4/28/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

4 hour decant

Tighter than previous bottles, and more youthful. Dark blue and black; tobacco, minerals and forest. Rich and deep; young tannins and will improve with time. Same pedigree as prior bottles but younger in the curve. Awesome.

4/26/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours of air then drank over a bit

Penetrating nose of red and black berries; quite elegant and suave but still punches with power. Beautiful balance and persistence with long finish. Excellent

4/24/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP but frank over many hours.

Young, sappy and bright; red fruit with good spice, a dap of anise, and potent minerality; long and very cut; excellent and primal. Very very good. In your face

4/21/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours of air

Dark red fruit; fresh and dense. Chambolle elegance. Deeper than I expected. Good lift and structure. Attractive and enticing. Sappy. Delicious and ready but no rush.

4/20/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

3 hour decant

Stony, rich and pure. Quite a transparent color with beautiful tone and texture. Great length, young and polished tannins; really approachable and dynamic. Burgundian

4/13/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP and drank over many hours

The color is murky (unfiltered?), but nose is quite pungent with flowers, spearmint, and bright red fruit. Penetrating with great lift, this is approachable and great today but clearly will improve and relax. Striking and Long lush finish. Very nice acidity.

4/7/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

1 hour decant

Quite a beautiful nose of macerated cherries, forest floor, balsam, and herbs. Great structure and supple with sweet tannins but good acidity and structure. Long finish; firmly in strike zone

4/4/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP

Highly aromatic; bright red nose, floral tones, spice and a dollop of wood. Rich body with some effervescence and an evolving structure that carries punch. Long finish; quite good. Really like the style

4/2/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

Open 3 hours

Beautiful golden hue - intoxicating nose of orchard fruit, oranges, nuts, some citrus fruit and peel. Intense palate with great verve and lift; long and lush; young and maybe too young. Still holding back but awesome.

3/31/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

3 hour decant and drank over a few hours

Fantastic nose of cedar, tobacco, bright red fruit, and minerals. Amazing texture; evoked with great acidity and lift. Smooth medium finish. Awesome still

3/24/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP; bright and poppy at open. Red fruit on the palate and earthy tones, nice acidity and good chewiness; finish is quite attractive. Amazing for its level, I think.

3/17/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours of air plus 2 hour decant

This bottle was deeply resolved and mature. Nose of dark black fruit, graphite, smoke, and tobacco. Beautiful and relaxed palate, with nice lift and notes black fruit, earth and a smokey cigar box. Finish is long and powerful. Youthful or atleast unresolved, and beautifully dry.

In the strike zone

3/15/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

3 hours of air in the bottle

Beautiful nose with floral, mint, licorice, dark black fruit, and earth. Quite reduced with a chunk of firmness and acidity, a bit dry, but penetrating texture. Long youthful finish. Right

3/9/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

4 hour decant

Suave and elegant; quite restrained and sensual. Mostly dark fruit with notes of tobacco and earth. Quite a thinkers wine, with a shy personality revealing a deep complex flavor profile. Acid might’ve been a bit light but a serious, contemplative Bordeaux that will likely get better and better.

3/9/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

3 hour decant

Bright dark blue and black fruit, kirsch and other brilliant fruits; penetrating aromas. great balance with strong character and depth. Acidity is intoxicating. Keeps getting better with time. Great mouth feel; deep and textured, many dimensions, long finish. Cab Franc adds a lot here. Drinking nice but no rush. Upside even from here.

Strikes a proper balance between a saint julien top wine and classic California Cabernet

3/2/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

Opens dense and young; buttery

After a few hours, really evolves. Penetrating minerality, peaches, nectarines, largely orchard fruit. Coiled but very enjoyable. Upside from here. Long finish with great acidity. 3-5 years maybe for next plateau. Excellent

2/29/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

3 hour decant

Explosive nose of chocolate, dark black, red and blue fruit, dense and deep. Penetrating. Bright and long; rich but not heavy; quite dynamic and cheery. Delicious with amazing length.

One of the more approachable 2016s.

Young but enjoyable w a decant; clearly built to reach further heights. Upside from here

2/11/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours of air

Deep black and red fruit; dense with strong spice, minerals, and Vosne character. Thick and rich, great structure and acidity. Very long and multi dimensional. Excellent now but will be boom in time.

2/3/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

Two hours of air then drank over two hours.

Dense and dark, spicy with notes of tea, wood, and Asian tones. Dark blue and red fruit that is approachable but restrained. Very cool and attractive balance with great depth and a long fresh finish. Quite good!

1/19/2024 - mchern02 wrote:

Both were bad bottles - not sure what happened but ugh

10/19/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP

Black and red cherry, Christmas and baking spice, some meatiness and bright. Medium body with good acidity and length; concentrates red fruit and spice. Alive and drinking well. Elegant.

9/27/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours in decanter and really hit stride at hour 4.

Beautiful notes of cedar, current, licorice, blackberry and black currant. Medium body with resolved tannins and light acidity; elegant and suave, not a deep a texture but a pretty one with good length and very approachable. At a plateau but very solid with 3-4 hour+ decant

9/24/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP and followed over many hours; way ahead of last bottle

Dynamic nose of crushed stone, Vosne spice dark red fruit, a hint of chocolate, and black tea. Dark, color, spice and crushed minerals, great texture and length. Opening up with time - long finish; quite good

9/22/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hour decant

This has become a benchmark BDM wine for me. Kaleidoscope of aromas including dark red and black cherry, flowers, mint, anise, forest floor. The show takes off on the palate with black and blue fruit texture, intense salinity with a bouquet of floral and herbal tones, and an epic long finish. Youthful, structured but in an early strike zone…certainly no rush and improvement with time but absolutely fucking ripping.

9/21/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

Opened and followed over many hours.

