Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2000
2000 vintage. Decanted and tasted over the course of 1.5 hours. Expected amount of sed. Chunky, unresolved nose. Medium body. Still too youthful. Would try to give it another 7-10 years if possible. Initial tree branches/greenery dipping into morning fresh water morphed into classic graphite/lead pencil after 45 mins in the decanter. There was a slight metallic streak on the finish that appeared about 20 minutes in and still hadn't dissipated after 1.5 hours. More nimble than the og bad boys from this estate ('86, '88, '89, '90) and a bit less weighty. Mostly positives along with a few (mostly) minor quibblings. A ways to go, tho, before hitting the summit this estate established four decades ago. 9.24.23. — 7 days ago
Williams Selyem
Westside Road Neighbors Pinot Noir 2008
2008 vintage. Decanted and tasted after 10 mins-2 hrs. Super small amount of sed in the dregs. Vibrant nose and relatively balanced early on but picked up some overt tartness after lounging in the decanter for an hour. Medium body. Decent showing and maybe has 3-4 more years at this level before dropping down another notch. 9.23.23. — 8 days ago
Bodegas Altanza
Rioja Tempranillo 2015
Thanks,
D.
Château Lynch-Bages
Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2006
2006 vintage. Lean and mean. Decanted and tasted after 1.5 hrs. Not too much sed. Nice little sprinkling of cocoa powder in a feminine nose but, otherwise, all business and very transactional. Difficult to love and hard to understand with this effort being pretty linear vs what we've come to know/expect/love from this property. Plenty of concentration but lacking that extra oomph of finishing depth and seems like it has topped out/not improving. 9.23.23. — 8 days ago
Château Cos d'Estournel
Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2003
2003 vintage. For my ca$i$h, still, consistently, the sexiest, most voluptuous red Bordeaux out there. Medium-heavy body. This kicked in the door to “the zone” recently without knocking and is set up for the next 10-12 years easily. Such a fantastic balancing act of fruit and structure. Total and blissful synergy. . 9.25.23. — 6 days ago
Château Pontet-Canet
Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1982
1982 vintage. Good color and okay nose. Fully saturated cork. Decanted and tasted over the course of 1.5 hours. Light-medium body. Improved from an 8.6 to an 8.8 in the decanter after 45 mins. Very little frontal or end palate to speak of. What was there was all mid-palate and not directing traffic effectively. Definitely on the lower portion of the downslope. This bottle wasn't "bad" in the traditional sense but suspect a perfectly cellared bottle just might yield a 9.0-9.1 score. 9.24.23. — 7 days ago
Thibault Liger-Belair
Les Saint Georges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Pinot Noir 2019
2019 vintage. Interesting wine. Medium-heavy body. Decanted and tasted after 45 mins-2.5 hrs. Seemingly unfined/unfiltered as it was throwing a little chunky and powdery sed. Ended up tasting more like an experiment in combining California AVA's together on the fly/in the same glass. Big ripeness, mixed with a Cran-Grape component with a generous amount of additional acidity thrown in. Was better earlier on and got weirder the longer it was open. Obviously suffering through the indiscretions of youth but give this one some time and patience. Needs a lot of latitude. 9.23.23. — 8 days ago
vinokeeno
2018 vintage. 9.28.23. — 3 days ago