7/18/2023 - mcease wrote:

Subtle plum on nose, huge amount of plum on pallet, very silky and elegant. 93+ points.

1/29/2023 - mcease wrote:

Green Grape stems on nose with some oak notes.

Pallet spice box, red and black fruit but a sourish black fruit and tart current flavours on the back end that I don’t really care for.

Doesn’t seem to reflect my last tasting notes.

86-88 points

2/26/2022 - mcease wrote:

Nose of black and blue fruits along with dust and pencil lead from the aged tannins. Pallet of plum and plum skin with spice box. Fairly seductive finish that lingers. This finally came into its own. Amazing QPR. Would buy again. 89-90 points.

2/20/2022 - mcease wrote:

Decanted and drank alongside steak and baked potato. Red fruit and stone one the nose along with some floral and lilac notes. Pallet is fairly complex. Seductive tannic yet refined finish. Pallet dark/red fruit with floral and lilac notes. Excellent wine. Amazing value. 92+ points. Will definitely buy again.

2/14/2022 - mcease wrote:

Nose was nice upon opening. Dark and red fruit and oak. Pallet was fairly simplistic. Decent everyday drinker but not much complexity going on.

1/22/2022 - mcease Likes this wine:

Drank with Boeuf Bourguignon. Light red fruit on nose, mild spice box on nose.
Pallet tart red fruit, juicy red fruit, elegant mild tannic finish. 89 points. Y+

1/9/2022 - mcease Likes this wine:

Great wine. In the past I have found these having notes of over charred oak barrel. This time around took out of cellar 4 days prior to drinking to settle sediment. Decanted as we drank. Nose had notes of oak, dark and red fruits with violets. On the pallet there was oak, dark and red fruit, and nice tannic structure. 91 points. Great value at $35.

12/24/2021 - mcease wrote:

Dark currents on the pallet with a current and acidic finish. Still a great wine with a nice finish. Perhaps on its way down but still a good little wine.
88 points.

12/13/2021 - mcease wrote:

Upon opening huge red fruit on the nose. On the pallet was huge amout of deep dark fruit. Fairly complex. This almost immediately dissipated. Left with a nose of stone and dark fruit (not very complex) and a pallet of dark fruited wine poured over stone puckering finish with a mouth watering feel of tart dark fruit not too seductive. I think this one is a couple years too far gone. Drinkable but definitely had some better days. Doesn’t really feel that much over the hill like others I had…just not great. 82-84 points.

9/18/2021 - mcease wrote:

Full bodied. Agree with WE review - this drinks like a $60 CAD wine. Nose is not that prominent but has notes of dark plum and black cherry. Pallet has notes of blueberry, blackberry, black cherry and sweet leather and a lingering finish of tight tannins and cassis. This should get better with some age on it. Excellent wine. 91-92 points.

1/31/2021 - mcease wrote:

Not much on the nose - crushed rock and red fruit. On the pallet it started off tart, but opened to crushed stone, tart red fruit, nice acidity/tannins/tartness. 88-89 points. Solid wine for the price. Would definitely purchase again.

1/2/2021 - mcease wrote:

Nose- red fruit and menthol.
Pallet - cassis, blueberry, luscious mouth feel. Mid pallet a little flabby but finish takes over and redeems it. Finish that lingers 20+ seconds. 93 points. Well done!

1/2/2021 - mcease Likes this wine:

- Drank august 28, 2020 at Rue De Ombre Lac 28.
- nose sweet truffle, odd combination mixed with berries
- Pallet started with raspberries but evolved quickly to truffle notes below
- Pallet is the same truffle notes with perfume bouquet that lingers for 30+ seconds. For the price this is amazing. $69 in 2005. Definitely drinking like a $100+ wine.
- Red fruit with grippy tannins and minerality
- 93-94 points. Excellent value.

1/2/2021 - mcease wrote:

Something on the nose I don’t like. Green grape stem? Mixed with red fruit.

Pallet is nice. Easy drinking. Nice tannins that linger. Red fruit, blackberry, amazing lingering tannins. Solid 90-91 points.

1/2/2021 - mcease Likes this wine:

Nose of plush red fruit and violets came out upon opening. This quickly blew off and turned to a dusty tannins.

The wine is holding up and is at its peak. It will fall off very quickly at this point. Mature red fruit mixed with oaky notes and nice chalky tannins. Tannic finish lingers on the pallet.
89-90 points. Solid wine at the price point!!

12/25/2019 - mcease wrote:

Found this to be bright red fruit, and red currant similar to some Spanish wines.no real complexity. 88-89 points. Wouldn’t buy again. Not my style.

12/25/2019 - mcease wrote:

Disappointed in this one. One of my all time favourite Bordeaux but this fell short. No complexity, some rotted wood typical of Bordeaux but very faint. Some dark fruit but no complexity. 89-90 points.

12/23/2019 - mcease wrote:

Not great. Nose upon opening was dark and pleasant but pallet was mediocre. No real formal notes but not worth the time to cellar this.

11/25/2019 - mcease wrote:

Black berries and oak on the nose - mild French oak that is typical in French wines. On the pallet was black berry and grippy tannins and done acidity. Overall not bad, but not anything to write home about. 86-87 points.

