John Bjorklund

9.1

Wonderful 9 year old wine. Soft and supple and dances on the tongue. Perfect by itself. Corked it and it was skunked in 24 hrs. 😣 — 6 years ago

Jason McLaren

9.2

Medium fruit. Some earthiness. Never their best year after year — 7 years ago

Stephen Pierron

9.8

Beautiful wine! 2009 Margaux from Château D'Issan ...even more enjoyable knowing that we have actually visited and toured the 15th century Château....one of the few actually surrounded by a moat!

Will post tasting notes soon, but this bottle opened up beautifully. 😀🍷🇫🇷 — 7 years ago

with Jen

Tom Casagrande

9.3

I LOVE this. Such a great nose. Sweet funk, ripe fruit, granite, spices. Intense, ripe, granitic, and soft in the mouth. Terrific acidity. This tastes almost 19th Century. In the very best way. — 7 years ago

with Lyle

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Had another bottle, aged well. A neighbor of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes is positioned on the same bank. The name derives from the friars, known as ";Les Carmes"; who owned the property between the 16th & 18th century. This estate has been under new ownership since 2010. Predominantly Merlot and Cabernet Franc, aged for 18 months in French oak, (33% new). Red fruit and currants on the nose. Raspberry and plum flavors fine tannins and lingering finish ending with mineral tones. Nice! — 8 years ago

Matt Austin

Owner/Winemaker, Grosgrain Vineyards, Walla Walla, WA

9.2

Structure is fully resolved and you are left with pure zin fruit and spice. Beautifully aged old-vine zin. Sadly Silver Oak acquired this vineyard in 2012 and ripped out the old vines to plant more Cab Sauv for their Alexander Valley bottling. Hideous label, though. — 8 years ago

Jason McLaren

9.4

This is RESERVE. Good balance. Tasted like a Cab at first then Zin flavor came through. Not big jam and blackberry. Solid — 9 years ago

with Carrie

Christina Jones

9.2

Lovely light wine. Soft finish. With the Levitts in Philadelphia Mothers Day 2016. — 9 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Earthy cherry notes with a touch of leather. Sounds like descriptors for a good Brunello but no, this is a very good 10 year old Hunter valley Shiraz. A product of vines now more than a century old from the historic Hillside Vineyards. Named after the legendary Maurice O'Shea who began making wine in the Hunter in 1925. I have read his biography and once had a bottle of 1952 made by the great man, who died in 1956. Viticulture in the Hunter can be traced back to 1823. — 9 years ago

Roberto A Rojas

9.4

Heavenly. As good as quarter-century old wine will taste. Classic Pauillac nose, still some fruit but mostly other interesting pieces to this bouquet puzzle. A mouthful and lingering for a minute or more. This is the stuff. — 11 years ago

Jim Edison

9.8

Three years and I finished it! I fucking rock! Yeah... Not for lightweights... — 12 years ago

Britta Moline

9.0

Lovely. Bold without being too weighty. A perfect lunch wine. — 12 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

History of Chapoutier family dates back to early 19th century when current owner Michel Chapoutier’s great-, great-, great-grandfather Marius purchased estate & famous l’Hermitage vineyards. Deep Purple (with a little smoke on the water), 100% Grenache with aromas of dark fruit and complex exotic spice. Plum, berry & current flavors with nutty tobacco develops into sweet licorice. Tannins a bit grippy but will soften, lingering, balance ending with fruit and spice. Nice!
— 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

The Seigniory of Olivier dates back to the 12th century. The Château is surrounded by moats and an immense forest. Deep color with aromas of fruit and sweet floral spices, elegant nose. On the palate strawberry and blackberry flavors with pepper and tangy citrus notes. Tight tannins with cedar, well balanced with acidity, lingering ending with mineral character. Give this some time in the bottle. Nice Value! — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

