4/26/2024 - Vinumming & Ahhing Likes this wine:

Very classy wine. The poise and balance of a very smart Burgundy. Only the slightest flinty reduced note, citrus zest and a pure and focused minerality. Love it.

2/18/2024 - alexide wrote:

A bit disappointing vs previous bottles which were fantastic. Better on day 2 than day 1. Going through a bit of a funny phase? Wait on rest of bottles for a couple of years?

12/13/2022 - johnrm Likes this wine:

I won’t add much to my detailed earlier notes. A year on from our last bottle, this is drinking beautifully with all the positive, impressive characteristics notes earlier. It still offers surprisingly fresh fruit, great balance, and remarkable length. Not quite a 95 this time but that might be down to mood and company as well as the wine itself! Sadly, we have only 2 or 3 bottles still to enjoy.

11/19/2022 - Vinumming & Ahhing Likes this wine:

Supper with friends (Chez nous): From magnum. Pleased with where this is in its evolution. Fresh cut apple and stone fruits, acidity just where I like it. Good balance and mouthfeel.

11/1/2022 - Bob likes wine Likes this wine:

Great bottle, lovely fruit and spice, touch of chocolate. Distinctly better than the Bouchard MaV I had recently from the same year

9/28/2022 - MichelNL Likes this wine:

A - Garnet, medium (brownish)
N - Black fruits, cherry, oak, tart, plum, violets, wet leafs, tabacco, mushrooms, barn
T - Dry, medium accidity, medium tannins, body medium, primary flavours
C - Good

But underwelming. Honestly i expected more. Still a nice glass.

9/2/2022 - johnrm Likes this wine:

This did not reach the impressive level of earlier bottles for me when first opened. It was OK a few hours after opening and accompanied grilled steak quite well but it seemed a bit flat and ordinary. Next day, with cheese, the fruit came through a little more positively but the end taste still had a little too much acidity and tannin.
However, a third of a bottle was tasted on the second and third days and improved greatly over that time. Good fruit on the fragrant nose and there was enough remaining soft acidity and tannin to accompany food with style.
Perhaps it suffered at first from being served with other reds (including ‘sweeter’ Malbecs and a bottle of 20 year old Ch. Musar at a family gathering. Maybe it it is time to move on to younger vintages but my initial reaction was too harsh, given the way it developed after opening. I have added a point.

4/7/2022 - MSheridan Likes this wine:

Singing right now but plenty of time left in it.
I’d DD’d the night before and replaced the cork for drinking at a restaurant the following night.
Vibrant and fresh. VA present but not overbearing. This was one of the best Musars I’ve experienced.

5/24/2022 - lozatron Likes this wine:

Drank outside a tent. Zingy - more obvious acidity than any Musar I remember. Possibly with less ventilation it would have been a bit much but this was lovely - really engaging, classically musar but with an extra bit of zip that I wasn't expecting.

4/20/2016 - mphatic wrote:

Cork, 14% alc. Deep crimson red, with a beautiful brightness to the hue.

A bretty, barnyard aroma dominates initially, along with a fair whack of resinous oak. Then blackberry, VA, leather, and formic acid appear. Quite complex nose, and very enticing.

Fantastic feel in the mouth. Initial bursts of fruit spread across the tongue, filling all corners of the mouth. Floury tannins grip the mouth and pull the wine into focus. Heavyweight, akin to a 1990s Australian Shiraz from a warm year. Alcohol sticks out a little, and the length is a slight letdown compared to the rest of the palate, however it is still decent.

Opinion: Reminds me of a 5 year old blend of Bin 707 and Mt Edelstone. Presents more like a Cabernet on day 2 with blackcurrant, blackberry, licorice, and cedar. Slippery mouthfeel.

11/6/2021 - NickA Likes this wine:

This tasted a bit overmade and overly bright in fruit quality. Needed some bite or savour. Drinkable, but not especially enjoyable.

