12/26/2020 - Pancreatitis wrote:

Opened 2 bottles on consecutive day, first not quite right somehow so opened a second which was pristine: weightless intensity and purity, smoke, saline, seaside, citrus, very complex mineralite.

10/1/2023 - Peech Likes this wine:

popped and poured. Nose was showing more leather and animal notes. Still got the fruit here but this was more muscular and rustic, not an elegant wine. Later we also got some toasty notes on the nose.

11/25/2021 - fitchbuck Likes this wine:

Post turkey gorging. Somehow, this stood up to being first opened at Canlis, 21 months ago (aka the 50th), and not being plonk today. Even more mind-boggling was that I preferred it better this night - than that one. Thx Ross'es's.

6/26/2020 - lancethomas wrote:

Dynamite. No fruit but great weight, structure, and acidity. Checks all the boxes. Likely varies bottle to bottle at this point but a good bottle can go another 5 years.

4/3/2016 - jlgnml Likes this wine:

Olde Wine Dinner 1925-1966 (Chez Kailin Cellars): Initially old sneaker smell right out of the btl. Very deep Apricot color, needed time to develop and open in the glass, which it did. Clean finish, almost dessert like.

11/4/2020 - bendb Likes this wine:

Thick, strong notes of apricot and honeysuckle. What a tremendous finish! It lasted for a full minute.

This bottle unfortunately had been exposed to a 2020 California heatwave without climate control. As far as I know the wine came through unscathed, but I'll always wonder. If it was _this_ good now, how good could it _have_ been?

1/1/2021 - PJRONeill Likes this wine:

Held my breath a bit when opening this but the cork came out smoothly and in one piece and it was clear that the gods were smiling on us. This was simply brilliant. A beautiful clear color, red at the center fading to brown at the rim. The nose was complex and savory, with notes of leather, nutmeg and Christmas cake and it held together beautifully on the palate, with mature sweet red fruits, savory herbal / nutty notes, good acidity and a decent if not overly long finish.

A good portion of this hobby, particularly when holding older bottles, involves disappointment when they don’t live up to our hopes. How nice then to open something that doesn’t just meet expectations but goes way beyond and provides a great experience. An encouraging omen, hopefully, on the first day of a new year.

9/8/2020 - drwine2001 wrote:

Sound ruby center. A strong whiff of alcohol, but equally strong aromas of dried flower incense and black licorice. Full bodied, soil base, ripe blackberry, less fig, and perhaps the most pronounced licorice drop flavor I've ever tasted in a wine. Some heat at the end. Yes, it is marred by the vintage conditions and doesn't have perfect balance, but to be fair, I must say that this is still interesting at age 13 and has turned out much better than I predicted from early tastings.

8/3/2020 - pbaek wrote:

First bottle from a case bought at the domaine. Not only is it corked, it is badly corked. Yuck!

4/8/2018 - _water.into.wine_ Likes this wine:

Lovely nose of barnyard and manure. Vibrant and fresh on the palette. Still has structure but smooth and very approachable. A perfect drinking spot. Pale red with some hint of pink and brown. I really liked this wine. And arguably the one that got me hooked on Northen Rhône.

*tried 75ml from a wine sampling machine at hedonism wines in the UK (sales assistant Susan - excellent).

10/14/2018 - Geoff7777 wrote:

Bright light green gold colour. Initially nose shows flinty reduction and I'm encouraged. Below the reduction yellow orchard fruits and zippy acidity. With more air, reduction becomes a more dominant sulphur hardness. I will decant this and revisit. Later...the hardness wins. It's a dud. Day 2. Transformed. Melon, pear and yellow peaches with mild citrus tinged acidity. Lovely wine. Yet another example of how air transforms some WB's.

6/11/2017 - Blake Brown wrote:

1963 FONSECA VINTAGE PORT- Honestly, I could not detect this being fraudulent, but after a few others immediately commented on it, I acquiesced especially since they have had much more experience with older Ports than I have; the cork was definitely old and in fact, split about 1/2 way through when pulled; the color was a deep, dark browning purple that seemed to be showing some age; the taste had lots of spicy cherry flavoured Smith Bros. Cough Drop notes and it finished with a lot of heat; interesting and begging the internal question, how many fraudulent wines have I had and did not know it?

1/12/2019 - pryby wrote:

Not my favorite style. Dense, plummy and somewhat “hot” to my taste - interesting how this appears not to match the other CT notes at all, but this is often my experience with CdP. I thought the ‘10 might benefit from being a cooler vintage. My parents both loved it.

10/15/2013 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:

Not the deepest, most concentrated ‘Nacional’ but beautifully poised and proportioned. The spirit is clean with a gentle floral edge. There are dried fig, raisin, chocolate and liquorice smells. It is lacy and ethereal in the mouth. It has good cut and detail right through the palate and one is left with a wonderful inner mouth perfume once the wine is swallowed.

4/18/2015 - john_s wrote:

Not much solids on decanting. Nice mid colour showing little age. Nose pleasant, ripe, touch of mintiness(?). Palate good except for twist of tannin particularly at back, which spoils the mouthfeel. I don't know if this will get better with a lot of age (colour indicates some way to go) or maybe it's finito. I have a few more. Time will tell.

9/22/2017 - john_s Likes this wine:

Half bottle. Good condition, good balance. I didn't like the flavour of it much though. I had anticipated that it would look good alongside a 2007 Vieux Telegraphe but it didn't. Maybe it's the cepage. Charvin and Senechaux (of some vintages) just don't appeal to me.

*edit: I just added the rider in brackets because I had overstated.

9/22/2017 - john_s Likes this wine:

Half bottle, double decanted before taking it out to lunch.
Ripe but not sweet nose, very healthy and impressive for the year. Needed time to open up. Very well balanced, will keep. Tannins not obtrusive. No hurry for the remaining halves. Bottles can wait a while.