3/1/2024 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Felt like a sparkling wine almost. Apple and pear on the palate.

2/17/2024 - Take Two wrote:

Drank my last bottle from my cellar. Unfortunately, I haven't kept notes when I purchased this wine, but it's been in my cellar for at least a decade.

I was worried that the bottle is over the hill, but no. It still delivered lots of fruit and plum. Lucky me.

This has been the best Zenato vintage so far.

1/20/2024 - Take Two wrote:

I love 100% Petit Verdot. This is decent. I’ve had better and I’ve had worse.

7/16/2023 - Take Two Likes this wine:

A full-bodied wine with long legs. The nose reveals boozy notes, sour cherries, fruit, and marmalade. On the palate, ripe plums dominate, accompanied by hints of tobacco and dark leaves. It has a dark and viscous color.

10/17/2022 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. Left half a bottle over night and consumed next day.

Short-to-medium body, medium acidity, very little tannins left. Plenty of fruit left. Could taste lots of cherry. I also sensed some lead on the first day.

Very enjoyable Bordeaux. Such a contrast to today's boozy wines.

1/25/2022 - Take Two Likes this wine:

At its prime.

10/15/2021 - Take Two Likes this wine:

I cellared a case upon release. Wine drinks beautifully now. Needs about 1 hour decant. It will open up as a classic St. Estephe -- a little bit of lead, wet leaves with fruit left.

I'm not planning to hold on it much longer because the fruit might start to disappear.

10/3/2021 - Take Two wrote:

Over the hill. No more fruit left.

7/18/2021 - Take Two wrote:

Light, refreshing, fun.

1/31/2021 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Cellared since 2016. Opened and poured. Nose was not great. Taste felt like salt at first, but then it opened up with flowery notes. Nice overall, but not great.

No need to wait on this anymore.

11/7/2020 - Take Two Does not like this wine:

Lots of heat almost like a Zin. Medium color, short finish, sweet, no legs. Bought because of earlier scores in CT. Disappointed.

9/26/2020 - Take Two wrote:

Smooth, light, nice color. Not a lot of fruit, a little licorice, lead, pencil, tobacco. Uninspiring. More cellaring won’t help.

9/20/2020 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Big, thick, dark. Medium finish, nice notes of dark fruit. Unfortunately, a little too much alcohol coming out of the glass.

6/27/2020 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Dark Ruby red. Cocoa. Soft and smooth. Medium-to-full body. Short finish. Overrated.

6/11/2020 - Take Two wrote:

No nose, or if anything it smells like plonk. Smooth on the tongue. Some fruit can be detected if you concentrate :-)

6/5/2020 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Popped the cork. Vinturi. Decanter. A brown/orange color. Nice notes of strawberry, tobacco leaves, short finish. Don't wait any longer; wine is over the top.

5/14/2020 - Take Two Does not like this wine:

Had a Magnum bottle. Drank it over a couple of days. Used a decanter the first day. The wine is in perfect drinking window (at least from a magnum).

Medium legs, and smooth finish, but little fruit or anything notable.

5/10/2020 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Picked up from cellar, decanted for 2 hours. Lots of fruit on the palate, mostly black cherry, but also a little raspberry, and some blueberries.

Very smooth and velvety. Medium finish.

5/1/2020 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Decanted for 3 hours. Cherry notes, cranberry, medium finish. Also, it felt a little boozy. I think I'll wait another couple of years before trying next bottle.

3/21/2020 - Take Two wrote:

Decanted for an hour before drinking. Lots of sour cherry, red brick, some barn, some basalt rock (salt?).

Delicious wine for those who like an oomph in their glass.

2/6/2020 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Popped the cork, used the Vinturi but no decanting.

Very young and tanny wine. Lots of notes of cherry, blueberry, some dark chocolate. Short finish.

Do yourself a favor and let this wine rest for awhile. It's way to young to drink it now.

12/22/2019 - Take Two wrote:

At its prime. Dried cranberries, leaves, tobacco. Medium finish. Unlikely to improve from here on, but one could still cellar for another 2-3 years.

7/7/2019 - Take Two wrote:

Peppery and uni-dimensional.

7/26/2018 - Take Two wrote:

Pavie Macquin 2015 - opened a 375ml and drank it over two nights. One glass each night.

