December 27, 2013 - Popped and poured. Color: dark purple. Taste: at the first day round with dark fruit, still quite tannic. At the second day barnyard, otherwise not much of a nose. The taste was more fruity, less tannins. Medium bodied, short finish. Tasty, but - at least in this stage - without much complexity or depth. To my taste this wine needs one, even two more years in the cellar. 86, at the second day 87.
March 15, 2013 - Ruby red. Barnyard, cassis, blackberries, liquorice. Expressive on the palate with good length. Lateron notes of coffee and dark chocolate. Great value for this price.
August 9, 2012 - Through the Vinturi, into the decanter, and an hour later, down the hatch.
This is tight, tight, tight! Minimal potpourri of earthy berries; tart berry, stone, and musty earth. Substantial tannins but not over the top. I'm guessing there's room for improvement here. Hold?
February 17, 2011 - This is a super wine but needs a lot of air if you're going to drink it now. After several hours it still wasn't giving much but on day 2 it started to emerge; classic bordeaux aromas and flavors and quite concentrated. Could have been fooled into thinking it was an 05.
January 3, 2011 - Not great depth
December 14, 2010 - Ripe red fruit, slight nuance of oakthat's well integrated with a touch of spice on the nose; Nice sweet, small berry flavors on the palate make this a charming, delicious balanced Bordeaux at a great price.
March 30, 2010 - Surprisingly dark, lush wine with a pleasing nose and mouthfeel. Very good depth with an abundance of dark fruit, but dominated at present by a lot of oak. Shows good potential, but needs another year or two in the bottle to show its best. Very nice claret.
March 27, 2010 - Retailer tasting. 75% Merlot. No formal notes. 86 points.
December 21, 2009 - Taste from Elysian.
Decanted two hours. Nose shows moderate complex aromas of dark cherry, leather, cassis and light spice.
Palate is slightly less impressive, a little leaner showcasing similar dark cherry and spice flavors.
Moderate complex finish with higher acidity than expected. Not bad.
October 28, 2009 - nose: nice nose of blueberries, red fruits, red currants and some red cherries. Fruity nose, but is lacking much depth
taste: good medium feel with nice tannins and tones of black currants, cedar, red cherries, and a bit of earth tones. More complexity on the palate then the nose, but doesn't posses too much depth
overall: A nice bordeaux. Very drinkable with nice tones to it and good tannins that would make this a good food wine. It doesn't have much depth and that presents a bit of a problem