decanted 2 hours. very dry, little fruit forward, funk, terroir and tannin in the long finish. gassed the bottle and on day 2 it tasted the way Parker described it - delicious red fruit forward followed by integrated and smooth layered finish with resolved tannins. Merlot came through! I suggest waiting another year or two
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Dark red fruit, river rock, bitter chocolate and mineral notes are displayed in this well balanced Right Bank wine. Medium weight with well integrated tannins delivers great enjoyment. The nose is somewhat muted, but elegant. Good juice.
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Beautiful, Inky purple color. Wild nose of mushrooms, cherries, herbs, toast, cinnamon and blackberry. Very enticing and promising. Initial taste felt closed, with mouth-gripping tannins. Immediately moved to decant it for 90 minutes, which did the trick nicely.
Mouth - medium to full bodied, round, loaded with dark fruit, plum, hints of leather and game. Tannins still quite chewy but starting to integrate gradually. Good length (20 seconds) and superb structure.
Overall, drinking very nicely now, as many right bank 09's are, but could benefit from another 4-5 years of aging which will mellow out the tannins and add some complexity to the fruit, which is still a bit straightforward at this point.
Not quite an elite Saint Emilion (as Parker suggested), but still very good. 91 points today, perhaps 92 points when it hits its peak.
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Opaque garnet turning violet at the rim with a reflective edge. The nose is perfumed with dried flowers, smoked dark berries and vanilla on the toasted oak. This has a very engaging palate with full body and a fleshy texture. There’s vibrant acidity to balance the ripe black currants and black cherry leading to a decent mid palate. Secondary flavors of dark chocolate, cola, dried meat, and suede leather resonate throughout the long finish with gripping but very refined tannins. There’s real enjoyment in its purity and unapologetic ripeness that’s reflective of the vintage. Drink now until 2034. 94+
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Blue fruit, old shoe leather, river rock and tobacco notes are present in this wonderful right bank beauty. I really love the texture here. Good complexity. The aromatics don’t jump from the glass, but they reveal a subtle sniff of the enjoyment that awaits the palate. Good juice.
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A classic St. E, massive, thick, built for steak and other foods which can stand up to it. (BBQ?) I bought a case en primeur and only cracked it this past summer. It's going to be fun to watch it shine over the next few years. I think it's majestic right now, the sweet spot, and because of the vintage it delivers superb QPR. Get some if you can: it drinks right now.
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Vivid. Blackberries, blueberries, flowers, cherries, and hints of smoke and licorice. At first, the aftertaste is relatively brief and dominated by tannins, with some bitterness at the end. Over the course of an hour in the glass, cherries, smoke, and then leather and coffee, become much more prominent, and the aftertaste lengthens and becomes rich and enjoyable, with the tannins receding to the background. This is a lovely wine, big, but with a touch of elegance, and will remain so, and might even improve a bit, for at least five years, probably longer.
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The marketing appeal of this label might have been enhanced by the oversized hefty bottle packaging but of course it didn't enhance the wine. Medium-full bodied, dark purple in colour, moderately complex but a bit disheveled, (Parker called it 'unevolved'), the black cherry with a hint of tartness predominated over the black berry fruit and the terroir elements of black tea, leather and hint of tobacco on a moderate tannin finish. Parker said it will benefit from 5-7 years of cellaring and I would echo that advice.
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Deep in color, with a nose filled with licorice, coffee, black plum jam, earth and black cherry, the wine is deep, rich, supple, concentrated and long. This is probably as good as any wine can get from this sandy terroir of St. Emilion.
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1/12/2024 - pmk wrote: 90 Points
decanted 2 hours. very dry, little fruit forward, funk, terroir and tannin in the long finish. gassed the bottle and on day 2 it tasted the way Parker described it - delicious red fruit forward followed by integrated and smooth layered finish with resolved tannins. Merlot came through! I suggest waiting another year or two
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8/7/2023 - Oldmanzin Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark red fruit, river rock, bitter chocolate and mineral notes are displayed in this well balanced Right Bank wine. Medium weight with well integrated tannins delivers great enjoyment. The nose is somewhat muted, but elegant. Good juice.
