10/15/2016 - Eclipse1 Does not like this wine:

Thin, stringy and just poor. But i expected that as i have yet to taste a decent Cissac . Been trying every other year over 20 years and i simply do not get it. Nothing wrong with it, i just find it rather dull.

8/12/2023 - isaacjamesbaker wrote:

Medium orange color. So bright and interesting on the nose with this lemon zinger tea, honeysuckle, mint and celery seed over orange peel, with notes of almond skin and corn husk – really cool. Bracing but balanced with a pleasantly waxy texture and crisp acidity, and juicy, tangy flavors of nectarine, orange peel, preserved lemon. There’s this cool mix of chalky, salty tones with floral, almond skin, and honey accents. Super fun but a lot going on as well. A great intro orange wine, as it’s not too crazy, and everything balances out nicely. Viognier and Chenin Blanc.

12/1/2022 - joet626 Likes this wine:

very good. Lemony, creamy. Nice mouthfeel. Good all-around

4/8/2022 - red freddy Likes this wine:

White Rhône-style White Blend; Viognier - 62% & Marsanne - 38%.
13.5% abv,- $12.

Served @ 12c/54f with Pacific Snapper, Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Rice. I try not to post multiple reviews for wines so as not to skew the ratings (nothing more disappointing than looking up a new wine - "Oh Boy," 91 points by 6 reviewers - only to find all the reviews are by the same individual).

Delightful pale yellow in the glass with a fragrant nose of stone fruit. Creamy, slightly waxy (typical of Marsanne) on the palate with a hint of sweetness. Actually a dry wine with the impression of sweet from the fruit. White Rhônes are a particularly good accompaniment to seafood and shellfish and I was glad to find this Australian blend at this price point. Surprising acidity results in a freshness and slightly mineral finish. Spouse-Endorsed.

6/1/2021 - _water.into.wine_ wrote:

Pop and pour. For me I was a little disappointed. A ripe nose upon opening with some dark blackcurrants, but I found the initial nose better than the taste. This is very rustic in style. Quite earthy, but maybe that’s it’s proximity to St Estephel.The palate is round and quite lush, with soft tannins but some bite. I felt this was already very evolved and fading, which is a surprise given this has been perfectly stored since purchasing in Nov 2013.. I have more bottles so let me decant next time.

1/4/2023 - Keith Cooper Likes this wine:

Blackcurrant colour. More blackcurrant and spice on the nose. Mature, rich, dark, long, spice and red berry fruits, leather, marzipan.

7/21/2023 - johnrm Likes this wine:

8 years on from our last bottle. Very good as soon as opened. No VA. Good colour - deeper than expected. Good nose but it was slow to open. Very attractive softness on the palate with rich, sweet cherry fruit, soft integrated tannins, and subtle spice. Maraschino cherries on the long, fruit-filled palate. After almost two decades it still tastes young and supple.
We drank most of it over an afternoon and evening but a portion was good next day and was an ideal accompaniment to slow-cooked pork shoulder in a sweet, spicy date sauce
There seems to be some variation in the bottles described by earlier reviewers but this is superb. Ready now but with a future. We couldn’t ask for more. 92+

11/1/2021 - Alex Brogan wrote:

Made by Daisy Doene, according to the cork. This was delicious! I love how Sauternes ages so it was refreshing to also experience this younger fruit character; fresh lychees, peach and pear. Absolutely delicious.

3/22/2023 - Mandamus wrote:

Reasonably good, with red meat. Quite bitter and nothing special. Short finish. (With family and an involved meal.)

2/16/2023 - honest bob wrote:

From 75cl screwcap, P+P. Closed down tight on opening, this note after 90 minutes in the glass: Promising blackcurrant-led scent; thick-textured entry with intense monolithic sweetness and blunt, perhaps a little stewed, dark red fruit, which remains linear through the mid-palate to the rather syrupy finish. Perhaps in a couple of years this might come into some kind of balance? An optimistic 88P(?)