On first night -- tight tannins, nice bouquet. On sipping, extremely velvety, strong hints of rosehip mixed with some notes of leaves. Nice, elegant, felt like it needed another 5 years min to open up. 92 points.

On second night, things took a wrong turn. Felt like a New World wine with lots of alcohol. The only redeeming quality is that you could feel some plums (prunes) notes if you really try hard. 85 points.

Average: 89 points (but more like 88.5).

3/23/2018 - Take Two wrote:

Light ruby color, short legs, short finish. No bouquet. The Wine Spectator rating is a mistake. Not a bad wine to pair with a slice of pizza. Pass.

5/26/2017 - Take Two wrote:

Poured through vinturi and decanted for two hours. Drank with a simple, unsophisticated dinner. The positives -- I love a French wine who doesn't want to punch you in the face the way Americans think wine should be. Beautiful color, good body, short finish, medium texture. The negatives -- little taste. Instead, all you get is dull juice with little flavor. I thought long and hard what is it that I taste in this wine. The only word that comes to mind is rubber, but I think that's unfair to the wine.

4/22/2017 - Take Two wrote:

Decanted for 2.5 hours. The wine has started to oxidize. It's all downhill from here. So far, plumy, cherry jam, a little tobacco and yellow leaves. Medium finish, low acidity. Try it with lamb or duck, or even bigger meats. No cheese, no fish.

2/12/2017 - Take Two wrote:

Flavor of cherry, yellow leaves, and tobacco. Light on tannins. Short finish, medium acidity.

12/21/2016 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Dry, short finish. Notes of tobacco, yellow leaves, red clay, and blackberries. A little bit of pencil also felt. Reminiscent of Washington State wines, yet without the big punch. This wine is at its prime now. While it won't do any damage, cellaring it longer will add little to this wine.

My suggestion is to come home on a Friday evening, make yourself a steak, and pour this in a big glass. It'll be a hit.

8/19/2016 - Take Two wrote:

Well cellared. Drank over two days. First days, lots of cherries, ruby color. Second day, cassis, leaves, perhaps a tad of vanilla.

I very much enjoyed. I thought it was great Bourgogne.

8/14/2016 - Take Two wrote:

Decanted for 3 hours.

Very smooth, no tannins. Medium finish. Very typical super-Tuscan. I doubt this will improve with age any longer.

7/31/2016 - Take Two wrote:

Decanted for two hours. Peppery, spicey, and hot. Almost like a young Zin. Subdued tannins, medium finish, some fruit (raspberry?), and some leaves. Not a bad wine, but more sizzle than steak.

5/14/2016 - Take Two wrote:

Huge wine. First glass was after half-an-hour of decanting. Don't make that mistake. This wine is huge and needs a ton of time to mellow down. Ripe plum jam with raisins mixed together. Great Zenato. I think it can last another 5 years easily. (Got another half a case left, will wait longer).

4/29/2016 - Take Two wrote:

This is superb now. Unclear whether it can get any better with age. It has improved a lot from release. It was solid on release, it's superb now. Very earthy, good body, robust, not fruit-forward (thank God!).

1/1/2016 - Take Two wrote:

Bottle decanted for an hour. First impression --- very, very dry. Smooth, medium finish, no aromas. Not bad, but nothing there really.

Next day it turned into an amazing wine. Still dry, but lots of floral notes, perhaps some licorice and black currant.

Bottom line: Plan to drink it now and give it ample time to decant.

12/19/2015 - Take Two Does not like this wine:

What happened to this wine? It has way too much alcohol, no aroma, and no bouquet.

I tasted this two years ago and remember it being quite floral and delicate.

I'm planning to leave the remaining bottles in the cellar for a couple of more years. Maybe it can get some of the aroma back and tamper the alcohol. Any thoughts? Help!

8/3/2015 - Take Two wrote:

Crisp, soft peach, a tad of flint, medium finish.

5/18/2015 - Take Two Likes this wine:

Had a bottle with cold cuts in my hotel room. I know it sounds pretty sad, but hey, life could be worse.

Deep tones of black cherries. Soft, medium finish. A little dry, but not too bad. Surprising value for 20 euro bottle picked at Carrefour.