Dark ruby in color with a wide cloudy reddish/ brick rim.
Medium plus in body with medium plus acidity.
Very dry on the palate with raspberries, cherries, spices, light oak, licorice, dark chocolates, tobacco leaf, earth, herbs, wet leaves and peppercorn.
Short finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cranberries.
This is a very interesting Merlot from Pomerol. Probably not at its peak any longer, but still drinking nicely. A little unbalanced, though.
Feels younger than it is, and the cork looks suspiciously too fresh.
Good right out of the bottle, and better after 30 minutes of airtime.
This 27-year-old is tangy and spicy. Always nice to drink these kind of old wines.
Paired nicely with the Brie cheese.
A blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Aged in new French oak barrels for over a year.
13% alcohol by volume.
88 points.
$95 (current vintage).
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First of 5. Really beautiful nose upon opening and very soft tannins, this is ready to go. I did decant it this time and the wine started to fade after an hour. I won't be decanting next time and simply let it evolve in glass.
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Upon opening, this wine is rustic with pipe tobacco, saddle leather, spice, dried earth, and a bit of cocoa powder. Fully integrated with medium weight, moderate acidity and light tannin. This is nice. Not a showstopper but drinking well. Will probably open up in the next hour, but I’d probably drink it if you got it over the next 5 years.
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classic Pomerol at its top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Enjoy now or over the next 2-3 years.
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My 4th bottle. Similar notes. Medium garnet in colour. Pronounced nose intensity with notes of mushroom, truffle, cooked red fruits. Medium+ acidity and medium tannin.
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Expressive bouquet of earth, mushroom, cooked black and red fruits, toast and spices. Medium tannin and acidity. Medium+ body and finish. Drinking beautifully. At its peak.
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Medium garnet in colour. Pronounced nose intensity with notes of mushroom, truffle, cooked red fruits. Medium+ acidity and medium tannin. Drinking beautifully. At its prime.
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Deep garnet in colour. Pronounced nose intensity with notes of incense, spices, black fruits, earth, toast, cedar, mushroom. Medium+ acidity and tannin. Medium body and long finish. Drinking at its best. Decanting 45 min will probably help. Did not decant as I draw it from Coravin.
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Balanced and in a perfect place. Smooth integrated tannins, pomerol sweetness underpinned by leather earthy and spicy notes. Vivid and fully alive tannins and acidity. Just about perfect.
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Friday V-day late night at Maison Dakota. Aired in decanter. Drank in Gabriel Standart. Tasted blind Appearance is clear, deep intendity, garnet colour. Legs. Nose medium+ intensity, with aromas of dank undergrowth, damp cellar, tobacco, graphite, dark fruits. Developed. On the palate, dry, medium+ acidity, medium alcohol (13%), coarse though integrated high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of green herbal veetables, cedarwood, tobacco, graphite, cocoa powder, dark red cherries, dark red plums, blackberries. Long finish. Good quality. Rough edges but already at peak drinking. Don't keep longer. I was guessing Bordeaux - if Right Bank - likely Pomerol and ?Le Bon Pasteur 90s?
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Fully developed Pomerol at its very top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Enjoy now or over the next 2 years max.
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Classic Pomerol at its very top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Enjoy now or over the next 2 years max.
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Sadly my last bottle. This wine has improved from bottle to bottle and is now clearly at its top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Drink now.
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Tight upon opening. Needed a good hour of air before it loosened up. Black fruit, spice, cigar box, On the palate it is medium bodied. Tannins are well integrated at this point. The acidity is still very fresh as is the fruit. Would give this another few years before opening another.
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This wine has continued evolving over recent years, and is now at its top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Consider to drink now.
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Weekly tasting group RWP #261: Leftovers (@ DJ): Beautiful bouquet with autumn forest. On the palate mature, some bell pepper, chocolate, coffee, herbs and spices, black berries, black tea, beautiful sweetness and some drying tannin.
