Andrew Schirmer

9.5

So lovely with a bit of age. The baby fat has sloughed off, leaving a dense herbaceous core with light tannin. Evocative. — 9 months ago

with Alsu

Mike Miller

9.7

This wine is old enough to vote! Stunning acidity for its age, great tannin, and it’s smoky. — 6 years ago

with Jason and Anne

Alex Ruzich

10

Good fruit with refined tannins. This can still age, but beautiful right now! — 7 years ago

Joe Fox

9.4

Sweet, Crisp, and a tiny bit of zing... And Sandy likes it! Very good!! — 8 years ago

Elena Surinova

9.0

Яблочный штрудель с мёдом и орехами. Во вкусе те же фрукты с орехами.
16,5/20 — 9 years ago

LM Segal

9.3

I don't understand Caymus-haters. Sure, the setting didn't hurt, but with a half-hr decant the nose was rich cassis, vanilla. Showing a little age, the dark red fruit, tobacco and oaky-rich tannins were smooth as silk. Ready but could go for 5-10 years. Not sure I could've picked this out from an '05 Special Selection I tried a few months back. — 10 years ago

Martin Diehr

9.0

Unique / Bordeaux style wine. Needs time to open and despite the age, would improve with decanting this wine. Old world nose, well balanced on mid palate with forest notes and wild berries. Medium finish — 10 years ago

David Canter

9.1

Needs growth time and patience. Super young and a tad all over the place. Flavors all over the place but after time tobacco and cherry start to emerge. Needs 3-7 more years of age to fully become one of the better super Tuscans — 11 years ago

Ian Blackburn

9.3

I have tasted many 1961 over the years, this continues to be one of my favorite wines...The strange thing is that this bottle with its high necklinewas the youngest 1961 that I had ever tried, wine had an great Providence - One owner and one incredible cellar.

1961 was a magical year on the right bank; now over 50 years of age it has lost some weight but picked up elegance on the nose - wet clay, graphite/lead pencil, umami/truffle - nose candy for sure. — 11 years ago

Christopher Hansen

Winemaker Four Cairn Wines

9.8

Great wine, fruit preserved, some structure and great balance. Can still age for a few more years. — 13 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Its been awhile since I’ve opened a Geyserville. This is the 2015 50th Anniversary. Young for me on this bottling. But, a decent first look. Still shows some astringency. This will age like a Cabernet if stored correctly. 70% Zinfandel, 15% Carignane, 12% Petite Syrah and 3% Alicante Bouschet. 14.5% ABV. Never opened a bad bottle of Ridge.

It is ready to drink but will improve over time. It will age 15 plus years stored correctly. Black raspberries, blackberries, plum, boysenberries, dark cherries, spice, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, vanillin, clay, dark chocolate, forest floor with dry leaves, caramel, malt balls, dry twig, light, soft pepper, dark, mid & purple florals for days-violets, excellent acidity and a pleasant wire to wire finish.

Excellent gourmet burger wine. — 3 years ago

D Scher

9.2

1984 vintage. Cork difficult to extract, ended up in several pieces. Beautiful deep color, little to no bricking even at this age. Seductive at one hour+ of air with black cherry, raspberry, some vanilla, green pepper, graphite. 12% ABV. From the FIL’s collection. — 6 years ago

Paul Mason

9.2

Really good given its age. Amazing with roasted Chicken. Drink in the next year. — 7 years ago

Jörgen Lindström Carlvik

Owner, Brix Wine Consultants

9.7

Probably my fifth or so taste of this vintage, and it’s always been amazing. At age 20, it’s a refined and very elegant wine with great depth and complete purity on the lengthy finish. Very impressive. — 8 years ago

Matt Duncan

9.4

Fantastic! Bright, juicy, round. Great structure despite age. Good funk without volatile qualities. Yum! — 9 years ago

Sean Herriott

9.2

2012 is such a good vintage. Reminds me of off vintages in Bordeaux like '01 and '04. As always kudos to the Bartons for keeping their 2nd growth at affordable prices in this day and age.
This is a FINE wine that is young, but exudes class. — 9 years ago

Casey Stringer

9.4

Perfect storage, yet still showing its age. Graphite and cedar. Drink'em up. — 10 years ago

