Red fruit, cassis, tar, licorice. Tasty with the roast, herbal chicken but not as open as other bottles. Perhaps it needed a shake and/or short decant?
Drink now but has time, too.
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Delicious wine. Notes of red fruit, cassis, tar, licorice and tannins on the finish. Good with our herbal, roasted chicken. A little better with duck, I think. Might even have the heft to go with lamb, next time.
Drink now.
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This wine has finally arrived! Drinking well with no decant, with notes of red fruit, cassis, tobacco, tar, herbs and some tannins. Delicious with the duck pate (which we had back in 3/2015 with this wine as well) and with the slow-roasted, herbal French duck.
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Takes a while in the decanter, but classic-leaning Bordeaux here. Good freshness and noticeable tannins, unfortunately dry and coating much of the mouth. Probably another 5 years, at least, in these bottles, but the tannins will likely not round out with further aging.
Correcting...after 4 hours the tannins are nice and round, and this is a fabulous wine. I'm upping my original 88 score to 90, and a "like."
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decanted for about three hours at this point. This wine has opened up and seems to be in a very nice spot. The dark fruits intermingle well with the blood and iron I expect from Bordeaux. Moderate acidity complements fruit well. CT says I have another bottle; I'll have to dig through the cellar soon.
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Dinner at Ali and Adele's in Princeton (Princeton, NJ): At Ali & Adele's House (Princeton): This was decanted when we arrived -- and drank best 4 hours later. Was very tight for 2+ hours, then some lovely notes of cherry, stone, lead pencil and a little tobacco on the finish. Best with the duck pate (with foie gras). Delicious on its own but tighter than it should be. These need 2-3 more years, I think, to drink well. Not as showy as the 2003 vintage (2-3 years ago) but lots of potential. HOLD.
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Just OK. Tasted best after about 4 hours in the decanter. I'll leave the last couple bottles lie for a few years and see what happens. Not a good QPR given that the Haut Bergey that I had the next night was so much better (same price range).
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I opened another one of these up last night, as I hadn't had one in some time. PnVnD, but didn't give it enough time decanting. This wine still drinks very nicely. Didn't take formal notes, but my recollections are that the nose was a little reluctant (could be the limited decant time) and the finish was a bit short. Otherwise, a very serviceable wine. With more time, I might have gone a point higher.
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A very nice effort; pleasant quaffer where the fruit started to fade after 2+ hours. Dark fruit and balanced tannins (slightly dusty). Drink over the next year or two at most...AM
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This wine took an hour to open, so I recommend some air. Somewhat muted nose of red fruit. Really nice Cab fruit with a long (slightly dusty) finish. One of the best QPR Bordeaux's I've had. Drink over the next 3-5 years...AM
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Drank this over 2 days, argon'd overnight. This wine is really coming into its own. Second night lots of dark fruit and licorice, a little oak. Quite delicious, with nice acidity and soft tannins. Limited finish, or the score could improve some.
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This wine has lost some fruit since the first time I tasted it. Popped and poured at an Italian restaurant. Dark fruits on the nose and palate. Finish was pretty dry and dusty, with a little veggie note. Enjoyable wine, but not extraordinary. Decent QPR, would buy again...AMM
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2+ hr decant @58F. Dark red color; has a way of coating the glass sides on swirl with perfect evenness & symmetry. The nose seems to be hiding behind the covers in bed; it hints at purple flowers, wet stones, red currants, cassis, and field blackberries -- very nice but not intense. On the palate, this really shines; it's a monstrous Bordeaux and really attacks the palate front the first; heavy bodied without any "clunkiness." Wild blackberries dominate early on, then cassis commands in the middle where ultra juicy red currant / creme de cassis flavors advance in a super focused way that's really saying a lot to me about this vintage. After this, mouth-drying tannins rule the palate, bringing with them an accoutrement of very nice floral rose-petals, saddle-leather, and a large dose of blackberry syrup dead center on the back of the tongue. This is one of the better budget Bordeaux I've had in recent years, and I think it will certainly improve w/ some bottle-age, picking up additional complexities and hammering out some off-angle kinks to make for a more polished mouthfeel and improved refinement. The finish could be longer/stronger and is really the only thing holding this back from a higher score for me. Here's hoping that improves too. 89-90 pts now.
