A private dinner (Restaurant De Lage Vuursche, Lage Vuursche, NL): A perfectly stored bottle. Upper shoulder level. Mature but very lively appearance, ruby red core. Deep and warm and classical nose, rich and concentrated, clay and spice, bright and lively Cabernet fruit, blackcurrant leaf, incredible power and drive, grippy tannins, pure and bright, long finish leaves the palate dry and perfumed. Timeless. A great and classical Cos.
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16 Mature Bordeaux Magnums 1945/47/55/59 (+Unico): Three 1947s, all from magnum. Clear winner was the Cos d‘Estournel (95+ pts). Full of life, complex, seductive and sensual. The most complete wine. The bouquet was easily on a 97 pts level, the palate showed a touch less layered, but still, this was superb. Beychevelle (92 pts) and Pichon Lalande (91 pts) were a few steps behind. The Beychevelle had more substance but was missing a bit of elegance. The PLL, of course, had all that elegance but not enough aromatic pressure and complexity. Still, all three 1947s were successes.
TN: One of the best, most expressive noses of the tasting. Dark, sweet chocolate nose, superb fruit sweetness paired with earthy aromas and minerality. With time even some cool blue (!) forest fruit. Then suddendly some coffee and burnt sugar notes. Always changeling and revealing new nuances. On the palate this shows a bit less complex and less precise but with a fine sweetness, good fruit core and some tertiary notes and less intense but still apparent sensual chocolate and coffee notes. The structure is impeccable, lots of tension, silky tannins, good acidic frame, creamy, light and elegant. Nice, sweet and fairly long finish.
Decanting: Double decanted 2+ hours before the tasting.
Richter Magnum Rarity Tasting (Zunfthaus zur Waag, Zurich): Tasted at a grand magnum rarities tasting hosted by a merchant and collector in Zurich. Most bottles were Bordeaux from the 40s and 50s. The top 3 wines 1. Cheval Blanc 1955 (98), 2. Ausone 1959 (97), 3. Haut-Brion 1955 (95). Full list of wines sorted by score and additional observations included in the tasting story.
Tasting notes Creamy with milk chocolate, defined and nicely ripe red cherry and blueberry fruit, just a whiff of cedar wood and spice. Amazingly sweet and seductive with expanding intensity. Elegant yet still powerful. Palate still has some structure left and leaning much less towards acidity than others in the vintage.
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Annual Richter All-Magnum Extravaganza: Hello beautiful! Intense multi-layered nose of Amarena cherries, white chocolate, cola, tobacco and some forest floor. Creamy textured with a very nice length. This was definitely one of the highlights of the tasting for me. -would have loved to drink a bottle of this over a whole night.
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Mid-shoulder fill. The cork came out in excellent condition given its age. Decanted just prior to serving. Beautiful crimson hue with minimal browning, which I find quite impressive for a 74 year old wine, but that is ( I guess) the unique character of the 47 vintage. Quintessential Medoc nose with dried fruit ( blueberries and strawberries), spices, tobacco, cigarbox and iron/earthy notes. The texture is absolutely exquisite: smooth, rich just enough tannin remnant to hold it together. Impressive spectrum of aromas and length. This wine does not seem suitable for additional aging as it started to decline rapidly after an hour of so in the glass. Memorable wine on a memorable day.
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First up, a late release Nicolas Bottling second growth in pristine condition. Very much alive with an energetic personality. Held up over the course of 3 hours without losing anything while consumed.
Soft crimson in color, the ‘47 COS still has some nice grip to its tannin. Very smooth palate of sweet red and black fruits with spicy undertones. Classic Bordeaux aromatics of cedar, tobacco and aged leather. Been having a great level of success with these older, elegant St. Estéphe.
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This was a Nicolas bottling. The nose was quite volatile and it had an aldehydic nuttiness. The palate was dense and concentrated with a core of cassis and blood plum. There was a black olive saltiness to the wine and it was rich, layered and long.
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Very weird offputting stinky aromas of wet black earthy and waste water. Very dry dirty flavors. Not seemingly corked or flawed, simply insipid flavor profile. 79
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From magnum, recorked in 1988. Murky red color. Really special nose with cedar and tobacco type notes, and muted red fruits - just a great balance of components. Not quite as special on the palate, but still in a very good place with softened body and well-resolved structure. A somewhat invasive tartness. Very nice wine, and a joy to taste.
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Nose is quite funky, displaying notes of mushrooms. Palate is smooth and velvety with good fruit. Soft, chocolaty, with nice sweetness. Very, very youthful for a nearly 60 year old wine. Tasted blind.
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4/23/2023 - Peter Spijker Does not like this wine:
Totally over the hill - vinegar. No note and no rating. Great piece of history though!
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9/30/2022 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 97 Points
A private dinner (Restaurant De Lage Vuursche, Lage Vuursche, NL): A perfectly stored bottle. Upper shoulder level. Mature but very lively appearance, ruby red core. Deep and warm and classical nose, rich and concentrated, clay and spice, bright and lively Cabernet fruit, blackcurrant leaf, incredible power and drive, grippy tannins, pure and bright, long finish leaves the palate dry and perfumed. Timeless. A great and classical Cos.
