| Wine Type | Vintage Name Variety Locale | Date Posted Score Helpful Comments More... |
|---|---|---|
| Red |
2001 Château Calon-SégurSt. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/22/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 92 pointsThe 2001 Calon Ségur has a serious disposition, austere rather than generous but appealing nonetheless with a nose full of red cherry, redcurrant, juniper, warm cedar, and Iberian ham. Rather austere in the mouth, the fruit reluctant but the tannin present front and center! Lithe and well-proportioned, this offers plenty of pleasure in its slightly introverted way. Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (2) |
| Red |
1928 Château Gruaud LaroseSt. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/21/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: flawedAlas, oxidized! |
| Red |
1986 Château Rausan-SéglaMargaux Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/21/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: NRGood, but a bit of a let-down, withholding the glorious floral aroma I remember from the last bottle. |
| Red |
2015 Château Saint-PierreSt. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/15/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 95 pointsLike being in the garden in the morning: rose, lavender, blueberry, raspberry, terracotta, cool dark earth, a hint of sea breeze. This very much makes the best of 2015 with perfect ripeness but not a hair out of place, powdery and aromatic. If drunk with something to match the tannin, this is perfect now in the charming flushes of its youth but its depth, balance, and persistence suggest a long, lovely future ahead. I’m tempted to raise the question of whether it’s the best St Pierre ever made but really, this is the beginning of an era - not the apogee of the estate’s potential. |
| Red |
2020 Château Léoville PoyferréSt. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/13/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 95 pointsThis is my third encounter with the 2020 Léoville Poyferré, this time at home with plenty of time to chart its course - and thank goodness for that. This has certainly become much easier to taste than it was just over a year ago, the nose more expressive a big, naturally ripe boysenberry, cassis, and lilac nose, managing to stay just shy of over-ripeness. The tannin, which previously seemed a bit grating, seems to match the large-scale body now and the ripe coolness of the 2020 vintage comes through. A long, blue and black fruit finish bodes well for the future. 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot brought in between Sept 14-30. |
| Red |
2003 Château Lafon-RochetSt. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/12/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 87 pointsLafon Rochet certainly shows the vintage character with a nose of cooked and dried fruits: prune, cooked fig, and kirsch. Paradoxically the palate offers fresher fruit at times - still sweet but not stewed - and accented by a little floral appeal and soy sauce. Despite its 21 years, the palate remains grippingly tannic. Happily the 14% ABV (as labeled) doesn't seem particularly conspicuous. Striking Lapsang souchong, beef blood finish. This bottle, in excellent condition, requires some time for the fruit to awaken on the palate and shows its best with 30 minutes - 2 hours of time in the decanter. This has its merits, but the nose is marked enough by the vintage that I find it hard to love. I could imagine that more vivacity earlier in life could have imparted a better impression than tonight's bottle. |
| Red |
2017 Château Cos d'EstournelSt. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/10/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 pointsThe 2017 Cos d'Estournel is really pleasing right out of the bottle with a classic profile for the estate. With notes of black cherry, plum, clay, incense, sea salt, and pencil weaving in and out, this promises to be enjoyable in another 10 years or so. Displaying a medium body and relatively well balanced alcohol (it's labeled at 13%), this is fundamentally shaping up to be another very good 2017 and another very good Cos d'Estournel that in some way harkens back to the vintages of the 1980s in profile and weight. While this never really seems to show profound presence on the palate or finish, this should be a pleasure to follow given its balance and aromatic profile. The assemblage this year is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (8) |
| Red |
1985 Château TalbotSt. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/8/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 92 pointsThe 1985 Talbot is softly fading, the full, fleshy ripe fruit which was so front and center a decade ago now blending into the more delicate redcurrant jelly notes that often characterize Talbot with age. Cedar, unsmoked cigar, and a touch of capsicum round out the nose, a hint of Brett present but not obscuring. This is an enjoyable drink now and I don’t find the stuffing of the really great vintages at Talbot that suggest this will live a very long life. But it’s been a fun ride and it’s not over yet. Neck fill, perfect cork. |
| Red |
2019 Château Saint-PierreSt. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/7/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 pointsThe 2019 Saint Pierre offers a big, fresh, full nose, supple and expressive, bursting with boysenberry and black cherry. Remaining just shy of over-ripeness, its fruit is complemented by incense, cedar, and an inky black caviar marine element. This is broad-shouldered and generous enough that it balances the alcohol well (labeled at 14%) and the depth of clean, fresh black fruit in the mouth grows and grows with air. As with many other 2019s, the preservation of acidity keeps this fresh despite its size. This is a very serious St. Pierre, representing the gradual iteration in the wine here. If I felt that vintages of the 1980s-early 2000s were a little under-developed and diffuse, the vintages from mid 2000s-mid 2010s seemed a little too ambitious and heavy-handed. Yet from the mid-2010s onward, St. Pierre has seemed to strike just the right balance. 6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (3) |
| Red |
2019 Château Léoville Las CasesSt. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/6/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 points2019 has shown us a relatively forward, generous expression of Léoville Las Cases with a fresh, generously-fruited nose of raspberry jelly, blueberry, and kirsch, moving from the red toward the black end of the spectrum with more time in the decanter. The pencilly palate is enjoyable but somewhat atypical for Las Cases with already-supple tannin cloaking a full body and slightly conspicuous alcohol. This is the second vintage in a row over 14% (the 2018 coming in at 14.42%) and while it's not too overbearing in either case, neither quite navigates the heat of the vintage quite as deftly as the 2009 (13.8%). This is made with 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc harvested between September 18 and October 8. 14.02% ABV, pH 3.67, IPT 80. |
| White |
