Dean Bernal Sr.

9.5

Kelly Fleming Vineyards.
Sophisticated & elegant yet simply unrefined. Very approachable at such a young age but don’t underestimate the depth & complexity of this beauty.
I’ve tried so, not to give in.
I’ve said to myself this affair would never go so well
But why should I try to resist when I know so well
That I’ve got you, under my skin?
Slowly, softly, patiently...I wait... — 7 years ago

with April, Jeff and 2 others

Delectable Wine

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9.2

Wine is a product of nature. This fact was all too real for Ormes de Pez in 2014 as the estate suffered through a brutal hailstorm in May that took with it a third of the potential crop. Yet, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and the positive result here was that the reduced yield resulted in an unusually deep, powerful vintage for this St. Estèphe property that belongs to the Cazes family, owners of Lynch-Bages. A dark, sumptuous beauty, the 2014 Ormes de Pez offers up a compelling mélange of purplish and black fruit, smoke, grilled herbs and graphite, with quite a bit of density. Rich and voluptuous, the 2014 is a gorgeous Ormes de Pez that will drink well relatively early. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, Feb 2017) — 8 years ago

Jon Tam

9.2

An aromatic joy in the pinot noir family, this beauty is bursting with fruit but smooth as a baby's bottom. Get ready to go on a rocket ride that takes you straight to Malibu. Think: watching sunset mid summer, with your toes in the sand and your lips on the glass... -Katie — 8 years ago

with Randy

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

Had this beauty at a recent wine tasting. Aged in oak barrels for about 42 months, deep Ruby color with ripe berry fruit aromas and hints of floral scents. On the palate, this full-bodied wine shows cherry and blackberry fruit with complex spice, licorice, tobacco and cacao. Lively acidity with smooth young tannins, smoky oak notes take this wine to a rich lingering finish. Needs a few years to fully develop. Tasting Sample. — 8 years ago

Charles Inokon

9.5

Amazing Bordeaux! Extremely subtle notes in this powerful beauty. We paired it with aged Manchego and it was delicious! — 8 years ago

Matthew Beninati

9.4

The beauty in this wine lies not in its smoothness, but in the fact that it is delicious right now, or 15 years from now. — 9 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Found another 2009, 100% Nebbiolo grapes grown in the Ovello Cru, a premiere site. Ruby with red Berry fruit, floral and flint aromas. On the palate, cherry, raspberry and ripe strawberry flavors with a touch of earthy floral tastes. Tannins are muted, balanced with acidity, well structured. Drinking great now, should last a few more years but why wait on this beauty? — 9 years ago

Dan White

9.0

Big. Red and in your face. One of my all time favorite Paso wines. — 9 years ago

Laura Catena

9.4

A beauty classic #Bordeaux can't wait to retaste in a few years — 10 years ago

Jeff Vejr

9.0

Missing some brightness, but this beauty is still chugging along. Granny Smith apples dipped in Butterscotch pudding. Probably should have waited a day to drink after opening. — 10 years ago

Nicole Hakli

Sommelier The NoMad Restaurant

10

Bertrand's mentors being Metras and Foillard: tastes like chaos in the best way ever! 100 year old vines. Wild brambly fruit, black tea, licorice spice with juicy texture. — 10 years ago

Grant Everett

9.8

She's a beauty, that 2009. A couple more years in the bottle won't hurt. But the nose is a classic right now. — 11 years ago

