2/20/2013 - LST Likes this wine:

A bit sweet, the acidity and tart cherry/strawberry was pleasant enough. Not much grip or tannic attributes. Wonderful berry nose with a rouch of spice (pepper/cinamon). Popped and poured after a bit of a shake. Nice blend and very approachable now. Good value.

12/25/2010 - LST wrote:

This young Saint Julien was opened Christmas Day at 01 AM. The nose was wonderful, classic bordeaux with soft leathery smell and ample ripe fruit.
A quick taste before it headed into the decanter revealed good cassis and berriest, light acidity and a great finish that lingered for 30+ seconds.
I'll check in on it with dinner. Though many remark it is too young, I liked the young bordeaux for the freshness and lively acidity. The tannins are quite soft but evident with a pleasnt coating that complements the dusty finish.

12/10/2010 - LST wrote:

A dear friend acquired this from an estate sale. What a deal. They got a lot of ~ 60+ bttls of various wines 1970-2005, ~ $20-25 a bttl. The 77' Mouton was panned by critics but I was really impressed. 4 of us sniffed, swirled and sipped with delight. Fill was mid shoulder. An Ah-so is a must for these oldies. The cork was firm, still a few cm if pristene cork with no obvious seepage. Nose was wonderful, still some great fruit, some commented on graphite, lead pencil, but I got a wfiff of crushed stones, then some light berry, cherry. Wine was light and danced on my tongue. Light oak, nice acidity, mellow tannin. The finish was smooth with lingering berries, akin to a merlot or pomerol.

Did not decant. Just opened, did a small pour into some nice stemware and let it open a bit. It drank well over the next 2 hours and held up OK. I'm inclined to think that many of the older 70's BDX still have some life in them after this. At $24.00 a bttl, who would pass! Low 90's point wise, as good as the 66, 75 and 76 Mouton I have tried. Label was the Queen Jubilee, no other fancy art. I think this was a mere 4 years after Mouton was promo'ed to 1st growth.

PS: some of the other gems he got: 1990 Angelus (WOW) a few 81, BDX, 78 Lynch (into the neck fills) and bunch of nice Cali cab, CdP. I'm jelly!

10/10/2010 - LST wrote:

Opened in the morning, decanted. Nice dark color, a bit closed. Took a sip, and this was a very tannic, thick, chewy wine. Fruit was there but like a young Barolo's, you have to be patient with it. I was not.
Sat for about 8 hours and drank with a simple spaghetti dinner. It didn't really evolve much, still pretty tannic. Was a decent wine with dinner. Nothing exceptional, but a nice wine. Likely it will improve a bit with much more bottle age. mid to high 80's. Might jump a bit after some time.

10/2/2010 - LST wrote:

Hosted a home wine tasting on 10/2/2010. 5 flights. 1st flight 3 German Reislings paired oddly enough with Sushi from Wasabi's: The JJ Christoffel Auslese was acquired at auction for ~ 13.00. Contrasted this with a 2005 Leitz Spatlese and 2003 Monchoff Urzinger. Of the 3 this was the crowd favorite amongst 14 people. Though not a big fan of sweet white wine, this is a real bargain and a great wine PPV-wise. I liked the end to end consistency, the nose is like citrus, the taste is like madarin oranges and almost like pineapple and the finish is a tingle of from the nice acidity. I'm thinking I'll stock up a few more sweet Mosel. It might be great to have around for the Holidays or with starters. It probably would pair nice with dessert too. I don't know about points and ratings, but critics give it 90'ish or so points. It was top of my list between the 2 Spatlese and the Soave. I liked it better than some 95 or 97' Alsatian Tokay Pinot Gris VTs.