12/25/2021 - MSheridan Likes this wine:

Another lesser bottle of the 2001 vintage. There's been a lot of discussion on bottle variance for this vintage which seems to be the case for this case I've bought.
My 2nd from 6 purchased and once again it has Musar character but just lighter and thinner. Worked well with Christmas dinner but its just not up to level of other vintages of Musar

10/10/2021 - wkasimer Does not like this wine:

I wouldn’t exactly say I didn’t like it but there are other Rioja I would prefer. I did appreciate how the fruit leapt out of the glass. Along with it though was heavy heavy oak. Rioja and oak, yes I know, but there can sometimes be too much. On the palate it translated to reminiscences of my father’s pipe and vanilla.

10/8/2021 - MSheridan wrote:

I’m yet to buy into the hype of this vintage.
This was my second bottle and still didn’t wow me as it has some of the reviewers.
Double Decanted seven hours earlier. Despite this I still think it needs more breathing time because it still didn’t come across as fully open. An initial whack of vanilla oak is followed by red fruit notes with a slightly austere finish. It showed signs of improvement as we got towards the end of the bottle having spent some time in the glass.
Next bottle I’ll try decanting for longer or holding on to the rest of the case for a few more years in the cellar

4/14/2021 - andrew.white.ke@gmail.com wrote:

Love the totally divided opinion on this wine. I like it, but is an acquired taste - more wood than fruit at this point.

The tartness and acidity are in a nice place, not sure if will improve much. Gran Reservas from here are immortal tho so hope to be proven wrong. Great value in a great vintage.

3/27/2021 - Loathesome Likes this wine:

I have not had the 2002 for a number of years as used to find it a bit out of balance and not very Musar like. I was pleasantly surprised that the nose, now, was very powerful and though initially a little four square the flavour is full throttle, mature, raisiny fruit and volatility. It softened down a bit after 30 minutes and was generally very good. I never see the point of mentioning what the cork was like but for those who need to know it was dreadful and just crumbled into a million bits.

2/3/2021 - Ennike wrote:

I´m ambivalent about this wine. At age 10 the aromas are spicy and nicely matured. But it´s spicy oak, not spicy fruit. Same with palate... spicy oak, no spicy fruit. Finish is a bit short and hollow. Not elegant, just simple and thin. Sorry, maybe I get this wrong.

12/30/2020 - MSheridan wrote:

Hmmm a bit disappointed here. I’m sure I’ll get berated for my score but this was far from expectation.
After all the hype from other CT reviews I had high hopes.

This bottle was all oak and acid.
Wood initially on the palate, a bit of sour cherry leading to more wood
High acidity and medium velvety tannins.

I’m sure (hope) the oak will integrate at a later stage to show its true credentials

10/23/2020 - FiggySmalls wrote:

Ripe and rich but not overblown. No evidence of VA and lacking the Musar funk/mind-bending complexity. Tart cherry meets sweet spices, dried fruit (not prune, but more golden raisin), tons of licorice, and some oxidation.

Too much cough syrup and port to say I "love" this or would seek it out, but it's good.

Cooler serving temps (closer to 60 degrees) perk this up nicely

10/20/2020 - ChristopherB Likes this wine:

Nice medium strawberry colour with no bricking. On the nose, aromas of dark fruit (blackcurrant, blackberry touch of cherry), tobacco, slight forest floor/earth. On the palate, the attack is very frank, with lots of slightly rough tannins, surrounded and surrounding blackcurrant, blackberry, bread and a touch of liquorice and very faint coffee. With air, black cherries appear. A good length is also to be found. The tannin is still dominant compared to the fruit. Once again, a textbook claret and a textbook Medoc... But, this is still closed down! Needs at least two hours of air, but ideally needs another 3 years or so to show better as it is showing the rough side of an under 8 y.o. Medoc. Next ones ideally not before 2022-2023 when I expect they will start to show better if kept in a proper cellar. 89