11/15/2019 - mcease wrote:

Very dark on the nose. Pallet is dark and fat. Dry well refined now. No hard edges or tannins. Drink now.

After 1/2 hour Barney nose started to come out. Pallet showed acidity on the back end. Very nice wine.
Very Solid 90-91 points. Good value at $59 CAD.

10/25/2019 - mcease wrote:

Started with Oak on the nose - sort of Bordeaux like. Big black fruit also present on the nose.

Pallet has a very nice tannins that coats the mouth and lingers. Very dark fruit and cassis present on the pallet with a lingering finish as well. Fruit may be on the way out but still very prominent. Will last 5 years max. Drink in next 3 years. Oak and dark fruit (cassis) almost prune like in both nose and pallet along with oak. 92 points.

10/25/2019 - mcease wrote:

Tart cherry throughout. Didn’t amount to anything else. Better young.

10/25/2019 - mcease wrote:

Initial opening- not much there in nose or pallet. Hoping this would open. After about half hour of air opened a little - fairly dry, some lingering tannins on finish but nothing close to hall Cabernet drank a few nights ago. Fruit is on the downswing. Should have drank a few years ago. Not bad. 86 points.

10/25/2019 - mcease wrote:

Drank at ND cellars. Either over the hill with nothing left or flawed. No rating.

10/25/2019 - mcease wrote:

No real nose upon opening - some pleasant sour cherry on the pallet and dark fruit, figs, and plum in the background.

After 10min it started to open up on the pallet. Nose opened to black cherry and alcohol. Pallet is coated by nice acidity, red fruit and dark fruits, graphite and herbaceous notes.

After an hour a deep dark fruit and cassis notes came out. Similar to Joseph Phelps insignia. Excellent. 93-94 points.

5/25/2019 - mcease Likes this wine:

Drank at Octagon along 2008 Dominus - pallet of current, red fruit, and cherry. Pallet of current, green leaves, and red fruit, and Spanish cedar. The green leaves give it a desirable taste but yet undesirable at the same time. Drink over next year or two. Good wine but not great. I don’t see the same characteristics as the last bottle I had. 90 points.

5/25/2019 - mcease Likes this wine:

Drank at Octagon - tight nose upon opening with cherry and a tight pallet. Opened up after roughly 20-30 min and was unbelievable. Berries, dark cherry, spice. Great wine with some complexity. After about an hour this shut down - drink now because it won’t last much longer. 93 points. $69 CAD upon purchase but worth the $119 CAD 2014 price currently.

4/21/2019 - mcease wrote:

Bad bottle. No rating.

3/11/2019 - mcease wrote:

Same note as bottle I drank in 2015. More balanced than 2015 but excellent wine. Solid 91+ points.

3/9/2019 - mcease Likes this wine:

Oak, woodsy, dark fruit, dusty pencil shavings on the nose. Dark fruit, cassis, plum, with some complexity. Fruit seems to hid in the background. Excellent value. Solid 89-90 points. Would buy again. Drink now because I don’t know how much longer this will last.

2/3/2019 - mcease wrote:

Nose was fairly closed but the pallet was seductive with black and red fruit, along with some oak, and caramel. The finish lingered for 30+ seconds. Very good effort.

2/3/2019 - mcease wrote:

Beautiful nose and pallet with red and black fruit, earthy notes, graphite, stone, and a lingering finish. I think this will definitely hit RP's rating of 98 points in the future. Incredible!

2/3/2019 - mcease wrote:

Very nice nose of rotted wood and oak along with caramel and some fruit. The pallet is very tight, which I have experienced a lot with this wine. I am hesitant to think this will develop into something based on my previous experiences with this wine.

2/3/2019 - mcease wrote:

Smoke and charred wood on the nose reminiscent of Chateau Pipeau, but this somewhat blew off over time in the glass. Red and dark fruit with plum, pepper, spices, and tobacco. This seems to be out of balance currently, but this may settle down in time.

1/27/2019 - mcease wrote:

The nose has a pleasant Barn/oak to it along with some tobacco and caramel and fruit. The pallet is also showing some fruit coming through on this. Showing some complexity - great buy at the price point.

1/27/2019 - mcease wrote:

A lot of fruit on the nose with licorice and a slight oakiness coming through. The pallet has some fruit but is very tight and tannic. This will age well. 91 points.

1/24/2019 - mcease wrote:

Oak, wood, earth, and dark fruit on the nose. The pallet shows fruit with nice tannins. Solid value.

1/11/2019 - mcease wrote:

Very good for the price. Very fruit forward jammy characteristics on the nose. The pallet had more of the same with a very round structure. Drinking excellent right now - I wouldn’t wait much longer. I rated this 86 only because it was not my taste (too fruit forward). Someone who enjoys this style would give it a much higher rating.

1/1/2019 - mcease wrote:

Drank this at the 2018 TIARI Wine Mixer alongside 2007 Fortia, 2005 Fombrauge, 2007 Fleur Cardinal, 2005 LA Croix St. George and 2009 Teyssier. Not much showing on the nose. Acidic and tart on the pallet. Very currant-like with a sharp sour green apple finish. Not a desirable wine at all. Hard to even rate this.

