5/2/2024 - Mark Likes this wine:

It's hard to believe that my last tasting was almost 20 years ago. This was from a 375 purchased on released. I can't imagine a better example of a mature aged Bordeaux. Wonderful secondary notes of leather, spice box, cassis, wrapped up in a long finish and a great velvety texture. Sadly my last bottle.

5/20/2023 - Mark Likes this wine:

This bottle is considerably better than previous openings. My last bottle was in 2015. The wine benefited from some air, but was drinking very well from the start and over the following three hours. Wondering nose of secondary notes of cedar, spice and forest. Medium length finish. Drinking well now and continue for some time.

3/16/2023 - Mark wrote:

Unfortunately, long dead.

2/28/2022 - Mark Likes this wine:

Fantastic wine and drinking at peak, I was surprised how well it has held up.

2/12/2022 - Mark Does not like this wine:

this bottle was past its prime

1/6/2022 - Mark wrote:

What a difference 13 years can make. Bottle took time to open up, drinking best after 1 hour, where it opened up and nice flavors of cedar and spice came forward. Most likely drinking at it's best right now.

1/1/2022 - Mark Likes this wine:

No formal tasting notes. A bit acidic and light on open but evolved nicely over the course of 4 hours, perhaps drinking best at the end. Not a powerhouse but evolved and balanced.

11/20/2021 - Mark Likes this wine:

This Monbousquet was drinking surprisingly well. 30 minutes of air and it drank well for 5 hours. Medium length on finish, nicely resolved tannins, notes of spice, tobacco, lead pencil. Drinking well know and most likely at peak, but should hold for several years.

4/19/2021 - Mark Likes this wine:

took several hours to open up. Would hold off for a few years still. Unfortunately, my only bottle.

1/26/2019 - Mark Likes this wine:

Drinking well now. Needs 60 minutes to open.

4/29/2017 - Mark Likes this wine:

Tasting note from memory. Good wine at it's peak. Needs time to open up, Better after ~3 hours of decanting.

4/16/2017 - Mark wrote:

Needs 1 to 2 hours of air to open up and gain weight, but after that, drank well for 4 hours. No specific tasting notes, a great Pride drinking well and at it's peak.

3/26/2017 - Mark Likes this wine:

My last tasting was 12 years ago, this wine has aged well. Tasting notes from memory. Classic old Claret, the tannins have rounded out, medium length finish, cigar box, spice and tobacco. A little light overall weight, but still an enjoyable wine. I would recommend consuming these, as there is now where to go upwards.

3/7/2017 - Mark wrote:

Surprisingly balanced. This bottle took several hours to open up and gain weight, after 4 hours it was still improving with a more viscous mouth feeling and longer finish. Fruit is largely diminished but this was still a fantastic bottle of wine. Make sure you leave time to decant.

2/11/2017 - Mark wrote:

This bottle was drinking fabulously. Tasting note from memory. In storage since release, very balanced, with nice spice box flavors good depth and weight and medium length finish. Improved over an hour but still great from open. I wish I had more, classic aged Napa valley Cabernet.

2/11/2017 - Mark wrote:

Drinking very well right now. Shed much of the fruit that was present in it's youth, but balanced with some secondary flavors developing. Good time to drink, I think I would have liked it a little younger, but it's not near it's end.

12/17/2016 - Mark wrote:

Ten years after my last tasting, the 95 Cab R is now old. Little fruit, leaving a disjointed experience. My last bottle.

12/3/2016 - Mark Likes this wine:

No tasting notes recorded at tasting. Ten years after my last bottle, this is showing wonderfully. A mature Napa Cab at peak.

11/18/2016 - Mark wrote:

Flawed

6/12/2016 - Mark wrote:

Far past it's prime. Bottle was dumped.

6/5/2016 - Mark Likes this wine:

Needs several hours to open up. Initial nose gave me the impression that it was corked, it probably was, but after three hours, the wine gained considerable weight as was drinking very well.

5/30/2016 - Mark Does not like this wine:

This bottle was dead. Undrinkable.

5/1/2016 - Mark wrote:

No tasting notes recorded at the time. This bottle seems to have peaked and is well past it's prime. Will try another bottle to compare.

5/1/2016 - Mark Likes this wine:

No tasting notes recorded. Drinking very well now, give is a \few minutes of air but for the most part this wine might be at it's peak. Nice.

4/26/2016 - Mark Likes this wine:

It's been ten years since I last tried the 97 Chaleur. What a difference, this bottle was fantastic. Pretty much ready to drink from open, 15 minutes of air did improve it, but it doesn't need much. Good fruit, refined tannin's, a long finish, very nice balance. This is a fantastic wine. It is, unfortunately, short lived, 2.5 hours after opening, it lost a lot of it's vibrant fruit and proceeded to go downhill. Don't decant, consume over 2 hours.

3/27/2016 - Mark Likes this wine:

Drinking very well right now. No tasting notes recorded, needed very little air, maybe 20 minutes and it built from here. Good balance between fruit and tannin. Drink now, but still has some time left in the bottle.

3/7/2016 - Mark Likes this wine:

Drinking very well now. Purchased on release directly from the winery. Resolved tannins, with cedar and tobacco. Medium to long finish. Required 30 minutes of decently, but was otherwise open after that. Drank well for 4 hours.