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At first this was really attractive and good but after an hour in the glass the wine just died. A sommelier attending the tasting was hesitant about the wine from the get go and saw the decline coming. Some know their wine.
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Quite deep and moderately opaque black ruby color. Classically styled and very attractive nose with aromas of wizened red berries, some ripe plummy tones, a little bit of brambly dark berries, light dusty earth tones, a hint of sweet-toned oak spice and a touch of leather. As the wine opens up, the nose gains some sweeter, brooding oxidative undertones. The wine is full-bodied, rich and rather soft on the palate with juicy, dark-toned flavors of ripe black cherries, sweet plummy fruit, some wild strawberries, a little bit of mocha and a hint of jammy red fruit. Overall the wine feels quite big, weighty and chewy on the palate, but lacking somewhat on the structure department: the wine feels quite modest in acidity and the ripe tannins are mellow and almost fully resolved. The finish is rich, soft and medium in length with supple flavors of sweet black cherries, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of dusty earth, light brambly tones and a hint of espresso.
In a tasting of 6 Bordeaux red from the legendary 1990 and 1996 vintages, this wine stuck out like a sore thumb: all the other wines were tough, dry and angular with most wines showing firm and still very structured tannins. In comparison the soft, mellow and very sweet-toned - almost jammy - fruit here made the wine feel like a cheap crowdpleaser amidst dead-serious, classic Bordeaux reds. Some people expressed the wine was more approachable on its own than its dead-serious peers, but none expressed much enthusiasm over its soft and borderline overripe style. On the contrary, the unanimous view seemed to be that even though the wine was in a beautiful phase right now, it certainly wasn't made in a style a fan of old-school Bordeaux really looks for in their wines. It's good, but nothing I'd buy for myself if I were looking for a good 1996 claret. Priced more or less according to its quality at 53€.
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Still drinking well and likely at its peak. Nice ruby color with faint orange at the edges. Nose was aromatic with no decant, though maintained over 2 hours. Noted blackberry, plum, chocolate, leather, spice, and hints of eucalyptus. Medium weight, velvety mouthfeel. Tannins soft and round. Medium-plus finish. This is a nice high-quality Pomerol that offers great value.
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- Garnet color with medium forming legs and aromas of eucalyptus. It's lacking fruit and has flavours of cloves, dusty and moldy with a medium body. Leathery texture with a short finish - Nearing its end, if not there already. Opened a bit after an hour. Enjoyed a glass with my son.
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Ahh, where have you been my friend, a bottle of aged Bordeaux. I immediately recalled the nose on this wine when I poured my first glass and gave it a swirl. My cellar is a young one so I looked back at my tasting notes and 45 are Bordeaux but only 12 of those are from the 90's and I had a 97 in Mar-09. So it has been too long since I sensed that aroma of old leather, tobacco and some crushed red fruit on the nose. The color had some bricking around the edges and on the palate it was smooth and relaxed.
Again as I looked back at my older notes a theme kept repeating "this is why we age Bordeaux" and I know to keep my 03's, 04's and 05's resting for a good many years to reach this state.
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Adam's House; 7/3/2010-7/4/2010: Dark, cloudy red with a suggestion of bricking at the edges. Leather and lead on the nose with a hint of some remaining fruit. Tastes smooth and cedary, again with the core fruit intact but subtle. Short finish, but clean. very drinkable. My first Pomerol, I think. If they are all like this, I will need more. (4+13+17+8)
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Drunk a case over the course of the year and the BP was a consistent performer. It has a rich nose of berries, saddle and wood. On the palate, soft velvety and well rounded - no coarseness. Decent length if a little short. Highly pleasurable wine.
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Still going strong; beautiful nose of moist earth, leather, some red fruit remaining. Brisk attack and long finish. Beautiful balance, smooth fine tannins. Drinking well now; may be at peak.
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Stayed with my family in Palm Beach, and after 3 days of over-oaked Napa Cab & Chard, my dad finally reached for some nicer wines for dinner tonight.
