PnP'ed. 19-years on, thought this would showed well out of the gates, but alas, it was kinda disjointed with a slight tinge of VA/alcohol/heat poking out. Will not touch the rest of my btls till another 5-10 years...
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
As noted last year, this has lost its early flush of fruity youthfulness, and has entered into a new phase of life. It was exceptional in its youth, and is potentially a 98/99 point wine. It is a glorious wine with a fabulous future, but it now needs a couple of years to allow the secondary notes to bed down and for the tannin to integrate.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Very nice right bank wine. Opened four hours ahead of time and decanted for about two hours. Moderate complexity. Started off showing some ripe fruit and then developed some secondary notes of cocoa and oak. Tannins seem pretty resolved, but seems likely to last another 5-10 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
2 hour double decant and this showed lovely aromas of blackberry, blueberry, earth and pencil shavings that lead to a plush, round, refreshing similarly flavored palate with a long, mineral streak running through the finish.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
What an absolute treat. Whilst celebrating an early Xmas dinner this was brought by one of the guests who brought half a bottle left from lunch. This was opened early that morning before a round of golf and left to slow-ox. The story is that his lunch partner was of older age and the both of them couldn't finish it. It was too good to pour down the drain and he thought he'd bring it to dinner! What a fabulous wine and a real treat and pleasant surprise. This was still singing beautifully despite being opened much earlier in the day. Silky silky mouthfeel. Black fruit, smoke, leather, and earth. Just an excellent wine. Too bad there was only enough for one glass!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Checks all the boxes for me, opulent, rich, silky mouthfeel, savory with perfectly integrated layers of black fruit, licorice, pencil shavings, balanced acidity. classic Saint Emilion limestone. Long finish. Tight on open but one hour in the decanter opened all the magic. This is wine I like.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Everything I hoped for. Early but a mix of clean ripe black and red fruit. A well rounded mouthful of fruit, smoke, earth, wood and intimate musk. I really didn’t expect such a well rounded package so early. At the top of its development for me, before the fruit starts receding but with proper complexity. Bravo!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Grand Jury du Vin - Republic of Georgia; 11/1/2023-11/9/2023 (Republic of Georgia then stopover in Paris and Dijon): Expressive youthful nose displaying concentrated black and red fruit, blackberry concentrated, chocolate dipped cherry, milky chocolate, dark flowers, truffle, liquid smoke, luxurious oak, sweet spices, and earth. Exceptional concentration, layers upon layers of perfectly ripe concentrated black and red fruit, silky, rich and fluid, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, and a long concentrated black and red fruit driven finish with liquid smoke at the end. This is a very modern concentrated St Emilion. Although quite enjoyable, this will improve for another decade or two.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Last bottle of a case. Each one better than the last and I wish I had more but impossible to keep hands off. In early maturity, great meld of ripe modernity and real Bordeaux. Excellent to Outstanding.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Superior, amazing! 86% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc for 46.000 bottles.
Deep red ruby in the glass. Complex and sunny. Violet, ripe fruits, tobacco, chocolate and mint. Super elegant with medium body. Accurate wine with kindly tannins but very present. Clean and fresh ending. very long.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
This has enjoyed an early intial drinking window in the early bloom of its fruit, but it feels that it is moving into its grown up stages, and two or three years of patience may be required to allow secondary notes to bed down. That said, it is very moreish and hard to resist. The nose is deeply aromatic with blackcurrant and chocolate with raspberry adding to the mix over the last 12 months. The depth and complexity on the palate and finish are mind blowing, with the latter pushing past 60 seconds. I have always been a great fan of the estate and the Cabernet Franc always is a nod to Cheval Blanc for me. This has the makings of a 100 point wine. This was decanted for 5 hours and filtered through an aerator twice and it just about worked.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Really is closed down. It was decanted for less than 2 hours before the guests started drinking. Tremendously dense and a long finish. There is some hope here, but not what I was expecting. The 2003 was much better. I am finding that most of my 2005's are not living up to their early reviews. Is 2005 overrated; or is it simply that they need more aging?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Ive been waiting a while to drink this. 15 years or so. Wasn’t great. Opened and sipped, over 4 hours. I gave it a chance. Wouldn’t open up. Strict, tight, possibly great in X years (3, 5, 10??) but for now this bottle wouldn’t deliver anything other than some reasonably attractive fruit, but masked by a tight puckering that restricted enjoyment. We live and learn.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
1/6, excellent cork. Decanted 1 hour, served at 15C. Very deep ruby core, very narrow pale garnet rim. Nose is a bit closed initially - opens a touch as the wine warms a bit - rich, dark fruit, coffee, some blueberry. Medium/full bodied on the palate, deep, dark fruit, blackcurrant, blueberry, tactile, soft and envelopping, quite sweet with coffee and spice notes, lovely vibrant acidity brings it into focus, finish is long if still a touch grippy. Lovely, not showing it's 14.5% aclohol, drinking but should improve. Now to 2040 +
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Poured into decanter and drank over 3 hour dinner. This was surprisingly still very youthful. I'm writing from memory and recall bold basket of fruits, dense (but not heavy), roundess to the finish, and low acidity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
First bottle of a case, with dinner at La Piquette in DC. This was a difficult wine - first, the cork snapped in half with the initial pressure (I did this; not the wait staff!). On the pour, the nose was muted with none of that familiar St-Emilion nose, making me think this might have been a bad cork and an off bottle. But the upside of the broken cork was it forced a decant. After maybe an hour, it finally started to reveal itself, but only a hint of what's in store. After 16+ years, this is still an infant. By the end of dinner, the nose was open and this was showing signs of being something special. (So NR/88 at opening, and up to 94 at the end, for those that like scores. ) I'll try to hold off on opening the next bottle for 2 or 3 years, but if I do, this will get at least a 3 hour decant before heading to a restaurant.
delicious. had this after a Myriad Beckstoffer Dr Crane 2010. This was def lighter bodied, red fruit less bright, but more complex with more hints of tobacco, herbs and secondary flavors; a pretty wine in a very good drinking window.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Third annual tasting, and this is cementing itself as one of my favourite more recent wines and I can even forgive the 14.5% alcohol level. The nose is out of this world and is deeply aromatic with ripe cherry, blackcurrant, and chocolate and it lingers and lingers. There is still a tannic kick on the palate with a hint of the Cabernet Franc, but it is so well balanced with the fruit that it doesn't distract, but once it sweetens the wine will move into perfect score territory. Likewise the finish which is magnificent, will elevate to a new level once the tannin resolves. Even so, it is pushing past 60 seconds with exquisite depth and complexity. I have been a great fan of the estate since the 1998 vintage and it keeps going from strength to strength, and I can't wait for the legendary 2009 to be ready. At this stage it is recommended to give this 3+ hours in the decanter.
Opulent, lush, dense. This is quite a satisfying right bank, especially for the money. Drinks well today, and I'd expect this to achieve a new level of complexity in another decade.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
First test after opening a flash of blue berries at nose and palate. 1 hour later a concert of blackberries and blue plums followed of some coffee and muscat notes, with a never ending memory of the aromas of a plum-rum pot my sister used to setup in the 70-ies. For me you can make a wine different but not better. Lucky to have another 10 ex. in my cave planing to drink the last bottle in the 30-ies…
3 1/2 ans depuis ma dernière bouteille! Bouchon à peine imbibé et sorti d'une pièce cette fois. Ouvert et passé en carafe puis bu durant 3 heures. Le vin a considérablement bougé depuis 2018, il est devenu très puissant, viril, concentré, structuré avec des tanins présents, alors que précédemment, il était sexy, soyeux et facile à boire, tout le contraire en somme, sauf le cassis qui sert de trait d'union entre ces 2 bouteilles. Sur la base de cette bouteille, la patience est de mise... 94+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Extraordinary taste of rum pot fruits at nose and palate, perfectly imbedded tannins. You can make a wine different but not better. Deserves the classification 1er Grand Cru Classé to 100%
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Love this. Interestingly it’s more new world to me but I still love it. More maroon and deep red than purple. Quite fruit forward on the nose. No earth or funk. The body is really polished pretty bright red fruit with slight chocolate hints. Medium bodied and not thick. Finish has pleasant tannic texture with dark chocolate and sweet red fruit. Perhaps the body and elegance and color would give it away as Bordeaux. But I probably would have guessed elegant new world cab tasted blind - but in a good way! Yum.
Medium red color. Oak dominates bouquet. Soft, almost gentle flavor. Very modest length. Pleasant wine but seems to lack fruit concentration. Double decanted 2 hours prior to tasting.
From Mark’s 2005 Bordeaux Vintage Tasting: Attended a 36 wine ‘05 Bordeaux tasting recently. The wine above is one of those wines. Served single-blind. All wines were tasted over a 2 day period, 18 per day. The wines served on the 1st day had their corks pulled two hours prior. The second day’s wines were served “ double-decanted”, 2 hours before the first flight. The overall tasting experience was quite different, as one would expect. Day 2 wines were softer, displaying more ripe fruit, and less harsh tannins. Kudos to Mark for both a fantastic experience as well as providing an instructive opportunity on
All about potential. Bundled up with intense black fruit and good quality oak. Improves with air but you just know it will develop into something special. Fantastic material but 91 now for enjoyment
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
2005 Bordeaux at 16 years courtesy of Mark Taylor; 6/26/2021-6/27/2021 (Atlanta, GA): Shy with a hint of cherry, white pepper, sharp on the back of the nostrils. A liqueur personality, spicy, hot a laser of fruit intensity. More mineral and subtle on the finish. My #6 and the group #6. I was sure this was either Clos Fourtet or Alter Ego but settled on the wrong one.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This has become one of my favourite St Emilion estates, and in its great years is the embodiment of decadence. This will not hit its peak for another couple of years, but I can't keep my hands off it. It is well worth opening one now if you have a case but give it most of the day in the decanter. This is in line with my note from last September re taste profile, but there is tannin still needing to further resolve. Apart from the tannin issue it is pretty much a perfect right bank wine with an extraordinary depth on the palate and finish with absolute perfect balance. The length on the finish exceeds 60 seconds and stays in complete harmony until the final moments. I will leave this now for another couple of years when it could be nudging a perfect score. Bring on the 2009!
