10/21/2023 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Good cork, barely any staining.

Immediately upon opening a tinge of VA but that quickly goes away.

First sips are soft on the palate and show sweet sweet red fruit, like cherries. Smooth and open.

With a little time some tannins firm up, adding to the finish and bracing the back of the teeth.

The aromas and flavors also evolve, the nose showing a bit of Nebbiolo mint and soil tones, the palate building with dark fruit and other darker notes.

Quite fine.

11/26/2022 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

HTMS fill.

Opened at home to ensure not corked. Quite fragrant, aromas of red fruits and wood and earth. Flavors of fruits, black olive, orange tea.

An hour later at the restaurant (not decanted) the olive quaility faded away and became more of a distinct savory tapestry.

Most of impressive of all was how with time the wine showcased a direct sense of sweet ripe fruit, while remaining dry.

11.9% alcohol. 96% CS, 4% Merlot.

If you have a bottle, enjoy - in a wonderful spot.

3/5/2021 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Bought at auction some years ago, base neck fill.

Double decant, light sediment

Semi-transparent robe with red center fading to garnet and orange.

Initial aroma of mushrooms, red fruit, red earth, accented by a top note of smoke and tea.

Flavors of sweet red fruits show on the attack and persist to the finish, which has a very light orange pekoe tea qulaity. Medium-bodied, well-structured for the age.

Repeated visits present on the nose the old-wine tinge of metallic and aluminum

Certainly very nice, time to drink up if you still have them!

11/25/2020 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

1959 Ch. Carbonnieux, Graves de Leognan

Purchased at auction a few years ago, bottle in good condition, fill base next.

Upon opening foil the cork was slightly depressed. Removing with The Durand the cork disintegrated.

Tasting note here some four hours after opening, last taste:

Mature Bordeaux robe, medium purply brown center shading to brick red and rust and a light watery rim.

The aromas easily waft from the glass: black tea, candied cherries, nutmeg, settling warm ribroast, blood oranges, walnut tea, loamy earth and dried fallen leaves. On the attack the wine is bright and acidic, tart red cherries, a solid but distant center core of good soil tones, with on the finish the addition of bitter flavors of tea and coffee skins, with the final finish being lingering bright red fruit red currants. Earlier the flavors had more predominant earthy mushroom qualities.

Overall really quite fine, true claret. Well done and thank you to those involved in making and storing it.

8/18/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Bought several bottles of this on release, this is the first one I have tasted.

Strong yellow color with tinges of orange. Effervescence is in a modified, integrated place, not as strong as when young.

There is plenty of strength in this wine, however.

The wine has a rich nose of nuts, green apple, wood, and an oxidative note.

On the palate, the fresh green apple is more pronounced soon after opening, but quickly gets subsumed in the rich flavors of an mature wood-aged Pinot-predominant champagne: nougat, dried apple skins, mixed grain bread - a panoply of flavors (lanolin and a touch of iodine make cameos) hammered into a panoply texture, accented with an acidic lift on the midpalate that prevents any sense of being tired.

Over time, some the richness gets deeper, become stronger, the oxidative part of its character suggesting of sherry without going all the way - then with time there is a lifting of the darker and richer qualities of the wine, allowing the brightness in the midpalate to take form in a light and pleasant taste of lemon curd.

We had this wine open for about 90 minutes and it continued to evolve. The last third went to my friend's wife who couldn't make it - I wonder if the best expression of this particular bottle was enjoyed by her.

This wine's constituent parts were enjoyable and impossible to miss but overall I would have preferred to have experienced more seamlessness in the wine's overall build - better integration of its impressive parts. That may seem crazy for a wine that was aged so long before release and then again after, making it a 28 year old wine, but I call it as it comes.

I wonder if decanting would allow everything to knit together better, but that could accentuate the richness and oxidative aspects of the wine why obscuring some of the more delicate parts of the wine.

I have a few more bottles to try. 94 pts

7/15/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Medium bright light yellow color tinged with a bit of appealing Granny Smith green color.

Semi-tropical aspects on the nose - green and yellow melon - but also some green apple framed by French oak vanilla.