1996 Le Bon Pasteur (Pomerol): Gorgeous nose of stunningly obvious lead pencil and cassis. On the palate the tannins are almost totally resolved, silky, cedar. The finish is a bit short but with a nice dusty feel. This was a truly charming bottle of Bordeaux. RMP rated as 88 points, but I would happily take this sort of wine about 5 days a week. Really lovely. 90 pts in my book.
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6/22/2023 - Odedis.Wine.reviews wrote: 88 Points
Dark ruby in color with a wide cloudy reddish/ brick rim.
Medium plus in body with medium plus acidity.
Very dry on the palate with raspberries, cherries, spices, light oak, licorice, dark chocolates, tobacco leaf, earth, herbs, wet leaves and peppercorn.
Short finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cranberries.
This is a very interesting Merlot from Pomerol. Probably not at its peak any longer, but still drinking nicely. A little unbalanced, though.
Feels younger than it is, and the cork looks suspiciously too fresh.
Good right out of the bottle, and better after 30 minutes of airtime.
This 27-year-old is tangy and spicy. Always nice to drink these kind of old wines.
Paired nicely with the Brie cheese.
A blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Aged in new French oak barrels for over a year.
13% alcohol by volume.
88 points.
$95 (current vintage).
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10/12/2022 - dankgummy Likes this wine:
2nd bottle of 5, fruit is fading. Time to drink up
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4/4/2022 - dankgummy Likes this wine: 91 Points
First of 5. Really beautiful nose upon opening and very soft tannins, this is ready to go. I did decant it this time and the wine started to fade after an hour. I won't be decanting next time and simply let it evolve in glass.
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1/30/2022 - ONEFIVE Likes this wine:
Upon opening, this wine is rustic with pipe tobacco, saddle leather, spice, dried earth, and a bit of cocoa powder.
Fully integrated with medium weight, moderate acidity and light tannin.
This is nice. Not a showstopper but drinking well. Will probably open up in the next hour, but I’d probably drink it if you got it over the next 5 years.
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1/8/2022 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 92 Points
classic Pomerol at its top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Enjoy now or over the next 2-3 years.
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12/29/2021 - Sean Tay Likes this wine: 94 Points
My 4th bottle. Similar notes. Medium garnet in colour. Pronounced nose intensity with notes of mushroom, truffle, cooked red fruits. Medium+ acidity and medium tannin.
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12/4/2021 - Sean Tay Likes this wine: 95 Points
Expressive bouquet of earth, mushroom, cooked black and red fruits, toast and spices. Medium tannin and acidity. Medium+ body and finish. Drinking beautifully. At its peak.
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10/30/2021 - Sean Tay Likes this wine: 95 Points
Medium garnet in colour. Pronounced nose intensity with notes of mushroom, truffle, cooked red fruits. Medium+ acidity and medium tannin. Drinking beautifully. At its prime.
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10/10/2021 - Sean Tay Likes this wine: 95 Points
Deep garnet in colour. Pronounced nose intensity with notes of incense, spices, black fruits, earth, toast, cedar, mushroom. Medium+ acidity and tannin. Medium body and long finish. Drinking at its best. Decanting 45 min will probably help. Did not decant as I draw it from Coravin.
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1/24/2021 - Willi Vinotti wrote: 95 Points
Balanced and in a perfect place. Smooth integrated tannins, pomerol sweetness underpinned by leather earthy and spicy notes. Vivid and fully alive tannins and acidity. Just about perfect.
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2/14/2020 - Derek Darth Taster wrote: 91 Points
Friday V-day late night at Maison Dakota. Aired in decanter. Drank in Gabriel Standart. Tasted blind
Appearance is clear, deep intendity, garnet colour. Legs.
Nose medium+ intensity, with aromas of dank undergrowth, damp cellar, tobacco, graphite, dark fruits. Developed.
