3/2/2024 - Fatty Cat wrote:

Early Mar 2024, Rheingau Gourmet Festival, rarity diner “25 vintages of Chateau Montrose”: according to the sommelier double decanted for up to 3 hours; deep crimson color; highly open and opulent nose of cherries, red and dark berries; sumptuously lush on the palate. 95-96/100

Outstanding, very open and lavish Montrose 2003.

Vintages of flight I:
1992 - 1998 - 2001 - 2003 - 2009 - 2010 - 2012

1/27/2024 - Fatty Cat wrote:

0.375 L bottle late Jan 2024 at a restaurant: deep dark red color; bouquet of red berries, red cherries and hints of dark chocolate; like sour cherry juice in the mouth; noble smooth texture.

5/15/2022 - Gavin Sutherland Likes this wine:

Past it’s prime but still tasty for a 25yr old pinot gris! The nose smells like the wine is going to be sweeter than it is. Apricots, slight sherry notes, acidity still present and reasonable length

8/21/2022 - Fatty Cat wrote:

0.375 L bottle late Aug 2022: deep dark red color; not decanted; started a bit restrained in the nose, after 15-20 min. a seductive smell of dark and red fruit compote mixed with mint and a touch of mountain herbs; smooth and slightly sweet on the palate well-balanced by a mild juicy, fruity acidity; slightly tannic in the cheeks. 91+/100

13.5% alcohol; Cabernet Sauvignon 54%, Merlot 32%, Carmenere 14%.

Quite young Medoc, currently very open.

With his juiciness, fruitiness, and smoothness the 2018 Carmenere reminded me on a great Tuscan red wine. 91 points are on the conservative side.

I’ll have more bottles available and plan to taste this wine together with some Grand Cru Classes and Supertuscans.

4/22/2020 - Fatty Cat wrote:

Late Apr 2020, tasting of six different Bordeaux red wines (1996 Marbuzet, 2016 Ormes de Pez, 2009 Haut Madrac, 2009 Bourgneuf, 2012 Phelan Segur, 2012 Lagrange) all in 0.375 L bottles.

Late Apr 2020, Chateau Lagrange, 0.375 L bottle: not decanted; dark rubin color; needed over 1 h to develop a slightly restrained bouquet of cassis with cherry and vanilla notes; tight and closed on the palate accompained by strong, harsh tannins. 88-89+?/100

A Lagrange 2012 opened too early. Clearly this wine should have stayed untouched and would have benefited from additional cellar time (5-6 years).

2/19/2012 - Fatty Cat wrote:

Mid Feb 2012 in restaurant "Schwarzwaldstube, Traube Tonbach": golden amber color; grapefruit, apple, minerals; mellow acid on the palate; medium/full body; smooth texture.

Maybe my rating is a bit too enthusiastic but the wine went perfectly with the oyster dish.

6/11/2018 - ricard Does not like this wine:

I continue to find it baffling that anyone in their right mind would pay more than £10 for this nonsense. I am not doubting its provenance, authenticity, or even honesty. But why the prestige? This wine was desperately flabby, lacking any sort of acidity or definition whatsoever, soupy, vaguely syrupy, had no discernible tannin, no structure at all, and all fragrance pretty much died within 10 minutes. What aromas there were included maybe figs, blackberries, tar, and that's about it. A waste of time and money. The only possibility of redemption is that this wine was once very good (not great - that's inconceivable) and died years ago. A pathetic showing, and one that doesn't help at all to convince me that Bordeaux is not the world's most pompously overrated wine region. Let the Chinese and Russian oligarchs have it all! Maybe they're right to mix this syrup with Coca-Cola - I guess it makes the wine more exciting...

8/25/2018 - Fatty Cat wrote:

0.375 L bottle, late Aug 2018: purple red color; dark berries and black cherries; in the mouth accompanied by intense pepper and game flavors; smooth and round on the palate; medium/full body.

14.5% alcohol.

Just went quickly through the other 67 tasting notes of this wine. Somebody mentioned this wine got a 100 point score by a critic? Who was it?

Personally I found this wine already mature. Maybe at a different tasting setting I would score 1-2 points more. But 100 points? Well, in the end we all have a different taste :-).

12/27/2011 - Fatty Cat wrote:

Late Dec 2011: dark purple color; restrained nose of black and red currant; medium/full body; slightly flabby texture.

Since 2005 I have tasted several LB 2002 bottles. This is the first time I encountered a slight weakness and not awarded 90+ points. However, still very good.

4/24/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote:

Deep purple at the edges of its inky hue, this wine shows smoke, (Yes, a Deep Purple wine that shows Smoke on the Water) with licorice, Asian spice boysenberry and blackberries at the front of the perfume. The wine is full-bodied, concentrated and palate staining (so don’t spill it on the rug) but it also shows freshness, spice and lift. The fruits are sweet, ripe and ready to eat but that’s just the beginning, stand by for late breaking licorice, spice and silky tannins. There is energy and lift that grabs a seat at the table this year. Produced from a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc, this wine reached 13.07% alcohol with a pH of 3.66 and is now aging in 80% new, French oak barrels. The harvest took place from September 26 to October 15. 96 - 98 Pts