9/1/2013 - jmccready Likes this wine:

Perfect mix of red shades by desk-light after a power failure.
A range of red fruits on nose from cherries, currants, etc.
but all red. Palate of supple fruit and "strict"supporting tannins
yet a bit trim for a ripe vintage. Maintains a traditional claret
lover's
style while satisfying the modern clean fad. Classic and
elegant and one day I might meet Anthony Barton. $80/bottle!
Buy it, age it and open a few now if you must, and rock! JM

7/28/2013 - jmccready Likes this wine:

Muddy brick, garnet rim, great nose of cherry, red currants and
cedar. Leads to sleek yet mouthfilling body with diverse
terroir-like, earthy flavors on palate. Old classic claret style from
an average vintage but much appreciated by traditional Bordeaux
stylists. Very long finish. Just great. My heart is at.... 92at least

6/26/2013 - jmccready Likes this wine:

Deep purple color, tight nose of blue aged fruits, nicely preserved for
the vintage, although a good vintage on this bank. Very textural
and supple, merlot lush and not he grip of right bank
Cab. Sav. but enough supporting tannins. Could last but great
right now. Hedonistic as all fine Pomerol should be.

6/10/2013 - jmccready wrote:

Dark center with garnet rim, up nose of dark fruits, light cedar and
currants. Medium weight in body but as the wine evolves in glass
great flavors that build on the palate. A real terroir-like wine that
only claret gives. Long finish. A great 5er Pauliiac- a real Bordeaux
lovers wine, not Cal. like at all although one taster posted it as Cal.
One professional thought it to be simple but he didn't wait for it to
develop, at least to my impression. JM

4/28/2013 - jmccready wrote:

Dark center, amber rim. Smells of light cedar, dried red fruits,
a tad dusty, hints of blueberries after time in glass. Straight-
that is to say medium weight, dry tobacco hints on palate, not
a classy Margaux but decent with typical claret character and a
lengthy finish. Almost reminds of a Pauillac, or even St. Estephe
in structure. Not at all over the hill. The property was apparently
never classified. Re-purchase? Not sure. JM

4/3/2013 - jmccready wrote:

Dark reddish purple. Aromatic nose of subtle red and blue fruit
with faint Oakville mint. Structure and weight all 08. Again,
like 04 and maybe 06? At least more restrained than the 05, o9.
Only one wine, I know.Second label of Issan. Chunky texture
with lingering earthy flavors that last. Could develop and I would
buy a few more at the right price- a real rib-eye sort. Long at the
end. A JH style from what I have read. JM

2/24/2013 - jmccready Likes this wine:

Dark crimson with amber rim. Heady nose, classic cedar and currants.
Mouthfilling and velvety, but firm tannins pucker the richness. The
vintage keeps the rich fruit tendency of this property in check.
But a decent buy at the right price as are many 04s. We may wish
one day we all had more of this vintage cellared, unless you have
already wisely purchased. JM

12/9/2012 - jmccready Likes this wine:

Whiffs of blueberries and other mellow dark fruits-the palate follows
with supple texture and mellow tannins. Multi-vintage with all five
claret varieties, the second label of Opus and a wine clearly meant
for earlier consumption than Opus One. A nice effort to produce a
Bordeaux cousin in Napa with a group quite qualified to do so. Only
ordered from the winery and I will place another order soon. JM

11/11/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Mellow nose of black cherries and currants which leads to the supple textural mouthfeel with a red fruit nature. This wine is totally mature , hedonistic mostly with enough
complexity for a talkative BWE group. Long finish. Drink up, a real pleasure. Off to Burgundy tomorrow. Keep posting, I will pick you up on the computer in Beaune. JM

8/26/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Dark purple, lightly browning rim. Heady nose of rich plum fruit with light toast. Supple palate , more fruit forward than I would have ecpected form this vintage but
it evens out to a balanced style with well integrated tannins. About 50/ 50 CS and merlot. This is a nice bottle and a good one to lay down for a few more years
although its drinks well now. Not too pricey either. Excellent.

8/18/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Purple core with ruby and garnet outer edges. Beautiful color. Plummy nose with black and blue fruits, dried red currants with a whiff of cedar. Excellent and classic.
An elegant style but the fruit had faded a bit too much leaving mostly a tannic structure. Even so,finesse mixed with faded dried fruit flavors linger suggesting
earlier consumption of this bottle would have been wise. Class still shows and it deserves at least a respectfull score, hence the 87. I would not hesitate to try
another bottle and hopefully other tasters have found more stuffing to support the tannins.