Mike

9.2

2005 Beauty. Will be drinking at Bellecour in 45 minutes. #BOOM — 7 years ago

Frank Kuo

9.6

Beautiful color of deep gold, thick in appearance. Nose of saturated aldehyde note, a bit honey, and beautiful citrus note. Taste is also very seducing, with sweetness from honey, apple, and flowering note, nice balancing touch of bittersweet form citrus and grapefruit, a bit spicy, and full of flavors. Aftertaste is also long with nice oaky hint. A beauty. — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I have to say this is my favorite Chateau to stand in front of and gaze. On the nose, spice, wild blackberries, dark cherries, blueberries, black plum, plum, leather, cedar, dark moist soil, wet stones, mint, tobacco leaf and dark fresh & dry flowers. It's drinking nicely with silty medium-medium + tannins & full bodied. Ruby, ripe wild blackberries, dark cherries, blueberries, black plum, plum, leather, cedar, dark moist soil, wet stones, crushed dry minerals, mint, tobacco leaf and violets, dark fresh & dry flowers. The acidity is round and mouthwatering. The long finish has great elegance, beauty, length, tension & balance. It's just starting to hit it's stride and has plenty of life ahead of it. Another 15-20 years. Who said 04 was a difficult vintage? This will continue to improve and will stun with another 10 years in bottle. Photos of the the exterior Chateau front & side, tasting room and Christian Seely Managing Director. Chateau Pichon Baron and Chateau Pichon Lalande were originally part of the same estate. Pichon Baron got it's name when Therese, daughter of the founder, received the estate as a dowry when she married Jacques de Pichon Longueville the first President of the Bordeaux Parliament. Chateau Pichon Baron changed because of the Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville. He took over managing Pichon Baron when he was only 19 years old! When the Baron passed away at 90 in 1850, he divided his Pauillac estate. The sons were awarded what became Chateau Pichon Baron and the daughters were given what later became Chateau Pichon Lalande. Pichon Baron went through three rough decades in the 60's, 70's and 80's. Part of the issues were, lack of investment and they machine harvested. The first really great vintages for them were 89 & 90 after Jean Rene Matignon, Jean-Michel Cazes join them and AXA Insurance Company purchased them adding capital. The 73 hectare vineyard of Chateau Pichon Baron are planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. However, the Cabernet Franc and the Petit Verdot are reserved exclusively for the second wine. The terroir is mostly deep gravel, sand clay soils. Pichon Baron uses 80% new French oak and rests in barrel 18 months. @ FogoDeChao

— 8 years ago

Evan Bienstock

9.4

The color is immediately inviting. It's visually beautiful. Not too intense or too light. 3 hr decant. The swirl of the glass releases apricot and currant and even some strawberry in the back. The wine lasts forever on the palate. Leaving dark fruit, pepper some anise and some chocolate. This wine is so nuanced and refined in its flavor spectrum delivery. Tastes like expertise in the glass. A beauty. — 8 years ago

David

9.8

Holy perfect! This wine has everything you look for in a Napa Cab. Deep, dark fruit. Let it open up for a few minutes and this beauty will pay you back. — 9 years ago

Beachin Wino

9.2

This is definitely my style. A real beauty! Dark purple in color. Very rich, luscious fruit with tongue coating tannins. What I consider a classic Napa Cabernet. Actually had a memorable tasting at Palmaz in 2012. A beautiful place. Owned by the physician that invented the heart stint. — 9 years ago

with Fred

Ron Westlund

9.5

Burgundian Transparency. Elegant earthiness with perfectly elegant fruit that takes a back seat in this old school beauty. — 9 years ago

with Evan

Matté

Manager The Wine Cellars

9.4

Beguiling purity of black and purple fruit and sweet spice on the nose, freshly baked cherry pie, beaut! In the mouth this is rich without cloying and has wonderful ripe red fruited acidity, slick eminently drinkable, subtle beauty — 10 years ago

Christine Havens

9.4

This is one of those life-altering, once-in-a-lifetime bottles; the 1989 Montrose is about beauty and perfection, with restraint. A blend 65% Cabernet, 25% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc, much like a great Burgundy, it's multi-faceted without being the least bit heavy. Perfumy, ethereal aromas of back currant, blueberries, mint, truffle, leather and earth. Silky on entry, with ultra fine tannins that glide across the palate, only to gracefully crescendo in a seemingly endless arc of minerals, cedar and fruit. — 10 years ago

Gayle Karen Young

9.8

Loved this sake with Cesar on a date in Boulder at Ame — 12 years ago

Frank Kuo

9.6

Color of dark yet clear burgundy with bloody red in the rim. Nose is beauty with black currant and raisins, oak, polished alcohol, refined acidity, and dried strawberries. Taste is dry with powerful tannins and balsamic vinegar, some vanilla or strawberries ice cream, a bit savory spice, peppery, ripe cherry, dense flavors. Aftertaste is medium long and tasty with peppery taste in the throat. Very enjoyable. — 7 years ago