1/1/2019 - mcease wrote:

Drank this at the 2018 TIARI Wine Mixer alongside 2007 Fortia, 2005 Fombrauge, 2007 Fleur Cardinal, 2005 LA Croix St. George. The nose showed perfume, and honeyed dark fruit that had some pruned characteristics off the bat. The pallet showed a bit of the same, but seemed to be a bit closed. Later in the night the nose showed rounded dark concentrated fruit and oak on the nose with some minerality on the back end. The pallet was very round with dark fruit and oak. This was not very complex but was still very good. 88-89 points.

1/1/2019 - mcease wrote:

Drank this at the 2018 TIARI Wine Mixer alongside 2009 Teyssier, 2005 Fombrauge, 2007 Fleur Cardinal, 2007 Fortia. Upon opening this showed oak, caramel, some fruit, and grape stem on the nose. The pallet right off the bat had beautiful lush dark fruit. As the night went on the nose showed perfume, red fruit, some oak and alcohol. The pallet started to show concentrated dark fruit - try again in 5 years. This has legs to last. 93 points.

1/1/2019 - mcease wrote:

Drank this at the 2018 TIARI Wine Mixer alongside 2009 Teyssier, 2007 Fortia, 2007 Fleur Cardinal, 2005 LA Croix St. George. Upon opening this wine showed a very dark nose with oak and dark fruit. The dark fruit blew off at times and some greeness came through which shows the power of the 2005's. The pallet showed oak and dark fruit initially with a grip to the finish. As the night progressed perfume, oak, caramel, red and dark fruit and red licorice showed on the nose and the pallet showed oak with silky red and dark fruits and a elegant perfume fruit finish that lingers. This wine shows some elegance, but is still quite powerful. 92+ points.

1/1/2019 - mcease wrote:

Drank this at the 2018 TIARI Wine Mixer alongside 2009 Teyssier, 2005 Fombrauge, 2007 Fortia, 2005 LA Croix St. George. Upon opening this showed tart cherry on the nose with some oak and earth/dirt trying to get through. The pallet is more of the same - I initially thought that this was out of the drinking window because the fruit seemed to be diminished. As the night went on the nose opened to having more barney characteristics, but still had tart cherry/raspberry on the backend of the nose. The pallet opened and showed oak, caramel, along with red fruit with a grippy finish. 90- (91?) points.

1/1/2019 - mcease Likes this wine:

Drank this at the 2018 TIARI Wine Mixer alongside 2009 Teyssier, 2005 Fombrauge, 2007 Fleur Cardinal, 2005 LA Croix St. George. I preferred this out of the bunch, but some of the other tasters preferred the Fombrauge and the Croix St. George. This wine turned around since my last tasting at an unbelievable rate. Upon opening there was some melon on the nose with nectar. The pallet was silky with lush red fruit along with some nectar and honeyed sweetness. As the night went on the sweetness and the honey kept getting stronger. The nose continued to show perfume, honeyed sweetness, melon (perhaps cantaloupe), and nectar. The pallet evolved to thick concentrated fruit (in a good way) nectar and pruned fruit. This turned out to be an unbelievable wine. 94 points! Amazing.

1/1/2019 - mcease wrote:

Fairly good wine - This is an update from my last note. Either this wine lost some of its characteristics or I have just drank better bottles recently. This wine has a juicy fruit forward nose and similar characteristics on the pallet. There is an abundance of acidity and grippy tannins that make this desirable and offsets the fruit forward nature of this. Still a great QPR, but I am not as impressed as I was initially. 87 points - good everyday drinker.

12/29/2018 - mcease wrote:

Bottle is past its prime so the rating is not indicative of what it could be. Nose of cherry, rhubarb and oak. The pallet shows cherry compote, rhubarb, and hints of oak. Notes are trying to push through but the fruit has diminished considerably from what I can assume would show through.

12/26/2018 - mcease wrote:

Oak, wood and dark fruit on nose. The Tannins have softened a little bit. If you prefer grippy tannins this would have been better a couple years ago. Dark black and blue lustrous fruit coats the pallet with rounded tannins and a floral finish that lingers. Very silky and seductive. 92+ points. Very Solid.

12/26/2018 - mcease wrote:

Oak, wood, smoke an red and black fruit on the nose. The pallet fell short - not sure if this was a bad bottle or if it was over the hill. Tart cherry on the pallet - at times it even seemed watered down. It tried to open up with a long decant over the night, but nothing really came out of it. I have one more bottle - hopefully there is something there. 83 points? It was drinkable, but not very good at all.

12/22/2018 - mcease wrote:

Great value. Oak and dark fruit on the nose. The pallet shows some oak, bitter sweet red and black cherries that are very seductive, and grippy tannins. Would go great with Hungarian salami and smoked cheese.

12/22/2018 - mcease wrote:

No formal notes. From what I remember - graphite, pencil shavings, black fruit. I did not see any of the oak come through that some other reviews mentioned. Nothing special, but not bad. 89 points.