3/1/2016 - Mark wrote:

This wine needs at least an hour of air to open up. It gained considerable weight and viscosity in the mouth after 2 hours. Dense dark red cheery fruit, stemy, bramble, green pepper and a bit vegetal. The stemy & vegetal component are initially in the foreground, but are overtaken by the fruit and velvety mouth feel that develop with time, still, I can't help but to think that this is somewhat a flawed wine with an uncertain aging future.

1/30/2016 - Mark wrote:

This is a fantastic bottle of wine. It need a hour to open up and it was drinking at it's peak 4 hours after opening. Good fruit on open, but gains considerable weight over time. At hour 4, it had a velvety thick mouth feel with a long finish. Drinking very well right now, just give it time.

12/21/2015 - Mark Likes this wine:

Has aged well. Still has a few years left, Lots of spice box, tobacco secondary flavors.

8/24/2015 - Mark wrote:

This bottle was tired, low in fruit, partially oxidized.

6/28/2015 - Mark wrote:

This wine has aged relatively well. Very medicinal, notes of cough syrup, chocolate, cassis and dust. Good weight, and a medium finish. Classic aged BV style.

6/7/2015 - Mark wrote:

Purchased six on release and have been trying over the years. This bottle is certainly improved over previous years. Nice secondary notes developing, cedar, spice, tobacco. Improved over time and was drinking well at 2 hours. Finish is medium in length, and improved slightly over time. Overall a good wine if not slightly faded.

5/21/2015 - Mark wrote:

Tasting note from memory. Overall jammy and a little unstructured and flabby, which was a surprise. Medium finish length, bright red fruit. Will try another bottle.

5/19/2015 - Mark Does not like this wine:

Lets try another bottle. This one didn't have much going for it.

5/2/2015 - Mark wrote:

This wine is getting old. Low fruit, more secondary notes, some lead, some tobacco. Short to medium finish. Wine purchased on secondary market so this might not be a good example compared to one with known providence.

4/24/2015 - Mark Does not like this wine:

On first tasting, I thought, what's wrong with this wine? Notes of charcoal, burnt flavors and green vegetables with some green peppers. The vegetal nature was predominant and hard to get past. Overall, this is not a very good wine and most went down the drain.

4/19/2015 - Mark Likes this wine:

First tasting of the 1995. Tasting note from memory. Initially light but fleshed out significantly with a few hours of air. Added weight and richness on palette with cedar and black fruit notes. Best after 3 hours of decanting.

4/9/2015 - Mark wrote:

Tasting of a few 2012's. The Durfort-Vivens requires several hours of air. Initially, there is a strong green and vegetale streak with notes of green pepper. This is dominate with a thin wine on the palette and short finish. By hour 6, the green notes take a back seat and the wine puts on considerable weight on the palette, with a medium long finish. Still some spice and green pepper, but not nearly as objectionable as at the beginning. It is a different wine. By hour 24, the green notes are gone leaving some cocoa, tobacco and spice. I suspect it was drinking at it's peak at hour 12 (but I was long asleep by then). Still, the green notes initially are off-putting and not favorable. It remains a question as to how this will do over the long term.

2/7/2015 - Mark wrote:

Fabulous wine, drinking wonderfully. Decanted for an hour and drank well for the next four. Cloudy, very cloudy and hazy, rather surprising and I don't recall this in previous bottle, but all the fruit and notes where there. Very long finish on the palette, lingers for minutes. Light nose, but dense and viscous in the mouth. This is drinking very well right now and will continue to do so for several years, but has lost some of the intensity and fruit that it showed several years ago.

2/5/2015 - Mark wrote:

Drank surprisingly well for it's age, especially given the price.

2/5/2015 - Mark wrote:

Getting old. Some fruit, and medium finish. Drank well for several hours.

1/19/2015 - Mark Likes this wine:

I had forgotten about this wine, at 13 years old, I was not expecting much, my luck with older Red Shoulder's has been mixed. It didn't help that the cork crumbled when I tried to pull it, needing to resort to the twin prong puller to get it out. I didn't expect much. What a surprise. Still young, fresh, almost effervescent at the start. Very well balanced, this was a fantastic wine and not on the decline as a I feared. My only bottle, but what a great surprise.

1/15/2015 - Mark Does not like this wine:

This bottle was dead, well beyond the drinkable stage. Not sure if this was a bad example. Will try another bottle. Usually I have had luck with older Kistler's.

12/25/2014 - Mark wrote:

Overall, this wine is well past it's peak. Little fruit, soft tannins, not much there.

12/25/2014 - Mark Likes this wine:

Given the age and the vintage of this Merlot, I was pleasantly surprised by how it's done. It's drinking very well now, with less fruit showing than the 97, but good weight on the palette with secondary flavors building with some chocolate and cherry. Overall, this will not improve and is past its peak on the way down.

12/24/2014 - Mark Likes this wine:

Drank very well, no tasting notes recorded at the time. I recall it had very good acid, if not slightly elevated. Soft tannins. Better after an hour or so.

12/24/2014 - Mark Likes this wine:

My last bottle. I have had several of these older L'Ecole 41 bottles that have not aged, this one was fantastic, and evolved in a wonderful bottle. Smokey cigar and spice with a medium length finish. Required about 45 minutes of air then drank well for many hours.

12/21/2014 - Mark wrote:

Opened an consumed over 7 hours. This bottle did not show very well and I think was flawed. I have one more to try.

12/21/2014 - Mark Likes this wine:

This bottle has aged well and is a good time to open up. Improvement with air over 30 minutes, then drank well for several hours. No tasting notes recorded.