(Decanted for one and a half hour) Deep red colour with a brick red hue and showing a lovely mature nose with leather, sous bois and barn with some primary notes of violet sweetness hiding underneath in a very pleasant way. Intense palate showing softened tannins with pleasant primary fruit and showing some herbs on the finish. (Best 2019-2029)
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La couleur est pourpre et la robe est super intense. Il n'y a pas tellement de signe d'âge pour moi même si effectivement 18 ans pour Bordeaux ce n'est pas grand chose.
Au Nez j'avais un petit côté animal/viandeux accompagné de champignons et aussi d'un petit côté terre humide. Niveau fruit j'avais des petites notes assez subtile de cerise. Il faut dire que j'ai carafé seulement 30 minutes avant de prendre mes notes de dégustation.
En bouche c'est vivant de beaux fruits rouges murs et encore le petit côté animal mais plus subtil qu'au nez. Le cuir est bien présent aussi. Je trouvais qu'il avait des aires de Barolo. Les tannins sont souple mais encore assez présent. Ma conjointe le trouvait 'fort' de part sont astringance mais pour moi ça rentrait bien. Il reste encore une belle dose d'acidité alors je n'ai pas de misère à croire qu'il lui reste plusieurs années devant lui. La longueur est belle. Bien satisfait ! On y retourne demain pour voir comment il évolue :)
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Developed(+) to mature nose with complexity. Medium(+) acidity, medium(+) finegrained tannins, medium(+) body. Complex flavours where oak, dark fruit, sweet black currant, plums and roots stood out. Sandy texture. Eternal length. Full of life and energy. Elegance. Fabulous.
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Lovely vibrant colour with maturing rim. Toasted wood and blackcurrant aromas with maturing bouquet and complexity. Leaner pallet with tannic drying finish. Opening up over time and fruit showing through the wood and tannin. More of your traditional style but showing some complexity from the producer. Perhaps its the vintage for the leaner profile but a very nice wine for $30 US as far as Bordeaux goes.
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I never would have thought it would have gotten this good. Not a hint of green, showing polished fruit-forward qualities. Some rustic funk on the nose, but overall a classic Bordeaux second wine showing its pedigree. Decanted 3 hours. Drink up.
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Ok structure, but strangely "fat" mid-palate. Lacking fruit. Somewhat developed but not enough to show any particilarly interesting tertiary notes. Nose does have some compelling cedar wood and typical Bordeaux characteristics with dark plums more than blackcurrant.
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If you have any of this, drink up. It opened poorly and we set it aside for night #2 when it was a lot better. Not superb but drinkable. Will have to reevaluate my storing of 2nd wines philosophy in the future me thinks. :)
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So, almost four years later, I open up that 2nd bottle I had and...wow! It was a lesson learned on opening wine to early. Awesome wine! Will buy this again.
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I dunno, but i rather like this wine. Still has the herbal and pepper aromatics from when i tasted this vintage young. A pleasant clean food wine....maybe a bit lean.
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Very poor quality with few redeeming features. Thin, tight with little in the way of future potential. If you are moved to purchase these second wines then I am increasingly of the mind they should be drunk within two to four years of purchase while they at least have some fruit. Poor stuff.
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very disappointing. Decanted and let sit for 4 hours but the tannins were still overpowering, but some decent acidity. muted black berry fruit with a little cedar. I should have waited another 5 or so years. The greenness of this bottle and the lack of fruit, even with time and decanting, makes me think that while this is clearly dormant, it is not a great wine. Much more impressed by a recent '03 Lagrange. I'm not a big fan of 2nd wines, but that may be because I have been drinking Cali Cab blends and S. Americans recently. This just doesn't even place with other most of the St. Julien gran vins like, Barton, Lagrange or even Gloria.
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Moderate but balanced fruit, acidity and tannins. Very drinkable, but ultimately it lacks the complexity I expect of Bordeaux in general and the texture I expect of St. Julien in partucular.
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Ahhh...was totally wrong to open this wine so early...what a dummy! This baby sister 2nd growth will remain in my cellar for many years to come and when the time is right...I will have a beauty on my hands. 2nd growth...yes b'ye!!
Ian
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Very green when popped, with oak. After sitting in the bottle for 3 hours, I returned to it and was nicely surprised. While admitting that this wine is currently a bit disjointed, there are many appealing elements that will (hopefully) come together with time. There is some cherry, which turns to bitter cocoa powder on the finish. The finish is lengthy, but a little gritty.
24 hours later: candied rose petal in the bouquet. Quite charming! Some barely discernible butterscotch aromas, too. There's tart fruit (cherries still?) and closing with the cocoa powder (more earthy tonight).
Definitely one for the cellar. Two years to go before the next bottle, I think.
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Cracked this for New Year's Eve and, honestly, I was disappointed. The tannins were still very much developing and quite gritty. The wine did get better as the glass progressed but was nothing like the zoomer I was expecting. Nice fruit flavors and the best part for me was the finish which was long lasting and pleasant.
I think I opened this wine earlier than what I should have. One bottle left in the cellar and it shall stay resting until 2012 at least. Happy New Year everyone!
Ian
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Crystal French Wine Sale (Bordeaux) (Crystal Wines): Quite an appealing nose of cologne. Comfortable and petitely dressed lady which you wouldn't mind sitting down to have an innocent chat with. Nothing more, nothing less.
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Somewhat restrained with a nose of berries. Pallate: Meat, earth and over-extraction; put on a little weight after a few hours. Good, not great. Look forward to 2005.
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Dinner at Andy's House: Not bad for a second wine. The Ducru is nowhere near ready to drink so I thought I would give this one a try. Hints of berries on the nose with dark fruit on the palate. This could have benifited from some decanting, but it was nice nonetheless.
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Tight and astringent. The wine was decanted for 1 hour and tasted at 1 hour intervals. Despite the extended decanting it really never opened up. I have several bottles of this houses first wine the Ducru (Which are nowhere near ready) and wanted to taste a bit of thier wines. Its pretty clear that this wine needs some bottle time as well. Considering that its counterpart the Ducru is almost 7 times the price it actually was a fairly decent wine. Hints of toast and really faint fruit on the nose, with a bitterness on the palate. Not much finish at this stage.
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10/14/2023 - thewiz Likes this wine: 92 Points
(Decanted for one and a half hour)
Deep red colour with a brick red hue and showing a lovely mature nose with leather, sous bois and barn with some primary notes of violet sweetness hiding underneath in a very pleasant way. Intense palate showing softened tannins with pleasant primary fruit and showing some herbs on the finish.
(Best 2019-2029)
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3/16/2022 - SamxCroft Likes this wine: 92 Points
La couleur est pourpre et la robe est super intense. Il n'y a pas tellement de signe d'âge pour moi même si effectivement 18 ans pour Bordeaux ce n'est pas grand chose.
Au Nez j'avais un petit côté animal/viandeux accompagné de champignons et aussi d'un petit côté terre humide. Niveau fruit j'avais des petites notes assez subtile de cerise. Il faut dire que j'ai carafé seulement 30 minutes avant de prendre mes notes de dégustation.
En bouche c'est vivant de beaux fruits rouges murs et encore le petit côté animal mais plus subtil qu'au nez. Le cuir est bien présent aussi. Je trouvais qu'il avait des aires de Barolo. Les tannins sont souple mais encore assez présent. Ma conjointe le trouvait 'fort' de part sont astringance mais pour moi ça rentrait bien. Il reste encore une belle dose d'acidité alors je n'ai pas de misère à croire qu'il lui reste plusieurs années devant lui. La longueur est belle. Bien satisfait ! On y retourne demain pour voir comment il évolue :)
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7/8/2021 - Anna@WineCellar Likes this wine: 93 Points
Developed(+) to mature nose with complexity. Medium(+) acidity, medium(+) finegrained tannins, medium(+) body. Complex flavours where oak, dark fruit, sweet black currant, plums and roots stood out. Sandy texture. Eternal length. Full of life and energy. Elegance. Fabulous.
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4/16/2021 - KriLis Likes this wine: 91 Points
Still going strong. Not a lot of acidity left, leather on the nose, reddish-brown color. Lovely.
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1/26/2019 - KriLis Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very good, aged nicely. Doubtful if it'll improve with further cellaring though
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7/30/2016 - lhickey Likes this wine: 89 Points
Still youthful. Sour cherry and tobacco nose. Mouthfilling mod++ tannins, plenty of acidity, big but balanced. Med finish.
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7/12/2015 - martha lennon wrote: 86 Points
Lovely vibrant colour with maturing rim.
Toasted wood and blackcurrant aromas with maturing bouquet and complexity. Leaner pallet with tannic drying finish. Opening up over time and fruit showing through the wood and tannin. More of your traditional style but showing some complexity from the producer. Perhaps its the vintage for the leaner profile but a very nice wine for $30 US as far as Bordeaux goes.
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3/8/2015 - DaddyNeedsPow Likes this wine: 91 Points
I never would have thought it would have gotten this good. Not a hint of green, showing polished fruit-forward qualities. Some rustic funk on the nose, but overall a classic Bordeaux second wine showing its pedigree. Decanted 3 hours. Drink up.
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9/20/2014 - peblin Does not like this wine: 86 Points
Ok structure, but strangely "fat" mid-palate. Lacking fruit. Somewhat developed but not enough to show any particilarly interesting tertiary notes. Nose does have some compelling cedar wood and typical Bordeaux characteristics with dark plums more than blackcurrant.
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8/11/2014 - elevation02 Likes this wine: 88 Points
If you have any of this, drink up. It opened poorly and we set it aside for night #2 when it was a lot better. Not superb but drinkable. Will have to reevaluate my storing of 2nd wines philosophy in the future me thinks. :)
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11/24/2013 - elevation02 Likes this wine: 92 Points
So, almost four years later, I open up that 2nd bottle I had and...wow! It was a lesson learned on opening wine to early. Awesome wine! Will buy this again.
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11/26/2012 - khmark7 wrote: 88 Points
I dunno, but i rather like this wine. Still has the herbal and pepper aromatics from when i tasted this vintage young. A pleasant clean food wine....maybe a bit lean.
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12/30/2011 - pjaines wrote:
Very poor quality with few redeeming features. Thin, tight with little in the way of future potential. If you are moved to purchase these second wines then I am increasingly of the mind they should be drunk within two to four years of purchase while they at least have some fruit. Poor stuff.
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7/9/2011 - Garfieldjsmith wrote:
- Garnet color with medium forming legs.
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5/20/2011 - Champagneinhand wrote: 83 Points
very disappointing. Decanted and let sit for 4 hours but the tannins were still overpowering, but some decent acidity. muted black berry fruit with a little cedar. I should have waited another 5 or so years. The greenness of this bottle and the lack of fruit, even with time and decanting, makes me think that while this is clearly dormant, it is not a great wine. Much more impressed by a recent '03 Lagrange. I'm not a big fan of 2nd wines, but that may be because I have been drinking Cali Cab blends and S. Americans recently. This just doesn't even place with other most of the St. Julien gran vins like, Barton, Lagrange or even Gloria.
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1/26/2011 - ewqcsl wrote: 88 Points
Moderate but balanced fruit, acidity and tannins. Very drinkable, but ultimately it lacks the complexity I expect of Bordeaux in general and the texture I expect of St. Julien in partucular.
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12/25/2010 - elevation02 wrote:
Ahhh...was totally wrong to open this wine so early...what a dummy! This baby sister 2nd growth will remain in my cellar for many years to come and when the time is right...I will have a beauty on my hands. 2nd growth...yes b'ye!!
Ian
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8/7/2010 - DaddyNeedsPow wrote: 89 Points
Very green when popped, with oak. After sitting in the bottle for 3 hours, I returned to it and was nicely surprised. While admitting that this wine is currently a bit disjointed, there are many appealing elements that will (hopefully) come together with time. There is some cherry, which turns to bitter cocoa powder on the finish. The finish is lengthy, but a little gritty.
24 hours later: candied rose petal in the bouquet. Quite charming! Some barely discernible butterscotch aromas, too. There's tart fruit (cherries still?) and closing with the cocoa powder (more earthy tonight).
Definitely one for the cellar. Two years to go before the next bottle, I think.
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3/7/2010 - cursitor wrote: 85 Points
Somewhat under-powered, and a touch out of balance. To try again, not a great bottle I suspect.
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1/1/2010 - elevation02 wrote: 85 Points
Cracked this for New Year's Eve and, honestly, I was disappointed. The tannins were still very much developing and quite gritty. The wine did get better as the glass progressed but was nothing like the zoomer I was expecting. Nice fruit flavors and the best part for me was the finish which was long lasting and pleasant.
I think I opened this wine earlier than what I should have. One bottle left in the cellar and it shall stay resting until 2012 at least. Happy New Year everyone!
Ian
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11/2/2008 - Alex H wrote: 82 Points
Crystal French Wine Sale (Bordeaux) (Crystal Wines): Quite an appealing nose of cologne. Comfortable and petitely dressed lady which you wouldn't mind sitting down to have an innocent chat with. Nothing more, nothing less.
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6/13/2008 - quagland wrote: 86 Points
Somewhat restrained with a nose of berries. Pallate: Meat, earth and over-extraction; put on a little weight after a few hours. Good, not great. Look forward to 2005.
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11/29/2007 - lhickey wrote: 88 Points
wonderful aromas of black fruit, some spice. Closed, tight on the palate, muted acidity. Need time >5yrs
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9/30/2007 - drunkstar wrote: 90 Points
Love this...great for the price....drank half day 1 but was definately at its best the second evening.
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7/21/2007 - cvvhrn wrote: 85 Points
Dinner at Andy's House: Not bad for a second wine. The Ducru is nowhere near ready to drink so I thought I would give this one a try. Hints of berries on the nose with dark fruit on the palate. This could have benifited from some decanting, but it was nice nonetheless.
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5/29/2007 - cvvhrn wrote: 84 Points
Tight and astringent. The wine was decanted for 1 hour and tasted at 1 hour intervals. Despite the extended decanting it really never opened up. I have several bottles of this houses first wine the Ducru (Which are nowhere near ready) and wanted to taste a bit of thier wines. Its pretty clear that this wine needs some bottle time as well. Considering that its counterpart the Ducru is almost 7 times the price it actually was a fairly decent wine. Hints of toast and really faint fruit on the nose, with a bitterness on the palate. Not much finish at this stage.
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