January 6, 2024 - Beautiful - floral notes, drinking wonderfully
October 28, 2023 - Fragrant bouquet and palate of ripe black fruits and plums, cocoa, cinnamon, star anise and clove. Dense and intense, medium-bodied structure. The texture is rounded which carried through from entry to a rich and clean finish. Need at least 2 hours of decanting. This will continue to age for the next 3-5 years.
October 8, 2023 - Bjørnebær, kirsebær, fat, litt kjeller og vanilje. Myke taniner og lav syre, noe lukket frukt. Veldig drikkevennlig allerede, men usikker hvordan den takler kraftig mat! Planen var å ta ett glass med Coravin, men korken ga etter for trykket og løsnet. Åpner opp med mer syrlig frukt etterhvert, så trenger litt tid i karaffel før middag.
August 6, 2023 - Pulled the cork on the bottle accessed by Coravin in November and drank over three days.
Consistent with the note of November. This delicate vintage did not deserve the oak the winemaker threw at it, which masks terroir and nuance.
The second and third days revealed the wine's likely character in a decade or so. Medium to medium plus acid, powdery and steely tannins, gripping finish of very good length.
Marginal improvement seems possible after five to seven years. Drink by 2035. Strong QPR...even with the lumber treatment. 92-93.
August 2, 2023 - Less approachable than many of the '15s, this producer tends to need more time.
November 30, 2022 - Coravin access
Minimal bricking.
Very pretty...with a noteworthy asterisk...much of the forward prettiness is oak-driven. Behind the oak...if one can ever really get behind it...or for however fleetingly...an oasis of Left Bank fruit tantalizes the senses. This observation summarizes the bouquet.
This delicate, Burgundy-like vintage in the Left Bank begged for significant reductions of standard oak regimens, especially new oak. The houses that understood this crafted exceptional wines. This vintage does not pack the bracing substance that 2014 did, which can stand up to normal oak treatment over the long haul.
On the palate, compelling textures and weight, Saint-Estèphe's calling card...then all that *&%$+@! oak. Medium plus acid, light powdery tannins, imperceptible alcohol. This wine suffers from the oak imbalance. When the liquid reaches maturity...about a decade or so from now...oak will still be prominent...and what is the point of drinking a little Saint-Estèphe with your oak?
Is there an off chance that the wine will outlive the effusive oak? Sure. Recommend holding bottles for five to seven years...to allow time for such a minor miracle. Without the oak...score it 94-95.
November 21, 2022 - Coravin fun - Lafon Rochet (My place, Kent Street): From Coravin. Medium plus intensity aromas of baking spice, black hued fruits; bramble, plum, a little cherry, plenty of good quality oak here, with time a little blackcurrant shows through as well as a touch of jubey boiled sweets. Juicy, fruity forward, talc textured, raspy, slightly woody tannins tug at the tongue, finishes creamy and butter (like the 2000), difficult to spit. Lovely.
November 17, 2022 - Decanted and drank over two three days. Rather closed, some notes of black fruit, tannin not overbearing, some acidity, drinkable but not much to say because it's closed up. Will get better. Drink if you have to, or better yet, hold for a few years.
November 11, 2022 - Two hour double decant. Deep dark magenta color. Marigold, oregano, and black cherry on the earthy nose. Smooth, dry palate. Soft tannins on the medium finish.
This continued to improve over two hours of drinking. It’s earthier than I typically like, but works well with food. I’ll do a 3-4 hour decant for my next bottle and/or wait another year or two.
November 4, 2022 - Decanted and drank over two days. First day nose and palate rather closed, opened a little after an hour, but still closed up. Second day much better. Earth and blackberries on the nose, although not intense, wet gravel, blackberries and fruit acidity on the palate - the acidity more prominent than the fruit and gravel. Best with food at this time, will likely get better, but not great, IMHO. Still a good QPR even at today's price.