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I opened one of these because I noticed that WS gave it an 84 and said "drink now." On the nose, a little bit of heat and a lot of fresh berries. A little bit of spice and minerality, as well -- showing more and better on the nose than I would have expected. In the mouth, a lot of tannin, but there is a fair amount of fruit as well. Dies in the middle and finishes short. Not great, but better than 84. I guess we'll see where these go...
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92+ This wine is young and delicious! Red + Black fruits galore, full bodied, with wonderful tannins. Minerality will develop in time. This wine will be a stunner in years to come. I also loved the '03 of this wine. Going to buy more. Drink over the next 10 years easy...AMM
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12/17/2023 - TashNYC wrote: 91 Points
With roast chicken and over a couple of days.
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4/22/2023 - TashNYC wrote: 90 Points
Red fruit, cassis, tar, licorice. Tasty with the roast, herbal chicken but not as open as other bottles. Perhaps it needed a shake and/or short decant?
Drink now but has time, too.
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2/27/2022 - TashNYC wrote: 91 Points
Delicious wine. Notes of red fruit, cassis, tar, licorice and tannins on the finish. Good with our herbal, roasted chicken. A little better with duck, I think. Might even have the heft to go with lamb, next time.
Drink now.
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10/29/2021 - TashNYC wrote: 92 Points
Red fruit, cassis, tar, herbs. Delicious with the slow-roasted duck.
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6/7/2021 - TashNYC wrote: 92 Points
This wine has finally arrived! Drinking well with no decant, with notes of red fruit, cassis, tobacco, tar, herbs and some tannins. Delicious with the duck pate (which we had back in 3/2015 with this wine as well) and with the slow-roasted, herbal French duck.
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1/22/2021 - SoCal wrote:
This wine needs a lot of air to open up. When it does it is a very serviceable food wine with basic Bordeaux flavors. Drink and enjoy.
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1/25/2019 - pinoteer Likes this wine: 90 Points
Takes a while in the decanter, but classic-leaning Bordeaux here. Good freshness and noticeable tannins, unfortunately dry and coating much of the mouth. Probably another 5 years, at least, in these bottles, but the tannins will likely not round out with further aging.
Correcting...after 4 hours the tannins are nice and round, and this is a fabulous wine. I'm upping my original 88 score to 90, and a "like."
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6/14/2015 - prof b wrote: 90 Points
decanted for about three hours at this point. This wine has opened up and seems to be in a very nice spot. The dark fruits intermingle well with the blood and iron I expect from Bordeaux. Moderate acidity complements fruit well. CT says I have another bottle; I'll have to dig through the cellar soon.
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3/7/2015 - TashNYC wrote: 91 Points
Dinner at Ali and Adele's in Princeton (Princeton, NJ): At Ali & Adele's House (Princeton): This was decanted when we arrived -- and drank best 4 hours later. Was very tight for 2+ hours, then some lovely notes of cherry, stone, lead pencil and a little tobacco on the finish.
Best with the duck pate (with foie gras). Delicious on its own but tighter than it should be. These need 2-3 more years, I think, to drink well. Not as showy as the 2003 vintage (2-3 years ago) but lots of potential. HOLD.
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12/28/2014 - gbauer wrote:
Not bad. A little short and tannic. Not sure if this is getting better or worse.
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6/13/2014 - pinoteer Likes this wine: 87 Points
Just OK. Tasted best after about 4 hours in the decanter. I'll leave the last couple bottles lie for a few years and see what happens. Not a good QPR given that the Haut Bergey that I had the next night was so much better (same price range).
