Light gold color. Drank a glass over 45 minutes. This is a fine Champagne, but it's not really my style. Oxidative both on the nose and palate, I actually prefer the palate with its creamy texture, vanilla panna cotta, lemon and white pear. The minerality is on the chalk side.

Light gold color. PNP, drank a glass over 60 minutes. Rich, lush, a little warmth on the throat, vanilla custard, rich, lemon, flashy, a little flabby though. This could have used a bit more acid for freshness. 91+ to 92pts.

Medium dark red to marroon color with a 15mm bricked margin, the color largely belies its age. PNP, drank a glass plus over 2 hours. Funny thing about these old BV wines (and old wines in general), and I've had a few now, if they're intact, then they really need at least 15 minutes or more to really open up. Don't be afraid to decant them gently. In this case, I found this getting better throughout the first hour. That's pretty darn impressive for a 50 year old wine. This is one of those wines, you know is older when you drink it, but I suspect not many would guess it this old either. This started off just full of mint in several variations. That seemed to dominate for 15 minutes and then the aromas just blossomed; earthy, dried earth, fine leather, savory, dried cherries and later a pretty black currant top note. The palate is at that wonderfully resolved point where things are so harmonious; cherry, woodsy, subtle and soft, medium body, elegant, mint and spices. It's a beautiful thing to drink a wine like this. Way to go James. 93+ to 94pts.

Very dark red color. PNP; drank a glass over 2.5 hours. This was very brooding for the first 30 minutes at least. Gradually the pedigree starts to shine through with a classic Dominus nose, perfume, more black fruited, earth, bright. The palate takes even longer to flesh out, a good hour really, then it too starts to shed the wood and the darker fruit starts to show a polish. 92+ to 93pts.

On a side note, this bottle can cause confusion to people because of the way it is listed in CT with the Napanook Vineyard name on it, an issue for bottles from 1991 to 1996. This is not the second wine called "Napanook" which was first made in '96 FWIW.

Mildly corked, but plenty to dull everything. Bummer.

Medium dark red color. Excellent fill, saturated cork, PNP, drank a glass plus over 2 hours. This had some bottle stank that had my worried at first, but it blew off pretty quickly. This is very mature at this point, though I can't say whether it is representative, and this bottle was probably better a few years ago. However, I found it very rewarding and offering a classic portrait of older Pessac wines. I was entralled by the purity of the pencil and tobacco notes, dark cherry and cassis with a smoky scrorched earth and gravel character. Barely medium body and quite sleek with fine tannins. I suspect I liked it more than most, but then I really enjoy these older complex and resolved wines that are not all about the fruit.

Very dark red with a purple hue. PNP, poured into glasses and followed over 2 hours. The idea here was to see a young Bordeaux wine. Well, it was pretty much as expected for me. Very, very, very young, green, big, black and blue fruits, drying tannins,, some heat. Not ready, not sure a decant, unless the day before would have made much difference. No score.

Very dark red/purple color. Decanted about an hour. Earthy, tight, dense and youthful, black fruits, gravel, wood, a bit terse and firm. Others liked this more. Needs time and air.

Very dark red color. PNP, drank a glass over an hour. This blew up on the nose after about 20 minutes in glass, cassis, creme de cassis, damp forest floor, graphite. The palate shows wood, soil, juicy black fruits, lots of wood, fairly vibrant over time. This got considerably better and had it not been the last wine poured, it may have had enough time in glass to progress even further. 92(+?)pts.

Medium gold color. Drank a glass over 30 minutes. Ripe and sweet, peach, bright, orange cream, pineapple, vanilla, honey, nice, could use a bit more acid.