2/14/2021 - happy712 Likes this wine:

Good but not great. Drank over 2 hours. There was not enough fruit, no smoke, no earth, no long finish. No characteristics are outstanding with this wine. I drank this in 2017 in Bordeaux and it was much better. Might be past its prime? Disappointed.

8/4/2021 - ajeeja Likes this wine:

Rating 96 just to even the 84 score this currently has, which is very unfair (should be around 90pts). 100% rossese, mineral, definitely worth tasting.

6/21/2021 - Ennike wrote:

This is big and fruity, almost sweet. The alcohol too high for my taste, hence a bit out of balance. Maybe some aging will get this better.

7/7/2020 - ajeeja wrote:

Lacks elegance and at 15% is not surprising. It’s certainly well done, but not my style. I’d rate this on the 88-90

2/28/2021 - ajeeja Likes this wine:

Very good but felt a little bit closed down. The body is dense and meaty, but is not as expressive and I was missing a bit more acidity. Give it time and it will come around. I’d wait 5-7 before pulling the cork again.

2/28/2021 - ajeeja wrote:

Still extremely young, but truly of a different level. Had this after a Pontet Canet 2010, and at this stage the LP wins hands down. On top of a dense and sexy body, It has some hay/farm notes that even though I usually tend to dislike, here they really adds an interesting layer to the experience. Very good acidity and quite simply irresistible. Very different from all other LP vintages I tried (2011-12-13-14) but still sharing a common core. I’d say this vintage is more “serious” and possibly a little bit less of a crowd pleaser (though, it’s hard to imagine who is not going to like it). I’d wait another 5 years for a more all around experience, but can of course be very much enjoyed today.

2/13/2021 - ajeeja wrote:

From a magnum: good acidity, but the fruit is fading and it’s lacking substance/body. Drink up.

8/13/2020 - ajeeja wrote:

Was very excited to try this given the many enthusiastic TN of this and previous vintages, but oh boy was I disappointed.

Mineral nose with scents of oak. Minerality follows through the palate, paired with green apple and lemon. There are creamy/buttery notes too in the background. Though, it’s all rather flat and boring, and I’m really missing layers. For the price, it’s well managed, but I’d put my money elsewhere (life is too short to drink boring wines). Also, from today’s tasting, this bottle is definitely not worth a 1er cru. I’ve left half for tomorrow, let’s see if time helps here.

Day 2 just confirms everything I said.

4/25/2020 - Best QPR Tracker wrote:

Deep crimson with slightly pearly edge, this wine is structurally much more approachable than I thought it would be in its youth after 3 hours of decantation, despite its apparent IPT. Nose and palate are quite singular and easily reconizable here, as if you had squeezed graphite brambles and collected the sap in the bottle, and then mixed with reserved blackberry and a hint of oaky tobacco, all in great sharpness but maybe lack of raciness. It offers a second throw on the mid-palate thanks to a well tuned and lively bitter acidity; nonetheless, it's not the fruit which makes the wine linger, what deprives it of greedy attractiveness, at least at this stage. I find that the CS does not play its usual left bank bass music, while the Merlot does not back up with typical roundness and obviousness. For me this wine is built for greeting secondary and tertiary aromatics. According to what the wine delivers in its youth and to the relatively flat price curve of Sociando in time, I don't think it constitutes a bargain on release. But this has a bright and long future ahead.

4/18/2020 - sirpat00 wrote:

Gave this a quick 30min decant which would have been enough in theory but couldn't get rid of the cork stain. The cork itself was dry as a bone, broke and crumbled calling for enhanced surgical skills for removal. While only marginal and the wine otherwise structurally in splendid shape, I can't score this unfortunately. Apart from that, there was ripe red berry fruit, ripe cherries. First aging noted of scorched earth and wet leather can be found as well if you swirl patiently. Fresh palate with vibrant acidity and firm tannin but with a soft touch. Ignoring the cork stain this would have been somewhere around 95, on a par with where I scored the 2013 consistently in the past (when not corked). In terms of pleasure the 2013 should rank above the 2015 and 2010 and will likely only be surpassed by the 2016 in the last 10 vintages or so. But with this bottle corked and a clearly inferior quality of cork used, the last bottle (from a different case) also corked, a worrying pattern is emerging. The structure is definitely there for long term aging and there is clearly further complexity potential with tertiary aromatics. But cork failure seems a pretty material risk here. Best to drink down inventory more or less regularly rather than sit on it for ever, in my view.

4/19/2020 - ajeeja wrote:

Very shy and austere. Given the other reviews I’m afraid this bottle hasn’t aged well. Crap.

