June 19, 2022 - Rather acid and not particularly attractive. Just a suggestion of how good the Chateau is (or used to be). Tasted against the 82, which really was good......
December 15, 2021 - Berry fruit, cherries and leather notes. I don't have much experience with '83 Bordeaux, but thought this was quite nice. Ready to drink now. Along with the '86 Pichon Baron, my favorite of the reds.
December 14, 2021 - double decanted about 5 hours before dinner, opened an hour before serving
medium red color with aging rim, cuddly berry and cassis fruit, subtle but slightly sharp bramble notes with a hint of olive, on the palate lovely aged fruit with spicy cherry, mulberry and hints of leather, harmonious, relaxed, good long finish, soft bramble and a pronounced moss note, every bit as attractive as the bottle recently tasted (from the same case) but this one seemed a bit more robust overall and with plenty of time in hand, I think the longer decant time made a bit of a difference- for the better.
****, ready to go and time in hand
October 21, 2021 - decanted two hours prior to tasting
medium red color with some bricking, slightly meaty cassis and mulberry nose with soft bramble tones, on the palate fully mature- a very fruit driven Magdelaine, light pepper on the finish and the typical forest and bramble notes more in the background of a wine driven by sweet and slightly gamey fruit, after the genteel and pleasant mid-palate the snappy finish with soft acids kicks in to bring it all into balance, at first (2 hours after decanting) the wine was a bit austere and almost thinning on the tail end- but after another hour of air it fleshed out to better balance the midweight mid-palate, cuddly cherry notes with time, cloves, all-in-all a fully mature Magdelaine that is a bit more fruit driven than usual and with just a bit of rough and tumble at the tail end suggesting it should be consumed fairly soon.
***+, ready to drink and drink soon
December 31, 2020 - Broken cork - careful. Vts. Very dark purple core with brown purple rim. Astonishing depth for the age, maybe with slight sediment due to decanting. Peppery dark red fruit medley with pu-er tea notes on the nose. Reduced and watery mouthfeel, dissolved tannins, quite watery. Notes of cooked dark fruit. Not unpleasant but limited excitement! Past peak or descending rapidly. Bought out of curiosity. Not worth vs other great tertiary estates in the 80s. Drink up fast!!
September 1, 2020 - Still drinking fine with none of the historical austerity. Light on its feet with enough fruit left to charm our 10 diners celebrating a 37th birthday.
May 9, 2016 - Not super clean and not a lot of structure left. Some red curranty fruit showing through, but finished kind of sour. Not impressive, pretty disappointing from a producer I revere, but in a vintage I understand was a rare miss for them.
April 29, 2016 - Bordeaux Wimps (La Trompette, Chiswick): Medium garnet core, medium mahogany rim. Mature, leathery nose, notes of polished wood, touch of earth. Medium bodied, fully resolved tannins, polished wood, touch of fig, vestiges of red fruit, balanced acidity, good length finish. Mature, harmonious. Lovely but drink up. ****
March 1, 2015 - did not care for it though many others loved it
November 3, 2014 - A rare miss for Magdelaine. Unusually tarry and black fruited on the nose, and rather thin and astringent on the palate where it just tastes like a generic old red wine, not showing any of the depth or character I would expect from this estate, or for that matter, any characteristics that make it even identifiable as a mature Bordeaux.