7/24/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Beautiful crimson ruby mix. Nose a blend of red and blue/black fruits, very nice with well integrated oak. Not a modern style. This chateau reportedly
makes an early drinking style and this 09 seems to reflect that. But the sheer power of the vintage does not suggest early consumption, unless the
beef on the grill is Argentine chewy. An excellent example of a basic Medoc at a great price. The terroir has not changed and neither has the substance
of this wine, but frankly this Patache is too tart for my taste. Fans of this chateau (vintage), your opinions?

7/15/2012 - jmccready wrote:

What a great surprise and from a not so great vintage. Brick and garnet showing old age. Currants and classic dried fruits with a hint of sweetness.
Singular impression, not at all blended like most clarets. Structured with mild tannins. Finesse and minerals. But what a great easy drink with lovely
flavors that expand if the wine stays around long enough. The opposite of Shiraz. This is a wine of terrior-the syrah sings as a wonderfully drinkable
Hermitage.

7/10/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Dark plum core with red amber rim. Lively mix of raspberry, cherry fruit on nose. Currants too. Rich and bold, even a tad hot but not too much so. A very nice job of
winemaking as always from the owners of this estate. With the proper age (as in 96) this property seems to be excellent, although I agree with other postings that this wine has not always been
impressive. But it seems to be, at least to me, one to taste and seek out-and give time to improve! Given the current era.

7/8/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Pretty blend of red colors-a mix of ruby, light crimson and garnet shades, nice to look at. Nose of dark and red fruits with cassis and other nice smells. Rich and textural, balanced and
clearly reflective of a great vintage. Beautiful merlot fruit. This wine semms to be good in good vintages and very good in
great vintages, but that is only my opinion. The modern style seems to have been of benefit to this property and the wine never seems to be too over-extracted.

7/1/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Bubbles stil medium racy and remain for the entire 5 minutes it took to finish the bottle. Seriously a truly great champagne with rich honeyed color and light bisquits in nose. Likewise sweet, honeyed flavors
on the palate but this is just the beginning. The complex layered flavors don't take long to wow you. Everything in there you want, powerful and nutty on palate. It has been called Montrachet-like
before and that is very accurate. Long finish that continues to build. Simply great.

6/23/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Medium purple color(by candlelight but pretty), dark berry fruits prominent with toasty oak on nose. An almost perfect example of a structured, mature St. Estephe. Rich fruit shows through
the typical hard backbone that is charactertic of this commune. Current vintages are reported to have a greater percentage of Merlot and frankly I haven't tasted newer releases, but I have
to believe the old style grip still dominates. This property may not produce a hedonistic, fleshy style but it ages well and if the '95 is any indication of future vintages, then stack a few bottles
away and write rib-eye on the side of the case.

6/15/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Rich nose of currants and integrated oak with black fruits. A dense plummy palate, a tad tart with mouthfilling earthy flavors. Great texture and developing flavors of chocolate and coffee. The hint of
tartness stays around. This falls somewhere between current ripeness and old style finesse from a house that strives for the latter. A very nice wine. Lagrange should not be ignored and is a fine
example of a crafted St. Julien. Recent vintages, in my view, confirm this.

6/6/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Deep off purple with bright garnet rim. Decanted about 30 minutes before consuming. An immediate nostril filling,rich full nose of dried plums, black currants and cedar and every other typical
adjective that has been attributed to a great claret. Read all positive notes from other tasters here in the nose and taste and they are all true:no sense in repeating them, meshed complexity.
Balanced, textural, long and a beautiful maturity yet refusing to give up its youth. These 82's continue to amaze and most all the classified growths I have had seem to have a long life left.
Can't say much more. A classic St. Juilen.

5/26/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Red brick body with garnet rim. Nose of dried plums, currants, light chocolate and mint. Medium weight that gains in texture. A spicy minerality with rich black and red fruits supported by sturdy
somewhat gravelly tannins. The wine lingers on the palate with a little heat but only 13%. This was a great merlot year and the Coufran is 80 to 90% merlot which is unique. This chateau
is well known as a value wine and I'm sure opinions vary quite a bit. This wine retains a bit of its youth, quite impressive for 14 year old merlot based "cru bourgeois"". I bought this recently to
see if it has held up. It has indeed.