7 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
This 05 clos fourtet is the most classic example of St Emilion. Powerful darkfruits (blackberry, hint of plum, currant, with earthy undertones). Decanted for 3 hours but man so young! Very good length, with consistent pallet throughout. If one had to pick one wine to represent a classic St E, this 05 would be a great choice!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Dark red to rim. Intense nose of berry, cherry, chocolate. Full body, rich layered ripe fruit, good balancing acidity, some grainy tannins. Modern style, no complexity so far. Should go for another decade. Excellent.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Beautiful expressive nose of graphite, chocolate and raspberries. Full bodied with fine grained but assertive tannins. Good concentration and depth but a bit monolithic. Finish is quite dry.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Powerful dark fruit (plums and berries) in the nose, limited tertiary notes which makes the wine smell young. On the palate, additional flavours like chocolate and liquorice appear, combined with a present acidity. Tannins are well integrated. This is ready to drink but will keep. Long finish. Comparing it to a 2005 Troplong Mondot which I recently tasted (and scored 95) I would say the Clos Fourtet is more subtle and less intensity and is a bit more acidic. Both are really enjoyable and drinking well now.
On nose : pronounced intensity, dark fruit : plums, ripe blue berries, violet flora, lichorice, an hr later it came up with soy source, but it developed into truffle after an hr later, tobacco, cedar wood, vanilla oak, very complex, it has a lot of development still.
On palate : rich flavour intensity, dark fruit, pine wood, truffle on front palate, fine but substantial tannin, and med+ acidity on med palate, savoury and a light dark chocolate bitterness with high alcohol at the back. Long finishing, opulent and juicy aftertaste
I will say this is a premium one and I do not feel regret to open it now. As everybody knows that 05’ is an extraordinary vintage and I believe this wine has a lot of room to go. I would say this wine just like a 20yrs marriage, substantial with fulfilment. This is my 2nd bottle and it is much better than the one that I opened 2 yrs ago. No regrets, Cheers!
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dec Kick-off @ Crab@Bay!: This is my 1st try at Clos Fourtet and this was brilliant! Black fruits, wet violets, blue flowers, liquorice, tobacco leaves, spiced figs. Nice long menthol finish. Dense, lush, rounded, hedonistic. Silky tannins. Keeps you coming back for more. I am honestly blown away. This needs at least 1 - 2 hours of air if you open now. Just edging into its prime and good for many, many years ahead! 95/96
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Fantastic wine in a St.Emilion 2005 tasting. Will improve over next 5-10 years (still lots of young fruit and primary notes) and Will last to 2035-2040.
What a treat! I started the night decanting a bottle of 2005 Clos du Marquis and 2012 Quilceda Creek paired with grilled tenderloin steak. I love Quilceda but the Clos du Marquis was very disappointing (flat, lean with no finish). Pitting old world with new world is usually exciting for me so, to get over my disappointment, I grabbed a bottle of 2005 Clos Fourtet right out of the cellar.
The Clos Fourtet was a complete symphony even with no decanting. Flowery and fresh nose but it was the palate that blew us away. It was flowing with flavor and form: crisp but full and it kept changing from fruit to flower (violets?) to structure to spices. The steak just changed some of the nuances, almost awakening more variation. Wow, a really beautiful wine and made me almost forget the Quilceda...which was opened too early in comparison. Wonderful, wonderful wine.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
I've been chomping at the bit to try this, and gave this 6 hours in the decanter and jumped in. It lives up to all its initial hype and is probably one of the best three wines I've tasted in this lockdown year. The nose is packed full of chocolate and liquorice with floral wafts and has a decadent opulence. The palate has a graphite background running through from start to finish. The balance is sheer perfection with a finish of 60+ seconds and is harmonious to the very end. I always hoped that this wine would live up to expectations, and boy was I not disappointed. Give this another few years and this could be a 100 pointer. However, if you have a few it is well worth trying one now with extended aeration. 98+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I don't drink much Merlot so I don't have a lot of wines under my belt. Wine seemed very mellow, subdued. I have had Merlot from California, and they almost always are on the harsh side, but this was very smooth, which I prefer. Cork was in good shape deeply stained, and slightly infiltrated but wine not compromised. Seemed a decent wine. Think this is ready now as hard to imagine improvement. Threw sediment in last glass.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Dark red to rim. Intense nose of berr, cherries, mocha, hint of VA. Full body, rich layered ripe fruit, good balancing acidity, some grainy tannins. Modern, glossy, no complexity so far, will it come? Should go for another decade. Excellent but not classic Bordeaux.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
It's the razor blade of crushed limestone that runs down the middle of your palate that grabs your attention. From there, I headed back to the nose due to its floral, dark cocoa, red fruit, crushed rock, and licorice. Deep in color, from the looks of it, you could easily confuse this with the 2015. Concentrated, opulent, dense and elegant, the sexy, vibrant, red fruit and flower-filled finish tastes and feels great. Give this 2 hours in the decanter or wait 5 years and it is going to be a cellar treasure!
8 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Briljante dieppaarse kleur - sterke aroma's van zwart rijp fruit, chocolade en wat sigaar - mondvullend maar nog met primaire tonen en met grafietachtige achtergrond, zuurgraad al goed in balans - elegante afwerking - Subliem maar heeft nog wat kelder nodig !
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Académie des Cinquante 64th Annual Dinner (Sofitel The Grand, Amsterdam, NL): Rich and full colour; very ripe cherries on the nose, hint of soy, chalky freshness and lots of low toast oak; fiercely tannic palate, fresher and purer but less fruit than the Pavie Macquin; long and linear but dry finish. I like the aromatics, but I fear that the tannins will leave the wine high and dry.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Ehh Not my favorite wine 90 minute decant. Decent fruit and nose. A little plum, current and eucalyptus but too tannin and hot. Not concentrated enough to hold up while waiting the tannin to mellow One more bottle that I’ll wait for a few years to open.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Splendid. At maturity but still some good years to enjoy it (i do not agree at all with the assessment of the maturity term of 2016 as indicated on cellar tracker)
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Deep, intense ruby to garnet. From the start, right out of the bottle intense fruity nose. First dominated by blueberry, but within a minute it gets more complex with blackberries, currants, plums, coffee and cherries. On the palate you can experience the same aromas plus licorice and bacon and yes, minerality. Twenty or more years ago I would have guessed it new world, but in this warmer times it is quite clear bordeaux, because of its complexity. Nevertheless, those of us who prefer more calm and developed wines should wait for 15 more years minimum and store it under perfect conditions. For now it is still quite tannic showing its high extraction, but there is enough balancing and refreshing acidity too. This is clearly on the very young side of its drinking window, but it is so energetic and intense and at the same time complex that it provides fun, though it is quite tannic and maybe a bit overextracted. But this is going to achieve even more harmony in one or two decades, maybe on cost of intensity. If you have several bottles you can watch this for two to three decades if perfectly cellared or maybe longer. If you have only one or two bottles and you prefer harmony over intensity, wait at least another decade, better 15 or more years. But if you like freshness and intense, but complex, also tannic wines this is ready for you. The nose is really surreal right now, with time getting even more complex with additional notes of graphit and earthy notes. 5/15/17+/10. 98 points from Parker himself. If it is going to shed some of its tannic cloud without loosing the complexity and intensity of its aromatic profile, it is a potential three digit scorer. With food, smoothing this tannins maybe it is perfect for you now, anyway. 97+
we brought to dinner at a local restaurant, the wain was very nice but I thought is was very young. I don't agree with the drinking window here, it has a longer life. Im happy I have more because I will wait another 5 years before trying again
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Bouchon a cassé au milieu, passage en carafe et bu durant 2 heures. Robe rouge violet mate. Le nez est chargé de fruits rouges et noirs, les cassis prenant le dessus. La bouche est très soyeuse, douce, ronde avec des tanins légèrement farineux qui s’estompent avec le temps. Très bon vin sexy mais qui ne laisse que peu de souvenirs durables. A boire durant 10 ans.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Just a gorgeous wine. Layer after layer of licorice coated, black cherry, plum and truffle are all over the place, in the nose and on the palate. Silky, polished and lusciously textured, if you like young wines that are considering entering their drinking window before they reach the secondary stage, you can pop a cork. Else, wait about 5 years. Either way, this is a beauty
6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Deep garnet opaque with lots of sediments Nose of coffee, vanilla, ceder wood, strawberry and a touch of heat Ripe and bold tannin, good acidity, long bitterness in mid-palate It is powerful and has good tannin structure It may improve with age
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Coravin. Decanted 2 hours and consumed over 1 hour.
Highly aromatic nose of plum, dark fruit, earth, coffee beans, strawberry jam. Super sweet, fruit forward mid palate, silky fine tannins. Finishes with coffee, bacon, savory notes, scorched earth, dark fruit. Served around 60F; very little heat. Good freshness and balance. Super concentrated. Very modern/new world.
High quality wine but just a bit too ripe and fruit forward for me at the moment.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I don't even remember how acquired this terrific Bordeaux. Fine tannins, fruit forward. Rich and harmonious with a great mouth feel. Full bodied with dark berries and rocky earth, surrounding the exceptional wine.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Blinds at Palace Steakhouse (The Palace Steakhouse, SF): (Blind) Deep ruby color. Low aromatic intensity - slight new oak. On the palate: Ripe. Full bodied. 14% alcohol (actually 14.5%). Medium acid. High tannins. Dark fruit. Slightly raisinated. Slight Olive (pyridines).
Final call: Young Napa Cab, 2014. A bit of an austere style. Actual: 2005 clos Fourtet st emilion. Analysis: Yeah I was hedging Old/New world here. For Napa it’s austere. For St. Emilion it’s acid-deficient, overly clean (no Brett), and weirdly raisinated.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Young, but it's impossible not to find the potential in the glass here. Dark in color, with powerful, but refined tannins. The wine is elegant, regal, full bodied and loaded with licorice, dark plums, cherries, earth and truffle. Another 5 years will add a lot to this wine.