Alex Kroblin

Co-owner Thirst Wine Merchants

9.3

Definitely legal drinking age. — 11 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.8

With all its age this is such a complete wine. Wow. — 11 years ago

Jean-Marc Troadec

9.5

2004—part of a Vieux Telegraphe vertical. Excellent, with layers of good dark fruit and hints of leather and smoke, plus a nice earthiness overall. A lesson for me on the effect of bottle age. (And also how pro ratings can be off the mark—this was wonderful!) Drinking nicely now... — 11 years ago

Kate Hudson

9.8

Super sweet and little bubbles- $8@ bevomo — 13 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

Great color in the decanter... medium gold with an enticing perfume. Notes of sweet Meyer lemon, apricot, gravel stone, tan clay, some mint, a little ginger and some sweet marzipan. Has an exotic and slightly musty (desirable) funk. Huge weight with great fruit and solid acidity in the mouth. Decanted for 2 hours before drinking. Awesome juice! If you Google “why should I age white burgundy?”, an image of this 35 year old bottle should be shown... — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Joseph Phelps Party and the 83 Insignia from magnum.

The nose reveals; floral liqueur notes, more mid red fruits; strawberries, cherries & dark cherries. Blackberries, black raspberries, rhubarb, soft, volcanic minerals, limestone, steeped fruit tea, cedar, old leather & tobacco, dry crushed rocks, dark spices, dry herbal notes, eucalyptus, dry stems with dry & withering dark, red florals.

The body is medium full with a fair amount of tannins in a wine with this age. The structure, tension, length and balance are still quite sound with harmony. Floral liqueur notes, more mid red fruits, strawberries, cherries & dark cherries. Blackberries, black raspberries, rhubarb, soft, volcanic minerals, limestone, steeped fruit tea, dark spice with some heat, cedar, old leather & tobacco, cedar, dry crushed rocks, dark spices, dry herbal notes, eucalyptus, dry stems with some funkiness. withering dark, red florals. The acidity is nice. The long finish still show ripeness, good balance but, has leaned and shows nice persistence. — 7 years ago

Will Bean

9.4

What a find on half price wine night! Such a deal, especially with so much bottle age! — 7 years ago

with Jack

Martin G Rivard

10

Quick funny story:
Christine & I are LUCKY to have Kelly work in our office but we are BLESSED to be able to consider her and Darryl as dear friends.
We recommended to Kelly, prior to her going on vacation in Charleston SC, that they should stop by the Belmont hotel. They have a bar and restaurant that is 2nd to none in that area. Christine & I LOVE it!!!! Kelly sent me a quick text to say “hey, we’re at the Belmont! And about to have dinner!”
Being the goof ball that I am..... .....I called the Somm and said “I don’t care what they ordered, bring them a Shafer Hillside Select with some age on it!!!”. 10 minutes later he was decanting a 2003 Hillside Select table side! I love that hotel! Incredible service, incredible food and always a phenomenal experience! The only thing better are-our friends that are there right now!!!!

I didn’t Have a drop of this wine but I am scoring it a 10 based on experience alone!! It must have been “Badass in a Glass” as I always say!
I’ll let Kelly and Darryl fill in the official tasting notes!
by the way Kelly: don’t love SC tooooooo much, Christine & I can’t operate that place without you! See you next week! 👍👏👏👏👏👍
— 8 years ago

with Christine

Greg Koslosky

9.6

Who says Cristal can't age! — 10 years ago

Richard Parkhouse

9.2

Washed down with some water from a Scottish loch... — 10 years ago

Robert McCall

9.4

Pours clean dark purple into the glass showing no age. I'll be damned if one couldn't enjoy the dark fruit aroma from 5 feet away. Wow. Dark fruit, leather and pleasant oak quality supplemented with a silky tannic structure that gave a 60 sec finish. Not the most complex Latour I've enjoyed at this point but this bottle actually tightened up over an hour after opening indicating much life ahead. Sheeeit! — 11 years ago

Greg Sorensen

9.2

Such a great Ardanza. Fruit acidity and all the classic tertiary magic. I wonder if today's Ardanza's will age with such grace. I miss the old school label too. — 11 years ago

Yoon Ha

Master Sommelier/Wine Director Benu

9.7

Still terrifically fresh energy here despite 40 years of age. — 13 years ago