5/4/2024 - PIZZAandBAROLO Likes this wine:

3+ hour decant. This was nowhere near enough. This wine needs some cellar time.

Somewhat muted on the nose. Mint, menthol, black cherry and raspberry.

Black tea, tobacco, and black cherry pepper the palate. This is a woodsy, rustic Barbaresco.

Dusty tannins need some time to integrate and resolve. But there's good stuffing here.

I've had this in a few vintages and there's no mistaking this for any other Barbaresco. Its very Cigliuti.

Revisit 3 years +

4/27/2024 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

4 years since my last bottle from this case. Decanted 2 hours then back into the bottle to take to dinner with the WGDMs.....

Mid garnet in the glass. Nose of classic pencil lead/graphite and red fruit. Some earthy mushroom notes as well.

Palate is nicely integrated and for the most part, resolved. There is more fruit remaining at 2-3 hours of air and it lessens slightly after that. Balance is key here, as always. Very nice but I get the feeling there are a few more points in here down the road.....very consistent from bottle to bottle thus far.

4/9/2024 - djhammond Likes this wine:

This has burst into life in the last 6 months, and is superlative. For myself, Gloria consistently outdrinks many Growth estates, and deserves the recognition. The nose is wonderful, deeply aromatic, and on its own would warrant another point or two. That said, it still performs excellently on the palate and finish, but the latter is on the shorter side. The other heartening aspect of the bottle, is that it is acting as a marker for the 2009 vintage in general. The vintage has frustrated me to date, and beginning to despair if it will come round at a relatively early age, but this gives me real hope that the heavy hitters will be beginning to hit their drinking window in the near future.

4/8/2024 - Winedog1 Likes this wine:

Again, this wine is currently drinking very well. Olives. Mushrooms. Truffles. Maybe some mustard. Cigar wrapper. Coffee. Balanced. Sophisticated. Elegant. There is special and unique beauty in the style. An old school Pauillac for sure. Easy to drink, and easy alcohol too despite the 13% level. I have been holding the purchase since release, procured via futures. Some bottles remain, and I will be pushing for 20 to 30 years. Unfortunately I lost the cork again, only to be saved by The Durand.

2/20/2024 - Zweder Likes this wine:

Monthly Tuesday group "The Dead Sparrow": Pauillac and St. Julien (By me @ the factory): Uncorked the day before the tasting and double decanted approx. 3 hours prior to the tasting. In the bouquet dark berries, some cherries, well dosed oak, graphite and cigar box. Same on the palate, very juicy acidity, round tannin with a pleasant bite, a touch of pleasant sweetness and a great length. Delicious wine in its young maturity stage and will be great over the next decade at least.

2/20/2024 - Zweder wrote:

Monthly Tuesday group "The Dead Sparrow": Pauillac and St. Julien (By me @ the factory): Uncorked the day before the tasting and double decanted approx. 3 hours prior to the tasting.Beautiful and complex bouquet with e.g. dark berries and graphite. On the palate also dark berries and lead pencil, minerals, juicy and beautiful acidity and round tannin with still a firm and lovely bite. Beautiful and complex wine in its young maturity stage. Textbook Pauillac. I love it. 92 – 93

2/16/2024 - dmorris176 Likes this wine:

Not as good as I hoped, past its best?

10/18/2023 - KeithAkers wrote:

Dinner at Nostrana (Nostrana, Portland OR): This saw some air before drinking and it's a real beauty right now. There is a clear primary quality to the fruit and wine, but it has begun to harmonize into savory and balanced tones of sour red cherries, strawberries, violets, savory herbs, crushed rocks, licorice, herbal spices, violets, wild flowers, and some fresh picked berry notes. The Full bodied feel is deft and balanced with tart, high acidity and silky, high tannins. The structure still has some clear youth, but it doesn't overwhelm. This is a great spot to check in as it has begun to emerge and blossom, but it is still showing plenty of room for aging and development.

2/13/2024 - Motz wrote:

Tasted over two days, alongside the same vintage Trotanoy and Léoville-Barton.

The words bouquet and perfume cannot adequately convey this wine's olfactory expressiveness. Floral and fruit notes (live, fresh, dried, and essences) linger in the background, behind root vegetables (raw, sauteed, roasted), live and dry herbs, assorted olives, tobacco (all forms), umami, smokehouse, all things savory (kelp, iodine), ash, minerals, and ores.