12/13/2022 - johnrm Likes this wine:

I won’t add much to my detailed earlier notes. A year on from our last bottle, this is drinking beautifully with all the positive, impressive characteristics notes earlier. It still offers surprisingly fresh fruit, great balance, and remarkable length. Not quite a 95 this time but that might be down to mood and company as well as the wine itself! Sadly, we have only 2 or 3 bottles still to enjoy.

11/13/2022 - Neddy9 Does not like this wine:

I bought this in about 2015 as a semi mature vintage, hoping it would provide good drinking while better growths were maturing. At 13 years of age, I expected a great drink from this very successful vintage.
Level perfect, composite cork in excellent condition. Upon opening and decanting from a very slight crust, first impressions and also from my drinking partner were that it needed lots of air. The nose was nearly non-existent and the palate was 'tight' and ungiving. After a couple of hours, some nice cedar and wood spice characters evolved, but still within a very tight frame, quite ungenerous. The overall impression was of insipid fruit and too much oak. What was nice was the velvety texture and mouthfeel.
Visiting again the next evening after a day in the decanter, the wine was even less enjoyable - just tough and unappealing.
Reading other tasting notes, I can only conclude this to be an under par bottle (definitely not corked), as other descriptions are much more like what I expected. I have wines like Chateau Cissac of the same era that are in a lovely place for modest drinking. What a shame !

10/15/2022 - johnrm Likes this wine:

The nose was powerful, fragrant, full of tropical fruit with citrus notes. The dry but balanced palate showed the same but with Kiwi fruit, apple, and stone fruit and skin flavours developing. It was served only very slightly cool which possibly explains the initial forwardness.
Given time, the expected peach/apricot flavours began to emerge. Quite long, good mouthfeel and with good balance. The nose and palate seemed to be slightly sweeter and retained attractive fruit and fragrance into day 2.
Not a highly complex wine but really rather good quality and great value for the low price (£6.49 on offer at Waitrose). 88+

9/2/2022 - johnrm Likes this wine:

This did not reach the impressive level of earlier bottles for me when first opened. It was OK a few hours after opening and accompanied grilled steak quite well but it seemed a bit flat and ordinary. Next day, with cheese, the fruit came through a little more positively but the end taste still had a little too much acidity and tannin.
However, a third of a bottle was tasted on the second and third days and improved greatly over that time. Good fruit on the fragrant nose and there was enough remaining soft acidity and tannin to accompany food with style.
Perhaps it suffered at first from being served with other reds (including ‘sweeter’ Malbecs and a bottle of 20 year old Ch. Musar at a family gathering. Maybe it it is time to move on to younger vintages but my initial reaction was too harsh, given the way it developed after opening. I have added a point.

8/20/2022 - johnrm Likes this wine:

We tasted this (from a half bottle) and quite liked it (apart from a hint of VA). However, after our last experience of this vintage (see note of June 2nd), we kept most of the wine until next day. 24 Hours after opening, it was stunning. Nothing else to add.

11/23/2021 - honest bob wrote:

From 75cl, synthetic cork, opened but not decanted one hour. I enjoyed this a lot more one year ago (CT TN 26.10.2020). This bottle had only a shadow of the blackcurrant aromatics, was strongly acidic, indeed acetic, showed no "richness" at all, and seemed oddly tired for a big red wine made only 3 years ago. Not the first time I have been alarmed by a Chilean wine which showed in full bloom 1–2 years after the vintage, only to disintegrate far too shortly thereafter... 85–86P and falling.

6/5/2022 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Pale yellow. Given a little time to open and warm above 10 degrees, the nose began to show some fruit and fragrance. The palate was not quite dry - there was a little gentle sweetness with the mainly apple fruit (but with tropical hints). There were subtle herb flavours and delicate citrus notes (and ‘lemon sherbet’) developed with time. Very long on the palate and really rather nice. Clearly a New World Chardonnay but with an elegance and under-stated character that separates it from many over-oaked, over-sweet Californian blockbusters of the not too distant past. Rather expensive in UK but a fair buy on offer at Waitrose.
Note added later. The label does say ‘Reserve’ but there is a separate entry on CT for the Reserve Chardonnay. I know the term is thrown onto wine labels as a (necessary?) marketing tool these days but I would like to know if the Chardonnay and the Reserve Chardonnay are actually the same wine?