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7/17/2022 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points
16 Mature Bordeaux Magnums 1945/47/55/59 (+Unico): Three 1947s, all from magnum. Clear winner was the Cos d‘Estournel (95+ pts). Full of life, complex, seductive and sensual. The most complete wine. The bouquet was easily on a 97 pts level, the palate showed a touch less layered, but still, this was superb. Beychevelle (92 pts) and Pichon Lalande (91 pts) were a few steps behind. The Beychevelle had more substance but was missing a bit of elegance. The PLL, of course, had all that elegance but not enough aromatic pressure and complexity. Still, all three 1947s were successes.
TN: One of the best, most expressive noses of the tasting. Dark, sweet chocolate nose, superb fruit sweetness paired with earthy aromas and minerality. With time even some cool blue (!) forest fruit. Then suddendly some coffee and burnt sugar notes. Always changeling and revealing new nuances. On the palate this shows a bit less complex and less precise but with a fine sweetness, good fruit core and some tertiary notes and less intense but still apparent sensual chocolate and coffee notes. The structure is impeccable, lots of tension, silky tannins, good acidic frame, creamy, light and elegant. Nice, sweet and fairly long finish.
Decanting: Double decanted 2+ hours before the tasting.
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7/2/2022 - sirpat00 wrote: 94 Points
Richter Magnum Rarity Tasting (Zunfthaus zur Waag, Zurich): Tasted at a grand magnum rarities tasting hosted by a merchant and collector in Zurich. Most bottles were Bordeaux from the 40s and 50s. The top 3 wines 1. Cheval Blanc 1955 (98), 2. Ausone 1959 (97), 3. Haut-Brion 1955 (95). Full list of wines sorted by score and additional observations included in the tasting story.
Tasting notes
Creamy with milk chocolate, defined and nicely ripe red cherry and blueberry fruit, just a whiff of cedar wood and spice. Amazingly sweet and seductive with expanding intensity. Elegant yet still powerful. Palate still has some structure left and leaning much less towards acidity than others in the vintage.
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7/2/2022 - G_H wrote: 96 Points
Annual Richter All-Magnum Extravaganza: Hello beautiful! Intense multi-layered nose of Amarena cherries, white chocolate, cola, tobacco and some forest floor. Creamy textured with a very nice length. This was definitely one of the highlights of the tasting for me. -would have loved to drink a bottle of this over a whole night.
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5/17/2021 - vagrantone Likes this wine: 93 Points
Mid-shoulder fill. The cork came out in excellent condition given its age.
Decanted just prior to serving.
Beautiful crimson hue with minimal browning, which I find quite impressive for a 74 year old wine, but that is ( I guess) the unique character of the 47 vintage.
Quintessential Medoc nose with dried fruit ( blueberries and strawberries), spices, tobacco, cigarbox and iron/earthy notes.
The texture is absolutely exquisite: smooth, rich just enough tannin remnant to hold it together. Impressive spectrum of aromas and length.
This wine does not seem suitable for additional aging as it started to decline rapidly after an hour of so in the glass.
Memorable wine on a memorable day.
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5/12/2020 - La Flama Blanca Likes this wine: 93 Points
First up, a late release Nicolas Bottling second growth in pristine condition. Very much alive with an energetic personality. Held up over the course of 3 hours without losing anything while consumed.
Soft crimson in color, the ‘47 COS still has some nice grip to its tannin. Very smooth palate of sweet red and black fruits with spicy undertones. Classic Bordeaux aromatics of cedar, tobacco and aged leather. Been having a great level of success with these older, elegant St. Estéphe.
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8/14/2017 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
This was a Nicolas bottling. The nose was quite volatile and it had an aldehydic nuttiness. The palate was dense and concentrated with a core of cassis and blood plum. There was a black olive saltiness to the wine and it was rich, layered and long.
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5/29/2014 - KenK Does not like this wine: 75 Points
Very weird offputting stinky aromas of wet black earthy and waste water. Very dry dirty flavors. Not seemingly corked or flawed, simply insipid flavor profile. 79
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5/29/2014 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Great Older Wines at the Place to Drink Great Older Wines (Tampa FL): Bottle stored perfectly for 50+ years, but this bottle was somewhat dirty and showing some sign of rot and spoilage.
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4/11/2009 - psmith wrote:
From magnum, recorked in 1988. Murky red color. Really special nose with cedar and tobacco type notes, and muted red fruits - just a great balance of components. Not quite as special on the palate, but still in a very good place with softened body and well-resolved structure. A somewhat invasive tartness. Very nice wine, and a joy to taste.
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6/12/2006 - D. Fulton wrote: 92 Points
Nose is quite funky, displaying notes of mushrooms. Palate is smooth and velvety with good fruit. Soft, chocolaty, with nice sweetness. Very, very youthful for a nearly 60 year old wine. Tasted blind.
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