I read somewhere this wine had blocked malo and it certainly tastes that way - partial green apple crispness, with a buttery richness folded around it.

The wine has a compact, solid presence on the fore- to mid-palate, a nice combination of minerality and the aforementioned mixed fruits; on the back end, the wine converges into a silky richness. reminiscent of vanilla coated lemon curd.

The wine expresses its flavors in a medium-deep way, with its flavor evolution happening in an elevated region - its base is a constant sense of white minerality.

This wine has a somewhat discordant combination of approachable flavors and of a four-square structure but overall it is a very fine wine and will no doubt last.

Even though I do see this changing and evolving, I don't expect it to improve its overall ability to impress.

6/6/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

PnP

Color: quite a variation, from coral orange at the rim to shades of garnet and red.

The wine has a delicate but persistent bouquet, the most aggressive aromas being a melange of red flowers and touch of balsamic. Closer in, the wine offers a beguiling sense of warm red fruits, toasted brick, chocolate skin and cocoa nibs, bruised plums, black tea, charcoal, black loam, and red licorice.

On the palate, the wine is lightweight ("claret"), with flavors of tart red fruit, somewhat watery. Certainly on the acidic, underripe, red fruit side of the Bordeaux spectrum. Though the wine is silky and elegant, it does not manage to provide any real depth of expression, certainly not to match the complexity of the nose.

Nice nose, well-made and drinkable but not getting any better.

87

5/19/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Premox.

Slight hint of joy to take it up 3 points from 50 baseline minimum.

5/11/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

PNP

Have tasted a number of times over the years, first time in a couple years. Still youthful open first opening.

In appearance, there is some fading to the rim but the color is mainly still medium-plus garnet, with only the slightest hint of orange developing.

On the nose, after immediate opening, aromas of candied red cherries and vanilla waft for the glass.

With a bit of time, darker flavors develop - black tea, wet black earth, and wine-soaked wood. But these notes are not yet powerful in their impact.

There are aromas of cedar and candied orange peel as well but the prominent aromas once the wine develops with air are medium- and deep-toned rather than high-toned, though there is a prominent menthol aspect as well. A complex bouquet.

On the palate the same development is evident as occurred in the bouquet as the wine is exposed to air: a transition from sweet red fruit to darker, more settled components of darker fruits and modest earthiness, with a reappearance of fine fresh sweet red cherry flavors on the finish.

Good tension here but the depth of expression and potential for profundity is lesser than that found in the 1995 DB.

What's more, this wine on this day, though enjoyable, seems to be at at awkward stage, in the sense that the evolution to maturity has begun but the secondary flavors have not yet really taken firm shape.

That being said, it is now closer to its highest point than the 1995 DB is, which should become even more tremendous over time.

A little more pleasing to smell than drink.

Showed flashes of 93 but overall I have to score it a 92, as its constituent parts continue to sort themselves out and evolve.

Enjoy!

5/5/2018 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

First tasting of this vintage.

Medium-bright straw yellow with a light amber hue.

Fresh champagne yeast is the first aroma out of the glass, followed by lemon and fresh salmon skin (a pleasant wild maritime meatiness). Fresh green apple and a touch of honeysuckle also apparent. Overall the nose suggests youthful freshness, though there is a latent light nougat quality present as well.

The first taste in the mouth is a spritz of bright saline water, quickly followed by pleasant carbonation and cheese rind qualities, with fruit notes of lemon and pomaceous fruit.

A prominent feature in the mouth is the elegant manner in which this wine gains depth, seamlessly but quickly sliding downward and gaining a fine chalky mineral substance, the progression though the palate like a the rapid dropoff of a tile-bottomed swimming pool as it changes depths.

And that depth (you lose interest in measuring the depth, so fine is the wine's feeling) persists throughout the palate to a long, long, lingering finish.

More approachable early than some vintages of Cristal, this still has the stuffing to reward long cellaring.

94 now, 97 some point out in time if you hit it right.

4/30/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

2009 disgorgement

Notes taken from a glass poured after about 1.5 hours of decanting.

Medium-plus gold color. Signs of effervescence - bubbles coating the glass.

