Its been a whole 5 years since we had this last ( Papies 93) and a wine we have had on many occasions over the last decade or so we we do feel its reaching its limit now albeit on this occasion it was exceptional. Always a great value wine and often underpriced on wine lists too. Well evolved nose, almost tertiary, earthy , truffle undertone. Soft rich feel and only the lightest of noble oxidation on the fringes. Still very much alive and healthy but not a vibrant wine as one expects from the age but a delicate one and an effortless beauty for the lovers of the style like us. A beautiful 93-94 once again. Drink this sooner than later.

A decade of history with this beautiful wine ( Papies 94-96 in 5 occasions) and albeit we are biased as for us Terlan Chardonnay Rarita is our favorite white wine of all time; it continues to deliver.
Bright and energetic after all these year, bright nose, citrus , light earthy edge, light noble oxidation that just adds a dimension to the nose. On the palate it shows a bit more evolved, hazelnut undertone but is ever so healthy and might we say vibrant too with a lot of complexity and depth. Soft mineral and just so polished on the finish. 95-96 once again and an experience to treasure. We have one more bottle and we will treasure that.

We have been on a journey with this wine since 2009 and probably the first proper wine we ever bought and have rated this 92-94 in a good half a dozen times. Last time was a whopping 7 years ago so we did look fwd to trying this.
We made the mistake of decanting it though and the wine does feel fragile and a bit short on the finish and really better had sooner than later and leave the 1996 for further ageing ( Papies 96). It is a beautiful wine and a love affair for those like us who cherish old-school well aged claret. Earthy, soft fruit, light austere on the edge as any St Estephe worth its salt and very savory too. The nose is for sure the highlight as on the palate it does fail to maintain the intensity and is on the short side of the spectrum when it come sto finish. And sort of lost its way in the decanter. A beautiful 93 for sure but better have this sooner than later.

Decanting works here and much like a year ago when when we had this last ( Papies 94) this benefited from it.
Its a wine of two faces in our mind the nose s as bordeaux-esque as it gets but on the palate it feels like it has done an internship in California. The fruit is riper, denser, definitely more selection here and had a cold feel it and dare we say the wine is young. A sort of complete wine across and with a lot of capacity to improve with more time in bottle. Very solid wine and shows that their wines need the time and mistakenly and more often than usual ( akin to Napa Cabs) are drunk too early. 94

A good 6 years since we had this last ( Papies 93) and frankly albeit the wine is superb it is a bit too obvious and a bit lacking the elegance and subtlety that Chave can deliver. Smoky, roast meat nose, spice and dark fruit but the smoky side is a bit overwhelming and rather than adding the usual dimension it overpowers the wine. It was a very weird feeling for us as to begin the wine sang and the smoky side was ever so delightful but over tiem it became just that ( We have had similar reactions to young Lucie Lemoine wines too where he uses a bit too much toast on the barrels) . Its a great wine for sure but for the price and pedigree it needs a bit more elegance which at this stage it does not. We think akin to Guigal La Las that he uses alot of toast on the barrel one should age this a lot more . 93 for now .

A lovely surprise! This was similar to a cellar defender and came in to substitute the flawed St Henri Shiraz and was paired with a lovely 1998 Ornellaia ( Papies 94) . The priced looked too good on 67PM list so we rolled the dice and got double 6s.
Granted our experience with left bank 1998s is limited still the memory of the Lady at Lynch Bages a good decade ago arguing that the harshness of the cab is on the way down in 1998s resurfaced.
Very earthy, well evolved, very classic and devout of the modernity shenanigans that SHL is so much doing for the last decade with their wines ( in all fairness along with so many others who solve for Parker 100) . Randomly beautiful, well evolved, forest floor, earth, light spice and albeit probably past its peak a beautiful 92 maybe even more given the price and vintage.

The cork was on the border of giving way and our friend who brought it had it wrapped to prevent it from so. Cork came out solid and fully wet and surprisingly didn't shrivel in 1000 bits. Top shoulder level.
Testament to its beauty is that it arrived at the end of a long and strong wine lineup to tired palates and soft of sang. Soft, light, fragile in a way but very much spirited . Like a fruitcake in a glass our friend said wisely and indeed this is what it delivered. An easy 93 and a very good result.

A very weird bottle, VA on the nose and just difficult. We argued if this was indeed a bad bottle or the wine paying the price now for an exuberant youth. For sure did not travel very well. Luckily 67 PM accepted to refund us. Shame really would have made a good pair vs Chave 1995 ( Papies 93)