9/29/2020 - PanosKakaviatos Likes this wine:

Bordeaux 2019 from barrel (From various locations, finally putting together these wine reviews): Pristine fresh red and black fruit aromas precede a palate smooth and dense, very fruit driven but with a cool blue fruit aspect on the long finish. This is the first vintage since the estate hired the talented wine consultant Eric Boissenot, highlighting greater elegance in style, which is very welcome. A blend of nearly 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, just over 41% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, the wine is aging in 65% new French oak. Furthermore, the excellent quality from this producer is getting increasingly noticed by merchants worldwide for its price/quality ratio (just over $30 per bottle in the U.S.), so buy it while that lasts. 😉 93-95 Crus et Domaines de France tasting

9/20/2020 - MSheridan Likes this wine:

marmite like residue around the foil capsule from a small amount of cork seepage through the top, almost like it had been coravined.
On removing the foil there was lots of green mould/mildew on the cork.
I thankfully managed to pull the cork out in one piece using a waiters friend with no crumble (still need to treat myself to a butlers thief).
Thankfully the wine was in very good nick. Plenty of that funky Musar characteristic, cherry & apple fruit, nail polish remover and a touch of cedar wood. Very enjoyable, possibly one of the best showings of my 2002s yet. Plenty of acidity keeping it pretty fresh and indicating it still has a good amount of time to go yet despite the seepage.

5/22/2020 - NickBurwood Likes this wine:

In the almost exactly 3 years since my last bottle this has really filled out. The dark fruit which I then described as "crunchy" has now taken on a much denser/richer/sweeter character and signs of age with hints of truffle, vegetable nuances etc becoming apparent. Excellent still but definitely approaching the end of its life at this level.
Now and up to 20yrs from vintage max

5/10/2020 - Mali Likes this wine:

Wirklich ein toller Wein. 2016 ist in Saint Estephe sensationell, trotzdem ragt Capbern in Anbetracht seines günstigen Preises noch heraus. Fantastisch frische Aromen, reife Tannine und Eleganz machen diese Cabernet betonte Cuvée schon jung zu einem Vergnügen. Nicht so kräftig wie Meyney, vielleicht auch nicht ganz so tief, ist das ein kultivierter Vertreter, der die feineren Töne spielt. Erfahrungsgemäß reift er sehr gut und länger als man vermutet. Gehört spätestens ab jetzt in jeden Keller. 2022-2035

3/13/2020 - MSheridan wrote:

Carbonnieux has been a bit hit and miss with some seeming a bit prem ox’d. This was on the cusp although it oddly seemed to have improved for the final glass tonight (or because it was the first drink of the night)

1/7/2020 - PeterDavis2 wrote:

Majestic Say:
As always with Parcel Series, the price is so good, we can't tell you which household name made it. It never usually sells for less than £20. It's packed with citrus, stone fruits and a delicate oak character.

12/22/2019 - chitowncdpguy wrote:

Sadly oxidized.

11/5/2019 - WilliamMP Likes this wine:

Wish I'd picked up a couple at an insane £5 in M&S. Nobody wants Pinot Noir - their loss.

N: Opened super pooy barnyard, eventually blowing off to unveil tart but candied raspberry, quite stemmy/bramble. Bubbling Christmas spices.

P: Med body, ripe tart cherry and red berries, turning to a deeper plum and plum skin. Very attractive and quite delicate with vivid chompy acidity and med- tannins. Subtle tertiary tobacco leaf and old oak chair. Youthful.

F: Clean, crushed rock and dried raspberry.

9/21/2019 - Jeff Leve wrote:

With layers of ripe, juicy fruits, crushed stone, truffle, licorice and smoke, this is showing just great. There is volume, depth and definition, with energy and length. Lay this down for 7 years and enjoy it over the next 15 years or even longer.