A pronounced aroma of yeast, evident from far away. Bringing the glass closer to the nose, a lemon scent with a slight acetic acid quality (slight VA) like lemon infused vinegar, then scents of lime peel, chalk, old wood, white flowers, hints of almonds and hazelnut, medium-aged cheese rind, as well as a top note of green herbal shrubbiness. So quite a complex nose,

On the palate, a tart green apple quality shows itself, as well as a light pleasant salinity. Wonderful evolution on the palate, from light-medium-bodied to a more rich quality where the cheesy lees builds body, then right at the midpalate it gets lighter again, with an oxidized Savennieres quality.

Really quite nice.

93 points.

4/2/2018 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

In appearance, what could be called the personification of medium garnet fading to brick orange.

Demurely poignant nose of black and orange pekoe tea, blood orange, allspice and other spices gently whirled together, red fruits, smoke, black ash, cigar tobacco and cigar ash, earth, a gravelly soil tone quality, as well as fine floral fragrances and a touch of cedar.

Really quite fine here on the nose after some air. The black earth and gravelly soil appear more in the center of the aromas, wrapped by a very pleasant warm red earth quality. A bouquet to smell for a long time.

Easy drinking on the palate at 12% alcohol, the palate continues the wine's signature of warm red earth, gentle red fruits which are still fresh if not juicy (more in line with the aromas of fresh red fruits, rather than the flavor thereof). The ash and smoke signature is a bit more prominent here than on the nose (a bigger part of the palate picture), while the persimmon and other red-orange fruit markers linger.

Really quite elegant; a real treat tonight.

94

3/12/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Medium-purple to bright ruby at the rim.

Fragrant nose of red flowers, black and red licorice, black tea, red currants and plums, fresh cedar, a whirl of baking spices on the top end, very seductive. Overall lots of fresh red fruits and spice

A bright attack of tart red fruit - red raspberries and red currants, on the midpalate a robust alcohol and tannic quality presents itself.

Still tightly wound up and really needing time to become most fully itself. Best time period the 2026-2040 window, should be showing then as among the top examples of this vintage.

90 (potentially 93)

3/11/2018 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Solid purple with brown tinge and garnet at the rim.

Mature Bordeaux nose, with most of the aromas in the lower register - coffee, rich dark soil notes, warm meat, cherries, walnuts - but there is a connection to the higher register with vanilla oak and a rather pleasant eucalyptus topnote.

On the palate the wine has an agreeable build-out, progressing from a tart red fruit character on the attack to a rich, full but not deep presence on the midpalate, echoing the notes present on the nose while expressing as no more than a middleweight - not a criticism, just an observation. Pleasant blood orange and persimmon skin flavors show a nice flash on the mid-palate, bringing a brightness not as evident on the nose.

The finish has a touch of astringency and more acidity, and is the least appealing part of the palate - leading you to sip more to get to the luscious mid-palate experience.

Drinking very well now.

92

a minty topnote, warm

3/9/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Medium ruby at the core going to light garnet at the rim.

Classic Heitz nose of tobacco, sandalwood, plums, black cherries, candied cherries, black soil, cedar, eucalyptus - the feeling of walking through that northern California biotype of manzanilla and redwood, with spruce lurking just a bit further north.

The nose is very forward, as is the impression of ripe sweet red fruits on the attack, which quickly evolves into side-palate persimmon tanginess. Rich soil tones also linger on the finish.

The palate is not as complex as the nose, and not as complex as a 1995 Ducru Beaucaillou tasted tonight, but it is a more fully expressing its entire potential, in a very sunshiny California cool-breeze cold-shadows kind of way, with its flavors anchored in the earth but also rocketing like a kite high into the a blustery North Coast Pacific sky.

93

3/9/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Very pale ruby.

Fragrant nose of crushed pomegranate, rose petals and other red flowers, strawberries, a touch of candied cherries, with some cinnamon and allspice.

Fine and fresh on the palate - juicy, fine fresh red fruit qualities, feminine in the classic Chambolle quality.

Not deeply complex but the good complexity it has is well-knit: a fine example of a villages wine.

Could certainly age but at a good youthful point right now.

