Part of a Bordeaux and Bordeaux-style wines with my wine group at a NYC restaurant. All the reds were opened, but not decanted, for over 45 minutes before pouring. Out of the 4 reds, it came in tied for 2nd. The wines we had in order, 2008 Leoville-Barton, 2009 Talbot, 2007 Anderson's Conn Valley Right Bank and 2011 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard. Oddly, I have always prefered Andrew Will's Champoux to the Ciel du Cheval wines (I feel that way with other producers that use both of these vineyards as well), but this wine was great. Maybe the CdC just needs a little extra bottle age? For a 2011 it had a lot of sediment. Great color, nose, and body, with a medium-long finish. Glad I held onto this until now!
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Decanted for about an hour prior to drinking. Smooth and velvety, this is incredibly well integrated and I can't imagine it will get any better. Enjoy!
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Right out of the gate (no decant) the nose shows a nice mix of graphite, green/herbal notes, mixed with both red and black fruits. The palate is medium + bodied, with herbal elements and some tart blackberry and raspberry notes. The structure is definitely still there - and seemed to emerge more with air - and the tannins and acid add some grip to the finish. There is a slightly bitter/metallic aspect to the finish, which is not off-putting but is clearly present. I think this still has some upside development potential, but is definitely drinking well now with some food and/or some air.
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Notes from Day 2 open. Totally singing. On the nose: cola, blackberry, sweet tobacco, blackberry liqueur, a hint of smoke and good spice. On the palate, excellent acidity, great density, blackberry, tobacco leaf, spice, cedar. Soft, but persistent and finely grained tannin on the finish.
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6/16/2023 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 94 Points
Part of a Bordeaux and Bordeaux-style wines with my wine group at a NYC restaurant. All the reds were opened, but not decanted, for over 45 minutes before pouring. Out of the 4 reds, it came in tied for 2nd. The wines we had in order, 2008 Leoville-Barton, 2009 Talbot, 2007 Anderson's Conn Valley Right Bank and 2011 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard.
Oddly, I have always prefered Andrew Will's Champoux to the Ciel du Cheval wines (I feel that way with other producers that use both of these vineyards as well), but this wine was great. Maybe the CdC just needs a little extra bottle age? For a 2011 it had a lot of sediment. Great color, nose, and body, with a medium-long finish. Glad I held onto this until now!
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1/27/2021 - JayAAllen Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for about an hour prior to drinking. Smooth and velvety, this is incredibly well integrated and I can't imagine it will get any better. Enjoy!
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12/4/2020 - davidga75 wrote:
Right out of the gate (no decant) the nose shows a nice mix of graphite, green/herbal notes, mixed with both red and black fruits. The palate is medium + bodied, with herbal elements and some tart blackberry and raspberry notes. The structure is definitely still there - and seemed to emerge more with air - and the tannins and acid add some grip to the finish. There is a slightly bitter/metallic aspect to the finish, which is not off-putting but is clearly present. I think this still has some upside development potential, but is definitely drinking well now with some food and/or some air.
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8/3/2020 - Djfermentation Likes this wine: 93 Points
Well, I didn’t wait as long as I had hope to but it does keep getting better...
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5/20/2020 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Notes from Day 2 open. Totally singing. On the nose: cola, blackberry, sweet tobacco, blackberry liqueur, a hint of smoke and good spice. On the palate, excellent acidity, great density, blackberry, tobacco leaf, spice, cedar. Soft, but persistent and finely grained tannin on the finish.
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