3/11/2024 - wineamateur Likes this wine:

Vibrant inky purple, with intense and immediate blue and black berry fruit, raspberry too, tar and bacon. Quite reminiscent of some 1990 Northern Rhônes that were so delicious to drink young, yet had the stuffing and balance to age. One to follow!

1/5/2024 - redders Likes this wine:

From Mag. Decanted 5 hours. Deep colour still some purple. Classic complex cedar tobacco ripe intense fruit. Spectacular on palate. Fanned out with black fruits and minerals all contained by fine grained tannins. Long long finish. Glorious.

2/12/2024 - redders Likes this wine:

Rich and brawny to start. Fruit powerful as are tannins. After a clumsy start sorted itself out and was excellent with food. Much more balanced over time and started to show some class

2/7/2024 - gouldcampbell77 Likes this wine:

I can see why JS gave this 100pts back in 2021. The wine is incredibly taut and precise with delicious ripe fruit wrapped tightly around a core of steel. The acidity is electrifying and it all comes together and just works. Drank this over three days and it was best on day three having opened out and settled down. At the moment, I think this wine is too young to get maximum enjoyment although there's no disputing the refreshment value. I'll leave my remining four bottles a few more years before broaching again. Tremendous stuff.

1/7/2024 - brett228 wrote:

Doubt about the bottle’s condition. I can’t tell if it’s the wine’s character. But this bottle has faint, weak nose, secondary notes like aged honey, black tea, and dirt while the fruit was too weak. It’s only fair to take another bottle.

1/4/2024 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:

Was firing from first pour. Sandalwood, smoked meats, musk, raspberry and black cherry. So silky and voluminous. Good depth. A touch of underlying meatiness and a fresh finish of mineral and fruit. Deep of colour and still youthful. Expansive and long.

11/19/2023 - redders Likes this wine:

Classy. Still some oak but the fruit and structure are beautifully balanced. Lot of depth and long finish. V good

6/11/2023 - redders Likes this wine:

Deep copper colour. Fully mature with layers of complexity. Botrytis a little burnt orange. Great energy still on palate. Sweetness resolved , perfect acidity takes it through to long clean finish. Just delicious

8/30/2022 - connorpksmith Likes this wine:

PnP over 4 hours. Similar to other notes, this did not begin to open until hour 3. Aromas of plums, cranberry, and forest floor. On the palate, there were red fruits and cherries, and the tannins were nice and refined with a smooth level of acidity. Medium-length finish. This is a nice Brunello that I don't think will get much better with age.

4/3/2022 - drdan322 Likes this wine:

This 1983 Château Léoville Las Cases is finally near its peak.

We purchased a case shortly after release and have well cellared it since. The cork drew cleanly and the initial nose was tight but soon unfurled old cedar tobacco box and leather awash with brambly berry and red currant.

There was little sediment at decantation of a neck-high fill with no bricking and a transparent ruby red pour. After an hour the bouquet was an even finer weave of these notes now with a just touch of charcoal and black pepper.

At first a rather firm palate but elements blossomed nicely over several hours. Surprisingly still ripely robust and concentrated yet with velvety melted tannins. In all, superbly balanced in lovely harmony and offering a prolonged, melodious finish.

This is a truly delightful wine of an underrated vintage that lives in the shadow of its year-older sister, now drinking perfectly (and for at least five more years).

1983 Leoville las Cases is an exemplar of well-crafted well-aged wine - a testament to the Château and a reminder of how patience with fine wines, now less and less common, offers unique rewards!

3/20/2022 - djhammond Likes this wine:

Second of a case purchased 3 months ago, I had the compulsion to check if the last bottle was a one off. As noted last time this is far more approachable than the 1982 and 1986, but without that extra nuance to push it to a perfect score, but probably more immediately enjoyable. Blackcurrant, plum, tobacco, and cedar are the prominent notes. The tannin has smoothed, but is still showing great bite. The genius of the wine is the exquisite balance of robust tannin and the principle wine flavours. Likewise the finish is perfect in its balance without any residual sourness, and subtley keeps going going past 60 seconds. As noted last time, this possibly does not quite have that little extra to better the 1982 to a perfect score, but possibly is the more enjoyable. 98+

2/16/2022 - wineamateur Likes this wine:

Jeroboam Club Tasting: Barolo 2013 (The Pump House, Bristol): Red-ruby. Lovely fragrance and immediacy on the nose. Very fresh, very pure, very complex, making it difficult to make out specific elements, beyond a delicate spice, menthol and tar. Great delicacy and poise on the palate, weightless, unforced, lovely. A beautiful wine in its early maturity.

