Jay Kline

9.4

It’s been a couple years since I last enjoyed the 1996 and based off this experience, it’s continuing to age gracefully.

Double decanted the night before. The wine pours a garnet color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of cassis, kirsch, purple flowers, tobacco, dried herbs, green pepper, old wood and gravelly earthy. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is long and sanguine. So much soul, it could make Marvin Gaye blush. Drink now with patience (and a long decant) through 2041. Thanks for the assist @Lyle Fass — 4 months ago

Matt Perlman

9.1

Aging gracefully. Dark fruited with black cherry, chocolate and tertiary flavors of tobacco and leather. Structure has been worn smooth like an old stone but still intact. Not huge but charming and enjoyable — 4 months ago

Conrad Green

9.3

plush plummy fruit. Rounded with black cherry and soft precision. Lovely — 5 months ago

with Paul and Ara

Wulf Losee

9.3

Floral notes on the nose — roses, hibiscus, plus mint, and the dry fragrance of sun-bleached wood. Strawberries on the front. Medium tannic structure. Black tea high notes with hint mint on the mid palate. Citrusy finish with long acidic afterburn. My description fails in that it makes it sound like a light and floral wine. But taken altogether, this is wine is rock solid, and it hasn’t even begun to develop. — 5 months ago

"Odedi"

9.4

#AgedWineTuesday

Dark ruby in color with a reddish rim. Doesn't show much age.

Beautiful nose with red and black fruits, chocolates, tobacco leaf, vegetables, forest floor, black tea, earth, coffee, herbs, spices, black pepper and wildflowers.

Full bodied and soft with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with blueberries, cherries, black plums, currants, oak, light chocolates, coffee, mushrooms, licorice, tobacco leaf, earth, herbs and spices.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This is a gorgeous 24 year old Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Saint Julien. Rich and elegant. Spicy and very complex. Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel.

Drinking at its peak now, and will continue to drink nicely in the next 10 years.

A great sipping wine that is so much fun to drink by itself.

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Aged in (33% new) French oak barrels for 18 months.

13% alcohol by volume.

94 points.

$150. — 8 months ago

Vanessa

10

Fruity, bubbly/fuzzy, sweet. Always have it in hand — 4 years ago

Jim

9.4

Costco $19.88, wow, pleasantly surprised. Buy more. — 7 years ago

Colleen Wherthey Dunn

9.2

2014 vintage. Surprisingly well balanced for such an inexpensive wine. Fairly tannic with luscious dark berry/cherry notes and quite a bit of spice. Long and lovely finish. Good value red blend. — 8 years ago

Nvr8787

9.6

Super easy to drink! Will be finishing this bottle tonight. Or at least I wouldn't be surprised if I did. It's not over powering or spicy. Just very very light, a tad sweet, and a tiny sweet finish. — 10 years ago

Parag Lalit

9.6

Brilliant! — 11 years ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Presented to me double-blind. The wine pours a deep garnet with an opaque core and some rim variation; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and signs of sediment. On the nose the wine is vinous with notes of cassis, blackberry, black plum, tobacco, menthol, leather, and mix of cool and warm spices. On the palate the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This is really delicious.

Initial conclusions: this could be a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend or other Bordeaux-styled blend or a Tempranillo based blend from the United States, France or Spain. This saw French oak so I eliminated Spain. I thought the fruit was outshining the structure…so I liked the USA over France. And, based off the appearance, I thought this probably had 30+ years of age. Final conclusion: this is a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend from the United States, from California, Napa, Rutherford; 1994. Ugh…the 1990 vintage in Bordeaux has bit me twice now recently. Really awesome stuff! Drink now through 2040+. — 4 months ago

Steve Goore

9.0

What’s Durif? Loved the combo with Australian Shiraz. Red and blackberry and cherry with a touch of oak and smoke. This was quite the fruit bomb with mild tannins and medium body. Please sir. . . I want some more. — 4 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Fruit is brighter, more brilliant than many other 21’s I’ve had. Texturally & fruit-wise senses more like the 23’s I’ve had. It’s gorgeous. Again, needs a decade or more in the cellar.

Round, lush, creamy blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, both plums, poached strawberries, dry, crushed rocks, limestone powder, nice balling spices, caramel, mocha, dry herbs, dry tobacco, lead pencil, dry river stone, leather, melted, dark chocolate, dark spice, fresh & withering dark flowers, red roses, nice round acidity, well balanced, bigger tension & structure, excellent round, excellent finish that last minutes and lands on spice, wet clay and Christmas cake. — 4 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 2023 pours a ruby/purple color with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with an explosion of smoked blackberry pie, purple flowers, bacon fat, olive, black pepper, and subtle warm spices. On the palate the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose however, the wine finishes much more elegant than the nose would suggest. The bouquet might lead one to think this is possibly over the top. However, on the palate, it was far more elegant. Another vintage, another stunning Gonon. Drink now through 2043. — 6 months ago