90

3/9/2018 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Well I tried the 96 DB recently so why not a 95 DB? Comments will reflect some comparisons.

Deep purple going to orange at the rim, darker than the 1996.

On the nose, deeper and richer than the 1996 and wonderfully complex: chocolate, coffee, tea, smoke, Gilman's nutskins, and lingering behind that all dried cranberries and other dried red fruits.

On the palate more leathery in quality than the 1995 (in a very pleasant way) with continuation of the black tea and tart red fruit notes.

More harmonious overall than the 1996 and expressing itself in deeper ways, with a richness and resonance not present in the younger wine.

94

2/25/2018 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

En magnum. Medium purple.

Complex aromatic profile - cedar, blue and purple flowers, woodsmoke, rich earth, candied black fruits.

On the palate, flavors of blackberry and boysenberry appear at the silky smooth Margaux intro and resound throughout, with earthiness quickly appearing as well as graphite . Fine french oak tannins encapsulate the tasting experience. Overall the first impression on the mouth is more impressive the the drying experience of the finish.

90, drinking nicely now.

2/24/2018 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Light ruby at center leading to a watery orange-ruby at the rim.

Really a compelling nose of cinnamon, strawberry, nutmeg, allspice - quite a blast of spice here - with also a warm red fruit quality reminiscent of blend of dried plums and other fruits, nicely concentrated.

Sauve tannins on the palate, a concentration of fruit and earth flavors which expresses itself medium-broadly but not wide - a compact but substantial presence, with the oak evident in a slightly detached way.

This quality of substance yet drive continues through the finish, a pleasant tension between the desire of this wine to be piercing and precise while also richly expressive.

In the end, the acidic precision wines, bringing the expression on the palate to a more pinpoint conclusion.

A fun finale to a two-day tasting of three Chevillon wines.

It's more well-built (without being generous - like the flash of a speeding motorcar, the wine awes without drawing you in too deeply) than the 2004 Perrieres, more definition than the 2007 Roncieres.

My favorite of the three right now.

91

2/24/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Light purple at center to medium red at rim.

Cedar, smoke, St. Julien (Ducru) red fruit, candied cherry aromas on the nose, and a touch of mushroom. Nice sweet red fruit on the attack with a tangy citrus blood orange topnote, leading into rich dark fruit qualities on the midpalate, as well as a good earthy quality which pulls the midpalate into a long finish. Lingering on the finish a touch of bitter nuttiness. Despite that, this is a very fine wine.

It does not quite have the freshnness and ebullience of the bottle of 1983 DB I had a few months ago. Is consistent with other bottles I have had from this case in years past.

92

2/24/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

A pretty, accessible, floral and dark-red fruit dominated aroma, with a strong topnote of spice, woodsmoke, and dark earth.

On the palate, the immediate impression is a wide expression of juicy midweight dark cherry and blood orange, supple and giving. Yet there is a certain lack in the midpalate, admittedly quickly forgotten due to the swirl of fruit and earth flavors, yet I would like to see more depth and texture there to make this truly outstanding. .

Quite a contrast to the 2004 Chevillon NSG Perrieres from yesterday, which was not nearly so fleshy and broad and had more high-toned red fruit, and high acidity.

I see the 2004 as lasting longer than this 2006, but never being so welcoming.

This wine is enjoyable to drink now.

89

2/23/2018 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Nicely fragrant nose of red flowers, pomegranate, spice, delicate red fruit, "Burgundy Pinot Noir" with a touch of heft as you would think from NSG.

On the palate, piercing bring red fruit acidity, providing a strong linearity throughout the palate, with a long, long lingering tart red acidic fruit finish.

Less giving on the palate than the nose, still really tight and acidic. I think with more aging the bottle will be less wound-up but I don't ever see this as being generous on the palate.

More of the hairshirt, monkish Burgundy to drink to sharpen your senses, rather than embrace and enrapture you.

1/31/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Mature coloration: medium red center through red orange and light brick at the rim.

Pleasant nose of warm brick, red currants, red cherries, very pleasant light top note of pyrazines to add some lift.