The wine tastes like it smells, in inflection changing waves. Bold, concentrated, and precise. Without any sense of the contrived fruitiness, heavy timber, and nasal membrane destroying alcohol that characterize the modern style. Medium plus acid and medium tannins frame the substance beautifully. Indescribable sophistication and nuance! Neither Bordeaux could match this wine's range and depth.

All elements point to another decade+ of life. Satisfying in all regards. Stupendous QPR! 97-98.

2/13/2024 - DaleW wrote:

This time I offered blind. Mark got Medoc, but guessed 2005 Pauillac. Much closer than I was to DDC! Cassis, a little leather, nice and correct but a bit foursquare. B

2/8/2024 - Toshu wrote:

Held too long and it was passed it's peak. Let it air for a few hours

1/31/2024 - John McCabe wrote:

Always a reliable, beautiful aged Bordeaux from one of my favorite producers. Elegant, sweet and expressive, showing nice age. This was better than most of the previous bottles from this case.

12/28/2023 - honest bob wrote:

From 75cl, dry natural cork broke on extraction (why? Haven’t Chablis producers learned anything at all from the cork disasters a decade ago?) P+P. Acceptable entry level Chardonnay, could be from anywhere. Basic Bourgogne ordinaire? Perhaps it’s just much too young. Time will tell (as shall I, having bought a case) 87P(?)

11/28/2023 - djhammond Likes this wine:

As mentioned previously, if tasted blind you could swear you were drinking a wine a decade or more older. Fully mature, it is a delight to drink, and a great stop gap whilst waiting for the 2000 and 2005 vintage to enter their drinking window. The nose and palate are displaying secondary and tertiary notes already, with everything integrated with blackcurrant, cherry, old leather, and violet. It shows great balance and depth, with only a shorter finish preventing a higher rating. Highly recommended. 94+

11/8/2023 - MC wrote:

Decanted 1 hour. Very nice at first taste, with dark red fruits, some earth and leather but in general still quite primary but in a nice way vs. previous bottle a year or so back. This did close just a bit after an hour (so 2 hours after decanting) but overall I like where this is now, and think it will improve. A-

11/2/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote:

Dense and compact black fruit, this slowly opened up over several hours with firm tannins. Powerful from start-to-finish. Fresher and better than my previous bottle from earlier this year.

10/27/2023 - Motz wrote:

Drank over two days, alongside the same vintage Cantemerle.

Minimal bricking. It took longer to open than the Cantemerle and it delivered considerably more, of everything good. Such distinctive terroir. Other than blackcurrant, fruit takes a back seat to place. Yes! One also finds notes of freshly pulled beets and mint.

Tremendous range and depth. The wine strengthens from front to back, and finishes with crescendo of all things Pauillac, you know, lit cigar, pipe tobacco, worn leather, funk, and sous-bois.

Exceptional balance at all phases; quite seamless. Likely to enjoy at least another decade of maturation and enter peak form after 2035. Worth seeking out, even at current pricing. Stupendous QPR!

9/9/2023 - englishman's claret wrote:

Interestingly, the nose on this example of the 2011 Smith Haut Lafitte is indistinguishable from the last example - slightly dumb, smudged, a little smoke and graphite. It's on the palate that this surprises me, which a delectable blueberry pie, potpourri character. While I don't expect this to rocket into the top tier of SHL, it seems wise to lock bottles away for another 5 years or so and hope that the dumb nose becomes an open one, matching the articulation found on the palate.
90 (+?)

8/25/2023 - John McCabe wrote:

Brought one of these back home to Dublin, Ireland it's its like it got some reverse-bottle-shock - this was so elegant, full of subtlety and expression. The sweet fruit was quite satisfying. 94+pts.

8/16/2023 - Édifice Likes this wine:

Impressive bouquet of ripe berries, cassis, grilled peppers, crushed stones and undergrowth. Extremely silky palate, still with quite some freshness, leading to a finish with incredibly fine tannins, sweet, salty, fresh, tingling for quite a while. Still feels a bit young, probably given a more classic, fresh style, yet the tannins are incredibly nice, showing the wine is ready to drink, whilst having potential to further evolve.