5/4/2022 - jepstein4031 wrote:

This wine opened after 2-3 hours of decanting. Stewed fruit. Drank with lamb. I’d like to say something here, which may upset some people. The idea that we would hold on to this and other older vintages of Musar is silly. These wines are long past their prime. Are VA and some bret desireable tertiary characteristics? Why would anyone hold on to these wines? Sure, they can still be “drinkable,” but is that what we’re in this for - to see how long they can go before becoming completely undrinkable? I love Musar, but give me a post 2007 vintage. High end Bordeaux this is not.

7/1/2021 - johnrm wrote:

I have tasted this wine over many years and it is normally pretty reliable, despite being an obviously very large volume production. Not so sure this time. Some fragrance on the nose. Citrus on the palate with hints of pear and more ‘tropical’ fruits but a bit flat and bland for me. I think there are Macons at this price point with more character. This is easy drinking and slips down but is really not memorable.
A couple of hours after opening and with food (grilled white fish with Jersey potatoes) it improved. My wife liked it. I have raised my score a little.
A second bottle a couple of days later was OK but no more than that. Mass-market Macon with limited character to my palate. 86-

8/21/2021 - johnrm Likes this wine:

We gave this 4-5 hours after opening but it was still slow to open. The nose was restrained but showed some white pepper with the mainly red fruits (including raspberries). Leaner at first and the juicy palate shows mainly red berries (including raspberries) for me but my wife got damsons and darker cherries with stones and enjoyed it right away. Plenty of acidity and soft tannins for food but rather austere for me. However, it continued to soften and become richer over time. An hour later, with beef stroganoff, the wine was excellent and showed everything I expected in a good Cru Bourgeois. A different wine - richer, ‘sweeter’, with some spice and plenty of dark cherry fruit (and it was at least as good with soft blue cheese later). Faith restored. Don’t rush it. 89+

8/5/2017 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Happily, my positive comments in my previous note still stand. Decanted 3h prior. Excellent fruit on the nose. Damsons and dark fruits (mainly black cherry) on the palate with a hint of maraschino on the late palate, though this was less noticeable after food. Excellent with a rare chargrilled sirloin. Just enough tannin to complement the meat. Later, it was good on its own - very smooth, well balanced, and long. Despite the comments of some pundits this was purchased en primeur and, considering what it cost then, it was a real bargain. Cissac rarely disappoints - you just need to age it (and store it well) then choose the right time IMO. 90+

3/25/2021 - johnrm Likes this wine:

The first of a dozen half bottles, bought en primeur. An hour after opening, this showed wonderful sweet apricot fruit with slightly bitter thick-cut marmalade emerging soon after. Barley sugar, toffee, caramel (burnt caramel, as in creme brulee). A long ending.
Impressive, complex wine but I think I prefer just a little more acidity to balance the sweetness.
However, the wine was even better next day when the sugar/caramel/marmalade character had softened and integrated with additional, gentle marzipan notes. More complex still, and with a now seamless and beautifully integrated palate. I have added a point.

6/15/2020 - ChateauDutremble wrote:

Nez intéressant d'herbe, de paille, de fruits exotiques, de fleurs...chèvrefeuille, de cir et d'épices...miel...complexe. On veut tellement plus de saveurs après un tel nez. Un vin sec et texturé...gras. Fruit très discret...une pointe de pelure de citron et de vanille après quelque temps. Je m'attendais à plus selon les critiques. Définitivement boire chambré, entre 14° et 17° C. Trop jeune peut-être ??