On the palate, dry, medium+ acidity, medium alcohol (13%), coarse though integrated high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of green herbal veetables, cedarwood, tobacco, graphite, cocoa powder, dark red cherries, dark red plums, blackberries. Long finish.
Good quality. Rough edges but already at peak drinking. Don't keep longer. I was guessing Bordeaux - if Right Bank - likely Pomerol and ?Le Bon Pasteur 90s?
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11/30/2019 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 92 Points
Fully developed Pomerol at its very top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Enjoy now or over the next 2 years max.
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7/2/2019 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 92 Points
Classic Pomerol at its very top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Enjoy now or over the next 2 years max.
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12/9/2018 - FransS wrote: 91 Points
Winefield's pre-sale tasting: far better than expected from this sturdy vintage, ripe, lively colour, creamy nose, polished, juicy, balanced finish.
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11/15/2018 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 91 Points
Sadly my last bottle. This wine has improved from bottle to bottle and is now clearly at its top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Drink now.
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9/11/2018 - ONEFIVE Likes this wine:
Tight upon opening. Needed a good hour of air before it loosened up.
Black fruit, spice, cigar box,
On the palate it is medium bodied. Tannins are well integrated at this point. The acidity is still very fresh as is the fruit. Would give this another few years before opening another.
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8/25/2018 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 91 Points
This wine has continued evolving over recent years, and is now at its top. Feminie, charming nose of cedar, leather, caramel, cinnamon, with an equally smooth palate of mature fruit, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla and sous-bois. Consider to drink now.
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5/20/2018 - ScottPreston wrote: 89 Points
Moving on in life. Strawberry, leather, tobacco.
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7/10/2017 - Zweder wrote: 90 Points
Weekly tasting group RWP #261: Leftovers (@ DJ): Beautiful bouquet with autumn forest. On the palate mature, some bell pepper, chocolate, coffee, herbs and spices, black berries, black tea, beautiful sweetness and some drying tannin.
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1/13/2017 - Lype wrote:
At first this was really attractive and good but after an hour in the glass the wine just died. A sommelier attending the tasting was hesitant about the wine from the get go and saw the decline coming. Some know their wine.
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1/6/2017 - forceberry wrote: 88 Points
Quite deep and moderately opaque black ruby color. Classically styled and very attractive nose with aromas of wizened red berries, some ripe plummy tones, a little bit of brambly dark berries, light dusty earth tones, a hint of sweet-toned oak spice and a touch of leather. As the wine opens up, the nose gains some sweeter, brooding oxidative undertones. The wine is full-bodied, rich and rather soft on the palate with juicy, dark-toned flavors of ripe black cherries, sweet plummy fruit, some wild strawberries, a little bit of mocha and a hint of jammy red fruit. Overall the wine feels quite big, weighty and chewy on the palate, but lacking somewhat on the structure department: the wine feels quite modest in acidity and the ripe tannins are mellow and almost fully resolved. The finish is rich, soft and medium in length with supple flavors of sweet black cherries, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of dusty earth, light brambly tones and a hint of espresso.
In a tasting of 6 Bordeaux red from the legendary 1990 and 1996 vintages, this wine stuck out like a sore thumb: all the other wines were tough, dry and angular with most wines showing firm and still very structured tannins. In comparison the soft, mellow and very sweet-toned - almost jammy - fruit here made the wine feel like a cheap crowdpleaser amidst dead-serious, classic Bordeaux reds. Some people expressed the wine was more approachable on its own than its dead-serious peers, but none expressed much enthusiasm over its soft and borderline overripe style. On the contrary, the unanimous view seemed to be that even though the wine was in a beautiful phase right now, it certainly wasn't made in a style a fan of old-school Bordeaux really looks for in their wines. It's good, but nothing I'd buy for myself if I were looking for a good 1996 claret. Priced more or less according to its quality at 53€.
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4/29/2016 - jmcnewjersey wrote: 92 Points
Nice wine but near life's end at 20 year's old. Cork crumbled and may have affected wine quality.