7/29/2023 - MrBrege wrote:

This has gotten so much better since last I tried it. Tannins have softened but are still present. Surprisingly sophisticated throughout, with strength, balance and length of flavour. Perhaps this can still improve, but at the very least it will hold at this level for another 5 years or so.

11/7/2022 - kostaslonis wrote:

Trinity Wines tasting (Stavros Niarchos): Tighter, more austere than 2015 Montrose, licorice, fruity, black currant and cherry
Palate is very juicy, tight tannins, a few bitter notes, licorice, fresh, bitter even, full body, long finish

7/26/2023 - Xavier Auerbach wrote:

Ninth bottle from two full cases purchased en primeur from a reputable Dutch merchant. Pristine bottle, decanted for two hours. Has developed well since my previous tasting note from November 2021, and the development seems to be picking up pace. It seems to be coming together really nicely right now, demonstrating a lovely aromatic interplay of creamy cherries, cedar, gravel, and lead pencil. The palate has good body and weight (14% ABV), marrying richness and freshness, supported by firm but finely grained tannins. The finish has good length, displaying lovely minty notes. Well-balanced, clear expression, comfortably on its plateau of maturity with at least another 10 years in the tank.

6/24/2023 - Rani Likes this wine:

Tasted blind next to its 2001 sibling. Notes of black olive tapenade. Rose petals emerged. On the palate huge acidity - really huge. Red fruit, super fine tannins. Surprinsgly accessible, but I don’t think it will improve from here.

5/20/2023 - Geoff Likes this wine:

3 hour decant and it still continued to open in the glass. Deep dark color with no signs of bricking. Nose of dark and some red fruit, oak, smoke, saddle leather, secondary and some tertiary notes. Medium to full bodied with sweet smooth tannins, smooth mouthfeel and long, long finish. Sophisticated and complex. Very pleasing wine. At it's apogee.

4/14/2023 - chatters wrote:

Coravin fun - Domaine de Chevalier (My place, Kent Street): From Coravin. Medium minus intensity aromas of fresh blackcurrant, a little sweet spice, wild plum, cedar, with agitation a touch of herbaceous underpin. Medium plus intensity acidity, fresh blackcurrant backed by that herbaceous note and an almost smoky note, cedar, tannins are drying and travel long but are surprisingly silky. this is balanced, complex and rather yummy

5/1/2023 - Eric Likes this wine:

Opening the first bottle out of an unopened case purchased on release 20 years ago. This is supposed to be the wine dream. I hope it’s good. I don’t find myself drinking as much Bordeaux lately.

Jeff Leve wrote a “drink up” note which made me go “oh shit…”

But this thing is just warming up. Tons of fruit. Plenty of tannin. Very deep and pretty. Great aromatics. It’s a baby still.

Smoke, tobacco, truffle, just explosive on the nose. Fine, fine tannins on a palate that still drips with gorgeous and lithe fruit. Cherry and chocolate. So pure and pretty. Wonderfully long and mineral on the finish.

Fantastic!

4/27/2023 - mwneil Likes this wine:

Tannic, nicely aged, good fruit, drank with filet mignon and Maine lobster tail, earthy, showed well with other aged Bordeaux, would drink again.

3/3/2022 - rikipedia Likes this wine:

A deep garnet colour towards the rim, the penetrating bouquet is very attractive with chocolate, mocha notes, cedar and pencil shavings, and gently warmed red and black fruits. Classic mid-aged Bordeaux, the entry is lively with a lemon-edged acidity, firm, powdery texture and a mid-plate filled with blackcurrant, redcurrant flesh framed by tight, compact tannins and interwoven with enough sweetness of dark chocolate and fruit to coat and soothe the mid-palate. A well-balanced, charming wine that is mid-full-bodied, with a sense of opulence that will merit further time in bottle. Excellent length, the wine has satin-y tannins with a slight extract and pull, finishing with chocolate, coffee grinds and dried olive. I did notice the tannins became tighter and snapped shut quicker as the wine opened - which seemed unusual! Even more time perhaps?