12/30/2020 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Half bottle. There was no seepage up the cork but, as usual with many Musar corks, it broke up using a conventional corkscrew and needed a two-pronged 'Butler's friend' and a good deal of care. Good colour, and fruit on the nose over time (as my last note) but it only really began to show a couple of hours after decanting (very little deposit, by the way). It would be a disappointment to someone who doesn’t know Musar if they tasted it and judged it as soon as it was de-corked.
After 4 hours, the wine began to show the rich complexity, spice, balance, acidity, length, and all the features in my last note (31 July 2020). Once again, I only had a small taste with dinner and savoured the wine on its own after the meal. It was still going strong and changing character after many hours. A small sample was pretty good after 20 hours retaining a good nose, sweet dark fruits on the palate and, as before, good acidity. This is a half bottle, too.
I feel I need to say again that this wine has lots of development ahead (especially in a full bottle). It should not be judged until at least a few hours after opening.

9/1/2020 - shellylowen Likes this wine:

Wonderful wine that opened up after half an hour. Mouth coating tannins, lots of fruit and chocolate, very long finish.

6/1/2019 - SimonHea Likes this wine:

Pale Lemon
Medium intensity
Lemon, lime, lime zest, lime cordial, green apple, emerging light petrol notes showing as Vaseline
Dry, high acidity
Medium (-) alcohol, medium (-) body
Medium intensity, medium finish
Flavours as aromas

A good wine showing balance between quality fruit and high acidity, the light petrol notes show good varietal typicity. Clearly well made but lacks depth and complexity. The wine has quite simple flavours with little intensity and the finish fades quite quickly.

Drink now, not suitable for keeping. Whilst the acidity is high there is insufficient depth of fruit to develop in an interesting way and I fear the fruit would simply fade.

7/31/2020 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Half bottle. A usual Musar cork that needed a two-pronged 'Butler's friend'. A fairly deep colour (but not opaque) and a complex nose with red/black fruits and spice plus some VA. The spicy complexity on the nose began to really develop 1-2 hours after decanting and continued with time becoming ever more complex and attractive. The palate was still youthful with characteristic Musar richness, spice, and 'sweetness'. Plenty of juicy acidity but the wine gradually came together and began to show its potential for the future. The cabernet seemed to make its mark with blackcurrant flavours and cedar notes. Very long. Later, it was very good with barbecued food but, in all honesty, I would have been more than happy to push my plate aside and just enjoy the wine as it changed in the glass. Lovely now, given time (please do not pnp) but with real future potential in my view - even more so in bottle rather than half.
An 'antisocial' wine (this is meant in a complimentary way) - it somehow seems to take one over, even when in excellent company.
Next day, it was still drinking well. It still showed all the characteristics listed above with the rich spice still emerging and the juicy, long acidity prominent. Time will work the changes over the years - it will be fun to follow its development. At this point, 92+

6/18/2019 - Purple Tooth wrote:

Time and time again, this proves to be an overlooked vintage of a very good Musar. This has its feet planted somewhere between Burgundy and Bordeaux, with a sweet eastern vibe to it that is hard to place at times. It's an expression of terroir in its purest form, allowing the sense of place to shine through and co-mingle with the effort of producing a correct French wine, while paying respect to the best of what the region can grow and offer. I don't think I need to write a descriptive review of the flavor profiles and hope that the above, and the previous notes give you a sense of what you are in for and enjoy...Delightful and at peak with time on its side. Drink

5/1/2020 - johnrm wrote:

Deep colour and a rich nose. Complex, spicy, mainly dark cherry fruit on the palate and drinking well within an hour of opening. Very good length, acidity, and balance. Soft tannins but they became more evident on the late palate over time and, together with the acidity, made the wine a good partner to food.
4 Hours later, the acidity was simply too pronounced. A good food wine (as intended, I am sure) but not a wine for drinking on its own. A pity and a disappointment. I guess this is very 'old style' Rioja.