I have a six-pack of this 05. I thought after 10 years in bottle, it would be interesting to check in on its evolution. While tasty, I’ll wait another 8-10 to open another. Even after 2-3 hours in the decanter, it’s still a very young adolescent. On the nose, slightly sour blackberries & dark cherries, dark currants, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, anise, whiff of spice, steeped tea, dry stones, dry crushed rocks with dry top soil, caramel, vanilla with fresh & dry red florals. The body is thick & full. Tannins are starting to round out. It’s velvety on the palate. The fruits are; bright, fresh & ripe and really show the greatness of the 05 vintage. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, baked strawberries, cherries, raspberries on the long set, dark spice, clay & loamy dry top soil with crushed rocks, dry stones, cigar with ash, graphite, dry stems, slight herbaceous character, mint, used leather, clove, caramel, vanilla, fresh & dry red florals with violets. The round acidity is about perfect. The structure and length are still strong. The balance is in harmony. As for the long finish, it’s lush, ruby, rich and well polished. Photos of; Chateau Brane Cantenac, large wood vats, Henri Lurton and Estate vines. Producer notes and history...Chateau Brane Cantenac began in the early 17th century. At the time, the estate was known as Domaine Guilhem Hosten. Even that far back, wine was produced from the property. In fact, the wine was so highly regarded it was one of the more expensive wines in Bordeaux. It sold for almost as much money as Brane Mouton. This is interesting because of who went on to buy the vineyard in the 1800’s. The Baron of Brane, also known as “Napoleon of the Vineyards”, purchased the Chateau in 1833. At the time of the sale, the estate was called Chateau Gorce-Guy. To get the funds needed to purchase the Margaux vineyard, the Baron sold what is now called Mouton Rothschild, which was at the time of the sale, known as Chateau Brane-Mouton. Not such a good move with hundreds of years in hindsight! In 1838, the Baron renamed property taking his name and the name of the sector where the vineyards were located and called it Chateau Brane Cantenac. The Chateau later passed to the Roy family, who were well-known in the Margaux appellation in those days, as they owned Chateau d’issan. Moving ahead to 1920, the Societe des Grands Crus de France, a group of merchants and growers that owned several chateaux located in the Medoc including; Chateau Margaux, Chateau Giscours, and Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien, purchased Chateau Brane Cantenac. Five years later, M. Recapet and his son-in-law, François Lurton, took over Brane Cantenac along with Chateau Margaux. Lucien Lurton (the son of François Lurton) inherited Brane Cantenac in 1956. Today, the estate is still in the hands of the Lurton family. Brane Cantenac is owned and run by Henri Lurton. After being given the responsibility of managing Brane Cantenac, it was under the direction of Henri Lurton that large portions of the vineyard were replanted. Vine densities were increased, the drainage systems were improved and the plantings were also, slowly changed. The vineyard of Brane Cantenac is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and .5% Carmenere. Carmenere was used for the first time in the 2011 vintage. The only other Chateau I know that still uses Carmenere is Clerc Milon. The 75 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Brane Cantenac is essentially unchanged since it earned Second Growth status in the 1855 Classification. At least that is the case with the 45 hectares used to produce the Grand Vin of Brane Cantenac. Those 45 hectares are planted surrounding the Chateau. Those vines are located just in front of the Cantenac plateau and are the best terroir that Brane Cantenac owns. They have other parcels, which are further inland and much of those grapes are placed into their second wine, Le Baron de Brane. Those additional hectares can be divided into 3 main sections. Behind the Chateau, they have 15 hectares of vines on gravel and sand, 10 hectares across the road with sand, gravel and iron and a 13 hectare parcel with gravel called Notton, which is used for their second wine. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,666 vines per hectare on the plateau and up to 8,000 vines per hectare for the vines located behind chateau, in their sandier soils. The higher levels of vine density are always found in the newer plantings. The terroir of Brane Cantenac consists of deep gravel, sand and clay soil. Experiments in the vineyards are currently looking at becoming more organic in their vineyard management. Today, more than 25% of Brane Cantenac is farmed using organic farming techniques. It is expected that over time, the amount of hectares farmed with organic methods will be increased. Brane Cantenac has gone through 2 relatively recent modernization’s in 1999, when they added began adding the first of their smaller vats to allow for parcel by parcel vinification and then again in 2015 when they completed a much more complete renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. While Brane Cantenac is a traditional producer, they are no stranger to technology as they were one of the first estates to embrace optical grape sorting machines. In very wet vintages, they can also use reverse osmosis. To produce the wine of Chateau Brane Cantenac, the wine is vinified in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional, 22 oak vats, 18 concrete tanks and 20 stainless steel vats that vary in size from 40 hectoliters all the way up to 200 hectoliters, which allows for parcel by parcel vinification. 40% of the fermentation takes place in the oak vats. The oldest vines are vinified in vats that are selected to allow for separate parcel by parcel vinification. The younger vines are vinified more often together in the same vats. However, the Carmenere is entirely micro-vinified, meaning that those grapes were completely vinified in barrel, using micro-vinification techniques. This can also happen because the amount of grapes produced is so small. Some vats can be co-inoculated, meaning they go through alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation simultaneously. At Chateau Brane Cantenac, malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak tanks and barrels. The wine of Brane Cantenac is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The initial 2 months of aging is done with the wine on its lees, which adds more depth to the wine. There second wine is Le Baron de Brane. Le Baron de Brane is not new. In fact, previously, the second wine went under the name of Chateau Notton, which took its name from one of the main parcels where the grapes were planted. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, having a second wine was important as the estate declassified 3 vintages, due to extremely poor, weather conditions in 1956, 1960 and 1963. Production of Chateau Brane Cantenac is about 11,000 cases per year. — 7 years ago