3/31/2023 - tzelmer wrote:

Chateau Lagrange (St. Julien) visit with GM - dinner and tasting (Raleigh, NC): This is outstanding. Aromas and flavors of all the red and black fruits you can think of + slight cedar and dry earth notes on the finish. The concentration and definition are really impressive here. The broad mid-palate, silky tannins and impressive length just keep you coming back for more. This is the best Lagrange I have tasted. May not be a wine that lasts another 20 years but it sure is great right now. If you can get some you should try it. 95 now maybe 96 over the next 5 years and then will peak in my opinion. The 2010 is a very different wine but will live longer.

1/16/2023 - englishman's claret wrote:

Tasted blind, this example of the 2009 Lagrange showed very similarly to my last encounter with this wine in 2020. This is really something - I love the vibrancy of the mixed berry fruit here, more red than black; there's a fine perfume, augmented by mineral and cedar. Really vivacious without any heaviness. 93-94 points

1/21/2023 - Zweder wrote:

Regular dinner group (@ My place): Ruby red. In the bouquet dark berries and vanilla. On the palate red and dark berries like cassis, blackberry and bell pepper, firm acidity and tannin. Quite focused but lacking some finesse, nevertheless certainly an excellent wine.

9/24/2022 - Jake Barnes Likes this wine:

First of twelve from a case purchased at auction. Opened as a trailblazer for a 2004 Leoville Las Cases, and it cut an admirable path.

The Gloria was double decanted for sediment and served about a half hour after opening. This was just enough aeration to bring things together and start revealing the light tertiary notes it was developing; however, I think a solid hour in the decanter would probably have been better.

Every bit the equal of the Leoville Las Cases, this was a big, round wine, showing black over red fruits, dusty tannins, good acidity, and great balance. Like the LLC, this was probably in the first half of its middle-maturity plateau and was drinking beautifully. In truth, I ended up preferring this to the LLC by a small margin. Clearly, the 2009 vintage is a force to be reckoned with. 13.5% ABV (very good; above average; distinguished; compelling/***/16.5/93)

11/29/2022 - logos Likes this wine:

1/2. rich marmelady nez and taste; very aromatic, touch honeyed bitter almond, good botrytis. ripe apricoty savour with good grip is delicious and satisfying. very sweet, almost too much for its acidity, but otherwise well-balanced and long with harmonious, tad bitter finish. should hold for several years; may improve slightly.

11/19/2022 - Song103 Likes this wine:

Slow ox for 1 hour and another 2 hours decant. Compared with my previous CT notes, I found this bottle to be even more primary. Very rich dark fruit, full body with silky tannins. Approachable, but 5-10 years away from maturity. Very much Napa in style, and tasted more like a 09 than 05. A 4+ hours decant would have been more appropriate. 92-96 depending on which style of BDX blend you prefer. Next bottle 2026+

11/14/2022 - Jimaronson wrote:

Hard to rate the wine. The nose was corked, but the palate was better. I have had bottles with the nose smelling like over ripe sulfur and the palate fine. I think getting beyond what some may find corked is personal. I have another bottle and will open it in good time. What I preferred about the wine was the sweetness of red fruit without perfumed overtones. I am partularly sensitive to overly perfumed bordeaux. The wine was compared to an 03 Leoville Poyfere which I could not appreciate due to its lavender taste. I slow oxed the bottle 90 minutes before serving. It needed the air and improved in the glass. The Cos was full bodied with a subtle finish. Red fruit with some barn yard in the background. The texture was smooth. I believe if the bottle had been good then it would have scored a 96.

11/14/2022 - Mark1npt Likes this wine:

Been 4.5 years or so, since my last bottle. Good CT friend Jim Aronson, was nice enough to host me for a BDX tasting tonight, so why not?

Decanted 1 hour before putting it back into the bottle under cork to take to his house for the night. Loads of very fine sediment in the bottle, which was avoided, before re-bottling.

Over 3 hours of being open to air, this is a rather classic Bdx. Great perfumed nose up front, so much so that Jim found it distracting! I, on the other hand, loved it.....great dark red fruit, great aged Bdx nose and taste profile with mushroom and graphite included, a 96 early on for me.

Towards the end of the night, the wine darkened a bit and thickened. The perfumed nose backs off. Mushroom persists along with other earthy characteristics. Maybe it scores a couple of points less for me, then, a 94. Still, this is one of the true gems of the maligned '03 vintage, in Bdx. There is good weight and a great flavor profile to it. It has been a fun ride with these '03s and happy to have recently procured 2 more bottles, to play with over the next few years.

