Aaron Tan

9.4

The "lesser" of the two wines was the winner in this drink-off. Both difficult years, but the 00' had way more finesse than the 09'.

What a wine! Classic KR and typical Saumagen power. White flowers, chrysanthemum, rich fruit, salty, salty, special KR earthiness, and did I mention salty. As usual, I should mention this isn't for everyone - Bernd's barrels have got some special "dirt" in them. But for me, these wines are full of character and often not exemplifies the term power without weight! — 6 years ago

Raj Harb

9.5

More charming, delicate, and classically styled than the 00/01. I preferred it but was in the minority. — 6 years ago

David L

9.1

00'Colgin Herb Lamb . Nice wine from such a challenging vintage. — 7 years ago

E Alvelais

9.4

Blend of '94, '95 and '00. — 8 years ago

Alan Weinberg

9.4

compared 99, 00, and 01--01 a bit tannic and dense, 00 gorgeous and lighter, but 99 stole the show--in a perfect place and just a superb wine. — 8 years ago

Jeffrey Lew

9.5

Amazing aromatic nose. Roses, dried violets. Great acidity but finishes short. Lacks the power of the 96, 00. — 8 years ago

Max Mackinnon

9.6

'91, '98, '00, '01 — 8 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Dark fruits, chocolate, expresso roast, dark earth. The well made 00's are going to need 20-30 years to really hit their stride. — 9 years ago

Bryan Garcia

Sales Grand Cru Selections

9.2

The best '00 red burgundies are in such a great spot right now. — 9 years ago

Freek Welter

9.2

Dag 1 91/00
Dag 2 88/100
Vermoeiend en eentonig! — 10 years ago

Jeff Groh

9.6

Remember when we all thought the '00 vintage prices were unsustainable... Should've bought more then always a shoulda bought more then — 11 years ago

Jose Merino

9.8

This was a vertical of 38 vintages to celebrate Joseph Phelps Insignia 40th anniversary! The most balanced of the 00's vintage! — 11 years ago

E & K G

9.3

Slightly oxidized style of champagne and a bit Selosse-like in it honey and nectar flavors. ‘96-00 vintage blends, bottled in ‘01 and disgorged in ‘15. Pretty amazing work. #wheninparis — 6 years ago

John Van Trijp

9.8

To be honest....I never ever paid any attention to SHL till that moment.....100 points for the 2009 by Robert Parker. Since that moment I bought some Cases 09 and a case 00, 05 and 08.
This 2005 Rocks! “Napa-style” Bordeaux. — 6 years ago

Severn Goodwin

9.4

Wow, in a very nice place right now, tannins completely gone. The Merlot softens the palate, but the Cabernet still dominates on the nose. Drinking probably at peak.
(99/00/01 Comparison) — 7 years ago

Chris Harwick

9.3

Very nice symmetry. This 2001 is living up to its baby brother to '00 and '05 value. Full bodied and can be enjoyed for many more year. But why wait. — 7 years ago

Evan Malik

9.1

Yet another 00 delivering...muscular wine.... Elegant finish — 8 years ago

Eddie Grystar

9.6

98, 99, 00 — 8 years ago

Jim Westby

9.4

Happy New Year!

Maybe the Michel Arnould old vines powerhouse is too serious for a lighthearted celebration, but it was just right for father and son wine geeks having New Years dinner alone together for the first time since 1999.

