Community Tasting Note
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Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 95 points
February 12, 2019 - Setting aside the Big Two, this has to get my nod as the best Margaux of the vintage, and it's showing even more now than it did last year. For present enjoyment that cuts in both directions because while it's offering more layers of deep, richer flavor it's also flexing quite a lot more tannic muscle, a real wall of structure that you have to get through. But the balance is exquisite, everything is put together just so, with snappy red currant fruit mixed with warmer blueberry flavors and a robust minerality hinting at metal shavings. It's thick-skinned but bursting with inner sweetness, way more than the much mellower showing last year indicated. This is also much more solid and robust than I remember it. There is a whole lot packed in here.
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4 Comments
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Jake Barnes commented:
12/23/21, 6:01 AM - Have you had this wine recently, Keith? Starting in early 2021, the scores began plummeting, from the 93-97 range to the low, low 90s. Brane is notorious for taking a lot longer than people think to mature, and I think this wine might just be in a dumb phase. I find it hard to believe that a wine Jeff Leve gave a 97 has become a 90 before its tenth birthday. What do you think?
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Keith Levenberg commented:
12/23/21, 11:08 AM - This is the way it always is. "Drink 'em young or old, never in between," as the saying goes. I wouldn't be inclined to open any 2015s for a long time.
I can't speak for Jeff but I'm surprised he rated this so highly. Even in a big vintage like 2015, the style here is much more understated than most of the stuff he likes. Good for him though. It deserves the praise. -
Jake Barnes commented:
12/23/21, 11:39 AM - Thanks, Keith. I agree.
I, too, was a little surprised Jeff liked this wine so much given that the reviews were calling it “lighter” and “elegant.” But that’s why I respect Jeff’s opinion so much. He’s not dogmatic about what he likes. He’s honest about things. If he likes something and thinks it’s a great wine, he rates it highly, even if it’s not in his preferred style. He is also able to acknowledge quality even if it’s not a style or a wine he likes. Not many people can do that with anything let alone wine. If they don’t like something, more often than not they just say it’s “bad” and move on, when, in fact, it’s just not a style they happen to like. -
Motz commented:
1/22/23, 7:36 AM - Fine note on an exceptional wine, KL. I just tasted this again and agree with your assessment. Does the Big Two refer to Margaux and Palmer?