Full bodied, smooth and supple, showing ample ripe and balanced dark fruit with light spicy notes, good tannic grip and firm acidity. Delicious stuff. Had a glass at Finnairs lounge in Singapore with the various food.
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Dark inky purple in colour. On the nose: oak and lots of sweet stewed red fruit (from the Grenache?), which followed through to the palate & (fortunately) disappeared by the second day, and gave way to more earthy notes. Smooth tannins, medium acidity, and a long peppery finish.
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Rubinrote Farbe. An der Nase Waldfrüchte und Holz. Am Gaumen gut eingebundene Tannine, Schokolade, Vanille und viel dunkle Waldfrucht. Bei 16-17 Grad verkostet.
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Started off as pretty strong somewhat plastic cherry taste..(first 40 min). Then flat in terms of nose and taste for about an hour. After this flavour returned and reminded somewhat of balanced bordeaux with a strong grafite finish.
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Always been a fan and this one doesn’t disappoint. Soft first taste followed by a thick, chocolatie quick finish with medium smoothe linger. Not bad for a young wine
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Very dissapointed, nothing at all like the previous vintages. Very harsh, hardly any fruit, some bitter notes, rich body, but not very complex. Always liked the chocolate block in previous years, but this vintage is very different. I have the impression the syrah grapes didn‘t ripen enough.
DL: Dégusté le millesime 2018. Chocolat, épices, cigare léger, petits fruits très mûrs, sont les premières saveurs qui émergent dans l’ensemble, puis un goût semblable au café demeure. Belle rondeur en bouche et un peu astringent. J’ouvrirais une autre bouteille dans 3 ou 4 ans et ce sera certainement une note d’au moins 93... À suivre...
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Clear, medium, Ruby color Clean, developing, medium + aroma intensity. Aromas of violets, rose, black cherry, black currants, red plums, red raspberry, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, toast, earth, forest floor, clove. Dry, medium + acid, medium + tannins, high alcohol, full body, medium + flavor intensity, medium + finish. Flavors of black cherry, black currant, chocolate, plum , vanilla, toast, forest floor. Very good quality. Can drink now but has potential for aging.
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For a change I opened a younger vintage (2018) from the cellar, and it strongly confirmed why I really like to drink the Choc Block at least three to (preferably five, easily seven) years from vintage. It definately benifits from bottle age.
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Impressively strong. First tasting had it with cheese and bread. (Mimolette, pecorino tartufo, chateau du burgogne, colston Bassett Stilton). Impressed but not overly. Second tasting with chocolate dessert and macarons. Much more impressive. Chocolate mousse, tart and macaron. Save this wine for dessert and enjoy with chocolate or berries. I assume this wine just benefits from eating sugar.
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First Thanksgiving at LBH: From magnum. Short decant. 68% Syrah, 13% Grenache, 9% Cinsault, 8% Cab Sav, 1% Vigonier. Deep and dark, spice and earth and a twist of bitterness. More structured than the Andreas Shiraz with which we compared it. Good with Thanksgiving turkey + trimmings.
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Opaque, black-purple with a reddish-magenta rim. Tight tarry fruit. Bit of floral aspect. Palate hard, tannic, dry. Hot alcohol. No sweet fruit at the moment. Tarry fruit but veering toward red rather than black perhaps. Certainly nothing like the moniker suggests about chocolate. I'll follow over the evening. On initial pour this is not very friendly at all.
A few hours later: nah, this is a tough, charmless, oaky, tarry wine. Big scale but just so unfriendly. Hard to drink and harder to enjoy really. I wouldn't buy this in the hope it transforms after a few years in bottle.
1/3 bottle tried after being corked and kept 24 hours...... still pretty nasty stuff. So bitter and aggressive. Downgraded score.
12/31/2023 - Henman Likes this wine: 91 Points
Full bodied, smooth and supple, showing ample ripe and balanced dark fruit with light spicy notes, good tannic grip and firm acidity. Delicious stuff. Had a glass at Finnairs lounge in Singapore with the various food.
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8/4/2023 - Iacomus wrote: 96 Points
Dark inky purple in colour. On the nose: oak and lots of sweet stewed red fruit (from the Grenache?), which followed through to the palate & (fortunately) disappeared by the second day, and gave way to more earthy notes. Smooth tannins, medium acidity, and a long peppery finish.
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1/28/2023 - Dover drunk wrote: 90 Points
It was nice. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy more
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12/17/2022 - Jean-Jacques96 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rubinrote Farbe. An der Nase Waldfrüchte und Holz. Am Gaumen gut eingebundene Tannine, Schokolade, Vanille und viel dunkle Waldfrucht. Bei 16-17 Grad verkostet.
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12/25/2021 - Camvin Likes this wine:
88/100
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6/3/2021 - grdnbrrtt wrote:
Filet:
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5/9/2021 - CalimerosDad Likes this wine: 91 Points
Sehr ausgewogener, körperreicher Wein mit schöner Frucht. Dunkle Farbe, gut balancierte Tannine. Mir schmeckt er!
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5/7/2021 - Puedo Likes this wine: 81 Points
Oak, a bit of Shiraz harshness. Enjoyable!
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4/6/2021 - P.Boog wrote: 76 Points
Started off as pretty strong somewhat plastic cherry taste..(first 40 min).
