May 5, 2024 - Interesting effort
The first night I did not like it. Seemed overly extracted with quite a bit of oak that was not well integrated
Let the bottle sit for 24 hours and it proved to be significantly more engaging. Oak moved to the background revealing rich dark fruit. Not a complex wine and definitely a new world style, but not bad for the money as long as you go in knowing what you're getting
January 21, 2024 - Consistently one of the best values in Bordeaux
December 7, 2023 - Deep purple (no smoke on the water though) with tannin still young, dark almost boysenberry fruit, chewy, medium+ finish. Still young but started to budge a little bit after 2 hours. Great QPR and great with porterhouse at Keens.
November 8, 2023 - Similar to previous notes. Solid and good value.
October 11, 2023 - Quite thick and rich. Always a really solid value, and this vintage in particular. 93+pts
May 22, 2023 - Deep purple. Some fine sediment left in bottle and glass. Medium tannins and acidity. Drink or hold.
March 3, 2023 - The jury is out for me on this one. Drinkable and fine with some food but overdone in some ways. Not as balanced as other Fronsac bottles I've had. I really expected to like it, but it missed the mark for me. A little disjointed and overly fruity. Tannins and some hints of green helped. Lots of things going on, but they didn't seem to flow into each other. I suppose good value if ripe sweet feeling fruit is your thing. Will try again in the future. Maybe it was me this week :)
February 4, 2023 - Nicely structured, some chalky aspect which I like. Always good value and this is no exception.
July 4, 2022 - Vinturried into a decanter and let sit for over 30 minutes. Dark plum in colour. Nose of plums, currants, and tons of black fruits. On the palate, there are a good amount of cassis with dark espresso notes and hints of blackberries. Medium bodied with a medium finish. Tannins have mostly calmed down since I last tasted this in 2019.
May 20, 2022 - Solidly Very Good, on the riper end of the spectrum but not overdone. Solid working man's steak wine that was solid QPR at $20 USD. Label shows 15% abv, which to me seems like toward the top end of actual (upper-14%s?). Lots of dark fruits and spice. Decent to drink on its own, if a bit tiring, but nice with a steak.