4/24/2020 - PMJak11 Does not like this wine:

My first and probably last Lebanese wine :). PnP’d, but probably needs a decant of some sort. Dark purple color. Alcohol, blackberries, mint, and candied apples on the nose. Deep, concentrated wine that is hot and very tannic. Plums and dark fruit on the palate. Cross between Italy and Spain. Short finish. This wine needs to settle down big time! Maybe age will help?

6/8/2019 - johnrm Likes this wine:

I always enjoy the John X Merriman after at least 5 years. This vintage is no exception now we have finished all the 2011. Good fruit, lots of character and spice, Great balance and length. No need for a detailed note from me since earlier notes say it all. Excellent Cab and it has plenty of life ahead. Brilliant value when I look back to what I paid for it a few years ago.

11/30/2019 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Opened 6h prior and decanted 3h before serious tasting. Very deep, opaque colour. The nose was dominated by cedar pencil at first for me but plummy fruit came through with time. The palate was very dry and, again, cedar pencil was quite prominent but the fruit was very restrained. Orange acidity began to develop on the late palate but we detected none of the blackcurrant and cherry flavours we had enjoyed earlier (5, years ago actually!) and which were described by other more recent tasters. After half an hour in the glass, tarry, eucalyptus flavours began to emerge on the nose and the palate was quite complex but there was still an absence of any 'sweet' fruit, indeed my wife found some bitterness on the end palate. The 'sweet and sour' comment by Empire80 seems apt.
A little later, the wine was much more attractive with food (rare fillet steak) when more fruit emerged but there was still lots of acidity and the balance was much better. Wine has always been made with food in mind, after all, especially Cabernet-based wines. This was our last bottle and was a little disappointing; it seems to be on the way down. 90-
The wine has been stored in ideal conditions at a steady 11C since purchase soon after release and the cork was perfect with 2mm wine penetration. Forgive the long comment but it may be of interest to others who still have this vintage. If so, it needs food.

10/24/2019 - bethel31 Likes this wine:

Opened for 3 hrs before consuming. On the nose, a bit of barnyard and spice. Soft tannins, spicy and quite a long finish. Very much like Left Bank Bordeaux. Ready to drink.

4/28/2019 - Abigailkb Likes this wine:

Elegant, but fading - fascinating to see what was once a powerful wine now in its twilight. It was like holding vigil with an old grandfather, whispering stories about old battles and loves. 2-3 hours of decanting did not fall apart, but certainly past peak.

2/24/2017 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine:

10 vintages of Chateau Musar (@Private location): *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
Popped and poured.
Clear, medium, ruby-garnet color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Very nice!
Dry, medium acidity, medium+ fine tannin. Lots of extract sweetness. Medium+ body, medium+ intense, wonderful complex flavors of tobacco, red fruit, leather and a bit barn. Reminds me of a good Rhone wine. 14% abv. Elegant, cool, complex, multi layered with a medium+ finish. Close to the 98 vintage. I would say it is start reaching its peak, but it will continue to improve. Has everything to evolve for 10+ years. Fantastic PQR!

11/1/2019 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Very good immediately on opening. Perhaps very slightly lighter in colour than before but still dark and a very deep hue. As before, there was plenty of rich, sweet, dark fruit dark on the nose and dense early palate. The dark cherry character increased with time in the glass and was under-pinned, as always, by trademark soft Penfold's vanilla from the oak. I was alone in finding a touch of roast beef flavour developing with time (nice!). Complex flavours with a range of berry fruits, plums, and damsons, as I described before, which opened and developed as it warmed and stretched in the glass. Spice and black pepper but I no longer get the Eucalyptus I mentioned earlier. Acidity was there on the long late palate - my wife suggested Satsuma rather than generic 'orange' flavours developing on the tongue and I agreed. [After I wrote this note I looked up Peter Gago's notes for this vintage on the Penfold's website and, rather spookily, I found his reference to 'Satsuma conserve'.]
The wine got better over a few hours and certainly has years ahead of it. I want to keep some to try tomorrow but I fear I will be unable to hold back. I think this is a great vintage for the Bin 28. 92+ and I'm happy to have chosen this wine to comment on in my 1111th review.

