December 27, 2023 - Jammy and over extracted. Heavy oak. Almost undrinkable.
January 29, 2023 - Very flat and flabby No back bone or structure with a steer fruit body. Apparently this was a collaboration with wine library in NJ, odd.
April 18, 2022 - So I uncorked the second bottle of the four I originally owned to enjoy with our Easter dinner (with fingers crossed)....
After decanting the wine I immediately tasted it and it was no different than the previous bottle we drank at Thanksgiving (see notes). About 4 hours later we poured it when then meat course was served. What a difference from the last bottle! I was quite relieved to discover that the wine developed nicely. Full bodied, the tannins softened up, pencil, earth and decent fruit came through. Not a great wine, the finish was a bit short, but very enjoyable. The bottle to bottle inconsistency in Bordeaux and Burgundy never cease to amaze me, but the cookie crumbled my way this time. I say drink over the next year or so after a 4 hour decant.
January 16, 2022 - Decanted for sediment. Dark garnet color. Nose of black cherry, roasted plum, slightly earthy forest floor notes, some charred wood and vanilla and a bit of cigar box. Very nice. Similar flavors on the palate with a mix of ripe, slightly baked red and black fruits with some more mature flavors of cigar box, cedar, forest floor. Medium acid and tannin. A little oaky on the finish but otherwise quite nice. Solid bordeaux for the price paid.
November 26, 2021 - Had high hopes for this wine. Showed light sediment, good deep color and nice nose upon decanting. Three and a half hours later and for another hour through the meal the wine never evolved into something resembling a nice balanced Bordeaux even from a much lesser growth. Lots of tannin to go the distance, stem, pencil, medium bodied but not a hint of fruit. Sitting on a few more bottles and I'm afraid that at 15 years old it could already be past it's peak.
January 3, 2020 - This was great. Actually had a fuller richer body the second day. Sour cherry and a bit of tobacco on day one. Second day added chocolate and coffee notes and really fleshed out. Amazing when a wine does that. That’s the hard part for me about older wine. Some that I’ve finished on the first day, I wondered if they wouldn’t have been more impressive the next. This was coming off a disappointing showing of a left bank star from 2000 that was blah for four days.
A very impressive showing.
March 17, 2016 - Drank over two nights with maybe a half point improvement overnight. Nice enough nose, but the palate is tannin, muted and heavy dark fruit, and more tannin. I'm surprised at the scores on here, but that happens for me with Bordeaux sometimes...And who is this guy "Gary Vaynerchuk" referenced on the back label?
December 29, 2015 - No formal notes, but this wine was incredibly ripe and modern. The alcohol poked its way in but wasn't awful. Mainly we disliked the strength of the darkly completed fruit with no additional depth or interest. A one trick pony. We didn't mind this wine, but it's a background drinker, not something to sit with and contemplate. Disappointing for the cost of entry. I doubt my remaining bottles are going to age favorably.
December 5, 2015 - Annual Christmas Wine Dinner and Cellar Raid (Naperville, IL): Didn't take detailed notes. Part of Christmas wine dinner and cellar raid. This one needed more time than what we gave it to open up. Good fruit, tannic. #3 of the Merlot's but went back to this after a few hours and it was more open and complex
March 8, 2015 - This takes a while to open (about 3 hours) but then there's a decent display of plum, fig, black currant subtle earth, palate is medium bodied with lots of slightly bitter tannin but slowly subsides into an array of dark chocolate, thyme, plum and dirt