11/1/2019 - johnrm Likes this wine:

Very good immediately on opening. Perhaps very slightly lighter in colour than before but still dark and a very deep hue. As before, there was plenty of rich, sweet, dark fruit dark on the nose and dense early palate. The dark cherry character increased with time in the glass and was under-pinned, as always, by trademark soft Penfold's vanilla from the oak. I was alone in finding a touch of roast beef flavour developing with time (nice!). Complex flavours with a range of berry fruits, plums, and damsons, as I described before, which opened and developed as it warmed and stretched in the glass. Spice and black pepper but I no longer get the Eucalyptus I mentioned earlier. Acidity was there on the long late palate - my wife suggested Satsuma rather than generic 'orange' flavours developing on the tongue and I agreed. [After I wrote this note I looked up Peter Gago's notes for this vintage on the Penfold's website and, rather spookily, I found his reference to 'Satsuma conserve'.]
The wine got better over a few hours and certainly has years ahead of it. I want to keep some to try tomorrow but I fear I will be unable to hold back. I think this is a great vintage for the Bin 28. 92+ and I'm happy to have chosen this wine to comment on in my 1111th review.

9/7/2019 - scyrene wrote:

Unexpectedly dark - deepest gold, verging on orange. Sweet, creamy, but quite light nose, with caramel, orange peel, milk chocolate, and a fiery, spiritous burn. Rather fresher on the palate, good fruit up front, adequate acidity for the sweetness, but it rather falls apart after a moment; a bit dilute and bitter on the finish*. This is still very good value - at this price there are very few sweet wines, and if you compare it to, say, basic moscatel de Valencia it stands up okay. Perhaps it's been hanging around too long, stored improperly. It's not dead, but not everything it might have been. *Notably the wine improves with a bit of air, so I've bumped the score accordingly. [Natural cork; 12% abv; Marks & Spencer, £5/50cl].

7/19/2019 - WineWimpie wrote:

Another bottle for the sink .... tremendous oxidation! Carbonnieux needs to do something about this! So many vintages have the issues, despite me buying the wines when they come out and storing them in my climatized cellar! Luckily it was my last bottle, unfortunately half of the 12bottle case were like that. I used this one for cooking: mussels in white Carbonnieux wine, a new signature dish!

4/4/2019 - GinST Likes this wine:

Drinking well, big tannin, and an oaky mouthfeel. Can do with another 5 years.

4/27/2018 - Jeff Leve wrote:

Caliginous in color, the wine is full bodied, concentrated, intense, fortified and satisfying. There is good flesh, freshness and length. Limber with crispy red fruits, cocoa, espresso, licorice and a boundless finish, the wine is made from blending 80% Merlot with 20% Cabernet Franc. The wine reached 14.3% alcohol. 92-94 Pts

12/4/2018 - ThalesGaspar Likes this wine:

Same as previous bottles, really good.

8/28/2018 - Neecies wrote:

Pale yellow color, no sign of age. Very effusive nose with myriad scents that are confirmed on first taste, but followed by overwelming acidity (and this from someone who loves acidity). After finishing a glass, we put the rest of the bottle aside for another day hoping for some balance to develop. Three days later: aggressive diesel nose, screechy bitter palate. Changing my impression from 'neutral' to 'don't like it'.

8/4/2018 - honest bob wrote:

From 75cl. Duh, it's a rosé. Clean, inoffensive, uncomplicated, sort of dry-ish. Warning to neophytes: This pink drink contains alcohol. But seriously: Why on earth did I buy this, when every single dish I can think of drinking it with would pair better with a competently picked white or red wine at the same (15 EUR) price level? 84-85P

7/22/2018 - gwilliams68 wrote:

Last of 4 bottles. Thin and acidic. Improved slightly a day later but really nothing to offer here. Disappointing wine overall and awful quality to price ratio.

6/22/2018 - HG1xGinnel wrote:

Second bottle after a massively oxidised bottle.

