July 4, 2023 - Vacation wines; 6/27/2023-7/6/2023 (Hotel Sonne, Partschins, IT): Glass: Spiegelau Universal
Popped and poured, tasted completely blind. Decanted for about 30 min.
Clear, deep ruby color. Beautiful deep , fruity and spicy nose. I thought about Priorat, as I rarely drink Merlot dominated wines.
On the palate silky tannin, beautiful texture, very fruity, touch of green pepper and spicy. Round and juicy. In a beautiful spot right now! 92-93
November 15, 2014 - British Airways - Business & Lounges; 11/10/2014-11/15/2014 (Sydney, London): {cork, 13.5%} Developing; lovely currant nose, with rich merlot plums. Intense. Only light/medium body, but the medium acidity and low-medium dusty tannins balance it out nicely, even if the palate is a bit watery as far as grand cru should go. It does engage the whole palate, even if only for a short time and in a rather superficial manner; still it’s pleasant enough except for an astringent note at the end of the medium length finish. Probably the pick of the reds on offer here tonight.
May 23, 2014 - This shows how a difficult vintage can still yield a good wine. Odd nose of musty blueberry, like blueberry custard gone off. Palate velvety, rounded, curranty. Green and stemmy. Slightly abrupt transition to medium finish with more green wood and stems.
August 8, 2013 - Airport and airline lounge wines BA FC Heathrow
Muted nose and palate. Some dustiness and fruit but basically comes across flat and average. I do not see this getting much better with time.
January 8, 2012 - At first... an obvious nose of oak, vanilla, spice, fruit, but after a few hours this wine settled down into a delicious, quaffable Bordeaux. Very dark on the palate, savory, with a slightly charred taste and subtle tannins. On clearance, I might say it was worth the price, and Faugeres produced a very good wine for the vintage. I've read about their "house" style, and I think this wine, in a good year, would be quite good for those who like a modern-styled Bordeaux (but not for those in fear of the oak monster).
June 10, 2010 - Day two, finishing up the remnants of the bottle. The incense note that was so dominant last night has toned down a bit. Licorice, oak and blue fruit notes still present too. Flavors of blue fruit, cassis and oak last through the finish. Not as exuberant as last night.
June 9, 2010 - Decanted for 1.5 hours before dinner. Opaque purple crimson color. Intense bouquet dominated by incense and blue fruits, with lavender, blackberry and licorice tones in the background. Medium- to full-bodied, with flavors following the bouquet: incense, blueberry and black fruit. Deeply fruited, ending with spicy oak tones. A Bordeaux for Cali cab lovers.
March 14, 2010 - Drank over an hour with no decant. Very subtle aromas, even with air time. Light bodied with good color, but not very concentrated, or ripe, consistent with everything I'm reading about the vintage. Rather short finish as well. Well made but not up to par with the 1999 or 2002 vintage. Score range 86-87