romo

9.3

On point. Lithe but dense. Black tar compote. — 8 months ago

Ericsson

9.8

1st Growth Bordeaux comparison. Mind blowing. I mean, from a weak Bordeaux vintage comes this masterpiece which can be enjoyed now or saved for decades to come. Beautiful nose and almost perfumed with roses and black cheery and blueberry, cedar, and pencil shavings. The palate is pure bliss full of complexity, intensity yet balanced and the finish just goes on and on. Cheers. — 10 months ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Last night in MT at the lake. Gave this several hours of air. Nice dark tawny color. Vibrant in the glass. The nose is great right away and stayed on point through the evening. Notes of black cherries, warm raspberries, old cedar, some plums and a little leather saddle. Rich and silky in the mouth. Velvet glove. Long finish. Great wine. — 7 years ago

Maya Kaczorowski

9.0

Slightly too sweet, and I like it! — 8 years ago

Patrick Rousseau

9.3

Subtle earth and black fruit on the nose. Well balanced palate featuring sour cherry and a long finish. Delish! — 10 years ago

Mike Newman

9.7

Wow. Excellent. 2008 — 11 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I remember when the 2005 Pichon Lalande was reviewed by RP, 89. I saw that & said, you would have to get in the way of the 2005 Bordeaux vintage to be that sad. I still bought 6 at a bargain basement price. A very good idea post 20 yrs+. Both Pichon’s don’t have a modern day history of getting in the way of a good vintage.

I also bought this one. 18 yrs in bottle and still acending. This will hold 5 more yrs and will last another 10 yrs properly stored.

I have visited Bordeaux 11 times. This chateau visually is still my favorite. It was showing a picture of this chateau to Sofia that launched our first visit. Sofia loved it and we have stared at it multiple times on every visit.

It was in our visit in 2007, I stood in the estate vineyard, looked & tasted their soils. After doing so, I said, “I get it.” I understood everything about what I was tasting in Left Bank Bordeaux’s early in my wine journey.

Sofia and I had dinner w/ Christian Moueix not long after the 2005 vintage was hyped/released. She asked him, when did you know you had something special?” He said, “as soon as I tasted the fruit at harvest.”

Tonight, it shows that it is a close relative, a sibling to Pichon Longueville. Cork, perfect.

The nose shows; classic left bank traits. Ripe, dark, brooding fruits, bright, mid berries, red cola, leather, tobacco, sandalwood, leather, led pencil, dark rich earth, limestone, dry river stone, hint of mushrooms, dark, red, fresh & withering florals.

The fruits on the palate show everything outstanding from the 2005 growing season. Ripe, juicy, brilliant; dark currants, blackberries, black raspberries, black plum skin, black cherries, baked/poached strawberries & some hovering raspberries. Dark chocolate bar to pudding, red cola, anise, dark spices w/ palate heat, dark, rich earth w/ dry leaves, pronounced graphite, dry tobacco, leather, limestone, dry twig, dry river stone, moist clays, moist herbs, cedar to sandalwood, withering & dry, dark flowers, red roses, some lavender & violets, beautiful rainfall acidity, excellent; balance, tension, structure, length w/ an elegant finish that lasts minutes and lands on spice & earth.

13.4 ABV. Nice.

#TheTwoHourRibcap

This held up vacuumed sealed the same night, refrigerated & enjoyed exactly a week later. — 4 months ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

This was showing well with notes of red, black fruits, sweet on the palate with savory spice, earth, licorice, leather & tobacco — 5 months ago

Ross Bathgate

9.5

Bought at the winery after tasting in 1999, my first pilgrimage to Coonawarra. Opened very stinky but blew off with air over 30 mins to beautiful fragrant nose and that sweet soft tannin of an aged Coonawarra Cabernet. Drank gloriously over the next two hours. Still full of life at 29 years old. — 6 months ago

Ki Punwar

Owner, California Wine Republic

9.0

Tart cherries , nice acidity. Easy to like — 7 months ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Youthful, full bodied that is drinking well showing red, black fruits, spice box, graphite, leather & tobacco — 9 months ago

Neal Ferry

9.0

I think it’s a great day drinker — 5 years ago

with TwiLea

Violet B

9.2

Really enjoyable, easy drinking red table blend; paired well with delicious homemade steak quesadillas! — 8 years ago

with Chuck

Olivier Huguenin

9.0

Impossible de retrouver le terroir du jura, c'est très bourguignon et vraiment délicieux! On peut penser à un beau blanc de la côte châlonnaise. — 9 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.4

2001: going into a black olive, black truffle note. Rich meaty notes, vibrantly meated, smoky, leather, tobacco, cigar. Towards full, complex, chewy. Light liquorice, light black truffle. Tip top. — 11 years ago

Liz Barenholtz

9.6

Delicious. Full. Not overly fruity. — 13 years ago