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11/8/2015 - amateurwino wrote: 92 Points
Showing really well - lots of Bordeaux typicity. Balanced between fruit and earthy elements, and ready to go now.
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12/27/2014 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 92 Points
Still drinking well and likely at its peak. Nice ruby color with faint orange at the edges. Nose was aromatic with no decant, though maintained over 2 hours. Noted blackberry, plum, chocolate, leather, spice, and hints of eucalyptus. Medium weight, velvety mouthfeel. Tannins soft and round. Medium-plus finish. This is a nice high-quality Pomerol that offers great value.
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12/22/2013 - broadband013 wrote: 90 Points
tres agreable a l ouverture mais un peu passé, belle longueur tout de meme, profond et complexe, typique bordeaux, a vite rendu l'âme...
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11/1/2012 - tmako3 wrote: 86 Points
- Garnet color with medium forming legs and aromas of eucalyptus. It's lacking fruit and has flavours of cloves, dusty and moldy with a medium body. Leathery texture with a short finish - Nearing its end, if not there already. Opened a bit after an hour. Enjoyed a glass with my son.
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11/12/2010 - Arch57 wrote: 92 Points
Ahh, where have you been my friend, a bottle of aged Bordeaux. I immediately recalled the nose on this wine when I poured my first glass and gave it a swirl. My cellar is a young one so I looked back at my tasting notes and 45 are Bordeaux but only 12 of those are from the 90's and I had a 97 in Mar-09. So it has been too long since I sensed that aroma of old leather, tobacco and some crushed red fruit on the nose. The color had some bricking around the edges and on the palate it was smooth and relaxed.
Again as I looked back at my older notes a theme kept repeating "this is why we age Bordeaux" and I know to keep my 03's, 04's and 05's resting for a good many years to reach this state.
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7/3/2010 - gbm wrote: 92 Points
Adam's House; 7/3/2010-7/4/2010: Dark, cloudy red with a suggestion of bricking at the edges. Leather and lead on the nose with a hint of some remaining fruit. Tastes smooth and cedary, again with the core fruit intact but subtle. Short finish, but clean. very drinkable. My first Pomerol, I think. If they are all like this, I will need more. (4+13+17+8)
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12/12/2009 - Whistler wrote: 90 Points
Drunk a case over the course of the year and the BP was a consistent performer. It has a rich nose of berries, saddle and wood. On the palate, soft velvety and well rounded - no coarseness. Decent length if a little short. Highly pleasurable wine.
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5/3/2009 - benholden259 wrote: 90 Points
beautiful nose of leather, tobacco and casis. The wine was very smooth and silky but with a short finish. In balance but not much fruit left now
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12/13/2008 - elamasters wrote: 89 Points
Earthy and nice. Silky texture.
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9/10/2008 - Pre-emptive wrote: 91 Points
Sweet lovely nose! Soft and fruity in the mouth. Drinking really well right now.
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1/1/2006 - WST wrote: 91 Points
Still going strong; beautiful nose of moist earth, leather, some red fruit remaining. Brisk attack and long finish. Beautiful balance, smooth fine tannins. Drinking well now; may be at peak.
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2/19/2003 - Eric wrote: 90 Points
Stayed with my family in Palm Beach, and after 3 days of over-oaked Napa Cab & Chard, my dad finally reached for some nicer wines for dinner tonight.
1996 Le Bon Pasteur (Pomerol): Gorgeous nose of stunningly obvious lead pencil and cassis. On the palate the tannins are almost totally resolved, silky, cedar. The finish is a bit short but with a nice dusty feel. This was a truly charming bottle of Bordeaux. RMP rated as 88 points, but I would happily take this sort of wine about 5 days a week. Really lovely. 90 pts in my book.
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12/13/1998 - Zweder wrote: 92 Points
Barnyard. Luxurious wood. Very soft. Definitely nice to drink young, but can this age?
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