Joe Lucca

9.5

Finding ways to stay warm post bombogenesis. Deep, deep garnet in the glass. Super extracted, it literally stains the glass as you swirl. Still very tightly wound, this has a very long life ahead. Dark red and blue fruits, violets, creme de cassis, hints of smoke, grippy tannins, and some bay leaf / wild herbs. Gorgeous with a 2 hour decant, but will be even better with a few more years on it.
Sincere thanks to the HFIC @Martin G Rivard for this beauty. Like rays from the Sunshine State, this baby is warming me up tonight! — 7 years ago

with Diana

Geoff Troup

Sales Eder Brothers, Cellar Fine Wines

9.4

Such beauty and elegance. I'm sure some of it is the age, but an AOC known for power emitting such elegance...Wow. Anyhow, jammy raspberries and a whole garden of vegetables on the nose. Palate is quite refined with white pepper, rock and all the trademark CDP flavors. Im never a huge fan of that fruit in the front, but the mid and back arr gorgeous. What's truly remarkable is the balance...The ability to isolate any single flavor to ruminate on, how each nuance to perfectly morphs into the next. Still some pronounced tannin in this guy! — 8 years ago

Carl Fischer

9.9

To quote my two friends @Martin G Rivard and @Mike Rowe this is a bad ass wine eliciting smiles all around (and a great way to start 2017). Parker gave this a perfect score and it is a beauty. Decanting is a must at this point. It's been opening up over the last 4 hours and think it will continue to improve if I can sip more slowly lol. Slightly cloudy, and a bright purple in the glass. On the nose, cassis, vanilla and toast dominate. The sips are long and driven by fruit (blue and blackberries and cassis). Liquid silk in the mouth with sweet tannins and a surprisingly strong acidity. The finish is long. This is a total baby but I had to try it. Happy New Year to all my Delectable friends and especially to my fellow Wine Nerd Herd. I've always believed that sharing wine with friends is the greatest gift and this app has enabled me to do that with friends near and far and connect with some great people. May 2017 be a year of great health and happiness and may all our glasses be full! — 8 years ago

Anthony Lombardi

9.2

The beauty of great producers in great regions is how the wines wear the vintages & tell the story of that place & time. 2014's story & soul lie transparently in the texture. High toned, fresh red fruit with an acidic core which seems to brighten the wine as it breathes. The aromatics are never far from the palate here, as that is where the power lies. Undeniable floral & strawberry perfume overtake the senses as the glass is raised. Call me crazy, but this was a star alongside chicken Marsala. White in the sauce, red in the glass. — 9 years ago

Gae Saccoccio - NdC

9.8

Vintage 1949 in Burgundy according to Broadbent: “..most perfect end of a decade - elegant, well-balanced wines”; Clive Coates in his book Cote D'Or: "best vintage of 40's all-perfect beauty and purity”; Robert M. Parker Jr.: “it was the best of post world war II vintages before 1959”
Henri Leroy at that time was négociant based in Auxey-Duresses, his mythical daughter Lalou Bize-Leroy in 1949 was only seventeen.
Les Cazetiers is amongst the most elevated of Premier Cru site in Gevrey-Chambertin - and indeed the whole of Burgundy.
I drank this precious bottle on Mount Etna with #FrankCornelissen and other dear friends. Uncork this bottle lead to a surgical operation. Just begun to pull it out, a light breath of wine molecule with air bubbles magically have emerged on the surface of the cork. It's been like witness the passing away of a dying old man (or Pinot Noir must be a woman?) That humanized wine had held "élan vital", hope and breath inside him for the last 66 years! A miracle of a wine still so tasty, robust, citrusy, vibrant, earthy, incredibly alive and well-preserved despite color and neck level did not bode so well.. that's what I thought and I'll remember until I die: "the wine was waiting for us to drink it up, he gave off his mortal blow to offer us life, joy and smile!" — 9 years ago

with Alberto

Christine Havens

9.5

1999 Lafite Rothschild, a ruby-hued beauty with a translucent rim—this bottle was incredibly fresh and vibrant on opening. Initially, seemingly more red fruit-driven, the nose evolved into a darker expression with time in the glass. Nuanced aromas of loamy earth, rose petal, black currant, and pencil shavings led into a wine that, while restrained and elegant, boasted ample sweetness at its core. Ultra-fine, polished tannins gave way to a medium-plus finish that culminated in bay leaf, cigar box, and spice. — 10 years ago

John Kemper

9.8

I dug deep in the cellar for a special wine with our chargrilled NY strip. I opened the deep garnet-colored '94 Joseph Phelps Red Bordeaux Blend 'Insignia'. Decanted and aerated for two hours, the aromas of cedar, cassis, mocha, forest floor and eucalyptus tingled the nose. Dark fruits and minerals in the velvety mouth with long-lasting impressions of sweet, ripe and polished tannins. Lots of class and pedigree in this beauty. A most memorable meal! — 11 years ago