco and cedary accents on the nose, and the palate is really remarkable - medium weight and very graceful, with the tannins fully resolved and a really silky, polished texture.
The most floral of the Cantemerles (so far), drinking beautifully now with the structure fully integrated, and layers of dark fruit, earth, tobacco, and bright floral notes coming together seamlessly on the nose and palate. Really elegant.
There's a high toned quality to the aromatics here with a pine needle/resin-like note among the savoury fruit, earth and cedary elements. It certainly stands out from the other Cantemerles so far, but not in a bad way. This doesn't have the power I'd expect from an '82, it's leaner but well balanced with the fruit very fresh and lively, and a polished texture.
This just rocks. Powerful and intense, with layers of rich fruit, cedar, earth, tobacco, and more exotic spicy elements all coming together seamlessly, drinking wonderfully now though still showing the density of fruit and some fine grained tannin to suggest it'll keep aging just fine.
Really liked this. Light on its feet, emphasizing elegance and finesse over power. Bright red fruit, tobacco, and more mature leathery notes conveyed with great freshness and focus. Not especially complex, but lovely to drink.
Really savoury and tertiary, there's some gentle red fruit in the background but it's really all about the mature leathery, cedary and earthy notes here. The structure's fully resolved here, and this is a very nice, fully mature claret.
There's an unusual minty, wintergreen-like scent here, but beneath it's full of bright, pure red fruit and developed earthy elements. Not a great deal of complexity here either, but it's very elegant on the palate with medium weight and a graceful, polished texture.
This is really great. One of my wines of the night, along with the '66 and '89. The nose is absolutely stunning with layers of fruit, earth, truffles, cedar, and tobacco all coming together into a really complex fragrance, and on the palate the structure's fully resolved, giving it a very polished, silken texture. Not a powerful wine, but very complex and seamless.
My favourite wine of the lineup. So much complexity here, all sorts of truffled, cedary, smoky, leathery and tobacco elements coming together around a core of red fruits that are still quite fresh and lively. This is drinking spectacularly well right now with incredible balance and length, a really stunning mature claret.
NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Cuvée de Réserve 87 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Pleasant but not exciting; crisp, bright citrus and pear fruit tinged with chalk and yeast, lively and refreshing though a bit one-note.
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2009 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or 89 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
A pleasant surprise after I was rather disappointed by the '08. The oak's quite noticeable here, but it's matched by bright, ripe citrus fruits and nutty and doughy accents. There's a pleasant textural creaminess though it never feels heavy thanks to bright acidity beneath, and the balance is very good.
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2007 Weingut Keller Riesling Kabinett 92 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
Last of my bottles, and another winner. All about pure, focused citrus and pear fruit tinged with floral and mineral notes on a gentle, lightweight frame with snappy acids keeping it very bright and vibrant. Lovely wine that has all the elegance and refreshment value of true Kabinett.
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2010 Château Cantemerle 82 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
This is full of ripe plum and boysenberry fruit framed by some cedar and oaky notes, but it comes across rather clumsy on the palate. There's a lot of tannin here that seems to overwhelm the ripe fruit, and it feels rather coarse texturally with a rather warm, alcoholic finish.
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2009 Château Cantemerle 87 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Also quite ripe and tannic, but better balanced than the '10. There's a lot of ripe fruit here and it comes across a bit monolithic and dense, but there's brighter acidity on the palate here, and it's pleasant though not compelling right now.
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2004 Château La Lagune 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Liked but didn't love this, it's got a pretty fragrance with sweet cedar and tobacco notes framing youthful dark fruit, but on the palate it's not as complex as the nose suggests, and with some air it actually seems to clamp down, as the tannin becomes more austere.
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2000 Château Cantemerle 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Surprised how mature this seemed, but it's drinking really nicely now. Bright blackcurrant and red fruited flavours framed by cedar, tobacco, and more developed leathery and earthy notes, all conveyed on a medium weight frame that's very polished and graceful. Liked this a lot.
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1996 Château Cantemerle 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Fantastic. Beautiful fragrance with tobacco, herbs, cedar wood, smoke, earth and sweet fruit all coming together seamlessly, and already quite complex and graceful on the palate. There's some fine grained tannin on the back end, but it's drinking remarkably well now and this is just textbook claret, powerful yet elegant at the same time with impeccable balance.
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1989 Château Cantemerle 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
This is in such a great place. Really graceful with a silken texture, and an amazing fragrance combining mature leathery and smoky notes with spice, cedar, and a core of fruit that's still quite fresh and vibrant. The tannin's mostly resolved, and most of the structure here comes from the acidity, which makes this feel really lively and refreshing on the palate.
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1986 Château Cantemerle 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
There's a faint stewed/slightly overripe character on the nose, but on the palate this is really nice with bright red and dark fruits tinged with leather and earth. Not as complex as the '89 or the '96 that preceded it and a little more angular on the palate, but nicely balanced.
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1986 Château La Lagune 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Very savoury - the fruit's in the background here, and it's all about cedar, tobacco, and earthy notes. It's a touch lean on the palate, but not as tannic as I'd expect an '86 to be, overall nicely balanced though not particularly exciting.
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1985 Château La Lagune 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Really liked this. It's equal parts fruit and developed tertiary earthy/smoky/leathery elements, with tobacco and cedary accents on the nose, and the palate is really remarkable - medium weight and very graceful, with the tannins fully resolved and a really silky, polished texture.
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1983 Château Cantemerle 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
The most floral of the Cantemerles (so far), drinking beautifully now with the structure fully integrated, and layers of dark fruit, earth, tobacco, and bright floral notes coming together seamlessly on the nose and palate. Really elegant.
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1983 Château La Lagune Flawed
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Heat damaged.
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1982 Château Cantemerle 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
There's a high toned quality to the aromatics here with a pine needle/resin-like note among the savoury fruit, earth and cedary elements. It certainly stands out from the other Cantemerles so far, but not in a bad way. This doesn't have the power I'd expect from an '82, it's leaner but well balanced with the fruit very fresh and lively, and a polished texture.
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1982 Château La Lagune 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
This just rocks. Powerful and intense, with layers of rich fruit, cedar, earth, tobacco, and more exotic spicy elements all coming together seamlessly, drinking wonderfully now though still showing the density of fruit and some fine grained tannin to suggest it'll keep aging just fine.
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1979 Château La Lagune 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Really liked this. Light on its feet, emphasizing elegance and finesse over power. Bright red fruit, tobacco, and more mature leathery notes conveyed with great freshness and focus. Not especially complex, but lovely to drink.
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1978 Château Cantemerle 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Really savoury and tertiary, there's some gentle red fruit in the background but it's really all about the mature leathery, cedary and earthy notes here. The structure's fully resolved here, and this is a very nice, fully mature claret.
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1978 Château La Lagune 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
There's an unusual minty, wintergreen-like scent here, but beneath it's full of bright, pure red fruit and developed earthy elements. Not a great deal of complexity here either, but it's very elegant on the palate with medium weight and a graceful, polished texture.
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1970 Château Cantemerle 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
This is really great. One of my wines of the night, along with the '66 and '89. The nose is absolutely stunning with layers of fruit, earth, truffles, cedar, and tobacco all coming together into a really complex fragrance, and on the palate the structure's fully resolved, giving it a very polished, silken texture. Not a powerful wine, but very complex and seamless.
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1966 Château Cantemerle 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
My favourite wine of the lineup. So much complexity here, all sorts of truffled, cedary, smoky, leathery and tobacco elements coming together around a core of red fruits that are still quite fresh and lively. This is drinking spectacularly well right now with incredible balance and length, a really stunning mature claret.
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