Broke out one of my cellared Raffaults for my homeboy who graced me with a home cooked Tuscan styled flank steak w rosemary & arugula, as well as Israeli cous cous w chickpeas, charred tomatoes, feta, & herbs. Light Cadmium red hued & strong color though ( good cork- not a guarantee w Raffault!); dense Hibiscus, fresh raspberry & some bramble on nose; on palate very clean & smooth mouthfeel, with the initial flavors repeated but a deeper blend of red fruits & a stronger presence of under brush. Super fresh & integrated. Elegant, & the Burgundy echo was hard to ignore. Not Uber complex but not monolithic either, which this line of Raffault can be in its youth ( or as it ages). Very impressive, & accessible now. Curious how my ‘02 & 07s will fare… — a year ago
Lime, green tea, maybe a little ginger? High acid, mineral, salinity. Better on day 2. — 7 months ago
I started my visit to Opus one with this 2017 vintage.
On nose its peppery, spices, some tobacco, leather, Dried sweet fruit, Black Cherries
On palate, its so elegant. The Acidity and Tannins, its covers your mouthfeel yet sharp and warm Napa Style carbenet. Its Long, with well balanced Intensity. Surprised how 2017 can deliver this performance. CHEERS! — 8 months ago
All class, all sophistication. Lots of black fruit, currants, cedar, earth. A touch of oak, well balanced acidity and fruit. Can age well much longer. Beautiful long finish. Very savory. Smoke meats and salt. Dark chocolate and dusts of graphite also noticed. 13% — 3 years ago
Celler de Can Roca — 4 years ago
A big bold plumy purple bomb As dense and luscious as a wine can get in a glass. Decanted for 2 hrs and its still a baby with blackberry, dark chocolate licorice and pepper on the nose and on the palate. A long long finish and loads of tannins to sum it all up — 6 years ago
Dark purple plum skin color from center to the rim’s edge where some scarlet also appears. Opaque. Great fruit forward nose that grabs your attention. Notes of blackberries, ripe plums, violets, tobacco, forest floor and some crushed walnuts. Rich and silky in the mouth. Great balance and texture. Tannins perfectly integrated. Long finish. If a Cal Cab can be seductive, this is it. Still youthful but in a great zone tonight. — 7 years ago
Bright ruby garnet with quite narrow garnet rim . Quite closed at first with mineral , cassis , sous bois , cigar box , touch of smoke . On the palate very intense with lots of cigar box tinged cassis , blackberry , cedar , coffee. Gritty but integrated tannins , fresh acidity . Very long and complex on the finish . This is still young but is starting to show what it can do , perfectly balanced and enormously long . Precise and for Las Cases very elegant . Now and for the next 10-15 years . — 8 months ago
1990 vintage. Neck base fill. Cork fairly saturated. Durand used. Appropriate sediment. Opened but not decanted. Tasted after one hour. Light-medium body. This was fully integrated and harmonious. Can’t imagine this vintage tasting better as this was a great specimen. Finish just glided along like a sail craft on a glassy day. Can hold at this level for another 5-6 years easy. One of the best Lafite efforts I’ve ever enjoyed. 8.16.24. — 9 months ago
Now I see how this wine can be so divisive. LOTS of brett at first, more band-aid than barnyard. Takes a while to get past it and then lots of exotic spices show up. But after 40 minutes in the glass still nothing primary. It’s got the funk I can appreciate in some good left bank Bordeaux but also feels somewhat single-threaded. — 4 years ago
Had two bottles of these to serve at a dinner for my daughter’s 21st birthday. They were wonderful wines, still lively and with plenty of full mouth for its 21 year age. But it also had that long finish of earth and dark cherry pit that well aged Bordeaux can have. It was enjoyed by all present. — 6 years ago
🎉 Happy New Year dear friends 🎉
Have a fabulous evening & I wish you a fantastic 2018 full of health, happiness, love, peace & many more fabulous wine discoveries 😍
From Jan 1st 2018 I’ll be posting reviews from vintages 1961 through to 2018 😁 so get ready for a journey 🤪 then I can catch up with everything else I’m having tonight 🙃🍷🥂
For now this lovely Dom can kick off the celebrations 🎊 Enjoy yourself 🤗💃🕺
To 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣8️⃣ 🥂😘
— 7 years ago
Vino Joe
Fantastic and seemed even more mature than 13 years. Dark dark but smooth and developed. It’s a focused wine in great balance. No complaints but you can tell it was a bit below the heights for Latour. Double decanted and enjoyed over 4+ hours. — 7 months ago