7/18/2016 - ParksideMac wrote:

Until my underwhelmed but grew on me later on.

6/23/2018 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Very expressive nose. Lovely fruit, spice and acidity on the long palate. Pretty much as my earlier notes but getting better with time. Lovely wine. Certainly not a routine Macon.
Note. Following the very helpful comments from Mike Goldstone, I agree that I am tasting the Cuvee Tradition and not the Cuvee E J Thevenet. I would have moved this review (and all my others) to the entries covering that wine which is listed separately on Cellartracker. Unfortunately, the reviews under the 'Cuvee Tradition' label stopped in 2004 and some of the wine labels (and reviews) clearly refer to the Cuvee E J Thevenet rather than the Tradition so moving notes there would not avoid confusion. To save myself a lot of trouble moving reviews around, I will just add this caveat to my reviews so it is clear what I am tasting. Thevenet should sort this out if they can be bothered to clear the confusion.

3/24/2019 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Opened and double-decanted before it was left for 7h. Light in colour. Wonderful nose with spice and good fruit. A sweet and unusually delicate palate for a Musar with hints of strawberry together with cherries, spice and orange citrus. More complex as it opened. For me, the ovewhelming impression is of great acidity, elegance, subtlety and length. Lovely stuff with years ahead.

9/8/2017 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Very deep colour, totally opaque. Excellent, almost sweet, fruit now but with a great future. Superb, complex fruits with dark cherries taking over late. Lovely balance now but this wine has decades ahead of it. I think I have been a bit mean with my score - it will deserve a much higher score as it grows and matures. I don't understand the current score on CT which is shown as 88.7 and doesn't seem to reflect the opinions of reviewers. 92++
Tasted at Grand Union Wine Society with Nick Gent of Rodney Densem Wines and Ed Hobbs of John E Fells, UK importer of Torres wines.

3/1/2018 - Alexander Smith wrote:

Dark purple colour, nose of violets blackberries and dark red fruits. On the palate the high acidity hits you first, it is difficult to get past this. I cannot put my finger on why this wine has such a high acid taste. notes of dark concentrated red fruit and spice, the finish is short and disappointing. Really wanted to like this wine. Rolland should be disappointed.

7/28/2017 - johnrm wrote:

Very deep colour. Disappointingly simple when first opened with hints of jam but it settled nicely with time. Soon after opening, there were lots of dark berries on the nose (blueberries, plums) but, after an hour or two, some red berries developed with hints of spice and, (surprisingly) some raspberries.
The palate had dark fruits early. Some creaminess developed and, later, red berries. Good acidity and tannins that were fine-grained and are already soft enough to complement food (red meat) rather well. Raspberries opened on the later palate. Unfortunately, my wife found hints of burnt rubber later and I had to agree.
A conundrum. It is an interesting wine and it will undoubtedly change as it ages. I am a long, long-time Penfold's fan and have become accustomed to the usual Penfold's price premium but, at this stage, it is rather too expensive at £18.99 (although it us currently discounted at Waitrose UK).
The wine didn't improve over 2-3 hours but it had certainly improved next day and after 48h, it showed deeper damson flavours with more sweetness and less tannic astringency. Perhaps, like most Penfold's wines, it should be cellared for a much longer time.
However, I'm still not convinced that the marketing people were wise to attach Max Schubert's venerated name to this one.

6/11/2017 - johnrm Likes this wine:

As for the 2008 - deep colour, rich botrytis and marmalade nose but with the unexpected 'curry' character noted by a reviewer of the 2009. Rich apricot, complex, honeyed fruit with enough balancing acidity to counter the high levels of sweetness.
Half of the wine was still good after an accidental 2 weeks in the fridge! (Perhaps that is a factor in the developing 'curry' character which was short-lived in the glass). Exceptional length with the 'lip-smacking' characteristic noted earlier.
Still great value.