11/10/2022 - vide Likes this wine:

Yes, purple tooth is exactly right. This is a fine wine but does not quite live up to its potential. Perhaps we are drinking it too young. But 17 years should be enough. It is a very fine wine, deep and satisfying in its fruit. But it lacks complexity.

11/1/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote:

If you have been waiting to pull a cork here, there is no reason for further aging. The wine has more gas in the tank, but all of its layers of dark red, lusciously textured, sweet, ripe fruits are ready to go. Drink from 2022-2033.

10/28/2022 - Ltrain1282 Likes this wine:

Opened first bottle and … corked. Second one on point. Needs 30-60 minutes of air to start to show. Have had this 100 times and lots of bottle variation This bottle is great … nice ripe fruit like strawberry rhubarb pie, some licorice, and a little hint of nail polish from the higher alcohol. Some bottles I’ve had have a lot of sediment. This one was good with none (I did filter it through a bounty).

10/7/2022 - O'Meara wrote:

Time to drink up. Had a bottle and it was lacking fruit. Nice mature Bdx. Fruit has really dissipated since the last bottle. Probably lasts here for several years, but the tannins will undoubtedly take over. Smoke’m if you got’em.

10/5/2022 - wineappellation Likes this wine:

Deep earthy graphite. Layered. Tobacco, vanilla, truffle sauce and coffee bean. Lovely. Dry tannin though.

10/2/2022 - Condrieu82 Likes this wine:

Nice deep ruby color with small bricking on the side. Nose is intensely aromatic with blackcurrants, cherries, smoked meat, forest floor, sandalwood. Palate shows great balance with nice acidity and integrated tannins, lots of blackcurrants, cherries, lavender even - but there is so much more going on with sandalwood, pencil, very evocative. The ending shows a nice, balanced oaky tones and it lingers on and on for a good while. A great wine!

9/28/2022 - englishman's claret wrote:

The 2008 Lagrange is showing very well right out of the bottle with blueberry cobbler, tarragon, and a pencilly mineral character. Classic St Julien melange of power and elegance. A little hollow on the palate, but expanding nicely again on the finish where the above notes are joined by an ashy coal note.

9/28/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote:

Currants, cedar, tobacco leaves, smoke, flowers, and spice aromatics open up the wine. On the palate. the wine is fresh, vibrant, silky, and displays a nice spicy touch to the ripe plums and currants that sticks all the way through to the finish. This is a pleasure to taste now, and will only get better with a few more years of age. Drink from 2022-2040.

8/25/2022 - CondorKhan wrote:

Popped and poured. Initially shows with a light body with plenty of graphite minerality and notes of black pepper and spice. With air, it fattens up with cassis and blueberry. Strikes me as very classic.

Very good now but it will get even better.

8/22/2022 - 87tellub Likes this wine:

PnP and then consumed over 4 days, sealing and storing in the fridge in between.

Medium to dark purple in color. Bit of funk, tobacco, dark fruit, dark cocoa powder, hint of heat on the nose, at first. Medium in body, quite sticky tannins but not overpowering. A lot of purple and black fruit, black plum and black cherry bubblegum. After 90 minutes of bottle air, showing itself to be more well-knit, no heat, settling in nicely. Nose showing a bit more meaty.

More put together on night 2; nose showing a lot of dark dspice, cocoa powder, some cigar box. Still really lovely on night 4 and seems to have put on more weight, depth and substance.

Very nice, and obviously many good years ahead for this wine.

8/10/2022 - djhammond Likes this wine:

This has evolved in the last 12 months, and really is the only contender to the superlative vintages from 1989 and 1990. This is a later developer than other left bankers from the year. Tasting profile is as previous but it is an outstanding drink and contradicts all the prejudices of 2003. What a wine!

8/5/2022 - Purple Tooth wrote:

This is another decade away from being a waste. Totally exhaled after 4th hour into 5 and 6...Long and bruising finish. Ohmmmmmm...

7/23/2022 - chatters wrote:

Coravin fun - Burgundy selection, Talbot bracket and supper wine (My place, Kent Street): From Coravin. Baked black fruits - berries and currants - sweet spice, a slightly meaty, gamey underpin, smells quite dense. Juicy, savoury but with a black fruit core, softly tannic, a little savoury note joins on the finish. Nice.