Attractive red berries, nice bouquet of floral and forest floor; good salinity and length. Elegant and lighter bodied.

9/16/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

5 hour decant

Evolved from the last bottle. Beautiful red bricking with aromas that are pungent yet not fully revealed; notes of of menthol, flowers, red cherries, and spice,
But certainly more to come with time. The youthfulness is transparent on the palate with sweet, young and dryish tannins and firm acidity. The best is yet to come yet I enjoyed it tonight!

9/14/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

3 hour decant

Dark blue and black fruit, anise, and herbs. Wonderful texture and length, with great tension and finish. Firmly in the strike zone but not a rush.

9/6/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 Hour Decant.

Dark bright fruit with notes of mint and forest. Great verve, length and power. This is absolutely delicious. Youthful, no rush but great already with a proper decant.

9/4/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP but followed over many hours

Bright and fat, quite young, notes of melon, moderate acidity, youthful oak, toasted bht relaxing with time in the glass. Lots to like but still too young. I’d wait a couple years on this but great stuffing.92-94 with time

9/2/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP

Fairly one dimensional with notes of plum and cherries, some tannins, and slightly drying. Simple but approachable

9/2/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

Effervescent, fresh and acidic. Attractive minerality with lemon zest, and herbal tones.

8/13/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hour decant

Beautiful aromas of black tea, flowers, dried rose, lavender, dry red cherries and earthy tones. Youthful palate with good depth and balance, attractive acidity and long finish. Nose is ripping, palate and finish are good but more to come. Upside but no reason to wait w proper decant

8/12/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP out of 375 and followed over 3 hours

Super tight, slightly plummy, cassis, anise, bright red fruit, menthol, and cocoa. Lush full body and well structured, quite deep and dense; long maybe warmer vintage than others but will benefit with 3-5+ more years or lots of air. A long life ahead and upside from here.

7/19/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP and followed over many hours

With time, nose opens up with beautiful florals and citrus tones. Palate is taut with a firm backbone and nice acidity, layers of orchard fruit reveal themselves with a dry attractive finish. Good with time but upside from here. Delicious

6/27/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

Very pretty, floral and citrus, with nice govs of orchard fruit and peaches; mated complexity that evolved over time. Strong bead of acidity and nice framing; lovely and will improve

6/16/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hour decant but hit stride at hour 4+

Bright, dark red fruit with tobacco, flowers, tar, and rose petals. Tight and dry early, strong core that relaxes into a sublime but strong and multi dimensional taster with great length, width and verve. Probably better in 5 years but quite good today with a long decant.

6/11/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

3 hour decant

Bright red fruit, quite punchy with a layer of dusty earth, flowers, polished wood and anise. Ripe, young tannins with strong acidity and minerals; opened up materially since 2020. A warmer wine that needs a few more years to hit its peak.

6/8/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours of air in bottle then drank over next few hours

Dark black cherry, bright blue fruit, spice, youthful, bright and evolving. opens up in the glass; complex, powerful, and great depth with tight spiny tannins. Decant or wait a few years. Excellent stuffing.

5/31/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours of air followed by two hour decant

Took a while to open up but when it did, wow!

Pungent aromas of cassis, graphite, pencil lead, tobacco, and wet forest floor. Striking medium body, with balanced ripe power and cool finesse make this wine irresistible. The finish is taut, long and inviting with dynamic textures and flavors that continue to evolve over time.

Amazing now but a long life ahead; just utterly fantastic.

5/30/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP followed by two hours in decant. About 4 hours

Lavender, blue and black fruit, some earthy wood, floral and licorice. Not oaky but elegant wood; body is bright and poppy, red fruit and medium balance, body and long length. A bit warm but quite good. Elegant

5/21/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

Opened by the great CT reviewer and scorer T.E.D.

Aromas of struck matchstick, orchard fruit, and white flowers. Great texture and verve; depth that continues evolving with time. Excellent

5/20/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PNP - Well balanced with enough dark fruit to add depth and a more interesting texture and mellows out some effervescence. Still quite pretty nose of brioche, almonds, and citrus.

Unlike 2008 DP where the rose version really outshines the regular bottling, I think I prefer the blanc de blanc here.

5/15/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

Gorgeous, bright and cheery with bread, almon ds, a bit yeasty and great texture and depth. Delicious and fresh, young but not too young.

5/8/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

PnP from 375 next to the 2014

Big bright blue and red nose with cedar, wet tobacco, and gravelly minerals. Young but intense, with great length and balance. Nice backbone and tension. Youthful but quite good already.

5/4/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours of air. This may have been an off bottle as the wine was quite disjointed and a bit harsh. Had a more macerated cherry nose but the body was tough and never really improved.

5/4/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hours of air in the bottle

Pretty, color with aromas of dark woods, bright red cherry and meatiness. Revealed more effeminate textures and notes with time in the glass. Gorgeous minerals and lift as we polished off the bottle. Certainly no rush but quite nice today but needs a lot of air.

5/4/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 hour double decant

Fresh and inviting, youthful with lightish red. Earthy, Stoney with dark red fruit, mint and flowers. Really opens up with time in the glass. Youthful with more to this later in its life.

5/4/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

Double Decant for two hours

Dark brooding character, big and brambly with rich dark red fruit, great body and texture, good lift. Lengthy and youthful, even better in the future if it relaxes. Not my stylistic choice but a pristine california cab for those that like it.

5/4/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 Hour decant

Sour cherries and cranberries; good strength and body but somewhat linear flavor profile. Red fruit forward but lacking acid. A california cabernet and the softer side

5/4/2023 - mchern02 wrote:

2 Hour Decant

Dark color, great nose of graphite and chocolate. Deep and rich, not overly fruity. Big but not fruit forward. Needs a decant but good dimensionality.