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4/30/2022 - Rbhan12 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Part of a blind tasting. Writing from memory.
Classy wine. Elegant, integrated, smooth. Ripe merlot fruit, long finish, rich mouthfeel without being heavy.
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3/16/2022 - DanielAVTL Likes this wine: 91 Points
Beautiful, Inky purple color. Wild nose of mushrooms, cherries, herbs, toast, cinnamon and blackberry. Very enticing and promising. Initial taste felt closed, with mouth-gripping tannins. Immediately moved to decant it for 90 minutes, which did the trick nicely.
Mouth - medium to full bodied, round, loaded with dark fruit, plum, hints of leather and game. Tannins still quite chewy but starting to integrate gradually. Good length (20 seconds) and superb structure.
Overall, drinking very nicely now, as many right bank 09's are, but could benefit from another 4-5 years of aging which will mellow out the tannins and add some complexity to the fruit, which is still a bit straightforward at this point.
Not quite an elite Saint Emilion (as Parker suggested), but still very good. 91 points today, perhaps 92 points when it hits its peak.
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3/1/2022 - Life At Your Leisure 🍷 wrote: 94 Points
Opaque garnet turning violet at the rim with a reflective edge. The nose is perfumed with dried flowers, smoked dark berries and vanilla on the toasted oak. This has a very engaging palate with full body and a fleshy texture. There’s vibrant acidity to balance the ripe black currants and black cherry leading to a decent mid palate. Secondary flavors of dark chocolate, cola, dried meat, and suede leather resonate throughout the long finish with gripping but very refined tannins. There’s real enjoyment in its purity and unapologetic ripeness that’s reflective of the vintage. Drink now until 2034. 94+
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11/14/2021 - Oldmanzin Likes this wine: 93 Points
Blue fruit, old shoe leather, river rock and tobacco notes are present in this wonderful right bank beauty. I really love the texture here. Good complexity. The aromatics don’t jump from the glass, but they reveal a subtle sniff of the enjoyment that awaits the palate. Good juice.
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10/4/2021 - Tomdup Likes this wine: 95 Points
A classic St. E, massive, thick, built for steak and other foods which can stand up to it. (BBQ?) I bought a case en primeur and only cracked it this past summer. It's going to be fun to watch it shine over the next few years. I think it's majestic right now, the sweet spot, and because of the vintage it delivers superb QPR. Get some if you can: it drinks right now.
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5/9/2021 - SpenceP wrote: 94 Points
Vivid. Blackberries, blueberries, flowers, cherries, and hints of smoke and licorice. At first, the aftertaste is relatively brief and dominated by tannins, with some bitterness at the end. Over the course of an hour in the glass, cherries, smoke, and then leather and coffee, become much more prominent, and the aftertaste lengthens and becomes rich and enjoyable, with the tannins receding to the background. This is a lovely wine, big, but with a touch of elegance, and will remain so, and might even improve a bit, for at least five years, probably longer.
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10/26/2013 - rmcnees wrote: 91 Points
The marketing appeal of this label might have been enhanced by the oversized hefty bottle packaging but of course it didn't enhance the wine. Medium-full bodied, dark purple in colour, moderately complex but a bit disheveled, (Parker called it 'unevolved'), the black cherry with a hint of tartness predominated over the black berry fruit and the terroir elements of black tea, leather and hint of tobacco on a moderate tannin finish. Parker said it will benefit from 5-7 years of cellaring and I would echo that advice.
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5/8/2013 - Blingling wrote:
Smooth for a young wine, but still tannic. Complexity will improve with time.
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2/5/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 92 Points
Deep in color, with a nose filled with licorice, coffee, black plum jam, earth and black cherry, the wine is deep, rich, supple, concentrated and long. This is probably as good as any wine can get from this sandy terroir of St. Emilion.
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