12/12/2021 - Xavier Auerbach wrote:

Tempier tasting and lunch (Restaurant Rijsel, Amsterdam, NL): A 1.5ha vineyard at the foot of the Tourtine hill. Real power and concentration, big tannins, deep and rich, marvellous energy, Premier Grand Cru level, so lively and youthful, a profound wine. I ordered a full bottle because I liked it so much!

11/22/2021 - chbeaumont wrote:

Real depth, good weight, powers through to vigorous finish. Another 5 years in the tank.

10/24/2021 - ricard Likes this wine:

I have no hesitation in scoring this wine highly. This is a supremely sophisticated, irresistible wine. Exquisite perfume of vanilla, tropical notes of coconut, a touch of lime, and a soft enveloping creaminess. Pitch-perfect acidity and a long, lingering, enticing finish with hints of white pepper. It's sweet and saline, fatty and lean, all at once. Serious in every way, yet immensely pleasurable at this early stage of its life. I would gladly score this higher were it not for its youth. Surely this has another 15 years. Joyful.

9/4/2021 - redders Likes this wine:

Honeyed ripe fruit and almonds. Fantastic energy . Fresh and balanced. Delicious now but more to come.

8/25/2021 - Paul-SA wrote:

What a Chenin.

5/19/2021 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine:

On opening, the nose was bizarre, on a mixture of medicinal herbs and not fresh meat. Opening 4 hours allowed this bottle from a vintage described as "legendary" in California to demonstrate its full value.

After 4 hours, the nose is of magnificent purity, there is bright fruit, with cedar, tobacco and a little mint.

On the palate, the velvety attack is striking. The touch is delicate while the juice is as textured as it is dense. The wine is precise and harmonious, feeling of "cold light" while the Californian wines that I have tasted so far have all been a little warm for my taste. Aromas of dried flowers, eucalyptus, sweet spices, black fruits and leather come together to create a flourishing whole. The wine is singing, it unfolds serenely on a perfect balance. Great finish, pure, minty, almost saline because it is so fresh and which stretches endlessly in a crystalline length.

Great California wine!

5/9/2021 - MHR wrote:

Same as previous review. Wine kept horizontal in 16 degree C cellar. Waited 18 years since purchase and undrinkable. Corked.

3/23/2021 - drjb wrote:

Premoxed.

7/21/2020 - DenverGreek Likes this wine:

Had at wine night along with 2007 Alta Vista Alto, 1996 Chateau Pinchon, 2012 GB Crane Cabernet, 2014 Chateau Croix De Labrie, 2015 Beringer Private Reserve & 1995 Chateau Pinchon and felt it was the best wine of the night/group. Amazing nose, color shows no age, tannins are fading but still nice, front, mid and back palate have layers of flavor. Just an all around amazing single vineyard Grand Reserva. I suggest to drink sooner rather than later, it's time.

7/21/2020 - liber wrote:

11th of 12, opened 30 minutes, perfect level, half soaked cork - waxy yellow, bright; slightly honeyed, some citrus, bit tropical, tad monolithic; medium, decent length and persistence, not enough citric zip to bring into proper balance so a bit heavy and dull, but I preferred this to Sunday's boring L Latour 02 and this is the first not obviously poxed bottle from this case, can't see this improving but enough bant to stay at this level for some years. G (15).....NB OXI risk in this vintage!!!!

6/20/2020 - redders Likes this wine:

Patience rewarded! I always feel that Grivots wines from this period need a long time to loosen up. While you could feel the quality in previous bottles they were a challenge with spiky acidity and tannins particularly with a vintage like 1996. This one was transformed. The colour is mature and slightly clouded. Straight out of the gate the aroma of sweet wild strawberries and warm autumn leaves was intoxicating. At first it was still a bit spiky on the palate but the wine quickly blossomed and continued to do so over a couple of hours. Sweet restrained fruit and spice and layers of weaving flavours and long long finish. Just glorious mature burgundy. Opened on the spur of the moment and very glad I did.

