February 18, 2024 - Mid garnet. nose of b;lackcurrant, dried cherry, leather, smoke, tobacco box, meat, earth & spices. Decent body, strong acidity, integrated & ripe tannin. To taste blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, red cherry, leather, cedar, smoke, earth & leaves. Very long. Outstanding. Amazing balance and range of flavours. Solid intensity too. Remained fresh but plenty of tertiary complexity. Don't think it will improve but is also not going anywhere soon. Lovely treat.
September 6, 2023 - I finally opened another bottle of this wine.
Decanted about one hour prior to serving.
Quite pale, but not alarmingly so.
Aromas clearly in the tertiary camp, but that is what I would expect after 45 years.
Classic old-school St Emilion wine from a vintage that continues to provide great drinking pleasure no matter what the "experts" say.
Impeccable balance, just enough tannin. Good acidity keeping the wine light and lively. Spicy, earthy, cedar and tobacco combine to form a very harmonious whole.
Held up in decanter for almost three hours.
Drink soon, but no urgency.
August 6, 2023 - Lot of brett which blew off after sitting for about an hour. Light in color which is to be expected, very light on the nose, elegant, with medium to long finish.
March 24, 2022 - Cranberry, leather, sous bois; balanced, some fruit still remaining, quite elegant, long finish, and rather enjoyable despite approaching decrepitude; peaked at about an hour and a half in
November 28, 2021 - Very soft and minty, capsicum, soil, fully mature. Gently spicy, caramelly, nice mix of fresh and old. Lovely old school right banker.
April 22, 2017 - Tasted blind. Fresh, slightly metallic, classical style, fully mature, spices and flowers, hint of nuts, good length. Holding up well.
November 9, 2016 - Holding up better than previous bottles even though the cork disintegrated when removed. Upper shoulder fill. quite closed at first, in line with the tannic reputation for this vintage. Fairly deep color with only moderate browning, still firm tannins, good spicy intensity with iron/earthy finish. The fruit may not match the tannins but still very interesting
June 14, 2012 - Decanted for sediment, drank over 3 hrs. Nose of currants, cigar and great bordeaux funk. Light garnet with great orange bricking at the edge. Mid weight, delicate palate with more red fruit notes and nice minerality. Tannins fully integrated, nice acidity, all in balance with the fruit. No great complexity or vanilla oak or finish that goes on forever or anything like that. Just very good example of old-school Bordeaux.
July 17, 2010 - Tonight's gonna be a good good night; 7/17/2010-7/20/2010: Beautiful almost pretty musky florals and compost on the nose. Some fine leather but lots of tobacco leaves, barnyard funkiness and dry earth permeating through. Lightly cabbagey, lots of aged leaves, dried tea, dried orange peels and dried fruits, and more assiness. Over the best of its years but still going strong in its twilight. Quintissentially aged claret.
September 23, 2007 - This was good for a 30 yr old wine, but did not live up to my expectations. Drank along side a 2001 which was far superior. But it was still very enjoyable and flavorful. Smokey and strong fruit, with a barnyard nose.