December 26, 2023 - Pulled from late dad’s cellar, this had accompanied him when he and my mom moved from Connecticut to Virginia in 2002. It was none the worse for wear. Still plenty of dark red fruit, and while the tannins had largely dropped away there was a firm acid backbone to keep things in line. Twenty-plus year old wines are always a bit of a crapshoot, but this was a winner, and stronger than a 1996 Cinq Cepages I opened earlier in 2023.
March 16, 2022 - Cherry with nice deep color. Leather nose, truffle and smoke. Mushroom with a fair amount of tannin.
May 30, 2021 - 4.75 Stars - I purchased this wine in the late 90s. It was kept in an offsite location for over two decades with perfect temperature control. I was afraid that this wine would be “over the hill“, but was pleasantly surprised as this wine had very subtle tannins and oak with preservation of dark fruit (black cherry and blackberry) notes with a slight earthiness reminiscent of classic Bordeaux blends. It paired very nicely with steak.
December 31, 2020 - Still Alive and kicking. Great purity and pretty integrated. it beat the 96 drank side by side hands down. Drink Up
May 2, 2020 - Too old
February 19, 2020 - Nose of black cherry, black berry, saddle leather, and briar, same on the palate, medium body, well blended, elegant, mouth filling fruit, almost juicy, lovely, rich fruit, time to enjoy is now as it hints of old age on the second night, and a flavorful finish and aftertaste.
January 13, 2019 - Still in very drinkable condition. Full integrated. Acid and fruit still there as well as the new oak that was cool back then.
March 19, 2018 - Still holding up. Nice!
October 11, 2017 - PnP. Cork was in perfect condition. Fruit has largely disappeared, but showing really nice secondary notes of leather and tar. Tannins are fully integrated. Did not show much evolution over the course of several hours, so I think this has hit a bit of a plateau. I don’t think it will benefit from additional age, but I think it will hang on for a few more years before going into decline.
September 19, 2017 - barest garnet rim, has another 5 yrs at least on it. tanins still firm and fruit is ripe enough to last, with bright acid to support