May 10, 2024 - Coravin fun - Bordeaux (My place, Burwood): From Coravin. Baked black fruits are quite concentrated which lends a savoury quality here; plums and blackcurrant, polished oak. More open on the palate; equally concentrated black fruit and plenty of chewy oaky tannins, ripe, finishes with a touch of bitterness and that rhubarb compote again. Time
April 13, 2024 - No formal notes. Ripe fruit, great structure and balance. Obviously too young but really fun to taste at this stage. Lovely depth and fine length.
April 13, 2024 - Very concentrated cassis, blueberry and pencil lead on the nose, with just a touch of (attractive) wood char. There is something about the blueberry aspect that tells you its fairly alcoholic IMO. Opened this over two nights alongside Lagrange (the St Julien version) and Cantenac Brown (Margaux) - and preferred both of the other wines because I find the alcohol on the GPL a bit intrusive. On the other hand it was clearly the most concentrated of the three. I think that in ten years this maybe splitting hairs: it's an excellent wine I'll be happy to drink, but I'd much rather have a classic wine from a ripe year than I would have a wine that is primarily ripe but only just lets you know it comes from a classic region - and I think this sits right on the fence. 14.5% alcohol is just a fraction too much for Cabernet, IMO. I think Merlot (and Pinot) can 'wear' 14.5% a little better than Cab.
October 12, 2023 - Bordeaux 2019 (Dan Murphy's, Lane Cove): Rich, ripe, alcohol prickle, blackcurrant, cedar, a little cassis and mint, polished oak is integrated. Juicy, medium plus intensity acidity, plentiful textured grip is quite woody, blackcurrant a little slightly herbaceous note on the palate as well. Long, persistent, slight non-intrusive alcohol warmth, needs time.
August 10, 2023 - -- uncorked approx.. 30 min. before initial taste --
-- tasted non-blind over a couple hours --
NOSE: medium+ expressiveness; red-fruited; spicy; some oak, but not too much.
BODY: magenta-garnet color of great depth; medium bodied.
TASTE: good acidity; spicy; red-fruited (raspberry); inky/floral; some oak; alc. hidden; violets; “very GPL”; approachable, despite its youth. Nice wine, particularly for fans of GPL.
July 28, 2023 - From 375 ml. Intense cassis paired with vanilla spiced blueberries. All this with perfectly integrated tannins.
Plenty of fruit flavours that adds a bit too much sweetness today together with the high alcohol (14.5%). It's still very good but I prefer to pass this "blueberry and vanilla jam stage" and wait minimum 5-10 years to see what comes next.
The pefect kind of pairing food if enjoyed today would for example be really dry meat without fat like deer or moose. Hard cheese would also be fine.
May 27, 2023 - Cassis, blackberry, cedar, and sage on the aroma. Cassis, cedar, and sage on the palate. Acidity, tannins and body are all medium-plus. Very young as expected. Tannins need to resolve and the acidity needs to integrate. More of a finesse style Bordeaux.
May 27, 2023 - I was not as enamored of this as previous few vintages (esp the 2016) but it was strongest soon after opening with lots of cedar and herb-infused dark fruits. A bit more medium-bodied and "refreshing" than in the past, and yet still rather high alcohol (a weird combination of thinner and more alcoholic). On the second night it showed even a bit thinner and hotter. I'll assume this was just closing down a bit, but not a vintage of GPL for me to stock up on. Nowhere near the quality level of, say Pichon Baron in this vintage. Judgment reserved. (This was double decanted and followed over two nights.)
April 26, 2023 - Deep glossy purple, this leads with a slightly shy nose of mint-inflected creme de cassis, with wafts of cigar wrapper, pencil shavings, damp earth and cedar occasionally drifting by. Time in the glass brings a layer of smoky herbs. On the palate, it is gorgeous already, pure, dark and silky with a sweet vanillin edge (something of a signature, I feel), ultra-fine powdery tannins and a beautiful expansive mouthfeel, all culminating in a drying and subtly mineral finish. Primary, as to be expected, but poised and aristocratic. Very promising. 94+
March 19, 2023 - Tasted twice in a week with similar notes: Pauillac typicity without too much weight. Very delicate and fragrant compared to its peers (Pichon B, Lynch etc which are all denser and more stacked, but less refreshing on the palate). I can understand why British critics score this so much higher relative to peers than US ones. A real Pauillac of finesse, if that isn’t a contradiction in terms.