Community Tasting Note
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texanoblues Likes this wine: 97 points
February 20, 2015 - Dark and inky in the glass. Smooth black fruit, pencil shavings, anise, and charcoal on the nose. Very concentrated and intense on the palate with long tannic finish. This is a stunning beauty of a wine! Deep and dark, with magnificent intensity.
Immediately after opening, the wine seemed quite rough and herbaceous and was not pleasing to me. The above notes were based on the wine after four hours in a decanter and I feel the best came between 6-8 hrs after decant.
What a pleasure to experience this one come to life!4 people found this helpful 9,351 views
4 Comments
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whitmanlholt commented:
2/20/15, 9:28 PM - Your observation about finding "a different wine" after 4 hours of decanting merely reflects the fact that you drank this wine about 10 years too early. It is not at all surprising that it changed (apparently to the better based on the rest of your note) with some air. If you have other bottles, please leave them alone until they are closer to legal age. You'll likely enjoy the result far more than at least the first part of this note suggests you enjoyed the H-B now. What you did today was little more than a disservice to this wine.
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texanoblues commented:
2/21/15, 5:41 AM - 2/21/2015 5:40:00 AM - It seems by the tone of your comment that you took offense to my tasting note regarding the bottle of 2010 Chateau Haut Bailly that I have open. I am sorry and perhaps my note is misleading. I am enjoying the wine immensely! I don't disagree with the position that this wine will be much better after some more years in the cellar. However, after decanting and letting the wine breathe, it is magnificent now. That was the point I was trying to make. I will re-evaluate my note and perhaps edit it to more clearly state my impression of this wine. I'm not sure that I agree with your statement that I have somehow done a disservice to this wine. In fact, the wine did a great service to me, and perhaps others that have this wine may read my note and consider holding theirs longer. Or, if for some reason they are bent on drinking now, they might plan on letting it breathe for some time before serving. Again, I apologize for any unwanted feelings my note may have caused you. But, in the end, it is an honest reflection of my perception of this wine in its current state.
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whitmanlholt commented:
2/21/15, 10:31 AM - Fair enough. I had the impression that you thought this was a bad wine, but with your clarification (and the revision to the note), I understand we are largely on the same page. I think the note will help guide people to let this sit for a while or give a good decant. It is of course important that notes reflect one's actual impression of a given wine. Cheers!
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jmoon commented:
11/22/15, 11:48 PM - Texas wins, Whitman proven pompous. Relax guys its only wines, not Miss Workd 1982