On the palate sweet red fruit - red cherries and red currants, with a twang of orange and blood orange, and nice lingering acidity.

In a very fine place. Not the most complex but well balanced and delicious.

88

1/10/2018 - kkazaks wrote:

Light tawny at the center, leading to a pale amber with a touch of green at the watery rim. Hues of orange throughout.

Deeply aromatic nose, plesantly caramel and rose petal at the same time, along with butter toffee, marzipan, and toasted almonds - quite complex.

On the palate, there is a sweet candied nutty wood richness, which segues on the midpalate into a cognac liqueur quality with some orange and brulee. On the finish, a bitterness rears its head.

The palate does have fine balance and the wine overall is a pleasant drink, but it also gives the sense of being more developed and appealing on the palate some time ago.

Point-wise, 85, with the note it was probably close to 90 at an early stage in its life.

12/30/2017 - kkazaks wrote:

Opened with some neighbor friends.

Uncorked, poured a taste, then let sit for about 70 minutes while we tasted a 2014 Ch. Montelena Chard and 2012 Ch. Montelena CS.

Color still fairly primary. It had a delicious appealing complex nose of red and black cassis, tea, graphite, smoke, black tea, hibiscus, coffee, and after a bit in the glass that Haut Brion warm red earth. So really kind of a stereotypical description, but for good reason.

I had last tasted this wine about six years ago and then it was much more tannic and youthful, still not ready. Now it is youthful but not too early to open and enjoy.

Once tasted the flavors mirrored what was on the nose, with the addition of some darker soil notes to go with the HB warm red earth.

The other nuance that appeared while tasting was a realization that the entire beautiful complexity of the wine, while certainly broad and of First Growth quality, did have a bit of a foursquare, bound-in-on-itself quality, and by that I mean that fine, fine that it was, it may never totally unwind into a true glorious (thunderous) masterpiece; its essential elements, so fine by themselves and well-knit as a whole, may never rise to one of the historic great wines. Like an offspring of a truly great thoroughbred with plenty of fine attributes and potential to win many high-end races, but never quite at the Triple Crown level, or a genius that makes many discoveries but not at the Noble level - so something like 94-96 if you're thinking numbers.

Despite this one note of caution, to have this wine as a house wine or daily drinker would be an incredible privilege.

12/23/2017 - kkazaks wrote:

Orange-red at the rim to a medium-dark purple at the center.

Scents of candied plums, little bit of purple flowers, French oak, but overall the aromas (aside from the oak, which does seem well-integrated) is reserved.

On the palate ripe blue and purple fruits, quite silky, then Cab Franc flavors of spicy herbalness appear toward the finish, as well as notes of ash, and chocolate covered espresso.

11/17/2017 - kkazaks wrote:

Purple-red color, aromas of black fruits, cassis and blackberry.

At first, the palate showed black fruit flavors to go with cedar and gravelly earth, and the structure typical of a Cabernet Sauvignon-predominant blend, even with some unintegrated tannin.

At first in the glass the wine was a bit out of joint, with a hollow spot about 2/3ds of the way through the tasting experience, right after the appearance of the tannins.

Over time, however, the tannins sweetened up and the flavors turned more red-fruity and the taste expression became more harmonious and broad.

Remarkable.

11/17/2017 - kkazaks wrote:

Really quite a fine wine.

Garnet tending toward red-orange at the rim.

Quite perfumy, with the scent of Cabernet France immediately wafting upon pulling the cork, a pleasant spicy herbal quality.

On the palate, flavors of tea and gentle red fruit and a good almost unnoticeable mineral mid-palate finely structure depth to hold it all together.

Delicious and delicate in a medium-bodied way, impeccably balanced from start to finish.

10/22/2017 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Dark, medium-red color,

After a bit of time, in the glass it shows a strongly perfumy nose - red flowers, frankincese, red-blue fruit - mulberry and acai - and again the strong leafy perfume, that spicy toasty oak married to soil.

On the palate, the fruit is on the more than midway down the ripe and rich scale, but there is still plenty of bright red fruit too, and a bit of sweet cherry on the finish.

There is a pleasant woodsy (forest floor with dark waxy green leaves) flavor, a touch of iron.