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Again double decanted for three hours and drank over the one hour for dinner. Could not resist this purple plum of royal paradise. Spring garden and fall glory combined, from acacia to gladiolus to nasturcia the floral scents are a cacophony of pleasure that are bolstered by the luscious fruit- cherry, plum, blackberry, all framed by licorice, truffle and chocolate. Have 7 more bottles and will be hard to be faithful to waiting for the future evolution. When you have an exquisite beauty ready and waiting, you would like to enjoy now.
6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Apperance : Clear, deep garnet in colour with legs and petillance.
Decanted for 2hrs, on nose, medium+ intensity, red and black friut with cherry, red plum, black plum skin, asparagus, vanilla oak, cedar, liquorice, still close. After an hour later, it become more frangrant, eucaliptus can be noticed. The wine is sure developing.
On palae, it is dry and medium+ acidity, medium+ flavour intensity, medium+ body and alcohol, very fine but chewable subttle tannin. All aroma could be found on palate with bitterness and a touch of savoury flavour. Very complex one and this wine like talking to a new, genuine and gentle friend. Medium+ finishing without complain.
This is a very good wine and it can be aged for 10 more years wihtout any hesitation or you may drink it now and enjoy with aged cheese.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
An Exceptional Afternoon (at JM): Elegant and sensual, still in early stage of development. 'Ontbijtkoek' (Dutch spice-cake), chocolate dipped black cherries and lemon zest in the nose. Nice acidity and sweet balance. Classic and well-built wine.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
This is a knock out from the first sniff that gets even better after the first taste. The attention seeking nose packed with licorice, caramel, smoke, truffle and black cherry liqueur only starts the show. The opulent, sexy, hedonistic. decadent textures with all those ripe tannins and even riper, sweet fruits that coats your palate and lingers for ages seals the deal. Yes, this is still young and is only going to get better. But it so damn tasty now, I went back for another pour. If this is your style of wine, you should consider adding it to your cellar.
6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
This wine has always been massive but I thought age will tame it. The current bottle was alcoholic, with a sweet mid mouth feel around plum, red current, liquid strawberry jam. good structure but aromatically weak. Not my style and difficult to pair with food. To be followed up again.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Medium intense with lots of roasted oak, coffee, black fruit, a bit of maturity, raisins, vanilla, bell pepper, cherries, chocolate and violettes.
Dry with medium acidity, distinct bitterness, medium bodied, medium+ tannins, medium+ intensity and a long finish.
Lovely wine. I really like the palate with lots of power as well as a refined structure. The aromas are quite boring and unfortunately it folds into a style category of wine that are made all over the world without any real distinction of origin or grape.
Drinks good now and will probably keep well for another 10 years. Hard to believe this is already 12 years old.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The wine is clear with a deep intensity, garnet color.
Developing nose with a medium(+) intensity. Aromas of cassis, plum, hint of green bell pepper, oak, cedar, espresso, tobacco, leather and dusty gravel.
The wine is dry with a medium acidity, medium(+) body and tannins. Medium(+) intensity with flavors of cassis, green bell pepper, oak, cedar, leather and spice box. The finish is medium(+).
This wine has a distinct Bdx-feeling but surprisingly fruit-driven. Drinking good today but will probably last for another 10-15 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Showing some lightness to the color, the wine serves up truffle, licorice, black plums, cherry liqueur and cigar box, with burning embers in the nose. The wine is youthful, fresh, mouth filling, long and rich. There is fruit, freshness and flavor galore. Still young, give this just a few more years and enjoy the fireworks.
5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Bordeaux 2005 : Ten years on (Bordeaux Index London): Primary, red fruit and very pronounced flavors. Rich and full bodied. A bit of over extraction on the palate? It does feel a touch drying on the finish, but the mid palate is so savory and there is a long finish. I get the feeling that the fruit will likely last over time and the wine will evolve positively with further bottle aging so potential higher score. I have six bottles and look forward to tasting them over the years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
VIP Monopole Wine Tasting: Lots of dark spices--clove, black Cinnamon, with coriander, and black cassis; tangy small berries, even a slight hint of raisin or dried currant; silly with good structure and a long finish. After 30 minutes it turns a touch sour though (could be the overripeness of the berries not holding up after the bottle is opened?). I'd actually go 92+ on this me thinks.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This showed extremely well out of the bottle with black cassis, licorice, black plum, pipe tobacco and savory herbs; slick, slightly plummy in the mouth with wet minerality; dusty fine ample tannins, good balance and structure. Fantastic upon opening, acquired slight mature notes, slight raisin aspect after an hour and lost it's fresh herbs-spices and tobacco character
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Tasting at a friend’s home. Medium-dark purple. Nose of dark fruit with plum, chocolate, cherry and licorice, some alcohol unfortunately. Enters the palate with a lot of volume but enough structure to carry it through. Good aromatic persistency as well. Needs time, wait until 2018.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Tasted at private wine tasting. Opened 1 hour before tasting. Explosive aromatics of plums, blackberries, mushrooms, tobacco, minerals, sweet spices and some dark chocolate. It's full-bodied and pretty opulent, but with medium+ acidity and medium-high tannin adding structure and grip. Very good length. A pretty opulent but still fresh St-Emilion that might get even better in a few years. It still feels pretty young. (95+)
Very rich nose of soy and earth, excellent depth. Lush but balanced, red fruits, excellent texture, finishes long. Well structured, but not nearly as shut down as I would have expected. Relative to the '09 also served this evening, it was more serious in its structure (and perhaps longer lived?).
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Double decanted for three hours and drank over the two hours for dinner. Last recommended waiting a couple of years, but could not resist. Inky deep dark purple in color, the acacia leads into a black and blue full-bodied liqueur with spice and lead pencil balanced with excellent concentration. A mouthful of luscious fruit!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted for three hours. Still a little latent on the nose, yet showing sliced plum, red mud, musk, stewed cranberry sauce, black top, strawberry bubblegum and roasted coffee bean. Long and undoubtedly sophisticated, this mostly Merlot starlet, which is intrinsic with pure divinity, will age for at least two score. Silky beyond belief and the '05 freshness is quite evident, with a long finish of pure aristocracy. Drink 2016 -.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Huge, Dark, Tannic. Black fruit, some earth, some spice, some oak. This has wonderful potential. Medium+ finish now, will be long with some time in the cellar. Open again in 10 years - should be special. 93 now, 96+ next decade.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
CT Wisconsin Offline 2; 10/5/2012-10/6/2012 (Madison, WI): Showing surprising earthiness on the nose, with leafy, tertiary notes on the palate, over a core of dark fruit. A wall of tannin arrives late and lingers. An Old World style, to revisit in 8 to 10 years. Not scored.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This wine is on lock down. Just like the '05 Pavie this had big drying tannins, so overwhelming that it was hard to get at the underlying fruit.
Day two
Like the Pavie this wine has improved a lot with more air time. This wine is almost black in color with a purple rim. Jammy dark fruit galore on the nose, along with spice and a black cherry cola thing going on. This is a sexy lush wine which echoes the nose in flavor profile. Still has drying tannins, but starting to smooth out. Great purity of fruit and texture on the mid-palate. Long finish. A wine that could in my opinion go 40 to 50+ years.
Day three
Very fragrant on the nose, almost vintage port like. Just like the Pavie, the tannins are totally resolved. Smooth round velvety palate. Great length and purity of fruit still. A wow wine for sure.
SS 95+pts.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Surprise of the night. Medium ruby purple, medium(+) developing complex aromas of black cherries, earth, cedar, leather, oak, mocha. Medium(+) dry, medium acidity, full body, medium(-) ripe tannins. Well defined aromas of black cherries, cocoa, spice.. Excellent balance, brilliantly crunchy material texture, fruit-driven yet elegant with focussed long long finish, a super-wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Intense aromas of licorice, jammy black fruit, truffle, spice, cocoa and earth, rich, succulent, plush, sexy, opulent textures, length, purity and palate presence. If you missed the 2009 Clos Fourtet and want a wine that is not that far off quality for less, this is the wine to buy!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Still deep in color, sporting licorice, coffee bean, blackberry, black cherry, mineral and spicy aromatics, this powerful, full bodied, opulently styled, ripe, silky wine ends with a long, dark cherry liqueur, vanilla and licorice sensation. Lush and seductive, give this 3-5 years to come together.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Saturday Tasting Group (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (Northbrook, IL)): Really lovely extracted nose of cassis and medium red and purple fruit. Leather and a bit of dustyness as well. Drinking well for such a young wine - especially in this year. Dark and subtle qualities. Some rocky mocha and molasses flavors come into view then leading to a long layered steam lined finish. Elegant and masculine at the same time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Ripe Bordeaux, with flashy dark fruits but a nice restraint on the finish - graphite and mineral notes. Well structured with fine tannins. Nice purity. Very good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
WFA Bordeaux 2005/2006 Tasting by the Wine Review (Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore): I have never been that impressed with young Clos Fourtets, but I must say that this was pretty good. Modern nose, with plenty toasty coffee and mocha notes, but there was plenty of bright fruit underlying that, showing in rich, deep reserves of plums, savoury earth and meat. Quite a bit of complexity there. Palate had plenty of fresh acidity and fine, teeth-coating tannins, forming a fine structure for clean berry fruit flavours and a touch of glycerin. Finish had really good length, with toasty notes mixed in with a minerally counterpoint. Again, another modern interpretation. This needs plenty of time, but should be a stunner when mature.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted for 4 hrs. Dark purple in the glass. In the nose, kirsch and cassis, On the palate, full-bodied and extracted with dark cherry, mineral and oak. Robust tannins, good acidity and a lengthy finish. Should improve further after 5+ years. Reminds me of several exorbitantly priced Pomerols ... only it's much better. Another absolutely outstanding effort by the consultant Derenoncourt. ( In recognition of this Clos Fourtet and his many other fabulous wines, I think the French should skip the bronze plaque and instead, erect a statue of him in St. Emilion).