2018 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru CharmesChardonnay more |
4/5/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 pointsLovely now, Meyer lemon, poached pear, a little custard. Fullish and rich, but showing enough zip to reflect the vintage - but not succumb to it. |
| Red |
1986 Joseph Phelps InsigniaNapa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/5/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 pointsEnjoyable, deeply-pitched blueberry and blackberry, still lavishly fruited but tempered by cedar and bay leaf. More tannic than you might imagine after the nose. Showing very well. |
| Red |
1986 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valleymore |
4/5/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 89 pointsTasted blind after some 1970s Napa, this showed clearly from a different era - actually hot on the palate, with a cooked blackberry, black cherry, licorice, sweetish profile. Not quite what I'd hope and a distinct step down from the Howell Mountain. 50% HM, 50% Oakville. |
| Red |
1974 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon ReserveNapa Valley more |
4/5/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 pointsAlmost 2 years to the day since I last had the pleasure of tasting this, the '74 Sterling Reserve shows similarly. Potent, serious, dusty black cherry, a little bit of bay leaf, mint, sage, black earth, coffee, cocoa powder. Serious, brooding, deep. Still whoppingly tannic! |
| Red |
1974 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valleymore |
4/5/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: NROxidized, alas. Others had nice things to say, but I couldn't get past it. |
| Red - Fortified |
1963 Warre Porto VintagePort Blend more |
4/5/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 92 pointsWith a pleasant candied red cherry character, old leather, and warm earth notes this was a pleasant if slightly spirity and uninspirational 63. |
| Red |
1999 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes-Hermitage Domaine Raymond RoureSyrah more |
4/4/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: NRPleasant but light and nondescript. |
| Red |
2008 Château Cos d'EstournelSt. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend more |
4/3/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 pointsThe 2008 Cos d'Estournel isn't exactly in a welcoming place at the moment, requiring 3 hours to really start coming out of its shell. Boysenberry and black plum dominate the nose with subtle lavender potpourri and sea salt elements - appealing enough in its constituent parts, though it hasn't quite eaten its oak and comes across as a tad heavy-handed. Though there's plenty of body, the palate remains a little stern and the alcohol intermittently pokes through; this is a wine that wants to stay in the cellar a bit longer. 12 hours really does help the cohesion of the palate and the depth of flavor is impressive. There's potential for the future, even though it's clear this isn't one of the great vintages for Cos. |
| White - Sweet/Dessert |
1947 Château SuduirautSauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend more |
3/30/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 pointsThe 1947 Suduiraut shows a delightfully aromatic, generous nose, brimming with burnt orange rind and rich nougatine, trading on its balance of fresh citrus and the deep baritone notes of age rather than amazing complexity. Yet it’s undoubtedly a deeply satisfying drink, offering a character that many decades in bottle can provide. As usual, half the joy with Sauternes and Barsac is the juxtapositions they provide - sweet and acidic, freshness and age. One of life’s great drinks. |
| Red |
1996 Château Cos d'EstournelSt. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/30/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 pointsIt’s a real pleasure to revisit the 1996 Cos d’Estournel. I’m sure I’ve tasted it in the interim, but my last note on this was in 2012. Over the past 12 years, this has retained almost every element of the character I last found, full of plum and blueberry compote, clay, lavender, cedar, cigar, espresso, and intense pencil. The palate is slightly less generously fruited, showing more beef blood and cumin. This takes half an hour to get going and then after an hour of pleasure Brettanomyces starts to dominate. Yet it’s still a wine relatively early in its evolution, mellowing, losing (a little) heft and cultivating some finesse, underlining the reassuringly slow glide of great claret across time. 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2) |
| Red |
1982 Château LafleurPomerol Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/30/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 97 pointsSubdued nose (double decanted about 5 hours beforehand) but my, what panache on the palate. Succulent fruit, powdery textures, full of gorgeous potpourri, blueberry, raspberry, and ganache. Wonderfully layered and expanding endlessly, weightless yet full of impact. Really fine. |
| Red |
1998 Château AngélusSt. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/30/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 96 pointsAgain en magnum; I'm just as enthusiastic as I was in 2019, though the profile has shifted somewhat in favor of showing off the Merlot elements much more prominently. Wonderful energy, naturally ripe boysenberry and plum, ganache, a hint of truffle - brimming with life, full of energy. Fine, natural sweetness in the mouth and a lingering finish. 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2) |
| Red |
1995 Château AngélusSt. Émilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/30/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 pointsShowing nicely from magnum, this example has lots of mineral to balance its rich, black fruit and slightly truffley personality. Drinking well now with a long life ahead. |
| White |
2017 Domaine Pinson Frères Chablis 1er Cru Montée de TonnerreChardonnay more |
3/26/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 92 pointsStrong performance - Meyer lemon, lime, oyster. Fullish nose nice weight and zip in the mouth. Really enjoyable, classic Chablis! |
| Red |
1985 Château Pichon-Longueville BaronPauillac Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/23/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 88 pointsOne of the fun things about wine is the layers of enjoyment it can provide. The 1985 Pichon Baron is a good but not profound drink, Brettanonyces obscuring some relevant details and slightly underripe but pleasant black fruit mingling with charcoal embers and black olive. But perhaps the most gratifying aspect of drinking this wine is seeing the end of an era at Pichon Baron (or close to the end of an era, anyway). 1985 was the first vintage made by technical director Jean-René Matignon who, joined by Jean-Michel Cazes just a few years later, crafted Pichon Baron in its modern form (evidenced by the wines from 1989 to present). These two men revitalized the estate after a period in the doldrums and the chateau hasn’t put a foot wrong since, their work ably carried on by the next generation. |
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