This is much fresher compared to the last bottle... waxy semillon, cooked asparagus and a lovely creaminess. Might be a hint of oxidation creeping in but I could still have the previous bottle in my mind.

If this was my only bottle I had opened I would say this is what I would expect a 8 year old Sauvignon / Semillon from Bordeaux to taste like. But having tried the previous bottle and read some previous notes I would suggest a massive variation from bottle to bottle. I would not hang about on any bottles I had left and hope it shows like the second bottle and not the first.

6/28/2018 - ruth3 Likes this wine:

this is delicious, big strawberry nose, savoury and long
cloudy with sediment

7/1/2018 - cannym Likes this wine:

Golden on opening, lightened with air. Lovely citrus, lemon & lime, toast, bit of candle wax. Great acidity, good length. Lovely wine and outstanding QPR.

6/1/2018 - Collector1855 wrote:

Bordeaux 2015 in bottle (Zurich Arvi / Singapore UGCB): Nose of red and dark fruit, very good structure and freshness with mint, toast. Classic, proportions long finish. Much better than its white.

5/25/2018 - Motz wrote:

Enjoyed over two days. Purple and blue fruited precision, featuring a wholly agreeable fleshy and pithy element, reminiscent of chewing a mixed handful of açaí and blueberry (flavor profile), and slightly under ripe blackberry (acid). Cracked peppercorns and herbs, with underpinning meatiness. Also showing a liquefied crushed rock element, partially tannin imparted. There is an energy to it, akin to an electric jolt. Excellent acid and balance, the 14.5 abv imperceptible. Oak is a non-factor here (non-obtrusive), thankfully. Back to back incredible vintages of this offering. This vintage might be marginally fuller than the 2015. Rock solid, crazy good QPR!

3/15/2018 - NickBurwood Likes this wine:

...and it has turned into a swan! (viz my doubting 2013 note).
2hr decant. Deep black-red showing signs of age at the fringes. Massive dark wild hedgefruit hit, extremely luscious and ripe but balanced by the Musar gunflint minerality, earth and spice. Velvety. Excellent accompaniment with our lamb tagine. Either the wine has blossomed in the last 5 years or there is some bottle variance. I'm backing the former option.
Albeit slightly atypical, now at its peak and should be good at this level for at least 20 years from vintage.

3/20/2018 - tjross Likes this wine:

Drank over two nights. Enjoyable, but at this point in its life a bit of a step back from previous vintage. Great QPR regardless.

3/21/2018 - ChateauDutremble Likes this wine:

Couldn't wait...last bottle. Earthy, leather, dark fruit, dark chocolate... Impressive freshness to the wine... Wonderful VNDM! Definitely ready.

11/28/2017 - kevin h wrote:

Now fully mature. Ripe, medium sweet with a mix of lemon and peachy fruit. Excellent.

6/12/2017 - FransS wrote:

As usual well made, some sweetness in the start, than the family style ripeness, but always without being overripe, showing elegance and friendly power.

6/11/2017 - johnrm Likes this wine:

As for the 2008 - deep colour, rich botrytis and marmalade nose but with the unexpected 'curry' character noted by a reviewer of the 2009. Rich apricot, complex, honeyed fruit with enough balancing acidity to counter the high levels of sweetness.
Half of the wine was still good after an accidental 2 weeks in the fridge! (Perhaps that is a factor in the developing 'curry' character which was short-lived in the glass). Exceptional length with the 'lip-smacking' characteristic noted earlier.
Still great value.

6/22/2017 - Hans Lukas Likes this wine:

Der Wein scheint mir jetzt auf dem Höhepunkt, mit cremiger Beerigkeit, gut eingebundenem Tanin, etwas frischer Säure, aber im mittleren Bereich etwas dünn. Da fehlt etwas Komplexität. Mittellanger Abgang. Unkompliziert und durchaus mit Vergnügen getrunken.