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Caroline Wine Shop - Modern vs Traditional (Carolines Wine Shop): A restrained nose with warm black and red fruits and some dried earth. A firm entry that feels slightly over-extracted and a generous hot alcohol with that cayenne pepper bite doesn't augment, yet the wine has richness and the flesh of ripe cherry, plum and blackberry to carry it forward. Modern in approach, full in body, the acid is medium, and the fruit very Merlot-centric, with that breadth in the mid-palate and sweetness of fruit in the mid-palate. Fairly beefy wine with some depth and complexity. Modern. On clay soils, the wines are often richer, beefier. This is 80%Merlot with CF and CS
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This really is outstanding juice. What a color! Black/violet, dark as night. Heavenly aromas of blue and black fruits with graphite and earthy scents coming in as well. Big and bold in body after a three hour decant (not enough, at this stage!) with the extracted fruit and subtle background oak playing footsies all night long... Gorgeous.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Located right across from the Hostellerie De Plaisance where we stayed in 2006, this chateau is a rare gem.This black and blue full-bodied beauty of a wine, in color and aroma of fruit, is feeling no pain. The spring flowers and lead pencil are delicious in this wonderful, highly concentrated fruit bomb. Decant for two hours and drink over the next two hours for ultimate pleasure. You can drink now, but I recommend waiting a couple of years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2005 & 2006 Tasting (Hyatt, Century City): This is another wine with a wonderfully complex nose; it reveals notes of earth, stones, dark berries, and licorice. The palate is loaded with perfumed fruit including flavors of licorice, berries, cherry, and cinnamon. This is also full bodied and very concentrated with an incredible lingering finish. Obviously needs time like most of these wines but it is already gorgeous with tremendous complexity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Got a very small sample at Zachys with purchase. Deep purple color. Very concentrated and intense with balanced acidity. Showing black fruit and licorice but tight right now. Long, long finish. Score should certainly improve with time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Clos Fourtet vertical (Institute of Directors, London): Blackcurrant jam nose, but muted, thick, rich and ripe, with a lot of dry wood - fine tannin, easily absorbed with the fat fruit. Unlike the other top tier 2005s I've tried over the last year, this was not much fun. There's lots of substance there, but it's not obvious to me that it will turn out particularly special.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Bordeaux vs. Burgundy (Farpointe Cellar): The nose started with some nice floral notes, and then moved to blueberry, blackberry, pencil lead, and a touch of oak. The palate had blackberry and earth, and finished with some blueberry liqueur.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Can you say WOW. This wine was tasted blind with three firsts et al. 97 Ausone 96 La Mondotte 95 Petrus 1982 Trotanoy and 2000 Margaux. It blew the others away. Call me shocked when we found this lesser known St Emillion beat the big dogs. I did not expect a 2005 to out pace older Bdx. The wines were all handled by our wine stewart 12 hrs earlier. The nose on this one was exotic black fruit deluxe from its outset. The aroma was mesmerizing. Nothing topped it this night. Stephane Derenoncourt, the consulting oenologist had his best yr ever in 2005. He has been hitting his stride the last 7 yrs truth be told. He was involved with making this wine and the 2003 which I have also had and found desirable. The 05 version however can play with the big dogs and can hang with any Pomerol in the last twenty yrs. This wine is 85% Merlot and it is ink purple and will remind some as a fruit bomb, but I loved the almost port like liquer taste of blue and blackberry in the mid palate. It has very friendly flowery smells wet clay graphite and cigar box with a hint or raspberry. I smelled burnt cedar and oak and tobacoo with mocha cherry puree. This stuff is great juice. It has great structure and balance and will live a long life. I would have expected the juice to be closed but this dog can hunt even now. Strong buy rec from me and bury it for 20 yrs. I wont because I will drink my measly case.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
2005 Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting (Drake Hotel, Chicago, Illinois): 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. First time I have had a wine from this estate. Medium bodied. Rather open for such a young wine. Notes of cassis, cherry and oak. A big finish with some alcohol present. Without the alcohol this wine would have scored higher. 90-91+ points.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This is intense, complex and concentrated. Deep levels of fat, ripe, polished dark fruits. Massive, dense and sexy. Multiple layers of licorice tinged black fruit and plums are all over the place. This is a thrill a sip wine. This is a wine for pleasure seekers.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
From bottle in November 2007, showed oak-derived sweet toast aroma, warm. Blueberry and blackberry on the palate, and I was thinking… Angelus? Some nice tonic qualities on the finish. Certainly power-driven, and the alcohol is felt. Heady. The darkest colored of them all, actually. From bottle in New York, I felt it to be too jammy. In Germany, the palate has sap and showed a bit more elegance – also slightly more closed. Good sign.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Inky colored and packed with incredibly rich, ripe black fruit, licorice and minerals, this full bodied, intense, powerful wine fills your mouth with gobs of prefectly ripe berries, plums and spice.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
A trip to Bordeaux's Right Bank (Very long); 10/22/2006-10/30/2006 (Bordeaux, France): 76% Merlot, 12% Cab Franc and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. Made with yield of 35 HL/Ha. Very dense purple color and a ripe nose of black fruits and lead pencil. Very round and full bodied in the mouth. With some very nice acidity and very finely grained tannins. This is a perfect marriage between clacissism and modern technlogy. A definitive winner.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
5/9/2024 - etyc wrote:
PnP'ed. 19-years on, thought this would showed well out of the gates, but alas, it was kinda disjointed with a slight tinge of VA/alcohol/heat poking out. Will not touch the rest of my btls till another 5-10 years...
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
2/14/2024 - burgund Likes this wine: 94 Points
Perfekt nose, but taste is a bit to massive and very concentrated. Otherwise a wine in full balance, long and complex.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/10/2024 - djhammond Likes this wine: 96 Points
As noted last year, this has lost its early flush of fruity youthfulness, and has entered into a new phase of life. It was exceptional in its youth, and is potentially a 98/99 point wine. It is a glorious wine with a fabulous future, but it now needs a couple of years to allow the secondary notes to bed down and for the tannin to integrate.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/25/2023 - Matt T wrote: 93 Points
Very nice right bank wine. Opened four hours ahead of time and decanted for about two hours. Moderate complexity. Started off showing some ripe fruit and then developed some secondary notes of cocoa and oak. Tannins seem pretty resolved, but seems likely to last another 5-10 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/17/2023 - Donjcorleone Likes this wine: 96 Points
2 hour double decant and this showed lovely aromas of blackberry, blueberry, earth and pencil shavings that lead to a plush, round, refreshing similarly flavored palate with a long, mineral streak running through the finish.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/1/2023 - crumblemore Likes this wine: 95 Points
What an absolute treat. Whilst celebrating an early Xmas dinner this was brought by one of the guests who brought half a bottle left from lunch. This was opened early that morning before a round of golf and left to slow-ox. The story is that his lunch partner was of older age and the both of them couldn't finish it. It was too good to pour down the drain and he thought he'd bring it to dinner! What a fabulous wine and a real treat and pleasant surprise. This was still singing beautifully despite being opened much earlier in the day. Silky silky mouthfeel. Black fruit, smoke, leather, and earth. Just an excellent wine. Too bad there was only enough for one glass!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/29/2023 - chbent1 wrote: 96 Points
Checks all the boxes for me, opulent, rich, silky mouthfeel, savory with perfectly integrated layers of black fruit, licorice, pencil shavings, balanced acidity. classic Saint Emilion limestone. Long finish. Tight on open but one hour in the decanter opened all the magic. This is wine I like.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/11/2023 - nsellen wrote:
Everything I hoped for. Early but a mix of clean ripe black and red fruit. A well rounded mouthful of fruit, smoke, earth, wood and intimate musk. I really didn’t expect such a well rounded package so early. At the top of its development for me, before the fruit starts receding but with proper complexity. Bravo!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/4/2023 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
Grand Jury du Vin - Republic of Georgia; 11/1/2023-11/9/2023 (Republic of Georgia then stopover in Paris and Dijon): Expressive youthful nose displaying concentrated black and red fruit, blackberry concentrated, chocolate dipped cherry, milky chocolate, dark flowers, truffle, liquid smoke, luxurious oak, sweet spices, and earth. Exceptional concentration, layers upon layers of perfectly ripe concentrated black and red fruit, silky, rich and fluid, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, and a long concentrated black and red fruit driven finish with liquid smoke at the end. This is a very modern concentrated St Emilion. Although quite enjoyable, this will improve for another decade or two.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
10/22/2023 - Texas Oenophile Likes this wine: 96 Points
Beautiful nose and soft tannins. Cooked fruit, spice and just a joy. This is very ready and enjoyable.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/30/2023 - dbg wrote:
Last bottle of a case. Each one better than the last and I wish I had more but impossible to keep hands off. In early maturity, great meld of ripe modernity and real Bordeaux. Excellent to Outstanding.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/17/2023 - sergio19 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Superior, amazing!
86% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc for 46.000 bottles.
Deep red ruby in the glass. Complex and sunny. Violet, ripe fruits, tobacco, chocolate and mint.
Super elegant with medium body. Accurate wine with kindly tannins but very present. Clean and fresh ending. very long.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
6/8/2023 - steinersing wrote: flawed
Oxidized bottle
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/6/2023 - djhammond Likes this wine: 97 Points
This has enjoyed an early intial drinking window in the early bloom of its fruit, but it feels that it is moving into its grown up stages, and two or three years of patience may be required to allow secondary notes to bed down. That said, it is very moreish and hard to resist. The nose is deeply aromatic with blackcurrant and chocolate with raspberry adding to the mix over the last 12 months. The depth and complexity on the palate and finish are mind blowing, with the latter pushing past 60 seconds. I have always been a great fan of the estate and the Cabernet Franc always is a nod to Cheval Blanc for me. This has the makings of a 100 point wine. This was decanted for 5 hours and filtered through an aerator twice and it just about worked.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/29/2022 - Doanebob wrote:
Really is closed down. It was decanted for less than 2 hours before the guests started drinking. Tremendously dense and a long finish. There is some hope here, but not what I was expecting. The 2003 was much better. I am finding that most of my 2005's are not living up to their early reviews. Is 2005 overrated; or is it simply that they need more aging?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/29/2022 - jmoon wrote: 90 Points
Ive been waiting a while to drink this. 15 years or so. Wasn’t great. Opened and sipped, over 4 hours. I gave it a chance. Wouldn’t open up. Strict, tight, possibly great in X years (3, 5, 10??) but for now this bottle wouldn’t deliver anything other than some reasonably attractive fruit, but masked by a tight puckering that restricted enjoyment. We live and learn.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
10/7/2022 - Paul D wrote: 93 Points
1/6, excellent cork. Decanted 1 hour, served at 15C.
