April 23, 2024 - Dense, tannic, and modern. Opulent fruit, and a nose that references balsamic vinegar, mushrooms, green olives, cedar, and plums. Currently in a monolithic stage of development. Impressive for its power and very firm structure. This is absolutely built for the long hall, although my impression is that it will always remain tannic. Feels like new world fruit with an almost Barolo level of drying tannins. I will give this at least five years to see how the wine develops. Certainly outstanding, but not ready, and feels like an unusual amalgamation of styles. 93+
March 4, 2024 - Rich polished oak, plums, sweet spice; cinnamon a little red fruit underpin. Juicy, rich, concentrated plums, cinnamon, creamy, polished oak lends tight texture.
January 10, 2024 - decanted of substantial sediments
ruby color, clear rim
plum and chocolate fade to a faint cherry
drank nicely night one
less so night two
ready with a decant
December 25, 2023 - Awesome, rather dark red in color with little signs of maturity. Some pleasant tannins left. Very spicy curry nose; ripe plum, roast, vanilla, cloves, dark chocolate. Great yummy finish! No need to wait!
December 20, 2023 - Tried this again. Yuck. A Parker mess.
November 27, 2023 - After a 2 hour decant, the nose is forest floor and some minerality is present. The palate is complex with dark red fruit, coffee, acerola cherry, hint of tobacco, and lots of acidity to go to dinner. Truly one of the best Bordeaux I have tasted in this vintage of 2009. You can lay it down longer or drink it now with decanting.
October 7, 2023 - Big and sexy... but not ready yet. Still fresh, massive black and blue fruits, but a surprising amount of tannin 14 years on. Decanted for 2-3 hours. Would likely have been better on day two, but it didn't last that long. Still... Ill wait a couple years before I pop the next bottle.
April 30, 2023 - No need to further wait on this one! While the colour is still dark with only some brightening but no browning at the rim and the nose starts with a blast of burnt oak and vanilla it nonetheless only took about one hour in the decanter to bring the wine up to full speed. By then the nose has morphed to Pomerol iron, super ripe dark fruit with a touch of raspberries and some balsamic notes. In the mouth the wine is all about its texture: With the tannin mostly resolved, a moderate acidity and a good dollop of 2009's richness the wine literally glides over the palate. While labeled with 14.5 ABV it does not come across as hot, only a little warm in a comforting way. What is missing? Compared to a recent Duhart-Milon 2009 I expected a bit more impact and persistence on the finish.
February 4, 2023 - Just wonderful. Touch of leather but full of fruit and nice long finish.
May 13, 2022 - 4th bottle from the case. Blue fruit, earthy notes. Needs time to open. Decant for two hours.