My top 10 wines of 2015:
85 Barros colheita port
92 Bruno Michel Champagne
94 Charbonniere Chateauneuf old vines
90 Cos d'Estournel
00 Domaine de Chevalier
96 Drouhin Corton Charlemagne
04 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg auslese long gold cap
73 La Rioja Alta Arana
00 Lafon Volnay Santanots
82 Mount Eden Pinot Noir

And 5 honorable mentions just too damn delicious to leave out:
93 Beaulieu Napa Cab
88 Chasse-Spleen
10 Fontodi Chianti Classico
n/v Lustau Peurto de Santa Maria En Rama Sherry
12 Ridge Zinfandel Jimsomare


— 8 years ago

with Gary

Jeffrey Lew

9.7

Enough of this Cali stuff... Time for some old word. VCC. Pure Pomerol Powerhouse. Drank the 00, and 01 recently and this blows them both away. Like going from a regular 911 to a Turbo. Dark fruit, black cherry, dark chocolate, and stone. Needs a solid 4 hr decant to show up but what a show. This can stand toe to toe with anything. Killer — 9 years ago

Uncle Bill, FWS, IWP

8.9

Pretty nice. After decanting the 2009 at noon into a wide bottom I re-bottled at 3:00. I tasted throughout the day until 7:30 pm then re-visited at 10:00 am the next day. The fruit was good and acids fine but the tannins were a little harsh early but it got better throughout the day leading to a beautiful Bordeaux after 24 hours. I think this is going to be very good in about 5-8 years. For a lighter, Merlot heavy blend I am pleasantly surprised. — 9 years ago

John Kemper

9.6

Drinking beautifully tonight was the opaque inky purple '00 Ojai Syrah 'Melville Vineyards'. Zippy aromas of black fruit, burnt rubber, herbes de Provence and lavender lifted from the decanter. Great intensity of ripe spicy fruit flavors on the palate with precise balancing acidity. Still a young tasting wine with many years of drinkability left. — 10 years ago

Cameron Hobel

Owner/Winemaker Hobel Wine Works

9.5

Hands down my favorite Clos Des Papes in the 00's.... And there a lot of good ones in this decade. — 11 years ago

Tobin Trevarthen

9.3

2nd go round with ‘00. A stunning wine. Served with a spicy Bronzino. Elegant. Delicious. — 6 years ago