Very deep ruby core, very narrow pale garnet rim. Nose is a bit closed initially - opens a touch as the wine warms a bit - rich, dark fruit, coffee, some blueberry. Medium/full bodied on the palate, deep, dark fruit, blackcurrant, blueberry, tactile, soft and envelopping, quite sweet with coffee and spice notes, lovely vibrant acidity brings it into focus, finish is long if still a touch grippy. Lovely, not showing it's 14.5% aclohol, drinking but should improve. Now to 2040 +
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
10/4/2022 - Happytoro Likes this wine: 96 Points
Poured into decanter and drank over 3 hour dinner. This was surprisingly still very youthful. I'm writing from memory and recall bold basket of fruits, dense (but not heavy), roundess to the finish, and low acidity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/9/2022 - Vinus Silvestris Likes this wine: 92 Points
Slightly underwhelmed. Not enough happening here. Still enjoyed it. Hoping my 2019s will turn out better, they should.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/12/2022 - DCHawkeye Likes this wine: 92 Points
First bottle of a case, with dinner at La Piquette in DC. This was a difficult wine - first, the cork snapped in half with the initial pressure (I did this; not the wait staff!). On the pour, the nose was muted with none of that familiar St-Emilion nose, making me think this might have been a bad cork and an off bottle. But the upside of the broken cork was it forced a decant. After maybe an hour, it finally started to reveal itself, but only a hint of what's in store. After 16+ years, this is still an infant. By the end of dinner, the nose was open and this was showing signs of being something special. (So NR/88 at opening, and up to 94 at the end, for those that like scores. ) I'll try to hold off on opening the next bottle for 2 or 3 years, but if I do, this will get at least a 3 hour decant before heading to a restaurant.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (4)
7/31/2022 - winelover1808 Likes this wine: 93 Points
delicious. had this after a Myriad Beckstoffer Dr Crane 2010. This was def lighter bodied, red fruit less bright, but more complex with more hints of tobacco, herbs and secondary flavors; a pretty wine in a very good drinking window.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
7/21/2022 - djhammond Likes this wine: 97 Points
Third annual tasting, and this is cementing itself as one of my favourite more recent wines and I can even forgive the 14.5% alcohol level. The nose is out of this world and is deeply aromatic with ripe cherry, blackcurrant, and chocolate and it lingers and lingers. There is still a tannic kick on the palate with a hint of the Cabernet Franc, but it is so well balanced with the fruit that it doesn't distract, but once it sweetens the wine will move into perfect score territory. Likewise the finish which is magnificent, will elevate to a new level once the tannin resolves. Even so, it is pushing past 60 seconds with exquisite depth and complexity. I have been a great fan of the estate since the 1998 vintage and it keeps going from strength to strength, and I can't wait for the legendary 2009 to be ready. At this stage it is recommended to give this 3+ hours in the decanter.
3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (5)
7/14/2022 - dbg wrote:
Rich, ripe, modern, excellent-outstanding.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
6/12/2022 - steinersing wrote: 94 Points
Pretty good, a little pruny around the edges
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/22/2022 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Opulent, lush, dense. This is quite a satisfying right bank, especially for the money. Drinks well today, and I'd expect this to achieve a new level of complexity in another decade.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/19/2022 - Thai Steve Likes this wine: 98 Points
First test after opening a flash of blue berries at nose and palate. 1 hour later a concert of blackberries and blue plums followed of some coffee and muscat notes, with a never ending memory of the aromas of a plum-rum pot my sister used to setup in the 70-ies. For me you can make a wine different but not better. Lucky to have another 10 ex. in my cave planing to drink the last bottle in the 30-ies…
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
3/12/2022 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 94 Points
3 1/2 ans depuis ma dernière bouteille!
Bouchon à peine imbibé et sorti d'une pièce cette fois.
Ouvert et passé en carafe puis bu durant 3 heures.
Le vin a considérablement bougé depuis 2018, il est devenu très puissant, viril, concentré, structuré avec des tanins présents, alors que précédemment, il était sexy, soyeux et facile à boire, tout le contraire en somme, sauf le cassis qui sert de trait d'union entre ces 2 bouteilles.
Sur la base de cette bouteille, la patience est de mise...
94+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/24/2021 - Thai Steve wrote: 95 Points
Extraordinary taste of rum pot fruits at nose and palate, perfectly imbedded tannins. You can make a wine different but not better. Deserves the classification 1er Grand Cru Classé to 100%
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/20/2021 - winelover1808 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Love this. Interestingly it’s more new world to me but I still love it. More maroon and deep red than purple. Quite fruit forward on the nose. No earth or funk. The body is really polished pretty bright red fruit with slight chocolate hints. Medium bodied and not thick. Finish has pleasant tannic texture with dark chocolate and sweet red fruit. Perhaps the body and elegance and color would give it away as Bordeaux. But I probably would have guessed elegant new world cab tasted blind - but in a good way! Yum.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
11/4/2021 - chbeaumont wrote: 91 Points
Opaque; bold, 'porty', imposing; dense, power packed, full bodied. Extended finish. Rather overbearing. Needs plenty of time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/9/2021 - VinhoVerde Likes this wine: 85 Points
Medium red color. Oak dominates bouquet. Soft, almost gentle flavor. Very modest length. Pleasant wine but seems to lack fruit concentration.
Double decanted 2 hours prior to tasting.
From Mark’s 2005 Bordeaux Vintage Tasting:
Attended a 36 wine ‘05 Bordeaux tasting recently. The wine above is one of those wines. Served single-blind.
All wines were tasted over a 2 day period, 18 per day. The wines served on the 1st day had their corks pulled two hours prior. The second day’s wines were served “ double-decanted”, 2 hours before the first flight. The overall tasting experience was quite different, as one would expect. Day 2 wines were softer, displaying more ripe fruit, and less harsh tannins.
Kudos to Mark for both a fantastic experience as well as providing an instructive opportunity on
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1)
7/2/2021 - Andice wrote: 91 Points
All about potential. Bundled up with intense black fruit and good quality oak. Improves with air but you just know it will develop into something special. Fantastic material but 91 now for enjoyment
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/27/2021 - Eric wrote:
2005 Bordeaux at 16 years courtesy of Mark Taylor; 6/26/2021-6/27/2021 (Atlanta, GA): Shy with a hint of cherry, white pepper, sharp on the back of the nostrils. A liqueur personality, spicy, hot a laser of fruit intensity. More mineral and subtle on the finish. My #6 and the group #6. I was sure this was either Clos Fourtet or Alter Ego but settled on the wrong one.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/16/2021 - djhammond Likes this wine: 98 Points
This has become one of my favourite St Emilion estates, and in its great years is the embodiment of decadence. This will not hit its peak for another couple of years, but I can't keep my hands off it. It is well worth opening one now if you have a case but give it most of the day in the decanter. This is in line with my note from last September re taste profile, but there is tannin still needing to further resolve. Apart from the tannin issue it is pretty much a perfect right bank wine with an extraordinary depth on the palate and finish with absolute perfect balance. The length on the finish exceeds 60 seconds and stays in complete harmony until the final moments. I will leave this now for another couple of years when it could be nudging a perfect score. Bring on the 2009!
7 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/1/2021 - parkline_wine Likes this wine: 95 Points
This 05 clos fourtet is the most classic example of St Emilion. Powerful darkfruits (blackberry, hint of plum, currant, with earthy undertones). Decanted for 3 hours but man so young! Very good length, with consistent pallet throughout. If one had to pick one wine to represent a classic St E, this 05 would be a great choice!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/4/2021 - dbg wrote:
Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Dark red to rim. Intense nose of berry, cherry, chocolate. Full body, rich layered ripe fruit, good balancing acidity, some grainy tannins. Modern style, no complexity so far. Should go for another decade. Excellent.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/15/2021 - nywine68 wrote: 92 Points
Beautiful expressive nose of graphite, chocolate and raspberries. Full bodied with fine grained but assertive tannins. Good concentration and depth but a bit monolithic. Finish is quite dry.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/31/2020 - tmagsmaken wrote: 94 Points
Powerful dark fruit (plums and berries) in the nose, limited tertiary notes which makes the wine smell young.
On the palate, additional flavours like chocolate and liquorice appear, combined with a present acidity. Tannins are well integrated. This is ready to drink but will keep. Long finish.
Comparing it to a 2005 Troplong Mondot which I recently tasted (and scored 95) I would say the Clos Fourtet is more subtle and less intensity and is a bit more acidic. Both are really enjoyable and drinking well now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (2)
12/24/2020 - HL Pong Likes this wine: 97 Points
Air for 2hrs,
Appearance: deep ruby, with beautiful legs
On nose : pronounced intensity, dark fruit : plums, ripe blue berries, violet flora, lichorice, an hr later it came up with soy source, but it developed into truffle after an hr later, tobacco, cedar wood, vanilla oak, very complex, it has a lot of development still.
On palate : rich flavour intensity, dark fruit, pine wood, truffle on front palate, fine but substantial tannin, and med+ acidity on med palate, savoury and a light dark chocolate bitterness with high alcohol at the back. Long finishing, opulent and juicy aftertaste
I will say this is a premium one and I do not feel regret to open it now. As everybody knows that 05’ is an extraordinary vintage and I believe this wine has a lot of room to go. I would say this wine just like a 20yrs marriage, substantial with fulfilment. This is my 2nd bottle and it is much better than the one that I opened 2 yrs ago. No regrets, Cheers!