5/31/2020 - Caruso Likes this wine:

In my experience it is a fact that bottles aged at higher temperatures, unless the temperature does not exceed 19°C or 69F, are aging at a faster pace, but not worse than textbook cellared examples. Another important thing of course is the difference in temperatur between summer and winter and that temperature changes are only occuring slowly. But I've never checked this experience or believe with different bottles of the same wine, purchased at the same time and cellared one at 12°C and the other between 16°C in winter and 19°C in summer, both over a period of 16 years. For this experiment I've chosen the Dead Arm from D'Arenberg, a broad shouldered red with good aging capability and of outstanding to extraordinary quality, purchased in 2004. First a look at the fill level shows no significant difference between the two bottles. The outerside of the cork is as new regarding the textbook cellared bottle (bottle 1) and a bit mouldy regarding bottle 2. The popped corks show no great difference, maybe the cork of bottle two is bit more, partially soaked, but nothing more than the difference that can can be happen from bottle to bottle. The first significant difference between the bottles is visible when the wines are poured. The colour (Bottle 1) is still without a significant sign of aging, whereas bottle 2 shows a slight orange tinted rim. The nose of bottle one is dominated by different forest fruits, incence, graphite and hints of tar as well as minty notes, later cherry scents added. Bottle two shows the same scents, but there is a bit more cherries, appearing even earlier and there is a little bit more tannin shed, smoother, but with less of the cooler minty notes. All in all the bottles show same quality and the difference between them is only nuances.
5/13/18/10 for both. But maybe this is going to change in the next five years, since the bottles not textbook cellared are leaving their optimal drinking window then. If I haven't drunk up one of them, I'm going to repeat this experiment in 5 years or so.

5/24/2020 - Coastalnative Likes this wine:

Rockstar. Beautiful light golden color (not half as dark as I would have expected) The cork went into the bottle when I tried to remove it with the durand so I thought it would be toast but until that moment, it obviously did its job.

A little 'evolved' smelling when first opened but then it tightened up and showed some beautiful essential oil (lemon verbena), ever so light butterscotch and lots of dry quince and fresh herbs. It reminded me of an old dry riesling almost. Rich but still precise!

Turned out to be a stunning wine and far exceeded my expectations. I bet a decade ago it was flat out brilliant but still excellent today. Happy Birthday me!

5/20/2020 - redders Likes this wine:

Fragrant vigorous nose, fresh fruit lots of energy. Tannins but great with food. High quality Langhe Nebbiolo

3/22/2020 - Fre Likes this wine:

What a balance, what a joy. Prefer this above a village Côte de Nuits from a mediocre winemaker. It’s not it’s complexity or length what you’re need to look for. But finesse, balance and the harmony.

10/27/2019 - Klugi Wine wrote:

Lucky enough to taste both, the Chiniera, and the Casa Maté just a day apart in 2 of my favorite restaurants in Alta Langhe (La Cocinella & L’Bunet).
More bold, brooding and dark than the Chiniera, this Barolo is full bodied and in your face. Dark fruit mingled with violets and some herbs. Would definitely keep this for 3-5 years before enjoying it over the next 2 decades.
Currently I give a slight edge to the chiniera, but this might change with time.

4/6/2018 - redders Likes this wine:

Deep coloured deeply fruited nose some gloss. Rich deep high quality but very young. Interesting to see how this develops

6/16/2019 - djhammond Likes this wine:

Surprisingly delicate for the estate, the nose is opulent with ripe cherry and floral wafts. Once it settles in the glass, it is beautifully smooth on the palate, and is fully mature with secondary and tertiary notes. The tannin has sweetened, but still retains enough bite to give an excellent balance. The finish is not overly lengthy, but pushing 30 seconds, and is exquisitely balanced. Sufficient time in the decanter and glass is all transforming for the wine. I gave this 4 hours of aeration, but would recommend twice that time. For myself this is only surpassed by the exceptional 2003 from the estate. 96+

8/13/2018 - Paul S wrote:

Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle Dinner (1978, '82, '83, '85, '88, '90, '95, '97, '98, '99, 09) (Taberna, Bukit Merah): I have enjoyed the 1983 before, but this bottle seemed a bit off. It smelt a bit dirty, a bit funky. Not quite flawed, but lacking the aromatically attractive nature of the other La Chapelles on show, with more undergrowth, meat and plenty of green flecks alongside its dark fruited notes. It had a good, strong palate though. Still youthful, with an obvious touch of tannins and bright acidity, and then a lift of vibrant blue fruit backed by earth and meat. This in fact came across tasting a bit more like the younger wine in the first flight than the rest of its 1980s flight mates, with a bit of astringency on the finish. I thought it may have been a little scalped by the bottle condition, but its hard to tell. All in all, drinkable rather than good.