Then flat in terms of nose and taste for about an hour.
After this flavour returned and reminded somewhat of balanced bordeaux with a strong grafite finish.
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4/4/2021 - TJTJ wrote:
Excellent with lamb
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3/19/2021 - Camvin Likes this wine:
88/100
A consommer sans modération.
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3/15/2021 - ShangGuy Likes this wine: 92 Points
Always been a fan and this one doesn’t disappoint. Soft first taste followed by a thick, chocolatie quick finish with medium smoothe linger. Not bad for a young wine
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3/3/2021 - MS86 Likes this wine: 86 Points
Big, young Syrah dominated blend that needs a few hours to open. Deep, inky ruby red in the glass.
Powerful and evolving nose with wild smoked meat and earthy notes with oak, tobacco leaf, leather and a medley of ripe black fruit.
The palate shows a wine with structure and poise. Young, fine-grained and bitter tannins balance well with ripe acidity and potent alcohol.
Flavours can’t match the quality of the nose. earthy, bitter flavours.
Not a re-buy for me.
Drink 2022-2028
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2/11/2021 - cschwer Likes this wine:
Fantastic
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1/26/2021 - matthbo Does not like this wine: 80 Points
Very dissapointed, nothing at all like the previous vintages. Very harsh, hardly any fruit, some bitter notes, rich body, but not very complex.
Always liked the chocolate block in previous years, but this vintage is very different. I have the impression the syrah grapes didn‘t ripen enough.
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12/20/2020 - mikenewman Likes this wine: 91 Points
Nice and smooth, great with cheese
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11/8/2020 - Hortus Likes this wine: 88 Points
Bien mais sans plus. Décevant.
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10/17/2020 - ATPerkins Likes this wine:
Great staple red
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9/25/2020 - DPetrone Likes this wine: 92 Points
A very Bordeaux style wine, ripe for drinking. Full of red fruits flavour and smooth tannins
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9/12/2020 - Anna@WineCellar wrote: flawed
TCA.
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8/25/2020 - lucnumberone Likes this wine: 86 Points
DL: Dégusté le millesime 2018. Chocolat, épices, cigare léger, petits fruits très mûrs, sont les premières saveurs qui émergent dans l’ensemble, puis un goût semblable au café demeure. Belle rondeur en bouche et un peu astringent. J’ouvrirais une autre bouteille dans 3 ou 4 ans et ce sera certainement une note d’au moins 93... À suivre...
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8/8/2020 - Lyndon.king Likes this wine: 85 Points
Full bodied and good wine , but not sure its to my liking this year perhaps it needs a a year or two of aging
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8/1/2020 - Camvin Likes this wine:
88/100
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7/13/2020 - GraffCellar Likes this wine: 90 Points
Clear, medium, Ruby color
Clean, developing, medium + aroma intensity.
Aromas of violets, rose, black cherry, black currants, red plums, red raspberry, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, toast, earth, forest floor, clove.
Dry, medium + acid, medium + tannins, high alcohol, full body, medium + flavor intensity, medium + finish. Flavors of black cherry, black currant, chocolate, plum , vanilla, toast, forest floor.
Very good quality.
Can drink now but has potential for aging.
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6/14/2020 - MelVin Likes this wine: 82 Points
Succulent red and dark fruits at the start with some spiciness. Chocolate in the aftertaste.
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4/30/2020 - Wynkonyn wrote:
For a change I opened a younger vintage (2018) from the cellar, and it strongly confirmed why I really like to drink the Choc Block at least three to (preferably five, easily seven) years from vintage. It definately benifits from bottle age.
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4/29/2020 - CheeseAndWine Likes this wine: 89 Points
Impressively strong. First tasting had it with cheese and bread. (Mimolette, pecorino tartufo, chateau du burgogne, colston Bassett Stilton). Impressed but not overly.
Second tasting with chocolate dessert and macarons. Much more impressive. Chocolate mousse, tart and macaron.
Save this wine for dessert and enjoy with chocolate or berries. I assume this wine just benefits from eating sugar.
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11/30/2019 - ManhattanBeach Likes this wine:
First Thanksgiving at LBH: From magnum. Short decant. 68% Syrah, 13% Grenache, 9% Cinsault, 8% Cab Sav, 1% Vigonier. Deep and dark, spice and earth and a twist of bitterness. More structured than the Andreas Shiraz with which we compared it. Good with Thanksgiving turkey + trimmings.
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11/18/2019 - Rob-Rah Does not like this wine: 78 Points
Opaque, black-purple with a reddish-magenta rim. Tight tarry fruit. Bit of floral aspect. Palate hard, tannic, dry. Hot alcohol. No sweet fruit at the moment. Tarry fruit but veering toward red rather than black perhaps. Certainly nothing like the moniker suggests about chocolate. I'll follow over the evening. On initial pour this is not very friendly at all.
A few hours later: nah, this is a tough, charmless, oaky, tarry wine. Big scale but just so unfriendly. Hard to drink and harder to enjoy really. I wouldn't buy this in the hope it transforms after a few years in bottle.
1/3 bottle tried after being corked and kept 24 hours...... still pretty nasty stuff. So bitter and aggressive. Downgraded score.
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