Mike Saviage

9.7

Tasted blind. Dark tawny color. Mostly translucent. Very floral. Notes of black cherry, cherry cola, mocha, and some prominent eucalyptus that I pick up. Great fruit and acidity to match. Some are in Bordeaux land with their guesses, I go with 91 Heitz Martha's VIneyard. I'm on a roll. Awesome to partake in an old 78 in in such great condition. Thanks Larry! One of my favorite reds of the day. — 3 years ago

Mike Saviage

10

Tasted blind. Light gold color, youthful and heavy in the glass. Notes of citrus, white clay, sea shells, wet river stone, kiwi and some honey. High pitched. Massive fruit and structure. This powered along all night and never slowed down. Easy to guess as the 90 Raveneau Clos as we've had this many times. A debate ensued about what is a perfect white burgundy and where this sits... it would be really hard to get better than this, IMO. Spectacular. — 3 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny color. Edges suggest its old. Notes of strawberry, raspberry, iron, roses. Some zing and power in the nose. Slaps your face when tasted. Sappy. Powerful impact. Long finish. Other guesses were in Burgundy land eg Griotte but I went with 90 Rayas. Bingo. — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Monthly WTF wine group night. Our theme was American oak vs French oak. All wines tasted blind. We started off with two bottles of bubbly and finished with two non-themed reds.

My contribution for the evening. I’m posting my previous review of this wine below as it’s been consistent the few times I’ve had it over the last 12-18 months. Love these wines!

Youthful. Icredibly perfumed with typical sweet dill and coconut American oak on the nose. Gosh, I could smell this stuff all day. Aside from needing time away, it needs roughly an hour of decanting to hit stride. Tobacco, cherry tart, and great herbal nuances on the finish. — 6 years ago

with Jack, Ryan and 4 others

Ron Siegel

9.4

Served blind with the 99 Dominus. This was really singing & their best wine since the great 89/90 vintages. Rich & dense berry fruits with cedar, leather, graphite & tobacco — 7 years ago

Sylvain Wilhelmy

9.1

Wow!!!! Super Pinot noir! — 7 years ago

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9.4

The 2012 Montrose has a taut and focused bouquet with crisp blackberry, tobacco and light earthy scents on the nose. Fine vigour and class evident here. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannins on the entry, fine acidity, lightly spiced with a nicely proportioned and focused finish. This is a solid, almost swarthy Montrose, though it is surpassed by more recent vintages. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 3 years ago

Jim Maynard

9.4

2012 vintage. Really good; developed some additional notes beyond the big youth. Someone noted they smelled it 6 feet away. Indeed fragrant. — 5 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny. Nose is closed and not yielding much. I get cranberries, some cherries, iron and stones, some wood. Has a high pitched character to it. Has some pucker in it yet. Tight with ample acidity. I guess 97 Vogue Bonnes Mares. In my experience this wine has had some variations in its performance. Today it was better than most, but suffered by not getting ample air before it was served. — 5 years ago

M. Christopher Roebuck

9.5

Omg....
So I was given this as a blind tasting. I was able to surmise that is was 1) spectacular 2) cab dominant and 3) 2014... Was off by a year. I wish I had better metrics on my performance, but I knew I had never tasted this before.

95 points — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Monthly WTF guys blind tasting group. This month was our annual, and famed, Left Bank vs Right Bank theme. All wines served blind as usual. Started off with a Rosé and a champagne. Great night.

The first of two GPLs from the evening. Lots of saddle leather mixed with ripe fruit on the nose. Underripe black-cherry on the palate with an herbal dominants finish. Drink now. Thanks @Will Adams . — 6 years ago

with Andrew, Jack and 6 others

Ron Siegel

9.1

3 decades served blind where most of the group guessed Pinot grape & thought it could be from Burgundy. Groups favorite was the 89. — 7 years ago

Susan Sangiacomo

9.3

Easy to blind taste and guess it’s old world. Just that consistent Opus flavor I love....old world earthiness but new world brightness. Still has years to go. — 7 years ago

Monica Molina

9.5

Love it. Juicy, sweet-ish, great with dinner — 3 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.9

Tasted blind. Deep purple color. Looks very young, compared to the 45 Margaux next to it. Almost opaque. Notes of black fruit, cracked walnuts, sweet fruit, raspberry and some cedar desk. Super rich in the mouth. Seems young and is firm, but tannins are softened and the mouthfeel is velvet touch. Long finish. It peacocks all night. The walnuts thing leads my guess to Latour, but can this be the 45? Is it a 61 or 82? Could be... I go with it being a 59 given how young it seems. Just an amazing bottle of wine, open for ~9 hours by the time we left, it seemed to effortlessly power along. Thanks Stan! — 3 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.2

Lemon zest, candle wax, sea salt, almost ripe nectarine...what a glorious dinner companion. Round, almost viscous, but zippy acidity and a long caressing finish. I am smitten with white Italian varietals nurtured in California and largely unoaked. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.3

Yesterday’s Wednesday Wine Committee lunch. Normal format of 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert wine. All tasted blind.

I had this about 2yrs ago and my impression is consistent. Dusty and herbal. More tobacco leaf than leather notes. Dark black cherries, dark cocoa dipped cherries, cedar and truffle dusted licorice. This may be in a sleepy phase and could come out the other side full steam and youthful. Would like to try again and focus on only it. I called this early ‘00s left bank Bordeaux. — 6 years ago

with Dan, Will and 2 others

Shay A

9.4

Monthly WTF guys blind tasting group. This month was our annual, and famed, Left Bank vs Right Bank theme. All wines served blind as usual. Started off with a Rosé and a champagne. Great night.

This was one of my favorites of the night. One of the best young Bordeaux’s I’ve tasted. Ripe and modern nose (fruit forward) with smoked meat and baked blackberry pie. The palate revealed cocoa/dark chocolate, baking spices and a hint of blue fruit wrapped by black fruit. Big. Will obviously get better, but was shocked how good this was now. I called this ‘12-14 Left Bank. — 6 years ago

with Andrew, Jack and 6 others

Mike Saviage

9.4

Tasted blind. Tawny color, translucent with amber rims. Notes of black cherry, cedar, some spice and a little barnyard floor. Sweet fruit in the mouth, with tannins fully resolved. Guessed 1955 Calon Segur. Perfect looking bottle, the cork revealed this bottle was reconditioned by the Chateau in 2000. — 7 years ago

James Gourley

9.0

My first viognier with some age on it. Major coconut cream pie, with other stone fruits as supporting cast. Still noticeably high alcohol, but maybe because I usually drink fairly low alcohol whites. Interesting and tasty wine. — 7 years ago