7/6/2015 - tp096255 wrote:

I like it because I can drink it, but I hate it because I have been cellaring this freaking punk-a** bottle for a decade and just now realized this is the same stupid kind of bor-dough plonk I've been wasting my time on all along. How did James Suckling rate this a NINETY-EIGHT in 2006 and then change that to a 92 (NINETY-TWO!!!!!) in 2011?!? It's not even a 92 in my book. This is drinkable but it has the same ol stupid bor-dough funk in the nose, insipid ash-tray mouth muddled with some blackberries, followed by more ash tray in the mouth. Oh man, I am angry. I am so glad I stopped buying any bor-dough wines about 5 years ago. I know, not all of them SUCK, just most. Yikes. What an utter disappointment. I am going to sell off every single bottle of bor-dough in my cellar. Left-bank, Right-bank, and all the other banks. Oh, that's what it is! They are all used to going to the "bank" after I buy their wines en primeur! Well, maybe in some future century when bor-dough catches up to Napa in the making of fine wines I will entertain a purchase or two. Pretty sure I'll be dead by then.

Bye bye and good riddance bor-dough!

Sincerely,

Troy Peterson

(Epilogue: This is only a rant about RED bor-dough, not white/sweet ones. And this was no PnP willy nilly tasting, it was a full-on decant with tastings every hour for several hours and at a consistent temperature. And yes, I am still waiting to taste Petrus, any vintage!)

3/21/2015 - PGB wrote:

Acquired from a source in London that acquired it directly from the Chateau. This is a mediocre wine. It has little fruit left, a short finish and nothing to recommend it. Haut-Brion has made some great wines but this isn't one of them.

11/30/2014 - jamie24 Likes this wine:

This is getting better and better with every passing year. Textbook Pauillac... cassis and cedar.This is the best Bordeaux I've tried outside the first growths (just edging the '89 Lynch Bages). God only knows what this will taste like in 10-15 years. I will try and be patient with my remaining 9 bottles.

11/23/2014 - Lord Rayas wrote:

My MNSC (The Pawn): Decanted for 3hrs. Corked sadly.

11/23/2014 - jamie24 Likes this wine:

first bottle from a case. 2 hour decant. i was a little disappointed. more elegant than powerful. the final glass 6 hours later was the best so hopefully some upside potential. will re-visit in a couple of years.

11/17/2014 - Kris G wrote:

I can't help it, but this is not my prefered style of Bordeaux

11/17/2014 - Gene_Mo wrote:

Don't know if I can blame cork taint, but basically unpleasant. Gritty acid tannins. No better the second day.

10/22/2014 - iamandyc wrote:

Needed 5 hour decant to open up but probably needed more. Typical profile of a 2005 Napa cab with good structure and acidity. Fruit was red in character, lush but far from over the top. Nose was OK and finish moderate. Must admit I'm consistently underwhelmed for the price tag on SHS. Bad value. Always tastes good when tasting at Shafer but so-so at home for the money. Nice experience with someone else's money.

9/25/2014 - Ex-Ray wrote:

Tasted alongside an '01 Grange, which I liked better. This was dark and opaque. The nose was a bit musty but otherwise closed. Medium-full bodied flavor, but the fruit in the background and tannin too prominent. Dry tannic aftertaste. Fruit faded further over several hours. A nice wine, but not what I would have expected. I'll try another soon.
Ric

8/15/2014 - KPB wrote:

Last tasted this in 2008 when it was very tight. By now the wine is much improved. The color still is a very young, very dark black cherry, but the nose has evolved to become far more nuanced and interesting. I'm finding that same waxy red-current fruit, but hints of spice and summer flowers. On the palate, medium bodied with great lift from the lively acidity, smooth tannins, mineral underpinnings. Quite a long finish. I suspect that the wine hasn't even reached maturity yet, and it has a very long life ahead. But far more enjoyable then when I first tried it...

6/15/2014 - Rollerball wrote:

Elements explode weightlessly outward. Irresistibly head spinning, deeply scintillating, fresh, dark and explosive. Expansive and moving.
90 min decant.

2/7/2014 - Matt Scott Likes this wine:

I am absolutely stunned by not only the Danaiden finish, but also the astonishingly chiseled, elegant and velvety mouth-feel. There's blackberry, scorched earth, river rock, incense, charred oak, Pad Thai and licorice. Your palate is ensconced in crushed velvet tannin - that is exquisitely polished - and sagacity. This is one of my favorite '05s, and I actually prefer her slightly over the '05 Haut-Brion (99 points). A Pessac that will ultimately out live anyone reading this today. She might be better than the über-classic '89 (100 points). If you own this and want to consume now, please decant for at least two hours. Drink 2020 -.

1/31/2014 - robertek wrote:

Compact and completely closed down on the nose. Balanced and nice on the palate but I am disappointed.

11/27/2013 - BinVA wrote:

number 1 WS, 2013. I don't get it, not even a little bit. Let me update my prior note; I like Rioja, really enjoy tempranillo. Maybe I'm early on this bottle, but it tasted of a wine already into its aging period and was initially very tannic. Some of the tannin blew off and what was left was a medium wine, red berries somewhat muted by the oak and IMHO, an 87 point wine today. It was good, but on the rating scale, it was easily "Very Good", but not in the "Excellent" range. That said, I don't get the #1 rating. Maybe you do, but I don't.

9/20/2013 - jamie24 wrote:

This was my first from a case of the '99 Musar and it trumped the '01 which I'm also a big fan of. Cherries on the nose. Simply delicious and I suspect it will age well. Outstanding price to quality ratio