5/18/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Bright ruby red color, nose of sweet plummy fruit and flowers. A sleek elegant style on palate with old time finesse. This is consistent with the stated house style, a chateau with some history although
not a property of great prestige. A cranberry tartness mixed with minerality gives nice flavors but new world mouthfillers might find this a bit hollow,at least for this vintage. Notes from older vintages
on this site suugest the wine is age-worhty if not spectacular- the scores seem fairly high. Not sure if this a buy or not but the style is old time. Over-made it is not.

5/11/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Heady nose of tropical fruits,lime and earth. Very rich on the palate with a sweet ripe flavor immediately cleansed by racy acidity. This is a very good vintage for white burgundy and while Chablis
may follow it must be taken on its own. Thiis is a serious wine reflective of the vintage and although a tad modern in style, mother earth still wins out. Buy and hold, or drink if you must. It should not let
you down.

5/11/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Oak seems to muffle the light chocolate and black fruit aromas. The palate is bold, rich and ripe new world with chewy earthy flavors that suggest future complexity; but the awkward
tannins demand more age to achieve balance and excellence. There is no guarantee that age will bring harmony to this wine but I would hold it for 5 more years and see. Or you can pop
a cork and put a rib-eye on the grill.

4/30/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Beautiful mature red/amber color. A somewhat delicate nose of dried black cherries and currants that evolves after a while with a pleasant perfumey nuance. Supple and wonderful finesse, a lighter
syle that is worhty of its second label status. Younger vines I believe but I am not sure. I have noted that other vintages of Blason are balanced like this one. This 96 is ready. It does pick up
a little weight while in glass giving more palate coating flavors so the lighter style moves a little. With the D''Issan at the top of its game, this second label will surely follow. Younger vintages worth trying.

4/30/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Purple plum center with reddish brown rim-pretty. A simple nose of plums and dried black fruits changed a little but not much. This is a mouthfilling, textural style, not one of finesse. Any hint of sweet
merlot fruit is dominated by a bitter/astringent compoment that never seems to fade. The soft tannins are well dispersed but they must carry some of this tartness. This is very close to the '99 I
had six months ago. This chateau no doubt has its following but I would like to try a few newer vintages to see if the bitters I get are part of the wines's nature. I suspect they are.

4/18/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Bright cherry red brick color with browning rim. Dried red currant fruit aroma with hints of forest floor and earth. Medium weight on palate, hints of cherries-a wine of finesse, elegance and restraint.
The tannins are well meshed and not too assertive but they do add to the drying aftertaste. I couldn't get Burgundy out of my mind while tasting this from the color to the finish. This is one of the
more interesting clarets I can remember with many complex flavors which justify its 3rd growth status. Drink now although it has enough balance and structure to last for a good many years.

4/9/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Dark brick-red color with garnet browning rim. Nose a light mix of youthful and more mature red fruits with hints of chocolate. This wine has perfect balance to my taste with soft integrated tannins,
hints of plum, an elegant style not at all jammy. For an everyday drinking claret, I can't imagime a better one at this price. This wine is respected as one of the finest just below the fab
five classification and this vintage is showing the best of its terroir. Buy and drink but a warning-the bottle evaporates rapidly so open two.

4/2/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Very dark opaque purple color, tight nose of plums and dark berry fruits. The taste has about all you can pack into a fine Margaux-a real iron fist in a velvet glove. Most all of the
adjectives recorded by other tasters on this site can be found in this layered wine. It is 60% Cabernet and 40% Merlot and its balance makes it a wine whose maturity should
be measured in decades and not years. If there are any bottles around in 15 or 20 years then I hope I am here to try one. A seamless classic!

3/26/2012 - jmccready wrote:

Dark black cherry color, Slightly browing rim, nose of blackcurrants, light plums, and light cherrires. Rich, mouthfilling and soft texture on palate. Structure behind the fleshy new world fruit with tannins
that support the new world impression. A wonderfully balanced wine-the result of the great vintage and excellent winemaking. It will be tempting to drink this wine before more advanced flavors
develop, but that will involve the experience of the collector. All aspects, including the oaky overtones are well meshed. Try a bottle in 5 years.