11/11/2016 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Very deep colour. Ripe, complex fruit and spice on the nose.
The palate was rich and very deep, showing complex dark fruits including blackberry and plums with plenty of spicy complexity. It evolved in the glass showing hints of chocolate and plenty of vanilla complexity. Tannins are already smooth but quietly muscular. Excellent balance and length. This is going to be a fantastic, long-lived RWT and certainly a worthy and more affordable alternative to Grange.
A small sample was retained and tasted next day. The nose was even richer and more forward and the fruit on the palate seemed softer and sweeter but no less rich or complex. Great length. A remarkable wine. 94+
Tasted at Grand Union Wine Society with Sam Stephens, EU Brand Ambassador, Penfolds Wines.

3/7/2015 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Brambles on the nose (4h after decanting) with some subtle spice. Much later, tobacco and an almost sherried character on the nose (nice).
Excellent, mainly black, fruit on the palate - cherries, some damsons. Vanilla developed, then faded to be replaced by spicy notes.
Lovely balance of fruit, acidity, soft tannin and not as 'sweet' as the last bottle (perhaps down to the food - it accompanied grilled fillet steak very well and handled Bearnaise sauce).
Difficult to describe accurately because it developed so much in the glass and showed different characteristics with food. With Cambazola cheese, I got some oranges (as mentioned in my last note) and my wife got bitter cherries.
Lovely wine. Ready but not as urgent to drink as I thought previously.

6/10/2016 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Opened 8h prior. Typical Semillon on the nose with some spice. A complex, rich, oily palate with lemon evident. Given the 80% Semillon, this needs time. A complex, sophisticated wine but it divided opinion - some tasters found an oily, almost petrol character that they disliked. A sample tasted next day was much softer and did not have any oily characteristics. Will probably deserve a higher score with more maturity.
Tasted with Simon March (Evington's Wines) at Grand Union Wine Society.

9/16/2016 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Quite a deep colour. Lemon and toffee on the nose. Soft complex palate with melon, ginger, lemon (reminiscent of roasted lemons). The subtle oak is beautifully integrated with creamy caramel and herby, spicy, bready fruit on the late palate.
Almost a different wine to the bottle tasted only a year ago. Long and complex with a lingering hint of liquorice as the long palate slowly fades. Still developing as the bottle emptied. Excellent, high quality Chardonnay - as good as I have enjoyed in ages. I truly wish I had more.
Note. The wine is now designated as Toscana IGT - not Cortona (see label photos). The change was made in 2014. I have been unable to add this note to the Toscana designation on CT which, unaccountably, goes up to 1997 and then stops.

8/23/2015 - johnrm Likes this wine:

The usual pale brick colour of many older Musars with only a little browning. Excellent fruit and spice on the nose immediately on opening and decanting.
Sweet cherry and strawberry fruit on the palate with spice developing. Quite light at first for a Musar but with good balance, soft tannins and plenty of acidity (orange hints). Very long.
The bulk of the wine was set aside before drinking with dinner. It made an interesting foil for roast lamb with accompaniments including Cumberland Sauce. There was an amazing difference after standing for 5h. A little hard acidity on the end taste had disappeared and the wine had become significantly richer and more complex. Still surprisingly sweet cherries and spice with orange notes but now with an almost 'cherry brandy' character and richness. Lovely wine with a character all its own.
I can never drink Serge's wine now without feeling his presence. Every glass is a memorial to him and his vision.
Note. Following comments from Goldstone (below), I have amended this note. I think we can agree that this wine has many years ahead of it (although the '93 is likely to continue even longer if some of us live long enough to monitor it!).

11/5/2013 - davidmcgowan wrote:

Well enough made and pleasant, but it was all a bit by numbers with a short finish and it was not a patch on the Malbec-Syrah from the same producer.

12/16/2012 - JustNathan Does not like this wine:

Nothing special, even when compared with the varietal Malbec from the same house. Simple notes of sweet black fruits with some coffee grounds lead into a linear burst of blackberry/blackcurrant juice and an abrupt finish. This didn't improve with decanting or being left stoppered overnight.