April 22, 2024 - This is becoming one of my favorite producers and this vintage maybe my favorite wine. Opened Friday evening and slow oxed for 24 hours, had half the bottle on Saturday and the second half Sunday. Kept at 55 the entire time but better to drink at 60. The wine is flawless, perfect balance, elegance, and harmony. Everything you expect from a great Bordeaux.
March 2, 2024 - Decanted 30 minutes and enjoyed over dinner at a restaurant. This was great - really enjoyable with dark cool fruit, really nice secondaries, and a nice long finish. Incredible how dark and even primary the fruit is at this age. Will live for a long time. A
March 1, 2024 - Tremendous wine. Opened and aerated in bottle for an hour then decanted and drank over two hours. Cork almost fully soaked. Deep crimson red color, nose wafting with perfumed cassis, black currants, leather initially which morphed into cigar tobacco with more time in the decanter. Beautifully crafted wine, complex with secondary notes of mature delicious dark red and black fruits. Silky entry on the palate, expands beautifully mid palate with superb balance, finishes long with notes of coffee. As good as the 1982 if not better.
February 14, 2024 - Poured about 1 glass from the bottle upon opening and let the rest breathe in bottle. Drank over ~7 hours. Tight initially with notes of raspberry, cedar, and graphite. A bit of acidity and alcohol as well that airs out quickly.
Around the 2 hour mark the next glass brings forth prominent cedar, blackberry, and mint notes.
4+ hours after opening the wine has fully opened with the oak falling into the background and the fruit taking over. Medium in body with a long finish and fully resolved tannins. Drinking beautifully now and seems close to peak but still lively enough to hold for years.
January 23, 2024 - A terrific lung filling nose. Cassis, wet bricks, pencil lead, bitter chocolate and florals that follow onto the palate. It's expansive and deep yet graceful and finessed on the palate. Power and grace. Long on the back end. Drinking at absolute peak for me with time in hand. A great LB.
January 19, 2024 - Dedicated to my beautiful dog and best friend who passed away today, this was opened to remember him. At its relatively young age it can sometimes be reluctant to open up, but this was glorious. A fitting wine to remember my 52 kilo boy Sky.
January 17, 2024 - I purchased 1/2 case of this wine as a future in 1990, but this bottle was not from my cellar. It was served at a tasting dinner along with many other fine Bordeaux, including the 1982 Calon Segur, the 1982 and 1995 Cos d'Estournel, the 1989 and 2000 La Conseillante, the 2000 Figeac, the 2000 Lynch Bages (from my cellar), the 1996 Grand Puy Lacoste, 1990 Le Bon Pasteur, the 1996 Clinet and other fine wines. My notes: "Black/purple - darker than the 2000 [Lynch Bages tasted alongside it]. Intoxicating nose- WOW. Rich, plummy, complex. Outstanding. 97." For me, along with the 1989 La Conseillante, the WOTN, and much better than the (well-stored) bottle I brought to the same tasting group two years ago. This bottle showed the way it did back in 1997 - a very young, outstanding wine - now nearly 35 years old. Incredible.
January 13, 2024 - Decanted for 2+ hours. Dark fruit nose from the start. Licorice notes soon after opening and developed an underlying dryness after a bit. Light and dark fruit flavors, leather, tobacco. All well integrated. It paired really well with Beef Short Ribs.
December 31, 2023 - Fully mature at this point but still life ahead of it, this has to be one of the better premier aged Bordeauxs on the market right now, as you can still find this in the $300/bottle range from time to time if you're patient (and lucky). Classic Pauillac in every sense, with cedar, lead pencil, sous bois, gravel and stewed dark fruit. The palate was a bit shy for the first 3 hours in the decanter, waiting until later in the night to shine through with lovely balance of currants, red and dark berries, dark chocolate and some faint licorice notes. This is a delight today and will be a delight in 2030. Great wine to buy now to get a good feel for what the best of Bordeaux can offer for close to half the price of an Angelus or Montrose of the same vintage.
December 30, 2023 - Fully mature, right off the bat, the nose, with its cedar, tobacco, herbs, currants and cigar box aromas hit you just right. As good as that is, and it’s good, the palate, which is loaded with ripe, spicy, leafy red fruits delivers length, complexity and character. This is simply fabulous in your glass. Drink from 2023-2040.