September 16, 2023 - Needs a decent, after an hour it's drinking nicely. No rush.
July 28, 2021 - Last bottle. That usually means it's going to be great! Perfect cork. Chunky sediment. Full ruby; medium deep in colour. Decanted for about 1.5 hours. Quite a funky nose of earth, merde and old leather but under that there are notes of black and red fruits, graphite and a touch of creosote. No woody notes at all. Medium bodied, soft acidity, melted tannins, dried fruit extract and correct alcohol. Very smooth buy not soft. It has more structure than that. The flavours are somewhat fruitier and less funky than the nose with dried black and red fruits, leather, bark, spice and bitter chocolate. Finishes clean and dry, if a bit tart and short. Lovely mature wine that is still drinking nicely and probably will for a few more years yet.
December 24, 2019 - Soft nose of raspberries and pipe tobacco. Ripe fruit in its midlife. Savory herbs with building saline. Spicy. Pair with something rich/higher in fat.
March 23, 2019 - Worn ox blood leather colour with some bricking on the thinning rim. Clearly has some age on it. Plums and berries on the nose, some leather, mulch and even a hint of licorice. Medium bodied, tart acidity, very dry and still a bit of a tight tannic bite on the finish. The flavours are dry and dark berries, worn suede, cedar and black tea. Moderately long finish. A bit too tart and dry on its own. Better with food. Classically styled old world wine.
February 12, 2018 - Fully mature, black plum and cassis, a little tobacco. Resolved tannins, lower acid. B
September 8, 2017 - I go many months without drinking Bx then open a btl and am reminded why I stockpiled a cellar-ful of the stuff. While showing signs of age with a bit of hot EtOH on the finish, this remains totally solid, nuanced, and enjoyable. Dark cherry, tons of tobacco, spice box, lead pencil, and prunes. Medium finish (a bit drying). That a 17-year old wine of modest pedigree that I paid $20 for on release could still perform so well is a testament to the overall quality of the region. Nothing in the New World can touch Bx. Drink up.
June 13, 2017 - Last bottle from a stash bought at release...forgot I had one bottle left...time to pull the cork with some grilled burgers...:)
Core purple color, still vibrant, separation on the rim, some fading. Palate is "dusted cherry, earth notes, cedar and tobacco. Nice old school Bdx, drink now
April 22, 2016 - A little better than my last bottle. Has a tendency on the palate to be a bit thin, but the St Estephe character really comes through. More going on in the nose and palate, with a nice smokiness. Enjoyable now.
July 12, 2015 - At home with Valerie, Meredith and Eileen. Splash decanted for 60 minutes, drank over an hour with grilled meats
Towards the end of my stash, these have been well stored bottles from release. Medium purple color, some cloudiness and sediment. Palate is dusted cherry, floral notes. Mild and elegant old school Bordeaux - great QPR. Moving past its prime, wine seems to be in a tertiary phase at this point. Will drink last bottle this year.
May 25, 2015 - I thought this was corked initially, so we put it aside until day two and tried it again. Initially I thought I might have been mistaken, but it was definitely slightly flawed, which was too bad as it had the dark fruit and scorched earth of a Saint Estephe. Kind of tangy. I almost talked myself into drinking it anyway.