Overall fine now. Certainly can age but the level of improvement with age is likely to be not so impressive as to make it imperative to to demand further cellaring and forego the modestly exuberant youthful pleasure this wine is presently showing. Certainly no shame in keeping this 5-10 years though.

90-91.

10/22/2017 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Transparent bright yellow-gold color with a watery rim belying its few years of age.

Sophisticated, powerful nose with a dash of white flowers followed by a heavy topnote of caramel butterscotch overlaying a melange of ripe fruit - yellow apples verging on red apples, ripe pears, hints of tropical fruit, a touch of lees.

On the palate the high alcohol comes through, both in flavor and texture. The fat rich texture shows some lees character, and a crisp acidity shows up on the midpalate and follows through to the finish, encouraging another sip.

Hard to see this wine being better than it is now.

I prefer a Chardonnay with more snap and vigorous life, like Materium Eterium, but for this style it is very well done.

For that reason I won't score it, as if I scored it by my preference it would be lower than the score it would attain by the parameters it targeted.

12/20/2016 - kkazaks wrote:

My first experience with this particular chateau.

Well this wine has the nose of a New World wine - big ripe blackberries, vanilla, and creme de cassis, a distinct smell of toasty oak (all by itself, not built into a more complex aroma), licorice, a touch of crushed peppermint.

On the palate minerality provides depth, with a distinctive Bordelais note. There is good acidity and a mouthwatering oak tannin note. The ripe black fruit flavors persist.

In its peak drinking window. Not that it wouldn't last, but I don't see this holding together to be a more dynamic wine years in the future.

12/20/2016 - kkazaks wrote:

Opened when a bottle of 1989 Trotanoy was corked.

Lightly watery rim leading to orange and garnet, medium-minus red at the core.

Prominent aroma of smoke. Some aromas of egg shell (sulphur), burnt toast, leather, blood orange, cedar, lightly bruleed caramel walnuts.

Honeyed red fruit (currants) shows on the attack, bolstered by well-integrated but still present tannins. Nice lingering finish with just enough acidity to keep the palate light, without getting to lip-smacking levels.

Not as much complexity or depth as some RMCS Reserves from the 1970s I have tasted, and not quite as wow as versions of this wine I have had some years ago, but still very, very fine.

12/17/2016 - kkazaks wrote:

Orange at rim to a medium purple in the center.

Nose combines cigar ash, smoky wood, a little pleasant under-ripe greenness, some red currant, touch of chipotle.

On the palate, tangy mouthwatering acidity is the first predominant feature, then structurally tannins make an appearance to make an impression of a strong, muscular body in the mid-palate.

Flavor-wise, the smoke and a touch of earth are strong, together with the red fruits.

Overall, there could certainly be more complexity, "stuffing," more of a back-end, as the finish is not particularly long.

Certainly not great or even very compelling, but it does show some unfinished promise, kind of the hallmark of a fine site in a poor vintage, I'd say.

5/20/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

From a tasting last winter. Outstanding, well-polished, akin to the 74 but less tobacco-y.

5/20/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

From a tasting last winter. Same aromatics as the 77, but more full-bodied. Pure currant juice flavor, though some madeirizatino.

5/20/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

From a tasting last winter. Black cherry, earthy, even a little foxy.

5/20/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

From a tasting last winter, of 77, 78 and 79 Napa CS. WOTF.

5/20/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

From a tasting last winter. A little corky.

5/20/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

From a tasting last winter. Most giving, least complex of the 77's. Sophisticated but not complex.

5/20/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

From a tasting last winter. Most structured of the 77's, opens with time. Cherries.

5/20/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

From a tasting last winter. Aromatic, light-bodied, fairly pale center. Fine but drink up.

3/21/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

Rich and extracted, bright and polished.

Vanilla and black currant on the nose, some minerality. On the palate, chocolate, pressed raspberries, and alcohol also evident.

Good in that Parker way.

3/21/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

Delightfully super smooth.

2/18/2014 - kkazaks wrote:

Medium gold color.
Fine medium mousse.
Scents of toast, baked apple, ripe pear, hint of caramel, also a bit of vibrant, piquant quince type expression.
Sublime nutty richness in the middle of the palate that extends to a lingering finish.
Fine.