10/20/2018 - wineamateur wrote:

Corked

9/11/2018 - ricard Likes this wine:

Difficult to capture - still closed (at 8 years!) Somewhat sharp and tannic, rather astringent, impressive minerality. It might be the wine's "quiet" period before it starts revealing its charms. Prado Enea is one of the great Rioja GRs, and 2010 a great vintage, so we should reserve judgment on this one. Its time will surely come...

6/12/2018 - Eric Guido wrote:

Barrel and Bottle Tasting with Luca Roagna (Roagna Winery): (Barrel Sample) The nose was intense and rich with dark red fruits. It was mineral-infused and spicy, displaying hints of orange peel and sweet haunting florals, as the wine seemed to gain further volume on the glass.. On the palate, it was silky, refined and quite elegant, with a mix of red and black fruits, sweet spices and inner floral tones. The finish was so long and supple yet structured with stimulating acids. (95-97 points)

8/4/2018 - chatters wrote:

Coravin fun - new arrivals (My place, Kent Street): From Coravin and magnum. Wow! Rich, ripe, mature Bordeaux stink; farmyard, autumn leaves, mushrooms, toast, earth, meat and it delivers on the palate, warm biscuit, spice, muted fruit, talc textured tannic burr, wonderful breadth across the mid palate, lovely, just really lovely Drink now for me (or in the next two months)

6/5/2018 - redders Likes this wine:

From half bottle. Pale tight sweet fruit. Not much botrytis but vigorous. Mid sweet kernel of of fruit and nectarine. Clean finish. Very young.

1/28/2018 - wineamateur Likes this wine:

The last of a case, and drunk with La Migoua of the same vintage, also the last of a case. La Tourtine has a higher percentage of Mourvedre (maybe 80%) and about about 10% each of Cinsault and Grenache, plus a dash of Syrah. This was lighter in colour, red fading to orange with a hint of brown, and initially more reticent on the nose. Like the Migoua, it evolved massively over several hours, and more than once I was questioning whether I'd poured the wrong wine into the wrong glass. (I hadn't.) Ultimately, I preferred the precision in the Tourtine, its fresheness and its subtle blend of black cherry, frangipani, citric peel, and apples maybe just turning to cider. One could very easily have called it as a Barolo. These impressions on the nose translated very nicely onto the palate, and there was just the right amount of acidity to sear the flavours into the memory. Such a great privilege to try these two cuvees side by side in their 20th year.

9/17/2017 - wineamateur wrote:

I felt that this was in an in-betweeny stage. The nose was fragrant and had developed an attractive sweetness of berry fruit and violets, but that sweetness hadn't yet translated onto the somewhat austere palate. Maybe, with the 2004s, it never will. We shall see.

6/12/2017 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:

A fabulous bottle. Rich, unctuous, slightly exotic and fresh. Great volume. The perfect amount of honeyed development and a pleasant light butteriness against the gums. Great length.

11/30/2016 - wineamateur Likes this wine:

Beautifully poised, attractively "glossy" wine. Very classy. 13%

8/16/2016 - SlimShaney wrote:

Im not sure if this is defective. It has a tinge of effervescence which shocked me but besides that none of the usual warning signs are there. The palate is full and consistent with a bitter vegemite, which is not my thing anyhow so it's getting sinked.

6/9/2016 - HowardNZ Likes this wine:

Four 2001s: Light gold. A trademark Prüm spritz. A touch of kero on the nose with attractive spices, honeyed, pear and citrus aromas. A little kerosene also on the palate. Very fine and nervous. Beautifully balanced between the sugar and acidity. Minerality you don't see on the bouquet. Good weight and lovely texture. Good length. In a great spot now but obviously a wine you can cellar long term. Excellent!

8/27/2015 - dsamuel wrote:

I hate when this happens. Cork in great condition. Burnt purple color with faint cherry aromas, no secondary aromas. Very weak on the palate. Totally wasted and waited too long again. Though this would last longer than this based on other CT notes. Rating withheld.

8/3/2015 - Chuck Miller wrote:

Two more bottles, both spritzy and simply not particularly good.

1/15/2013 - wineamateur wrote:

Classy wine, with layers of red and black cherry and berry fruit, and a pronounced whiff of violets. Drinking very nicely now.

1/5/2013 - richardhod wrote:

May be a hint of TCA in this, but it could be paranoia from memories of the first two. I may jsut detect a hint of taint in this third bottle, but it's hard to tell as I've not yet had a good bottle of this stuff!

It's drinkable, with some decent deep berry flavours, and a hint of alcohol, but a little thin. Not as complex as I'd expect but a. it's just opened 30 minutes ago , and b. there may be a hint of cork suppressing its best qualities!