Melanie Epstein

9.9

Visited the Biltmore winery and my only regret is that we only brought home 2 bottles! We love this one! — 9 years ago

Nicole Stagg

9.2

Very sweet also like a moscato but much easier to drink. — 10 years ago

Christopher Palomo

9.0

100 year old zin vines in Somoma Valley. We were impressed with this wine at the tasting, we'll see if we still feel the same after we pop the cork on this one. — 11 years ago

Renee Nagel

9.7

Chocolate flavor — 12 years ago

Jeff Loo

9.2

Always fun to drink this with fellow wine lovers, such a fun wine but sad to see the price tag that you have to pay for it now. — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Had another ‘14 in my cellar. A Napa producer since 1876, established by Jacob Beringer & continues in its 3rd century. In a word, a “BIG” Chardonnay. Pale with stone and tropical fruit aromas and complex spice. Sitting on 80% new French oak, the palate shows ripe apple, apricot, pear & lemon flavors with sweet vanilla spice. Nice buttery mouthfeel, creamy, balanced with lively acidity and toasty oak adding an ending of minerality. Aging well! — 7 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.5

Poured from a 375. This wine, even from 375, was really firing on all cylinders and maybe even a bit locked up for the first hour, just shows you that any vintage in the 21st century really should be locked up in the vault, not seeing the light of day for another 10 years from 375. This wine had a classic Pauillac nose. My initial thought was a young Pichon however even Pichon young seems to have more mushroom, more earthy loam and gravel and this one was just so damn smooth in its earthy notes. The wine was robust on the front, lots of earth, mushroom enhancing the youthful blackberry notes. Finished with some peppery notes. Great terroir notes. This wine was awesome, and I think I probably drank half of this while Walter drank the Spoto :) — 7 years ago

with Dan

M. Hammer

9.3

Great oak and leathery Cab. — 8 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Taylor's is now into its 4th century & one of the oldest Port houses. It is the last totally independent company of the original British Port houses, still family owned and managed. Aged for 10 years in oak casks. Amber color with aromas of sweet dried fruits and nutty notes. On the palate sweet ripe fruit in a nutty oak wrapper, some vanilla and ending with a raisin aftertaste. Smooth, Nice value. — 8 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

8.9

Created in the 15th century, de Pez is the oldest domaine in Saint Estèphe. The Pontac family gave Pez its vineyards. The property was purchased by Champagne Louis Roederer in 1995. Deep red with fresh fruit aromas and floral spice. Dry firm tannins with good structure allows for further aging. Savory on the finish with earthy mineral, needs decanting. — 9 years ago

Michael Meagher MS

Chairman/Founder Boston Sommelier Society, Beverage Director Cafe Escadrille

9.5

I heard about this wine from a lot of old school buyers. It's living up to expectation and more. — 9 years ago

Louis Schofield

Sommelier/Wine Merchant East End Cellars

10

There's two kinds of people who drink Madeira, MWs and people who'd like to be MWs. — 9 years ago

Bill Mowry

9.3

From the Willamette Valley's 2008 vintage of the century for Pinot Noir, this was our Thanksgiving wine and it paired beautifully with turkey dinner. — 10 years ago

William Hughes

9.1

A fine sheet of lean tannins and a fair bit of acidity balance out the gobs of fruit. Drinking local as I watch the Capitals beat the Rangers! Will I have to pull out a Chicago beer for my Blackhawks? — 10 years ago

Cathy Corison

Owner/Winemaker Corison Winery

9.9

Fresh off the bottling line. Slated for fall release. 25th (!?) anniversary label. Very challenging vintage, one of the best wines I've ever made. So looking forward to the next quarter-century. — 11 years ago