1/25/2014 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Rich yellow color, delectable nose of marzipan and brioche.

Really quite a lot of purity on the palate - rich and broad without being heavy - even shows some fine delicacyin the mid-palate, surprising for a wine of such broad richness.

Well done. In a good place now but will be fine for years yet.

1/25/2014 - kkazaks Likes this wine:

Hardly any bricking - a little orange - mainly just faded. Rather transparent through the garnet core.

Nose of tart cherries, cranberries, develops to smoke and charred wood, as it develops with time, finely worn saddle leather and nutskins.

On the palate, fresh tart red fruit - lip-smacking good acidity, taste of blood orange.

A left bank chateau that picked in time in 64? Not sure of harvest date, but this bottle (and another in the past few months): phenomenal.

10/26/2013 - kkazaks wrote:

Wowza this wine still has decades of life ahead of it (in this bottle at least). Potent dark purple color, scents of dark fruits - cassis, plums, black raspberry. Almost liquer-like aromatically.

On the palate, tasted like "natural" wine a la 1976 - ferment some well mature grapes, put in in wood, let sit and then bottle. With several hours in the area the heaviness - not in mouthfeel but in flavor characteristics - started to lift somewhat, giving a picture of what this wine will be like in another 15 years.

Layers and layers of flavor - like a mille feuille, but with the interesting feeling that the flavors themselves were more or less the same, just hitting on different parts of the palate (rather than different sorts of flavors on different parts of the palate) - still gave the wine a textural sophistication that was quite nice.

Right up there with 90 Dominus and 69 BV Napa CS as the best CA Cabs I've had in the last 6-9 months, though different in characteric than both of those two (more similar ot the Dominus than the BV in comparison).

10/26/2013 - kkazaks wrote:

Upon initially opening, this wine seemed rather sharply acidic, like fresh cranberries. Some time in the decanter allowed the wine to add flesh - smoke and paprika and dark currants and other dark fruit, along with earth and a hint of tobacco.

After about three hours of aeration the wine had a pronounced tobacco note as older Napa Cabs can have, but it was not particularly well-balanced with other flavor or textural elements - the crisp acid was still there hanging on the end but not too well integrated.

Was hoping for better. Will not buy again unless the other bottles I acquired in this lot are showing better.

Not bad but not worth it given other options out there.

10/15/2013 - kkazaks wrote:

The color here is still quite lively with a solid purple core and some garnet at the rim. On the nose there are aromas of cherries, dust, tobacco, currant, some muted perfume of violet and just the faintest hint of olive - decidely old school. Though nicely aromatic - with aromas reaching both the top-note and middle-note range - there is not the complexity to make this wine stand up as a standout example of what Napa wines from this era can achieve.

On the palate the flavors are nicely refined, and the flavor of plum comes out in the midpalate. The tannins are soft and well integrated. The mid-palate, though not exactly hollow, does lack some stuffing - as I have tasted in other (older) vintages of this bottling.

To my mind, not a wine that would make believers out of newcomers to the world of well-aged Napa Cabs (a la 1990 Dominus and wines from the 70's and 80's) but can be appreciated by those so inclined.

Still, if it were to set me back more than a bill I would pass at this point - simply because I have already tasting this particular wine and would rather try something else!

The last sip is the best, though, so though slightly disappointing overall the wine does show quite a bit of class. Well done.

5/18/2013 - kkazaks wrote:

Have taste 3 bottles in the last few months - the last two in the last two days.

First bottle seemed lightly oxidized and deserving of a no-rating.

Last two bottles have shown quite nicely, though.

From garagiste: I am as willing as any to hate on garagiste but this wine does not give ample evidence for such passion.

Yellow-green appearance. Nose of meyer lemon, other citrus, even a hint of salinity, unbaked brioche (modest). Vibrant crisp acidty on the palate that lingers. Long finish.

I don't expect this to be much better: I think what this wine is now where it was meant to be . (I say this as someone who tends to like older wines and has held wines too long in the past.)

Enjoy it.