2/20/2022 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

Tobacco, dark cherries, cedar, soft velvet tannins. Hard to imagine anything better. I’m adding spice. It’s very good.

12/24/2021 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

I’m going to do this in phases. First, 30 minute decant.

Nose- almost entirely black tea. Hint of smoke
Palate - no fruit. Cigar, tea, tannins are velvet. A little watery in the back of the mouth. Still grippy in the front. Enjoyable. Doubtful it holds up to food. Update at 1hour mark.

12/23/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

This is not a youthful wine. The nose is familiar, I’ve been here before, but with greater bottle age. Mushrooms, wet earth. The palate is striking. No fruit really to speak of, but acidity is present. Long finish. Tannins still ever so slightly gripping. Menthol in the finish.

12/22/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Needs air, so breathe it for 1.5 to 2 hours. It’s lovely. Tannins fully integrated. Soft red berries, leather, dust.

11/26/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

This one evolves a lot over many hours. Initially, it is over-oaked and uninviting. After a couple hours, the fruit becomes more forward and concentrated, and the finish is long and chewy- it reminded me of an Amarone more than a Bordeaux. I let it sit for another two hours, and it changed again completely. Now it is giving some very pleasant black tea flavors with round tannins.

11/25/2021 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

Blood, rainwater and dusty blackberries filtered through a stone.

11/25/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

This is a perfectly aged right bank Bordeaux. Nose of muted raspberries and plumbs in a cloud of tobacco and cedar. Ample acidity on the palate followed by silky yet a little grippy tannins. Red fruit mid palate and tobacco in the finish

11/13/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Out of the gate it is over oaked, but that goes away with air. The woodsy nose is still in the background , but more attention is given to pencil shavings and dark fruit. The palate is at first forest floor covered dusty boysenberry with spices in the lingering and chewy finish. I love this wine.

11/13/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Color is dark red, not purple. Nose of cedar, blue berries and pencil shavings. Palate - interesting tingle on front of tongue. Blackberries, blueberry juice, tobacco. Long finish. Sweet tannins are velvety.

11/9/2021 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

Second bottle. Both purchased at retail. I thought the first to be dumb. This is much better. So, bottle variation from poor storage at retail. The nose is black fruit and fresh plums drawn with a crayon. The palate is not quite ripe blackberries being pelted by red acidic fruit. It’s well balanced and the finish is long and rewarding. Bummed it’s gone.

11/8/2021 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

Not sure yet. I opened it 5 hours ago and did a slow decant. I had taken a sip immediately, and it was all over the place. After 5 hours with slow decant, I have the following impressions: the nose is not expressive, seems maybe just slightly maderized; bought at retail and maybe stored too long in poor conditions. But, I’m getting prunes. I decided to pour into a proper decanter and let it get full air. I think the slow decant was the wrong approach here. On the palate I’m getting a long finish with firm tannins, but not any fruit to speak of. I think this needs proper air. Stay tuned, news at 11.

11/7/2021 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

I think this wine may be in its dumb phase. I couldn’t get it to open up much, though I could tell it wanted to be expressive. Even after two hours in the decanter, it was still tight and unevolved.

11/6/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

I’m surprised by the under 90 ratings of this wine. From a PnP, the flavors are complex, peppery, and interesting. I get that the tannins are super gripping, but you can tell that this wine is going to get amazing with age and only needs air for 3 hours to become a 92+ point wine. I do not get these lower scores.

10/29/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Okay! You’ll see two tasting notes from me circa 2019 for this wine. At that time, I had two bad bottles, and I mistakenly believed the wine to just be bad. I now recognize that they were cooked- probably damaged in shipping or plain stored improperly. The bottle I just I had was fabulous. Great bottle of Bdx. Concentrated dark fruit, a little blueberry on the nose. Leather and dust and dark fruit on the palate. I have half the bottle left for tonight, and I will follow up with additional notes.

10/17/2021 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

When opened last night, and without air, it was fruit forward and jammy. No tannins to speak of. Not enjoyable. I put the cork back in and poured a glass tonight. The nose is pleasant, though subtlety expressive. Some spice and black fruit. The palate is like the nose. Much better than last night, no longer jammy. Still, not a long finish or very interesting young H-M. Still a decent enough wine, and I think it’s going to improve with air. I will slow decant and check back in an hour.

3/18/2021 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

This bottle was great. If I find more, I will buy with both hands. Good QPR considering the rich bedfellows.

12/11/2020 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

Holy crap. This wine is freakishly good. Now I am certain that the first bottle from my note a week ago was flawed. This was a crazy stupid good bottle of wine. I have 2 more bottles left.

