August 15, 2021 - Decanted to serve. Beautiful purple fruit on the nose, hue of vanilla and spice, touch of wood, very elegant. 93
June 16, 2021 - decanted for ~1 hr, not enough. still feel tight. Aroma is better that palate with red, purple fruits, black pepper. Medium+ body.
January 2, 2015 - Élégant, équilibré, fondu. 5 épices au nez. Longueur acceptable. Très bon et bonne complexité.
March 10, 2014 - Fantastique CNP! Très élégant et équilibré, épicés et riche, grand!
March 2, 2014 - Vraiment excellent.
Prêt à boîre maintenant ou dans 5-7 ans.
Une douceur aux palais.
January 24, 2013 - This is Bonneau's offering that is one step above the CdP and below the Celestins which is considered the reserve bottling. Tight on the pop so I moved to the decanter. Still tight in the Zaltos glass after an hour so I switch stems to the Reidel Bordeaux series. There we go....the nose was too alcoholic in the Zaltos but an immediate difference in the Reidel with huge waves of raspberry preserves and white pepper on the nose.
A little under two hours in, the palate catches up olives, dark brambly fruit and Pittsburgh style steaks (all pepper baby!!). While it carries a big stick, it walks lightly across the palate to a nice even finish. Beautiful effort though still VERY young.
Is this a barn burner of a wine? No...but it is big yet restrained which is rarely found these days in CdP's. While IMO it's a 93pt wine, it's almost worth paying for what a 95-96pt wine might command as it's unique and sets itself apart from the pack much like a Rayas. At $139, I'm happy I purchased.