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/1/2020 - dnnk88 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Dec Kick-off @ Crab@Bay!: This is my 1st try at Clos Fourtet and this was brilliant! Black fruits, wet violets, blue flowers, liquorice, tobacco leaves, spiced figs. Nice long menthol finish. Dense, lush, rounded, hedonistic. Silky tannins. Keeps you coming back for more. I am honestly blown away. This needs at least 1 - 2 hours of air if you open now. Just edging into its prime and good for many, many years ahead! 95/96
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/29/2020 - Binder Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fantastic wine in a St.Emilion 2005 tasting. Will improve over next 5-10 years (still lots of young fruit and primary notes) and Will last to 2035-2040.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (2)
10/2/2020 - wallax2 Likes this wine: 96 Points
What a treat! I started the night decanting a bottle of 2005 Clos du Marquis and 2012 Quilceda Creek paired with grilled tenderloin steak. I love Quilceda but the Clos du Marquis was very disappointing (flat, lean with no finish). Pitting old world with new world is usually exciting for me so, to get over my disappointment, I grabbed a bottle of 2005 Clos Fourtet right out of the cellar.
The Clos Fourtet was a complete symphony even with no decanting. Flowery and fresh nose but it was the palate that blew us away. It was flowing with flavor and form: crisp but full and it kept changing from fruit to flower (violets?) to structure to spices. The steak just changed some of the nuances, almost awakening more variation. Wow, a really beautiful wine and made me almost forget the Quilceda...which was opened too early in comparison. Wonderful, wonderful wine.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/25/2020 - djhammond Likes this wine: 98 Points
I've been chomping at the bit to try this, and gave this 6 hours in the decanter and jumped in. It lives up to all its initial hype and is probably one of the best three wines I've tasted in this lockdown year. The nose is packed full of chocolate and liquorice with floral wafts and has a decadent opulence. The palate has a graphite background running through from start to finish. The balance is sheer perfection with a finish of 60+ seconds and is harmonious to the very end. I always hoped that this wine would live up to expectations, and boy was I not disappointed. Give this another few years and this could be a 100 pointer. However, if you have a few it is well worth trying one now with extended aeration. 98+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/3/2020 - pmarlo Likes this wine: 92 Points
I don't drink much Merlot so I don't have a lot of wines under my belt. Wine seemed very mellow, subdued. I have had Merlot from California, and they almost always are on the harsh side, but this was very smooth, which I prefer. Cork was in good shape deeply stained, and slightly infiltrated but wine not compromised. Seemed a decent wine. Think this is ready now as hard to imagine improvement. Threw sediment in last glass.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/3/2020 - dbg wrote:
Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Dark red to rim. Intense nose of berr, cherries, mocha, hint of VA. Full body, rich layered ripe fruit, good balancing acidity, some grainy tannins. Modern, glossy, no complexity so far, will it come? Should go for another decade. Excellent but not classic Bordeaux.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/10/2020 - Sailingsimon Likes this wine: 93 Points
Past its prime drink now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/26/2020 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
opened 3 hours ahead - very good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/18/2020 - Wamrod wrote: 93 Points
Smooth bottle - cab franc prominent
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/23/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
It's the razor blade of crushed limestone that runs down the middle of your palate that grabs your attention. From there, I headed back to the nose due to its floral, dark cocoa, red fruit, crushed rock, and licorice. Deep in color, from the looks of it, you could easily confuse this with the 2015. Concentrated, opulent, dense and elegant, the sexy, vibrant, red fruit and flower-filled finish tastes and feels great. Give this 2 hours in the decanter or wait 5 years and it is going to be a cellar treasure!
8 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/21/2020 - tjin Likes this wine: 91 Points
Good structure, notes of blackcurrant, plum, tobacco, and chocolate. Balanced oak, tannins, and acidity. Long and smooth finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/4/2020 - Suzyquatro Likes this wine: 94 Points
Briljante dieppaarse kleur - sterke aroma's van zwart rijp fruit, chocolade en wat sigaar - mondvullend maar nog met primaire tonen en met grafietachtige achtergrond, zuurgraad al goed in balans - elegante afwerking - Subliem maar heeft nog wat kelder nodig !
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/11/2019 - ifishtoo Likes this wine: 95 Points
Same as before. Just great!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/26/2019 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 92 Points
Académie des Cinquante 64th Annual Dinner (Sofitel The Grand, Amsterdam, NL): Rich and full colour; very ripe cherries on the nose, hint of soy, chalky freshness and lots of low toast oak; fiercely tannic palate, fresher and purer but less fruit than the Pavie Macquin; long and linear but dry finish. I like the aromatics, but I fear that the tannins will leave the wine high and dry.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/17/2019 - Kevnzworld wrote: 93 Points
Ehh
Not my favorite wine
90 minute decant.
Decent fruit and nose. A little plum, current and eucalyptus but too tannin and hot.
Not concentrated enough to hold up while waiting the tannin to mellow
One more bottle that I’ll wait for a few years to open.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/28/2019 - steinersing wrote: 93 Points
Very good, open, ripe Bordeaux
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/4/2019 - madalyn Likes this wine: 93 Points
liked it but should have listened to my owe advise
will check in in a few years
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/15/2019 - ifishtoo Likes this wine: 98 Points
Just outstanding in every way. No rush.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/21/2019 - yourcenar Likes this wine: 95 Points
Splendid. At maturity but still some good years to enjoy it (i do not agree at all with the assessment of the maturity term of 2016 as indicated on cellar tracker)
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
4/28/2019 - Roberto Mangioni Likes this wine: 97 Points
A colossal and superlative wine, with tons of dark chocolate and much more. Highly concentrated, complex, long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/2/2019 - Caruso Likes this wine: 97 Points
Deep, intense ruby to garnet. From the start, right out of the bottle intense fruity nose. First dominated by blueberry, but within a minute it gets more complex with blackberries, currants, plums, coffee and cherries. On the palate you can experience the same aromas plus licorice and bacon and yes, minerality. Twenty or more years ago I would have guessed it new world, but in this warmer times it is quite clear bordeaux, because of its complexity. Nevertheless, those of us who prefer more calm and developed wines should wait for 15 more years minimum and store it under perfect conditions. For now it is still quite tannic showing its high extraction, but there is enough balancing and refreshing acidity too. This is clearly on the very young side of its drinking window, but it is so energetic and intense and at the same time complex that it provides fun, though it is quite tannic and maybe a bit overextracted. But this is going to achieve even more harmony in one or two decades, maybe on cost of intensity. If you have several bottles you can watch this for two to three decades if perfectly cellared or maybe longer. If you have only one or two bottles and you prefer harmony over intensity, wait at least another decade, better 15 or more years. But if you like freshness and intense, but complex, also tannic wines this is ready for you. The nose is really surreal right now, with time getting even more complex with additional notes of graphit and earthy notes. 5/15/17+/10. 98 points from Parker himself. If it is going to shed some of its tannic cloud without loosing the complexity and intensity of its aromatic profile, it is a potential three digit scorer. With food, smoothing this tannins maybe it is perfect for you now, anyway. 97+
5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
2/4/2019 - calleonard@yahoo.com Likes this wine:
Drank on Feb 4th 2019
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/1/2018 - madalyn Likes this wine: 92 Points
we brought to dinner at a local restaurant, the wain was very nice but I thought is was very young. I don't agree with the drinking window here, it has a longer life. Im happy I have more because I will wait another 5 years before trying again
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/30/2018 - Ericsson wrote: 92 Points
Bouchon a cassé au milieu, passage en carafe et bu durant 2 heures.
Robe rouge violet mate. Le nez est chargé de fruits rouges et noirs, les cassis prenant le dessus.
La bouche est très soyeuse, douce, ronde avec des tanins légèrement farineux qui s’estompent avec le temps.
Très bon vin sexy mais qui ne laisse que peu de souvenirs durables.
A boire durant 10 ans.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/19/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Just a gorgeous wine. Layer after layer of licorice coated, black cherry, plum and truffle are all over the place, in the nose and on the palate. Silky, polished and lusciously textured, if you like young wines that are considering entering their drinking window before they reach the secondary stage, you can pop a cork. Else, wait about 5 years. Either way, this is a beauty
6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
7/7/2018 - apple1813 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Deep garnet opaque with lots of sediments
Nose of coffee, vanilla, ceder wood, strawberry and a touch of heat
Ripe and bold tannin, good acidity, long bitterness in mid-palate
It is powerful and has good tannin structure
It may improve with age
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/28/2018 - Kaleido Likes this wine: 93 Points
Coravin. Decanted 2 hours and consumed over 1 hour.
Highly aromatic nose of plum, dark fruit, earth, coffee beans, strawberry jam. Super sweet, fruit forward mid palate, silky fine tannins. Finishes with coffee, bacon, savory notes, scorched earth, dark fruit. Served around 60F; very little heat. Good freshness and balance. Super concentrated. Very modern/new world.
High quality wine but just a bit too ripe and fruit forward for me at the moment.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/17/2018 - UFGators wrote: flawed
Corked
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/5/2018 - tc from santee Likes this wine: 95 Points
I don't even remember how acquired this terrific Bordeaux. Fine tannins, fruit forward. Rich and harmonious with a great mouth feel. Full bodied with dark berries and rocky earth, surrounding the exceptional wine.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/10/2017 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 87 Points
Blinds at Palace Steakhouse (The Palace Steakhouse, SF): (Blind)
Deep ruby color.
Low aromatic intensity - slight new oak.
On the palate: Ripe. Full bodied. 14% alcohol (actually 14.5%). Medium acid. High tannins.
Dark fruit. Slightly raisinated. Slight Olive (pyridines).
Final call: Young Napa Cab, 2014. A bit of an austere style.
Actual: 2005 clos Fourtet st emilion.
Analysis: Yeah I was hedging Old/New world here. For Napa it’s austere. For St. Emilion it’s acid-deficient, overly clean (no Brett), and weirdly raisinated.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/15/2017 - Tavastgatan wrote: 93 Points
Yeah, this is special and Bob gave it 98p. But it's modern in style and quite scorched. Still a good drink worthy of about 93-94p.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/30/2017 - Bo Wine Lover Likes this wine: 97 Points
Fantastisk
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/18/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Young, but it's impossible not to find the potential in the glass here. Dark in color, with powerful, but refined tannins. The wine is elegant, regal, full bodied and loaded with licorice, dark plums, cherries, earth and truffle. Another 5 years will add a lot to this wine.