12/4/2020 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

I poured two 4 oz glasses using a Coravin last night. My initial feeling was that the wine was just slightly maderized, but initial tastings did not follow that impression. The first glass I had with filet mignon, and it held up fine to food. It had some bright acidity, earthy flavors, but like other have mentioned, not a lot of fruit remaining. The color was still quite dark - no sign of oxidation at all.

I enjoyed the second glass less so with goat cheese. I allowed this 4 oz to breathe in the glass for about an hour before tasting. Perhaps it needs even more time breathing, but i found the finish to be tertiary in a bad way. I'm going to try to slow-decant the remaining bottle this weekend. I have 3 more in the cellar.

3/24/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

I loved this bottle. Seemed young to me, with very dark and present black berries and a long finish. Follow link for pics and more details.

https://fresneaux.com/f/1982-chateau-beychevelle

3/23/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

For $25, this is a great value and good "daily drinker". 2 hours in the decanter gave pencil shavings and dark blackberry nose. Long finish.

https://fresneaux.com/f/2010-chateau-saint-ahon

3/22/2019 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

The cork had failed and this wine was oxidized. If you can find this with a better fill level, you may have good luck. I will keep looking.

https://fresneaux.com/f/1970-chateau-pedesclaux

3/17/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Very enjoyable experience. Lots of saddle leather and tobacco. More info and pics on my blog below:

https://fresneaux.com/f/1982-la-dominique

3/9/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Depressed cork, stained label. I thought maybe some signs of seepage, but the ullage was near perfect with a base neck fill. Removed the cork with a Durand, and it didn’t break at all.

The color was excellent for 53 year old wine. Stilll red with just some bricking. No brown.

Nose was sweet caramel, cigar box, and muted raspberry.

The mouth feel was pleasant. It was quite smooth. There was great balanced acidity and a faint call from tannins that drifted into a finish. I would do it again.

3/8/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Color is reminiscent of a Pilsner, but with much greater clarity. My wife said it looks like pee, and I must say, she isn’t wrong.

But it smells like an oak tree chewing butterscotch candies.

Great body. Gentle acidity that tickles the front roof of the mouth and inside lips. Flavors of vanilla, muted pear that was kissed by a pineapple. Long finish. Love this wine.

3/7/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

This is the 4th bottle I’ve had. Absolutely flawless. Perfectly balanced, gentle acidity into the finish. Flavors of lemon bars, pears and grapefruit. I’ll be sad when I can no longer find this.

3/3/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Wow, what a difference a bottle makes. Nose of leather, sweet cassis, berries. Color is beginning to brick a little. Taste is balanced acidity with red berries, soft and not over powered; tobacco, earth. Not a finish to speak of, can’t find tannins, but the acid lingers in mid/front palate in a comforting manner. Solid bottle.

3/2/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Nose was sweet green tobacco leaf and molasses. Smooth acidity and just a hint of berry. Not much of a finish, but very enjoyable. Opens to more berry and pleasant acidity over an hour or so. Not much velvet, unlike the Montrose, but a lovely bottle. Will do again.

3/2/2019 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

Nose of over ripe plums and raisins. Undrinkable.

3/1/2019 - Bordhead2000 Does not like this wine:

Second bottle. Nose is full raspberry followed by moth balls. Super acidic, cherry bomb raspberry disaster. I hated this wine where it is now. Maybe it was great when it was younger. Gets worse as it breathes.

2/22/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Won this in an auction. High-mid shoulder fill. Removed the capsule. Mold all over the top of the cork. Terrified. No vinegar smell coming from the bottle. In the glass, there is some bricking. The nose was leather, earth, petrol. The mouth feel was amazing. It is hard to believe this bottle is 49 years old. Earth, tobacco. Velvet tannins still there. Long finish. Incredibly rewarding experience. Loved this bottle.

2/9/2019 - Bordhead2000 Likes this wine:

Color was deep red, getting a little pink on the rim. Aroma of black berries and ripe fruit. The taste was nicely acidic with dark berries and plums. Smooth silky tannins and black pepper in the finish. Decanted for 2 hours before first pour. Very lovely wine.

2/6/2019 - Bordhead2000 wrote:

I didn't particularly care for this bottle. I should have decanted it for a few hours, but was unable to resist a PnP on the first glass. I did let the remainder of the bottle decant while I had the first glass. For me, it had an overwhelming raspberry and red cherry flavor. It did not seem well balanced - again, likely my fault for not decanting.