April 21, 2024 - It’s no secret that the 1994 vintage always delivers: highly layered, with a great blend of tertiary and fresh aromas, good freshness and tension, pure elegance with beautiful balance, and particularly a lots of drinking pleasure. But this specific bottle set a new benchmark: it had all that and much more: even more expressiveness, an even broader aromatic spectrum down to olives (where did those come from?) and a irresistible hint of brett (at least to my palate), meaty notes, aromatic precision that couldn’t be better and a harmony reaching unthinkable heights. Hands down, this was a perfect Bordeaux, better than every Bordeaux I’ve had in some time, better than all previous bottles of the 1994. A genuine Wow moment, unparalleled and unforgettable.
TN: Right from the first sniff to the long-lasting, expanding finish, this is highly expressive with intense and highly precise aromas that are too many to mention them all. A perfect mixture of mature aromas (tobacco, black truffle), fresh, primary aromas (vibrant, fresh forest fruit core mixed with ripe red and dark fruit), a touch of barnyard funk, meaty notes like a mature Pomerol, spices, minerality, vegetal aromas adding more crunch...... endless beauty. Impeccable structural frame with finely melted tannins, high tension and freshness, and a silky texture. The balance between all the components couldn’t be better. A dream wine.
Decanting: Some Dominus 1994 bottles needed hours, some no decanting at all. This one didn’t need any decanting.
March 23, 2024 - Tasted blind at a social event. Obviously guessed beautifully aged Bordeaux as always with this one. Clear fruit of blueberry, cherry and lighter red berries on a bed of wet earth. Toppings of black truffles and spicy seasoning, sweet pipe tobacco and contrasting vegetal notes. Palate impresses with great tension and soft, caressing tannin. Aromatically showing seductive sweet fruit and leathery elements. Bottle nr. 8 in the last 6 years (from various sources) and this one was the best so far. A fabulous wine and one the best “Bordeaux” I’ve had.
March 23, 2024 - Ich habe an diesem Abend nicht mitgeschrieben aber dieser Wein war nicht von dieser Welt - schreibe diese Notiz auch hauptsächlich um dieses unglaubliche Aroma (das ich immer noch so klar präsent habe) nicht zu vergessen.
Böse Zungen mögen sagen „könnte meine Nase auch in einen Pferdearsch stecken“, ja, der Wein war in der Nase wie auch am Gaumen von deutlichen Stallaromen geprägt. Aber diese war mit umwerfenden Waldbeerentönen, Trüffel, Honig und Teer kombiniert, Fruchtdruck wie ein Jungwein und eine tolle, süssliche Komponente, die ein endloses Finale einleitet. Showstopper.
March 23, 2024 - OMG this was so good. Super layered and complex, showing notes of cassis, dark fruit, menthol, some black truffle, forest floor, leather, tobacco and also a touch of pyrazine (reminding me of Cab Franc). It‘s medium-full bodied, ripe but classic at the same time, with some medium super silky tannin, medium+ acidity adding freshness and just a mouthfeel of creaminess and richness without weight. Super long finish. An epic bottle and a testament to the greatness of Napa. Too bad most wines are much more extracted now and much riper…
March 23, 2024 - Wiedermal mit altem bordeaux verwechselt. Schöne tertieräre aromen. Erinnert am figeac 1993. Scheint ein warmer 30 jähriger Bordeaux. Rote frucht, herbal, tabacco
March 23, 2024 - Very expressive nose, lots of farmyard, lots of greens, tobacco, leather, very aged Medoc in the nose. The palate has amazing sweetness, grippy tannins. Everybody guessed Bordeaux.
December 31, 2023 - No notes taken. This second bottle from a weaker batch didn’t showcase the peak qualities that the 1994 vintage can achieve. It had just a bit less of everything that typically makes this wine outstanding: less density, a weaker and less pure fruit core, fewer tertiary aromas, and less tension and verve. It was still a very good wine, but not exceptional.
December 26, 2023 - Still going strong, from a magnum. That beautiful aroma of plums and a bit of brett hits you first. Then the smooth complexity of licorice, smoke, chocolate, mocha, cedar, dark fruits, it’s almost beyond description. Wonderful!
November 25, 2023 - Not as great as other bottles, but still a very fine wine. Cranberreis, black cherries, chocolate milk with this dense ripe sexy california-meets-bordeaux structure.
November 25, 2023 - 1983 vintage horizontal with >20 wines, mostly from Bordeaux. Key observations: 1/ Acceptable vintage for Champagne with DP over-delivering, 2/ Laville Haut Brion is a masterpiece among the whites, 3/ Bordeaux is going strong at 40 years of age with stand-outs Latour and Margaux. 4/ No need to chase any Napa’s from the vintage, 5/ off-piste Italians kept up impressively with Soldera an undisputed medalist.
Tasting note:
Double-decanted. An unusually bretty nose. Fresh and dense aromatically with fresh, on balance dark berry fruit and vegetal notes. Very structured with still quite grainy tannins, but well balanced. While good, the bertty notes were distracting and this is the weakest bottle I’ve tasted in the last 5 years (sample size of 7).