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
2/18/2017 - gsquireh Likes this wine: 98 Points
Again double decanted for three hours and drank over the one hour for dinner. Could not resist this purple plum of royal paradise. Spring garden and fall glory combined, from acacia to gladiolus to nasturcia the floral scents are a cacophony of pleasure that are bolstered by the luscious fruit- cherry, plum, blackberry, all framed by licorice, truffle and chocolate. Have 7 more bottles and will be hard to be faithful to waiting for the future evolution. When you have an exquisite beauty ready and waiting, you would like to enjoy now.
6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/25/2017 - HL Pong Likes this wine: 96 Points
Apperance : Clear, deep garnet in colour with legs and petillance.
Decanted for 2hrs, on nose, medium+ intensity, red and black friut with cherry, red plum, black plum skin, asparagus, vanilla oak, cedar, liquorice, still close. After an hour later, it become more frangrant, eucaliptus can be noticed. The wine is sure developing.
On palae, it is dry and medium+ acidity, medium+ flavour intensity, medium+ body and alcohol, very fine but chewable subttle tannin. All aroma could be found on palate with bitterness and a touch of savoury flavour. Very complex one and this wine like talking to a new, genuine and gentle friend. Medium+ finishing without complain.
This is a very good wine and it can be aged for 10 more years wihtout any hesitation or you may drink it now and enjoy with aged cheese.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/4/2016 - Ary wrote: 94 Points
An Exceptional Afternoon (at JM): Elegant and sensual, still in early stage of development. 'Ontbijtkoek' (Dutch spice-cake), chocolate dipped black cherries and lemon zest in the nose. Nice acidity and sweet balance. Classic and well-built wine.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/26/2016 - B Paul wrote:
Enjoyed this, but probably could use a bit more time. 93
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/22/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
This is a knock out from the first sniff that gets even better after the first taste. The attention seeking nose packed with licorice, caramel, smoke, truffle and black cherry liqueur only starts the show. The opulent, sexy, hedonistic. decadent textures with all those ripe tannins and even riper, sweet fruits that coats your palate and lingers for ages seals the deal. Yes, this is still young and is only going to get better. But it so damn tasty now, I went back for another pour. If this is your style of wine, you should consider adding it to your cellar.
6 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/17/2015 - MarcelloW wrote:
This is massive, powerful and heavy. Marmalade and raisins. High alcohol. Not the style Bordeaux I like. Could be from somewhere else.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
10/19/2015 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points
A private tasting (Jan-Dirk Taams' residence, Groot-Ammers, Netherlands): Deep and complete, quite closed but displaying real class, ripe, bay leaf and coffee; lovely balance, ripe and concentrated, powerful and weighty, lovely sweetness, glossy. Modern, rich, energetic, needs time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/17/2015 - Collector1855 wrote: 91 Points
This wine has always been massive but I thought age will tame it. The current bottle was alcoholic, with a sweet mid mouth feel around plum, red current, liquid strawberry jam. good structure but aromatically weak. Not my style and difficult to pair with food. To be followed up again.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/15/2015 - Lilja wrote: 91 Points
Medium intense with lots of roasted oak, coffee, black fruit, a bit of maturity, raisins, vanilla, bell pepper, cherries, chocolate and violettes.
Dry with medium acidity, distinct bitterness, medium bodied, medium+ tannins, medium+ intensity and a long finish.
Lovely wine. I really like the palate with lots of power as well as a refined structure. The aromas are quite boring and unfortunately it folds into a style category of wine that are made all over the world without any real distinction of origin or grape.
Drinks good now and will probably keep well for another 10 years. Hard to believe this is already 12 years old.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/13/2015 - karl.1480 Likes this wine: 91 Points
The wine is clear with a deep intensity, garnet color.
Developing nose with a medium(+) intensity. Aromas of cassis, plum, hint of green bell pepper, oak, cedar, espresso, tobacco, leather and dusty gravel.
The wine is dry with a medium acidity, medium(+) body and tannins. Medium(+) intensity with flavors of cassis, green bell pepper, oak, cedar, leather and spice box. The finish is medium(+).
This wine has a distinct Bdx-feeling but surprisingly fruit-driven. Drinking good today but will probably last for another 10-15 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/28/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Showing some lightness to the color, the wine serves up truffle, licorice, black plums, cherry liqueur and cigar box, with burning embers in the nose. The wine is youthful, fresh, mouth filling, long and rich. There is fruit, freshness and flavor galore. Still young, give this just a few more years and enjoy the fireworks.
5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
6/21/2015 - janka Likes this wine:
Yes a good one, have it over two Days and it´s perfect to drink now to red meat
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/29/2015 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine: 92 Points
Bordeaux 2005 : Ten years on (Bordeaux Index London): Primary, red fruit and very pronounced flavors. Rich and full bodied. A bit of over extraction on the palate? It does feel a touch drying on the finish, but the mid palate is so savory and there is a long finish. I get the feeling that the fruit will likely last over time and the wine will evolve positively with further bottle aging so potential higher score. I have six bottles and look forward to tasting them over the years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/20/2014 - TheFoodieTraveler Likes this wine: 90 Points
killed a baby. Still rough around the edges
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/14/2014 - MGrange Likes this wine: 94 Points
Great St Emilion but in need of more bottle age as its slowly showing its potential.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/8/2014 - peternelson wrote: 93 Points
VIP Monopole Wine Tasting: Lots of dark spices--clove, black Cinnamon, with coriander, and black cassis; tangy small berries, even a slight hint of raisin or dried currant; silly with good structure and a long finish. After 30 minutes it turns a touch sour though (could be the overripeness of the berries not holding up after the bottle is opened?). I'd actually go 92+ on this me thinks.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/5/2014 - peternelson wrote: 93 Points
This showed extremely well out of the bottle with black cassis, licorice, black plum, pipe tobacco and savory herbs; slick, slightly plummy in the mouth with wet minerality; dusty fine ample tannins, good balance and structure. Fantastic upon opening, acquired slight mature notes, slight raisin aspect after an hour and lost it's fresh herbs-spices and tobacco character
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/24/2014 - Collector1855 wrote: 95 Points
Tasting at a friend’s home. Medium-dark purple. Nose of dark fruit with plum, chocolate, cherry and licorice, some alcohol unfortunately. Enters the palate with a lot of volume but enough structure to carry it through. Good aromatic persistency as well. Needs time, wait until 2018.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/21/2014 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasted at private wine tasting. Opened 1 hour before tasting. Explosive aromatics of plums, blackberries, mushrooms, tobacco, minerals, sweet spices and some dark chocolate. It's full-bodied and pretty opulent, but with medium+ acidity and medium-high tannin adding structure and grip. Very good length. A pretty opulent but still fresh St-Emilion that might get even better in a few years. It still feels pretty young. (95+)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (3)
9/13/2014 - joshbryer Likes this wine:
Very rich nose of soy and earth, excellent depth. Lush but balanced, red fruits, excellent texture, finishes long. Well structured, but not nearly as shut down as I would have expected. Relative to the '09 also served this evening, it was more serious in its structure (and perhaps longer lived?).
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/12/2014 - gsquireh Likes this wine: 97 Points
Double decanted for three hours and drank over the two hours for dinner. Last recommended waiting a couple of years, but could not resist. Inky deep dark purple in color, the acacia leads into a black and blue full-bodied liqueur with spice and lead pencil balanced with excellent concentration. A mouthful of luscious fruit!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/16/2014 - Matt Scott Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted for three hours. Still a little latent on the nose, yet showing sliced plum, red mud, musk, stewed cranberry sauce, black top, strawberry bubblegum and roasted coffee bean. Long and undoubtedly sophisticated, this mostly Merlot starlet, which is intrinsic with pure divinity, will age for at least two score. Silky beyond belief and the '05 freshness is quite evident, with a long finish of pure aristocracy. Drink 2016 -.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/21/2013 - gsquireh Likes this wine: 98 Points
Exquisite!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/1/2013 - Winepop7 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Huge, Dark, Tannic. Black fruit, some earth, some spice, some oak. This has wonderful potential. Medium+ finish now, will be long with some time in the cellar. Open again in 10 years - should be special.
93 now, 96+ next decade.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/9/2013 - chatters wrote:
United Cellars Grand Bordeaux Tasting 2013 (Royal Automobile Club, Macquarie Street, Sydney): Deep Ruby. Beefy, savoury, almost herbs, interesting oak dominates. High tannin that are still fine. Well made. Okay. Very young.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/25/2012 - kidsmurf2000 wrote: 93 Points
Excellent stuff, could rate higher in a few years
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/6/2012 - petitblanc wrote:
CT Wisconsin Offline 2; 10/5/2012-10/6/2012 (Madison, WI): Showing surprising earthiness on the nose, with leafy, tertiary notes on the palate, over a core of dark fruit. A wall of tannin arrives late and lingers. An Old World style, to revisit in 8 to 10 years. Not scored.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/6/2012 - IWineAlot wrote: 95 Points
CT Offline WI Take 2: Judgement of Madison(Paris) Tasting & BYOB Dinner (Madison, WI): Decanted for six hours prior to drinking at dinner.
Day one
This wine is on lock down. Just like the '05 Pavie this had big drying tannins, so overwhelming that it was hard to get at the underlying fruit.
Day two
Like the Pavie this wine has improved a lot with more air time.
This wine is almost black in color with a purple rim. Jammy dark fruit galore on the nose, along with spice and a black cherry cola thing going on. This is a sexy lush wine which echoes the nose in flavor profile. Still has drying tannins, but starting to smooth out. Great purity of fruit and texture on the mid-palate. Long finish. A wine that could in my opinion go 40 to 50+ years.
Day three
Very fragrant on the nose, almost vintage port like. Just like the Pavie, the tannins are totally resolved. Smooth round velvety palate. Great length and purity of fruit still. A wow wine for sure.