Adam Gäfvert

9.0

Intressant nytt vin från Lanson. Gillar en stora stilen, matkompatibelt. Lanson-syran har slipats ner men adderar mycket fräschör till den mogna frukten och brödiga tonerna. Reservviner från 00, 02 och 04. — 6 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Pichon Lalande is my favorite 2nd growth with a steak. Yup...it's #SteakandClaret night to quote my buddy Gary Westby. Further, it's certainly one of my favorite producers period. I've waited for this wine to be in the bottle for 10 years before finding out definitely how good it was or wasn't. You see, the 05 Bordeaux vintage was exceptional. It's drinking right now better than 00. 00 may turn out to be better, but not for some time. The real issue was the division of scores between RP & NM. Parker had this as low as an 86 and now has it at 89. Neil Martin has been consistently at 95-96. I found it simply inexplicable that Pichon Lalande could have bombed in such a great vintage. Tonight, I know they didn't. This wine is beautiful. Although, I don't believe it will cellar as long as their some of their very best vintages and many others I've enjoyed. On the nose, bramble, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, notes of blueberries, poached strawberries, graphite, baking spices, cedar, lightly perfumed violets and dark, fresh & dry red flowers. The body is medium-medium plus, tannins nicely resolved with 10 years to be completely resolved. Fruits of; ripe blackberries, dark cherries, notes of blueberries, poached strawberries and pomegranate with a whiff of spice. There's notes of dry bramble, soft leather, fresh violets, graphite, cedar, dry stones, dark rich earth, limestone, tobacco, spice-box, vanilla, very light cinnamon & nutmeg. The finish is very long, elegant, ripe, round, smooth, good acidity and beautifully elegant...50-50 earth & fruit. I bought more bottles of this at $85 after it's was first released in futures and I do not regret it. $85 is proving to be a steal for this wine when it normally sells for between $100-$150 a bottle and higher. Might heavy up further after tonight if I find more around the same price. Oh yes...I'm with NM on the scoring. Photos of the Chateau, estate vines, newer tasting room & the Virginie de Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande. Forgive my long post, but my passion and love for this producer is profound. Producer history and notes...as I wrote in an earlier post for Pichon Baron, Pichon Baron and Lalande started as one entity. The first mention of what is now called Chateau Pichon Lalande was the creation of Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan. Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan is responsible for forming many of the top Bordeaux estates today. Pichon Lalande was given its name when Therse, the daughter of the founder received the estate as a dowry when she married Jacques de Pichon Longueville. Pichon Lalande was essentially managed by three women, Therese de Rauzan, Germaine de Lajus and Marie Branda de Terrefort. On the eve of his death in 1850, Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville divided the property between his five children. His three daughters received Pichon Lalande and his sons Pichon Baron. What happened next was Virginie, the wife of the Count of Lalande took over the management of the estate under the name of Comtesse de Lalande. In 1850 she commissioned the popular, architect Duphot to build a residence inspired by the Hotel de Lalande, located in Bordeaux. Without heirs, Pichon Lalande passed down from aunts to nieces. Following World War I, the Miailhe brothers, bought Pichon Lalande in 1925. They were the ones who planted even more Merlot. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, the daughter of Edouard Miailhe became the new owner and general manager of Chateau Pichon Lalande in 1978. She expand the size of Chateau Pichon Lalande from 40 hectares to it's current 89 hectares. Chateau Pichon Lalande remained in the same family for more than 250 years! In fact, over three centuries, only two families have owned Pichon Lalande. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing sold Pichon Lalande to the owners of Roederer Champagnein in January 2007. This family-run company is managed by Frederic Rouzaud who owned several other wine estates in Bordeaux; Chateau Bernadotte, Chateau de Pez, Haut Beausejour and Chateau Reaut la Graviere. He sold Chateau Bernadotte in December 2012. In February, 2011, Sylvie Cazes was named the director of Chateau Pichon Lalande. She replaced Gildas d’Ollone. Sylvie Cazes was replaced in 2012 by current Director Nicolas Glumineau, who was previously at Chateau Montrose. In 2012, Pichon Lalande renovated the estate with a budget estimated at over 15 Million Euros. The new facilities included; building of a new underground barrel aging cellar and several new buildings...one that houses their new tasting room as shown. This renovation provided numerous improvements in their wine making. Most importantly, in the vinification. They created a new, triple tiered, cellar where everything moves by gravity. They also added numerous new, stainless steel, temperature controlled, double skinned vats. These new vats allow Pichon Lalande to vinify on a parcel by parcel basis as well as get much softer & gentle extractions. The 89 hectare vineyard of Chateau Pichon Lalande is located adjacent to Chateau Latour and and across the road from Pichon Baron. The terroir of Chateau Pichon Lalande is deep gravel with clay and limestone soil and is planted to; 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. — 7 years ago

John Kemper

9.4

An opaque red/purple, the '00 Ojai Syrah '50% Roll Ranch 50% Bien Nacido' is richly scented with black raspberry, ground pepper and dark cherry notes. Powerful mouth-coating flavors of ripe black fruits with spicy cracked peppercorn accents then flood the palate. The fully-rounded and well-integrated tannins make the lingering finish lip-smackingly delicious. — 9 years ago

Justin H

9.2

Drinking well. Just a little appetizer before a great 06 Latour and 00 Margaux. Yum! — 9 years ago

John Kemper

9.3

An inky purple/red with ample sediment, the '00 Ojai Syrah 'Roll Ranch Vineyard' emits opulent notes of cassis, musky incense and white pepper. The opulent mouthfeel is quite fresh and silky with the flavor profile echoing the nose, but with an added juicy licorice element. Finishes long and spicy. — 10 years ago

John Kemper

9.5

The transparent ruby '00 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape is full of ripe aromas of cassis, espresso, bittersweet chocolate and licorice. Low acidity on the palate makes for a creamy lush finish. Yummy! — 11 years ago