September 5, 2023 - I really think that "sensual" wines should be drank in the right environment. What is sensual? To me, its something that requires more senses than just your sense of taste. First and foremost its about the bouquet, and secondly its about what is left behind after each sip instead of what you taste on your tongue. As good wines age, they either make it to "sensual" or just don't. This is now in transition to sensual. Its losing the fruit and you have to patient with it. First, it needs to be drank at room temp, not cellar. Secondly, it needs a good 90 minute decant. Its got some nice earthiness to it, but as DQ so honestly said, it hasn't developed enough stinkyness. What makes this a HOLD is the finish. Its long, dry, and very persistent with a showing of dry red flowers. I'll call this in "in limbo" and will save my next bottle for 2 years or more...Drink or Hold
August 26, 2023 - Really special bottle shared by Mark at the perfect time in its drinking window (see his note for prep details). This was nicely aged, a tiny bit of funk on the nose which I loved, plummy mature fruit. Gained weight and complexity as we had it open. I much preferred this to the ‘99 Blankiet we had open at the table, but I think I was the minority. I just love my old stinky Bordeaux. (Just kidding, this wasn’t that old or that stinky)
August 26, 2023 - Cork was strong and tight with no saturation to speak of. Pnp'd into a decanter at 1:15pm and sampled, ultimately placed back into the bottle at 4:45pm to take to the restaurant for dinner, so a 3.5 hour decant overall. Prodigious sediment in the bottle which was washed out. Mid garnet color in the glass with a clear meniscus rim and just a hint of orange bricking over time to the wine in the glass. Nose of moderate barnyard that took all of 2-3 hours to blow off and with a few sets of swirling the decanter. Red/black fruit at first along with some sweet violets on the nose also. Palate initially of thin, tart, red cherry fruit. Balanced acidity and slightly gritty tannins. It definitely needed decanting for both sediment and aeration today. Taken to the restaurant at 5pm and enjoyed over 1.5-2 hours til gone. It definitely 'filled out' there. Deeper, darker, heavier but not big time heavy fruit. Nose continued to improve throughout dinner. Became a tad more complex/richer. The palate also paired well with the braised short rib. This one vacillated between a 92 and 94 on both the nose and palate for me, so averaging it out to a 93, also. Glad to share these two older bottles with good wine friends, but I think it was their time/destiny to leave the cellar, for this trip. It worked out to our benefit, all around.
May 20, 2023 - Balsamic, earth and dried fruit. Liquid rock minerality and extremely fresh, powerful structure. Extremely minty finish. Limestone and tertiary characteristics in the driver’s seat, fruit in the back. Delicious and intellectual.
March 25, 2023 - I do worry about the aging potential of the right bank garagistas from the millennial vintage. Having punched way above their weight for the last decade, the receding fruit seems to have left the wine overexposed to the tannin. I decided to leave half of this until the next day and it was utterly transforming, upping the rating by 3 points to 95 and totally negating my worries over aging. This probably needs a couple more years to allow the secondary notes to bed down, or if drinking now, give it 12+ hours in the decanter. 95+
April 23, 2022 - Deep purple-black. Very dark-fruited with some boot polish, coffee and hints of charcoal and licorice. Medium to full-bodied palate of dark fruit and some glycerol on the finish. An interesting wine that paired well with aged firm cheeses.
October 26, 2021 - Fully mature, medium/full-bodied with an earthy plum, espresso, smoke, licorice, and dark cocoa-packed perfume, the wine continues to rock the palate with its plus, silky, sensuous textures and earth, imbued fruit on the palate and in the finish. This is clearly fully mature, no decanting, pop, pour and enjoy.
September 17, 2021 - Bordeaux 2000 Horizontal (KOGS): Huge structure but also very young. Not quite sure of what to think of this but it seems like a very good wine. There was just something that didn't peak for me despite the obvious quality.
July 30, 2021 - Opened an hour before dinner; from a pristine bottle with a fill into the neck. Deep garnet with no bricking. Notes of ripe berries, plums, mocha, earth; medium bodied, surprisingly structured, but with a velvety texture, firm grip, excellent focus on the long finish. Color me impressed!
April 21, 2021 - I hadn't tasted this for a couple of years, but was inspired by the excellent note from GH and comments from Purple Tooth to revisit. I note that the fruit has receded on the nose and this is to the good. I agree re the dominance of leather and earth, and you could be forgiven for thinking you were drinking a left bank wine from the year. The balance and finish are exceptional with the latter pushing 60 seconds. I look forward to the secondary notes developing further and the appearance of tertiary characteristics and hopefully adding more depth and complexity. I think I will hold off for a couple of years until my next bottle.