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4/27/2014 - stevenrcagle Likes this wine: 88 Points
Just Ok. Dry and not too much fruit. Agree with other reviewers time to drink these up. Did not take notes
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11/28/2013 - pinoteer Likes this wine: 89 Points
I opened another one of these up last night, as I hadn't had one in some time. PnVnD, but didn't give it enough time decanting. This wine still drinks very nicely. Didn't take formal notes, but my recollections are that the nose was a little reluctant (could be the limited decant time) and the finish was a bit short. Otherwise, a very serviceable wine. With more time, I might have gone a point higher.
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11/21/2012 - AMM3RD wrote: 89 Points
A very nice effort; pleasant quaffer where the fruit started to fade after 2+ hours. Dark fruit and balanced tannins (slightly dusty). Drink over the next year or two at most...AM
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11/15/2012 - jonphillips wrote: 87 Points
Thin and a strange ripe note
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10/5/2012 - AMM3RD wrote: 91 Points
This wine took an hour to open, so I recommend some air. Somewhat muted nose of red fruit. Really nice Cab fruit with a long (slightly dusty) finish. One of the best QPR Bordeaux's I've had. Drink over the next 3-5 years...AM
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5/27/2012 - pinoteer wrote: 89 Points
Drank this over 2 days, argon'd overnight. This wine is really coming into its own. Second night lots of dark fruit and licorice, a little oak. Quite delicious, with nice acidity and soft tannins. Limited finish, or the score could improve some.
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5/23/2011 - gbauer wrote:
Some spice and dark red fruit on the nose, plum. In the mouth, balanced, somewhat modern, but showing well now.
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9/27/2009 - AMM3RD wrote: 87 Points
This wine has lost some fruit since the first time I tasted it. Popped and poured at an Italian restaurant. Dark fruits on the nose and palate. Finish was pretty dry and dusty, with a little veggie note. Enjoyable wine, but not extraordinary. Decent QPR, would buy again...AMM
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1/4/2009 - z_willus_d wrote: 89 Points
2+ hr decant @58F. Dark red color; has a way of coating the glass sides on swirl with perfect evenness & symmetry. The nose seems to be hiding behind the covers in bed; it hints at purple flowers, wet stones, red currants, cassis, and field blackberries -- very nice but not intense. On the palate, this really shines; it's a monstrous Bordeaux and really attacks the palate front the first; heavy bodied without any "clunkiness." Wild blackberries dominate early on, then cassis commands in the middle where ultra juicy red currant / creme de cassis flavors advance in a super focused way that's really saying a lot to me about this vintage. After this, mouth-drying tannins rule the palate, bringing with them an accoutrement of very nice floral rose-petals, saddle-leather, and a large dose of blackberry syrup dead center on the back of the tongue. This is one of the better budget Bordeaux I've had in recent years, and I think it will certainly improve w/ some bottle-age, picking up additional complexities and hammering out some off-angle kinks to make for a more polished mouthfeel and improved refinement. The finish could be longer/stronger and is really the only thing holding this back from a higher score for me. Here's hoping that improves too. 89-90 pts now.
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12/10/2008 - gbauer wrote:
I opened one of these because I noticed that WS gave it an 84 and said "drink now." On the nose, a little bit of heat and a lot of fresh berries. A little bit of spice and minerality, as well -- showing more and better on the nose than I would have expected. In the mouth, a lot of tannin, but there is a fair amount of fruit as well. Dies in the middle and finishes short. Not great, but better than 84. I guess we'll see where these go...
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4/10/2008 - AMM3RD wrote: 92 Points
92+ This wine is young and delicious! Red + Black fruits galore, full bodied, with wonderful tannins. Minerality will develop in time. This wine will be a stunner in years to come. I also loved the '03 of this wine. Going to buy more. Drink over the next 10 years easy...AMM
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