2005 Levy & McClellan Red
Community Tasting Note
jclarkwmj Does not like this wine:
Thursday, November 2, 2023 - Drank w/ KH for 40th.
Bottle design is horrible. Difficult to remove stupid coin on top without shards of glass coming off or bending a cork screw/foil cutter. Definitely needed an ah-so which didn’t occur to me at the time. My fault.
Cork was dried out and disintegrated I’m guessing because of inferior quality cork as well as no foil from dumb bottle design to help retain moisture. There’s a reason the Europeans have used foil for generations. Probably tried to save more money on bottle design. It seems most of the money went into the girth and obnoxious size/weight of the bottle which without foil continued to leak on every pour. In fact, it just seemed to leak wine everywhere throughout this comical experience .
Had to push the cork in so every glass had bits of cork floating in it. What a joke! Didn’t decant because of the amount of effort I already invested in trying to get the cork out. Not to mention I had stored this upon release which alone required years of patience.
Wine was quite good, but I could barely enjoy it because of the amount of blood and sweat I invested in removing the cork.
I’ll stick to my previous note. This wine is nowhere near a value at $500 plus years of storage. Bob and Martha need to get a grip with this over the top bottle design shwap. Just stick to the basics 😁
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Comment posted by Mark1npt:
11/3/2023 12:14:00 PM - A few thoughts, if I may........
If you are going to drink bottles of this quality/age and older, you should probably invest in a Durand for yourself. It would have made this experience completely painless and near effortless for you.
I'm assuming since you stored this bottle yourself since release, you stored it on its side and not standing up or even inclined on a shelf in your cellar? Both of those positions would cause the cork to dry out/crumble as well as not maintaining the proper amount of humidity in the cellar. I have friends who just think their air conditioning in their closet will suffice, not realizing that house AC brings the humidity down from the desired 60-80% to, many times under 45-50%. And, additionally you live in CO where the humidity is quite low anyway. Corks tend to dry out in dry environments. The non-foil design is not much of a factor here. It's never airtight and wouldn't prevent a cork from drying out and crumbling. It sounds like it was just a bad piece of cork to me. Even the best corks need replacing from time to time as they often have to do in the better Chateau in Bdx.
Aside from that, you said the wine was 'quite good'. Hard for me to fathom why you gave it a 72. While I sympathize with your struggles, grading is for the wine itself, not the bottle weight or the hassle of opening. I've been drinking wine for the last 25 years and only this past year had a bottle of this '05 brought to dinner by friends. It is the only wine I personally have ever given a 100 point score to and I've drunk near 200 different supposedly 100 point bottles.
Comment posted by jsmorris707:
11/3/2023 2:16:00 PM - Spot on Mark! That wine is unbelievably good, but I agree that the metal cap on the cork is STUPID!
Comment posted by jclarkwmj:
11/3/2023 2:39:00 PM - Thanks for the comments! For reference, I also opened ‘05 Ch. La Tour Blanche and the cork came out fantastically. I also bought that wine on futures and have been cellaring along side the ‘05 LM Red since “inception”. Furthermore, it seems others in the tasting thread experienced dry cork as well… I opened one a few years ago and don’t recall cork issues, but I think the somm or other staff member at Bistro Jeanty handled it.
Comment posted by Mark1npt:
11/3/2023 3:33:00 PM - There are def bad batches of corks out there. I was so taken by this wine in September (my first bottle that ever drank as a true 100 pointer) that I went out and bought one from a wine shop out West. I will be opening it soon and will let you know in my review of the cork's condition. Of course, I have no idea how the previous owner stored it for the past 16 years! Cheers, pal!
Comment posted by Mark1npt:
11/3/2023 3:39:00 PM - js, thanks!....you've now drunk a number of these. Have you had any crumbly corks with yours?
Comment posted by jclarkwmj:
11/3/2023 3:42:00 PM - It was quite good. I’m just being a twerp about it. Cheers!!
Comment posted by Mark1npt:
11/3/2023 3:45:00 PM - jclark.....absent the hassle with the bottle, what number would you have actually scored this bottle at? I'm just curious. I doubt the bottle that I purchased will be a 100 pointer, but who knows?
Comment posted by jclarkwmj:
11/3/2023 5:44:00 PM - 94 for CA Cab blends... It’s important to put things into context... I’ve tasted through some of the greatest wines in the world (IMO) and Napa is no longer on my short list of fine wine growing regions. Palates change. This was a milestone bottle I opened special for a friend who turned 40 and would appreciate this wine. He is in a different place with wine enjoyment than I am. Turns out the bottle humiliated me with its unorthodox design and furthered my dissociation with Napa cab (though I still enjoy mountain fruit from the 80’s & 90’s). Long story short… 🤓
Comment posted by Mark1npt:
11/3/2023 7:06:00 PM - I can certainly see that score, especially if the cork was all dried out. Yes, palates do change and while I like just about every wine in all age groups and states of maturity, I find I'm moving away from the big, sweet Napa fruit bombs more and more each year. I still have some in the cellar, but hardly buying them anymore and have been steadily backfilling with more aged Napa/ Sonoma reds the last few years.
Comment posted by jsmorris707:
11/4/2023 3:57:00 AM - Hi guys. No Mark, neither of the 2 bottles I have opened had cork issues once I got past the metal helmet on top, & came out easily with my Ah-so. I reserve the Durand for wines of at least 25 years of age. I only use a corkscrew with wine that have DIAM corks which are so tight that I have broken an Ah-so on one.
JCL, I too, over decades of dinking/collecting, have had my tastes evolve several times. Originally, a very devoted Francophile, I now love the CA cabs & Bordeaux blends. I believe that actions speak louder than words & many of the top French winemakers have bought (or looking to) wineries in CA. (eg. Chritian Moueix, Aubert de Villaine, LVMH, etc.). Further, winemaking has improved & the climate has changed. When tasted blind, most recent top Bordeaux reds that I have opened have been guessed as CA! I am less dogmatic/snobbish than I used to be & enjoy both.
Comment posted by Mark1npt:
11/4/2023 4:56:00 AM - Good to know Js, thanks!
Comment posted by Mark1npt:
1/8/2024 6:51:00 PM - Jc.....I just had a bottle of this yesterday...take a look at my review. It has an easy way to remove the metal cap and I found out firsthand why the corks break in two!