SS 95+pts.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/31/2012 - Barolo Raymond wrote: 93 Points
Surprise of the night. Medium ruby purple, medium(+) developing complex aromas of black cherries, earth, cedar, leather, oak, mocha. Medium(+) dry, medium acidity, full body, medium(-) ripe tannins. Well defined aromas of black cherries, cocoa, spice.. Excellent balance, brilliantly crunchy material texture, fruit-driven yet elegant with focussed long long finish, a super-wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/1/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Intense aromas of licorice, jammy black fruit, truffle, spice, cocoa and earth, rich, succulent, plush, sexy, opulent textures, length, purity and palate presence. If you missed the 2009 Clos Fourtet and want a wine that is not that far off quality for less, this is the wine to buy!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/11/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Still deep in color, sporting licorice, coffee bean, blackberry, black cherry, mineral and spicy aromatics, this powerful, full bodied, opulently styled, ripe, silky wine ends with a long, dark cherry liqueur, vanilla and licorice sensation. Lush and seductive, give this 3-5 years to come together.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/15/2011 - Garfield wrote: 95 Points
Just an incredible wine! Way too complex for me to describe.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/6/2011 - Les Clos wrote: 93 Points
Prima glas veel fruit zachtheid mooie balans en pracht afdronk. beetje jong nog dus belooft nog meer
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/24/2010 - beezer6 wrote: 93 Points
Saturday Tasting Group (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (Northbrook, IL)): Really lovely extracted nose of cassis and medium red and purple fruit. Leather and a bit of dustyness as well.
Drinking well for such a young wine - especially in this year. Dark and subtle qualities.
Some rocky mocha and molasses flavors come into view then leading to a long layered steam lined finish.
Elegant and masculine at the same time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/24/2010 - psmith wrote:
Ripe Bordeaux, with flashy dark fruits but a nice restraint on the finish - graphite and mineral notes. Well structured with fine tannins. Nice purity. Very good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/26/2009 - Ive Marx wrote: 95 Points
Ostentatious bordering on vulgar. Yummy.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/23/2009 - Alex H wrote: 89 Points
Bordeaux 2005 and 2006 Tasting; 10/22/2009-10/26/2009 (Wine For Asia Singapore Suntec): Exotic indian woodscents with excellent cool fruits. Silky, deep dark mysterious black fruits awaits to explode on the sense. A very sensous wine and somehow just gives off a middle / far eastern aura of mysticism that sets it apart for the rest. 87-91pts
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/23/2009 - Paul S wrote: 92 Points
WFA Bordeaux 2005/2006 Tasting by the Wine Review (Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore): I have never been that impressed with young Clos Fourtets, but I must say that this was pretty good. Modern nose, with plenty toasty coffee and mocha notes, but there was plenty of bright fruit underlying that, showing in rich, deep reserves of plums, savoury earth and meat. Quite a bit of complexity there. Palate had plenty of fresh acidity and fine, teeth-coating tannins, forming a fine structure for clean berry fruit flavours and a touch of glycerin. Finish had really good length, with toasty notes mixed in with a minerally counterpoint. Again, another modern interpretation. This needs plenty of time, but should be a stunner when mature.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/5/2009 - Dagalaifus Likes this wine: 98 Points
Decanted for 4 hrs. Dark purple in the glass. In the nose, kirsch and cassis, On the palate, full-bodied and extracted with dark cherry, mineral and oak. Robust tannins, good acidity and a lengthy finish. Should improve further after 5+ years. Reminds me of several exorbitantly priced Pomerols ... only it's much better. Another absolutely outstanding effort by the consultant Derenoncourt. ( In recognition of this Clos Fourtet and his many other fabulous wines, I think the French should skip the bronze plaque and instead, erect a statue of him in St. Emilion).
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/18/2009 - rikipedia Likes this wine: 92 Points
Caroline Wine Shop - Modern vs Traditional (Carolines Wine Shop): A restrained nose with warm black and red fruits and some dried earth.
A firm entry that feels slightly over-extracted and a generous hot alcohol with that cayenne pepper bite doesn't augment, yet the wine has richness and the flesh of ripe cherry, plum and blackberry to carry it forward. Modern in approach, full in body, the acid is medium, and the fruit very Merlot-centric, with that breadth in the mid-palate and sweetness of fruit in the mid-palate. Fairly beefy wine with some depth and complexity. Modern. On clay soils, the wines are often richer, beefier. This is 80%Merlot with CF and CS
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/10/2009 - AdamWallstein wrote: 96 Points
This really is outstanding juice. What a color! Black/violet, dark as night. Heavenly aromas of blue and black fruits with graphite and earthy scents coming in as well. Big and bold in body after a three hour decant (not enough, at this stage!) with the extracted fruit and subtle background oak playing footsies all night long... Gorgeous.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/30/2009 - gsquireh wrote: 96 Points
Located right across from the Hostellerie De Plaisance where we stayed in 2006, this chateau is a rare gem.This black and blue full-bodied beauty of a wine, in color and aroma of fruit, is feeling no pain. The spring flowers and lead pencil are delicious in this wonderful, highly concentrated fruit bomb. Decant for two hours and drink over the next two hours for ultimate pleasure. You can drink now, but I recommend waiting a couple of years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/26/2009 - TashNYC wrote:
Grand Crus de Bordeaux Tasting: 2005 & 2006 wines (NYC, The Lighthouse, Pier 60, Chelsea Piers): Alas, there was no more wine by the time we got there. The 2006 was a good wine. The 2005 has a silly price tag ($152-$190/bottle)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/24/2009 - Badfish wrote: 97 Points
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2005 & 2006 Tasting (Hyatt, Century City): This is another wine with a wonderfully complex nose; it reveals notes of earth, stones, dark berries, and licorice. The palate is loaded with perfumed fruit including flavors of licorice, berries, cherry, and cinnamon. This is also full bodied and very concentrated with an incredible lingering finish. Obviously needs time like most of these wines but it is already gorgeous with tremendous complexity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/14/2008 - The Dabbler wrote: 93 Points
Got a very small sample at Zachys with purchase. Deep purple color. Very concentrated and intense with balanced acidity. Showing black fruit and licorice but tight right now. Long, long finish. Score should certainly improve with time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/8/2008 - Rupert wrote:
Clos Fourtet vertical (Institute of Directors, London): Blackcurrant jam nose, but muted, thick, rich and ripe, with a lot of dry wood - fine tannin, easily absorbed with the fat fruit. Unlike the other top tier 2005s I've tried over the last year, this was not much fun. There's lots of substance there, but it's not obvious to me that it will turn out particularly special.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/28/2008 - mmurry wrote: 94 Points
Bordeaux vs. Burgundy (Farpointe Cellar): The nose started with some nice floral notes, and then moved to blueberry, blackberry, pencil lead, and a touch of oak. The palate had blackberry and earth, and finished with some blueberry liqueur.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/15/2008 - Pavie Princess wrote: 98 Points
Can you say WOW. This wine was tasted blind with three firsts et al. 97 Ausone 96 La Mondotte 95 Petrus 1982 Trotanoy and 2000 Margaux. It blew the others away. Call me shocked when we found this lesser known St Emillion beat the big dogs. I did not expect a 2005 to out pace older Bdx. The wines were all handled by our wine stewart 12 hrs earlier. The nose on this one was exotic black fruit deluxe from its outset. The aroma was mesmerizing. Nothing topped it this night. Stephane Derenoncourt, the consulting oenologist had his best yr ever in 2005. He has been hitting his stride the last 7 yrs truth be told. He was involved with making this wine and the 2003 which I have also had and found desirable. The 05 version however can play with the big dogs and can hang with any Pomerol in the last twenty yrs. This wine is 85% Merlot and it is ink purple and will remind some as a fruit bomb, but I loved the almost port like liquer taste of blue and blackberry in the mid palate. It has very friendly flowery smells wet clay graphite and cigar box with a hint or raspberry. I smelled burnt cedar and oak and tobacoo with mocha cherry puree. This stuff is great juice. It has great structure and balance and will live a long life. I would have expected the juice to be closed but this dog can hunt even now. Strong buy rec from me and bury it for 20 yrs. I wont because I will drink my measly case.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/22/2008 - Vino Me wrote: 90 Points
2005 Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting (Drake Hotel, Chicago, Illinois): 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. First time I have had a wine from this estate. Medium bodied. Rather open for such a young wine. Notes of cassis, cherry and oak. A big finish with some alcohol present. Without the alcohol this wine would have scored higher. 90-91+ points.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/21/2008 - winefool wrote: 92 Points
UGC 2005 Bordeaux Tasting (and dinner) (The Drake): Full soft opaque purple color. Medium nose of smoky cassis. Tight blcak fruit with coffee notes. Tight but good stuffing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/20/2008 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
This is intense, complex and concentrated. Deep levels of fat, ripe, polished dark fruits. Massive, dense and sexy. Multiple layers of licorice tinged black fruit and plums are all over the place. This is a thrill a sip wine. This is a wine for pleasure seekers.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/19/2008 - hcampana wrote: 92 Points
2005 Bordeaux @ Union des Grand Crus (San Francisco, CA): The nose is pure fruit extract. This essence of the vine liquid is pure and complicaed by mocha and animal fat. Excellent wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/18/2008 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 91 Points
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2005 Vintage Tasting; 1/18/2008-1/19/2008 (Los Angeles and San Francisco): Dark red violet color; building, appealing, cassis and blackberry nose; tasty, balanced berry and cassis palate; medium finish 91+ pts. (80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/13/2008 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine:
From bottle in November 2007, showed oak-derived sweet toast aroma, warm. Blueberry and blackberry on the palate, and I was thinking… Angelus? Some nice tonic qualities on the finish. Certainly power-driven, and the alcohol is felt. Heady. The darkest colored of them all, actually. From bottle in New York, I felt it to be too jammy. In Germany, the palate has sap and showed a bit more elegance – also slightly more closed. Good sign.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/24/2007 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Inky colored and packed with incredibly rich, ripe black fruit, licorice and minerals, this full bodied, intense, powerful wine fills your mouth with gobs of prefectly ripe berries, plums and spice.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/25/2006 - hcampana wrote: 92 Points
A trip to Bordeaux's Right Bank (Very long); 10/22/2006-10/30/2006 (Bordeaux, France): 76% Merlot, 12% Cab Franc and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. Made with yield of 35 HL/Ha. Very dense purple color and a ripe nose of black fruits and lead pencil. Very round and full bodied in the mouth. With some very nice acidity and very finely grained tannins. This is a perfect marriage between clacissism and modern technlogy. A definitive winner.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment