First bottle out of a case. Very top shoulder fill, auction purchase. Label in dismal shape but suggesting excellent storage. Cork at the end of its life, but came out in one piece thanks to the Durant. Absolutely stunning nose, suggesting this wine is at its peak: still plenty of plum fruit remaining, tobacco, cedar notes, baking spices ( mostly cloves). Tannins almost entirely resolved, rich texture, great concentration , length and complexity. A textbook aged St Emilion from this often ( in US) overlooked estate. Will enjoy this over next 5-10 years.
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Dinner at Violet in Seattle. A beautiful wine that Chef William said he drank growing up. He enjoyed a glass with us and we all agreed that this had a beautiful “pre-Parker” style. Age subdued the fruit a bit, but the wine still had a beautiful balance and long finish of fruit, cloves and earth. There was oxidation on nose that initially had me worried; but it blew off after ~20 mins of decanting. I’m always careful about decanting these older wines but this wine only got better with time in the decanter.
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Evaluating New Group of Old Bordeaux: Medium ruby color, this was fresh and firm with a solid core of polished red fruits, spice, with a supple mouthfeel and fully resolved tannin. Nice but drink up.
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Still alive. Most likely past peak but still enjoyable. Nose of beef blood and some herb. Palate is thinner than some bottles. Fairly balanced but drink up.
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light red with some fading to a dark brown at the rim, overall color still looks good. fruit has mostly faded in this particular bottle, but some structure remains. med- acidity with no perceptible tannin remaining, this was a good bottle if slightly past peak. did not meet the highs experienced by others who have recently consumed this.
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Roast Chicken and Bordeaux, etc @ Salil's (Vernon, CT): Perhaps not a perfect bottle, but this offered up a good amount of elegant, silky, smooth, aged-claret flavors. Nice notes of dried currants, cedar and leather, but not a lot of persistence.
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Roast chicken night (My place): A really good, but not great bottle of this. The cork here was soaked through and fell apart, and it seemed a bit more advanced than other bottles I've had in the past year. Still a very pretty wine with lots of bright red cherry fruit, cedar, tobacco, and other mature savoury notes coming together nicely on a medium weight frame, though not showing the depth that I've found in the best bottles of this.
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Stellar Night of Bordeaux; 5/15/2015-5/17/2015 (NYC): Expressive, ripe nose with a bit of sur maturite, fig, mint, brown sugar, a hint of raisin. Palate is fresher with excellent fruit, a fleshy mouthfeel, cooling menthol, meaty notes, cherry reduction, but shows slightly stewed fruit with air. Svelte, round fruit with citric tones keeping it fresh, all-in-all wonderfully mature. Maybe not a perfect bottle, but still really good.
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Old Bordeaux with Patrick back in town (Fabio's, NYC): Very pretty, lots of bright red fruits, earth and cedar wood notes with that mature old wine sweetness, all carried on an elegant, medium weight frame. Drinking wonderfully right now with structure fully resolved, but no signs of fading.
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Wines @ Mike's (Coventry, CT): Completely resolved and completely delicious. Loads of secondary scents and flavors, but still holding some fruit and (slight) grip to keep things interesting. Classic old Bordeaux notes of cedar, earth and leather. Smooth as velvet. Not sure how much to hold onto this, but it sure is tasty now. To it's credit, it evolved and improved through the night. Fascinating wine.
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A beautiful bottle to sit down and follow over a few hours. This keeps getting better with some time in the decanter, with the red fruited flavours becoming deeper and more sappy with air, and layers of cedar, tobacco, leather, and graphite elements augmenting the fruit. The structure's fully resolved here, and this has a really graceful, polished palate presence with bright acids keeping it very fresh and elegant. Outstanding.
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Excellent vin, bouteille un peu moins bien conservée que la précédente,; mais ça ne change pas grand chose... Gras, corsé, épicé, présent et long, cake, cherry, venaison, champignons, clou de girofle, fumé, thé, cerise et autres fruits rouges confits, vraiment profond et polymorphe comme j'aime. Excellent.
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Quel vin profond, riche, équilibré et complexe, une merveille ! Gras, corsé, épicé, soyeux, fruits rouges, cèdre, tabac, bonne longueur, encore une fois, une merveille !
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2013 New Year's Day Tasting (Marietta, GA): Confident that this bottle was past peak. It was not drinking terribly, but the acidity made this wine disjointed. Strong coffee notes on the nose.
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Cork was crowned and saturated and crumbled halfway out, but wine was still intact at 42, even after filtered and decanted. Mature bordeaux red color, lighter at rim. Graceful and elegant on nose and palate. Medium bodied, still some faint tannins for complexity, trailing into mellow citrus on moderately long finish.
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Some golden oldies on a Tuesday night. (Il Corso.): Feminine and Burgundian in profile with its beautiful aromatics and elegant mouthfeel, there's wonderful purity here and focus to the bright red fruit intermixed with cigar box and earth elements. Mature and fairly resolved, but with crisp acid levels, the wine takes its time dancing across the palate, but does so lightly leading to a persistent and enjoyable finish. Just a really pretty wine. A-.
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40th Birthday - 1970 Vintage Tasting (Casa del Woodruff): Bottle #2. Cork came out in 2 pieces, with light effort. Some sediment, but not much. Dark maroon, with an amber tint to it at the edge. Soy sauce, very light fruit (cranberry or cherry?) hiding out. Very interesting to see people's reaction...
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Canon dinner (Dobbs Ferry): A first bottle was quite oxidative with sherried and soy flavours; a second was absolutely stunning. Surprisingly youthful with a deep red colour, bold red and dark fruited flavours mingling seamlessly with baking spices, cedar, smoky and leathery accents, firm and powerful but still very graceful and elegant with gentle tannins and bright acids; proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove here. Fantastic balance and length, a wow wine.
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There's actually more going on in this vintage than there was in the '47. A powerful punch in the nose from the pop of the cork with an almost Burgundian savor of game and briar quiets down in short order but continues to display its underlying muscle on the palate, which still has a firmness to the tannin that makes this seem more Left Bank than Right. Orchard fruit, still rich and dense although nicely melted to a state of mature integration, turns to crushed rock on the finish.
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Hugh brought this fine bottle from his collection to Marks LO to pair off with the '82 Canon. The resemblance was amazing; the same chocolately fruit, vanilla tinge for the first few minutes, but with the higher acidity so chracteristic of 1970. Very much alive, but finishes a bit short and may have been better five or ten years ago. Still, when paired with the right food, say a strongly flavored dark meat, it is interesting for its complexity and mouth-cleansing properties.
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2/19/2024 - vagrantone wrote: flawed
Terribly corked.
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1/14/2024 - vagrantone Likes this wine: 94 Points
First bottle out of a case.
Very top shoulder fill, auction purchase. Label in dismal shape but suggesting excellent storage.
Cork at the end of its life, but came out in one piece thanks to the Durant.
Absolutely stunning nose, suggesting this wine is at its peak: still plenty of plum fruit remaining, tobacco, cedar notes, baking spices ( mostly cloves).
Tannins almost entirely resolved, rich texture, great concentration , length and complexity. A textbook aged St Emilion from this often ( in US) overlooked estate.
Will enjoy this over next 5-10 years.
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10/20/2022 - Brolawa Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dinner at Violet in Seattle. A beautiful wine that Chef William said he drank growing up. He enjoyed a glass with us and we all agreed that this had a beautiful “pre-Parker” style. Age subdued the fruit a bit, but the wine still had a beautiful balance and long finish of fruit, cloves and earth. There was oxidation on nose that initially had me worried; but it blew off after ~20 mins of decanting. I’m always careful about decanting these older wines but this wine only got better with time in the decanter.
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7/16/2021 - SoundinBetween wrote:
Evaluating New Group of Old Bordeaux: Medium ruby color, this was fresh and firm with a solid core of polished red fruits, spice, with a supple mouthfeel and fully resolved tannin. Nice but drink up.
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12/16/2017 - Jason Likes this wine: 88 Points
Still alive. Most likely past peak but still enjoyable. Nose of beef blood and some herb. Palate is thinner than some bottles. Fairly balanced but drink up.
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11/24/2015 - SoundinBetween wrote:
light red with some fading to a dark brown at the rim, overall color still looks good. fruit has mostly faded in this particular bottle, but some structure remains. med- acidity with no perceptible tannin remaining, this was a good bottle if slightly past peak. did not meet the highs experienced by others who have recently consumed this.
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11/20/2015 - mdefreitas wrote: 91 Points
Roast Chicken and Bordeaux, etc @ Salil's (Vernon, CT): Perhaps not a perfect bottle, but this offered up a good amount of elegant, silky, smooth, aged-claret flavors. Nice notes of dried currants, cedar and leather, but not a lot of persistence.
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11/20/2015 - salil wrote: 91 Points
Roast chicken night (My place): A really good, but not great bottle of this. The cork here was soaked through and fell apart, and it seemed a bit more advanced than other bottles I've had in the past year. Still a very pretty wine with lots of bright red cherry fruit, cedar, tobacco, and other mature savoury notes coming together nicely on a medium weight frame, though not showing the depth that I've found in the best bottles of this.
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8/30/2015 - spatchmo2 wrote:
This was a great vinegar but not wine.
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5/16/2015 - blanquito wrote: 92 Points
Stellar Night of Bordeaux; 5/15/2015-5/17/2015 (NYC): Expressive, ripe nose with a bit of sur maturite, fig, mint, brown sugar, a hint of raisin. Palate is fresher with excellent fruit, a fleshy mouthfeel, cooling menthol, meaty notes, cherry reduction, but shows slightly stewed fruit with air. Svelte, round fruit with citric tones keeping it fresh, all-in-all wonderfully mature. Maybe not a perfect bottle, but still really good.
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5/16/2015 - salil wrote: 93 Points
Old Bordeaux with Patrick back in town (Fabio's, NYC): Very pretty, lots of bright red fruits, earth and cedar wood notes with that mature old wine sweetness, all carried on an elegant, medium weight frame. Drinking wonderfully right now with structure fully resolved, but no signs of fading.
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12/14/2014 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: flawed
Likely due to poor storage. Cork totally soaked. No fruit left whatsoever. Not enjoyable in the least bit. Bummer.
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12/6/2014 - mdefreitas wrote: 94 Points
Wines @ Mike's (Coventry, CT): Completely resolved and completely delicious. Loads of secondary scents and flavors, but still holding some fruit and (slight) grip to keep things interesting. Classic old Bordeaux notes of cedar, earth and leather. Smooth as velvet. Not sure how much to hold onto this, but it sure is tasty now. To it's credit, it evolved and improved through the night. Fascinating wine.
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12/6/2014 - salil wrote: 94 Points
A beautiful bottle to sit down and follow over a few hours. This keeps getting better with some time in the decanter, with the red fruited flavours becoming deeper and more sappy with air, and layers of cedar, tobacco, leather, and graphite elements augmenting the fruit. The structure's fully resolved here, and this has a really graceful, polished palate presence with bright acids keeping it very fresh and elegant. Outstanding.
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12/6/2014 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
December birthdays (Coventry): Somewhat reticent nose; pretty cherry, pencil, cigar. Good acidity. Yum.
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9/21/2014 - meqoubal36 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Excellent vin, bouteille un peu moins bien conservée que la précédente,; mais ça ne change pas grand chose... Gras, corsé, épicé, présent et long, cake, cherry, venaison, champignons, clou de girofle, fumé, thé, cerise et autres fruits rouges confits, vraiment profond et polymorphe comme j'aime. Excellent.
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12/19/2013 - bpj87 wrote: 91 Points
Pretty, resolved Bordeaux. Old school Right Bank (not rocket fuel). Plenty of fruit given the light structure, and lovely tertiary character.
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6/1/2013 - meqoubal36 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Quel vin profond, riche, équilibré et complexe, une merveille !
Gras, corsé, épicé, soyeux, fruits rouges, cèdre, tabac, bonne longueur, encore une fois, une merveille !
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1/1/2013 - Rezy13 wrote: 88 Points
2013 New Year's Day Tasting (Marietta, GA): Confident that this bottle was past peak. It was not drinking terribly, but the acidity made this wine disjointed. Strong coffee notes on the nose.
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12/1/2012 - ArtF wrote: 96 Points
Cork was crowned and saturated and crumbled halfway out, but wine was still intact at 42, even after filtered and decanted. Mature bordeaux red color, lighter at rim. Graceful and elegant on nose and palate. Medium bodied, still some faint tannins for complexity, trailing into mellow citrus on moderately long finish.
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10/23/2012 - BradKNYC wrote:
Some golden oldies on a Tuesday night. (Il Corso.): Feminine and Burgundian in profile with its beautiful aromatics and elegant mouthfeel, there's wonderful purity here and focus to the bright red fruit intermixed with cigar box and earth elements. Mature and fairly resolved, but with crisp acid levels, the wine takes its time dancing across the palate, but does so lightly leading to a persistent and enjoyable finish. Just a really pretty wine. A-.
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7/24/2010 - RPerro wrote: 86 Points
40th Birthday - 1970 Vintage Tasting (Casa del Woodruff): Bottle #2. Cork came out in 2 pieces, with light effort. Some sediment, but not much. Dark maroon, with an amber tint to it at the edge. Soy sauce, very light fruit (cranberry or cherry?) hiding out. Very interesting to see people's reaction...
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5/3/2010 - DaleW wrote:
So we opened the other one. Aha, now THIS is more like it. Dark fruits, cherries, coffee, herbs. Complex, elegant, complete. A-
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5/3/2010 - DaleW wrote:
This was the one initially opened, though it actually was supposed to be a backup. Pretty advanced, cassis and leather, with air some ashtray.
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5/2/2010 - salil wrote: 95 Points
Canon dinner (Dobbs Ferry): A first bottle was quite oxidative with sherried and soy flavours; a second was absolutely stunning. Surprisingly youthful with a deep red colour, bold red and dark fruited flavours mingling seamlessly with baking spices, cedar, smoky and leathery accents, firm and powerful but still very graceful and elegant with gentle tannins and bright acids; proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove here. Fantastic balance and length, a wow wine.
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11/6/2008 - DaleW wrote:
A touch herbal.minty (which led to some Cab Franc guesses). Good acidity, tannins pretty much bye-bye, fairly classic mature claret. B+/A-
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10/17/2008 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 91 Points
There's actually more going on in this vintage than there was in the '47. A powerful punch in the nose from the pop of the cork with an almost Burgundian savor of game and briar quiets down in short order but continues to display its underlying muscle on the palate, which still has a firmness to the tannin that makes this seem more Left Bank than Right. Orchard fruit, still rich and dense although nicely melted to a state of mature integration, turns to crushed rock on the finish.
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5/13/2007 - sdr wrote: 89 Points
Hugh brought this fine bottle from his collection to Marks LO to pair off with the '82 Canon. The resemblance was amazing; the same chocolately fruit, vanilla tinge for the first few minutes, but with the higher acidity so chracteristic of 1970. Very much alive, but finishes a bit short and may have been better five or ten years ago. Still, when paired with the right food, say a strongly flavored dark meat, it is interesting for its complexity and mouth-cleansing properties.
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1/1/1978 - bacchus wrote: 92 Points
great bottle.
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