4/14/2020 - Cailles wrote:

I have too many Sangioveses in my cellar considering that I probably open a bottle a year only. Am I missing out on the golden age of Sangiovese with ever increasing quality rewarded by high scores from the most important critics? What better way to test this than with this Flaccianello from a fresher, cooler vintage (which I prefer) which got perfect scores from TWA and Galloni. The first hour this wine was a bomb! Ever-changing aromas, highly complex, very good precision, superb freshness and a good weight… a masculine wine – a hypothetical blend of a Northern Rhone and a St.-Julien. With more time it showed riper with liquory fruit and a tad alcohol. Only on day two it went back to the first stage but with more sweet and charming red rather than dark fruit . This is a great wine worth any search. But it will need at least 10 years to soften and probably 20 or 30 years to reach its peak. It’s definitely not something I would open again this young. 94 points with 96-98 potential.

TN: Highly variable nose displaying fresh, pure dark fruit, blueberries and some cherries as well as lots of earthy tones and herbs. High intensity, high precision. Same on the palate which shows dark, and dense. Very deep with quite ripe but for the best part still pure and fresh blue and black fruit and with time more and more sweet red fruit, leafy, earthy, minty with a good concentration and mid-palate weight. The tannins are quite noticeable but of velvet quality. Very-well integrated acidity and good length.

Decanting: If you wanna get a good picture of the wine I advise against decanting and rather follow it over 2 days. If you plan to drink it in an hour or two with a dinner, I would give it at least 5+ hours in the decanter.

1/25/2020 - ajeeja Likes this wine:

PnP. This has soften a lot since my last bottle in 2017 and it’s now in a nice place. To be honest, I do miss a bit of tension and so I’m thinking I should have re-tasted this 6-12 months earlier, but it’s nevertheless a very pleasurable drop (whilst, a bit too simple). I lack experience with BdM to say if it will improve with further aging, but my instinct says it won’t (though, I sure do hope to be proven wrong).

10/10/2019 - lion@corewines.com Likes this wine:

Concerto for me is very typical of the terroir. Lots of fruit and earth. Racy, fun and very balanced.

9/20/2019 - Jeff Leve wrote:

Sensuous, silky, concentrated, smoky and just great in your glass, this is a beauty! It is rich, vibrant and the texture, with its velvety fruits makes a real Margaux impression. This is not fully mature, but the fruits are so ripe and tannins so refined, you can pop a cork tonight for pleasure. If you can wait another 5 years for the aromatic complexities to develop, you are going to love it!

9/22/2019 - ajeeja Likes this wine:

This beauty is really hard to resist!

PnP. The purity of the fruit is mesmerizing from the start, and with air it only got better. Has a long life ahead, but it’s going to be hard not to revisit this sooner than later. So pure and silky, a long lingering aftertaste, refined and balanced. I just love Haut Bailly. Cheers!

9/15/2019 - ajeeja wrote:

Very smooth and silky, but somewhat unexciting. I’m rather puzzled as I can’t say why I didn’t enjoyed this as much as I should and wanted to. Worth revisiting and I wouldn’t let this sit in the cellar for too long (drink before 2023)

3/28/2018 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:

First sample of Ruinart and it was quite enjoyable; nose with lemon, brioche, green apple, and hints of spice; the palate has richness yet remains fresh and lifted. Very enjoyable and while maybe not the greatest value play in Champagne it was definitely good.

11/30/2017 - ajeeja wrote:

Not really agreeing with the other reviews. Decanted for only 1h and drunk over the next hour. Felt disjoint and light, especially considering the memorable experience I had with the 2011 vintage (drink this if you have the option!). Maybe the 2013 vintage will be a monster in a few years, but today it's (by far) not worth the money. Let's wait and see.

7/8/2017 - mikevince wrote:

We've had a couple of the Anonyme (2009 and 2010) the last few weeks including a 2010 this evening. The nose is clean but with some alcohol (poured with Vinturi and sat 10 minutes). Smooth with subtle fruit initially, but the finish is not appealing. That has been the case on the last few bottles we have consumed. Had a couple of these two years ago and we enjoyed them more then. Not sure what the issue is, but the finish is off-putting and it makes the wine unenjoyable. We have 10 more 9s and 10s left and I'm not looking forward to them, which is disappointing to say the least. I'll give this one a little more air and come back to this review if it gets any better.
UPDATE: I left the remainder of the bottle in the decanter overnight and drank it on day 2. Was markedly better on the finish than Day 1, so it appears that extended air make a big difference. Up score from 87 to 89. Not a great wine, but enjoyable at least. I think I'll sit on these for another 2-3 years before popping another.

4/29/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote:

Almost opaque in color, this is a beauty! The wine is rich, concentrated and has depth of flavor with length. The fruit is unadulterated purity and unreal deliciousness; the finishes builds into a sensory experience of taste and feel. This is the best vintage of Meyney ever produced.

9/3/2016 - 99tollap wrote:

Undeniably delicious and drinking amazingly well given the age. I mean, the tannins are incredible! So smooth and silky that you barely even notice they're there! Structure and texture are impeccable. Flavours of dark cherry and chocolate. A modern-style wine for sure. Alcohol is noticeable at 14.5% but not too bad. I find it really lacks personality though. Whilst technically great, the flavours do not lift it out of the crowd enough to justify the price (60 CHF).