Victor Hwang

9.2

88 mouton with Keith harding art work. The nose upon opening was sublime. As it decanted and opened, it was a bit disjointed. Has a lot of potential but at this age I think it’s not going to come together. The nose weakened, and the body to finish is a bit jarred. — 7 years ago

Tor Kenward

9.5

Needed a little time for acid fruit and age all to come together. Still vibrant. — 8 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.4

I thought it would be fun to pit this 5th growth vs the Margaux!
you can definitely tell that it was a baby BUT even Rocky was a teenager at some point!!!!
This will surely slay Dragons in the years to come but tonight age beat beauty 😂😘😘👌 — 8 years ago

with Christine and Kirk

Michael Meyer

9.5

Ding! Ding! Here is your winner. This SuperT wowed from start to finish in a tussle against its Chanti cousin Tignanello. Brilliant nose with dark red/purple fruit bursting from the glass. Leather, cedar, and spice round out the palate which is long and chewy. I think this fight could go on for years, but the Fontodi would consistently come out on top. — 9 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.2

Hep! Step up to the value plate and come back for seconds. — 9 years ago

with Mark

Erik Nordman

9.0

First time trying the '15s and it's as great as always. This is definitely a decent amount more brawny and ripe than the '14s but still identifiable as a Lapierre wine. That said, I'm still not the biggest fan of most of these '15's so far, they are too hot and ripe and don't really fit the profile of what I want from most Beaujolais. This is still pretty good on its own merits though. Day 1 it was closed and not giving up very much but on this morning, Day 2, it's come around and opened up quite a bit. Ripe, juicy strawberry and raspberry red fruit, tart rhubarb, wild violet, smoky gravel minerality, with a nice briny, almost gamey salinity underscoring things a bit. Nice medium (+) acid, medium (-) body with a great, soft texture. Just a touch of fine, supple tannic grip. There a bit of brett and VA but they're in balance rather than being a faulty distraction; the VA helps give a little extra lift, if anything. Will try another bottle after some more time has passed because even though it's good now it honestly still needs to come together a bit more; it seemed almost still slightly bottle shocked when I first opened it yesterday. If you're opening one soon I'd recommend giving it a little air to let it unfurl. — 10 years ago

Ben Lehman

9.2

Funky funky berry juice. Starting to come around. Last 2 bottles I had felt downright dormant. This is starting to show it's stuff, and I like what it's showing — 10 years ago

Jay Svoboda

8.9

I'm going to come clean, I'm not a huge Caymus fan. It's by no means a bad wine - far from it - but I've always felt they blend their Cab with too much Zin. I could be wrong on that account, but I don't think I am. Still, a nice brooding nose of dark red and blue fruit, with a touch of candied fruit and wet earth. — 11 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.4

2004 vintage. 86% Cabernet Sauvignon on the '04. Very good complexity, huge concentration and some very expensive carpentry applied on new French oak barrels. Bright acidity and fine grained tannins. Lovely aromas of black berry and black currant, plush oak, sweet spices and layers of complexity. Still very young. The structure should see this improve in bottle for many years to come. Outstanding. — 11 years ago

Mitja Sirk

Production La Subida, Aceto Sirk

9.6

Buonissimo!! Ancora potente e un po' rustico... Proprio come dovrebbe essere!! — 11 years ago

Michael Smith

9.3

What can you say, classic Reims crisp and tart. This NV is as consistent as they come. — 12 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.5

The 2015 Clos Mogador is a absolutely stunning release from this historic Priorat estate. Located in Gratallops, in the heart of the Priorat hills, René Barbier, one of the founders of the Priorat revolution, crafts an incredible blend of 40% Garnacha (lauched from 80 year old vines), 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Syrah and 5% Morvedre, Pinot Noir, and Merlot. This immediately reveals seductive aromas of red cherry preserves, rose petals and roasted figs. On the palate this is ripe and intense, yields bright flavors of orange rind, red cherry and red raspberry with wild thyme and garrigue flavors. Intoxicating and beautifully structured, this beautiful wine will evolve gracefully for many years to come. Drink 2019-2040- 95 — 7 years ago

Ira Schwartz

9.5

I was floored by the aromas coming from the glass, plums , tea, smoke , something green.. I wanted to stop there because I feared the palate could not come close to the nose. Boy was I wrong. Tannins obviously resolved but the acid was an eye-opener. Mushrooms , dark fruits, orange zest and figs . A lovely finish that was silk like. — 8 years ago

with Richard and Jason

Bill Bishop

9.3

Served from magnum. The 1979 Gruaud Larose is drinking beautifully. Light brick rim to dark ruby color. Just a touch of Bret in the nose but plenty of plum-like fruit. Nice acidity with plenty of fruit up front. Ripe. Soft tannins with nice lingering fruit in finish. Perfect now but will hold for several years to come. Drank on my 64th birthday with BBQ ribs. Great pairing. — 8 years ago

Alessandro Cantarelli

9.1

molto strutturato e vellutato al palato ribes e mirtilli sciroppati al naso molto raffinato come il Barbaresco buono deve essere — 9 years ago

Michael Meyer

9.3

Better days to come — 9 years ago

Gary Westby

Champagne & Sherry buyer K&L Wines

9.6

Charles from Champagne Louis Roederer was kind enough to bring this over and we enjoyed it with some Kelly's Katch caviar. It takes about 16 years for Cristal to come around, and this was showing wonderfully. It had nutty depth and incredibly long, chalky detail! — 10 years ago

with Jim

Petros Kostelidis

9.5

12 year old wine on our 4th year anniversary. It has been a wonderful journey so far and I'm sure the best has yet to come. Never been happier.
— 10 years ago

Skip Smyser

9.2

Young and robust but will peak in at least 10 years. Tight and slow to release. We could come back to this Tommorrow and it would be better — 10 years ago

with Jayson and Jason

Bryan Garcia

Sales Grand Cru Selections

9.3

Teenager that needs a little more time to come out of his shell. Classic Chave weight, texture, and elegance. — 11 years ago

with Patrick

William Leslie

9.9

First off. You have heard about decanting.... This is a great example. Open and it tastes flat, give it time to breath and the flavors come out. The nose has a nice oak, smokey texture. Taste has a predominant black cherry flavor with nice ripe fruit flavors. Oak remains throughout the taste from start to finish with american oak flavors. An almost cigar smokiness hits immediately with a slight spice....not sure where to compare this to because it's not like a Zinfandel pepper, but more like an allspice. The overall feel is medium bodied with rich cherry flavors and well balanced for a smooth feel. This is a great introduction to Stags Leap without spending $150. — 11 years ago

Ken Z

9.5

Drank 1/18/19 at the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux event in Miami.  All wines from the 2016 Vintage.

Tasting pour, no formal notes taken.  Most of these wines are very tight, and will require 5-15 years to really come together.  Many will likely improve a few points with time.

Delicious black fruit. More complexity and depth than the Grand Puy Ducasse. — 7 years ago

with JT

Mads

9.8

Birthday wine. Velvety with dark fruit. Great tannins. Will be easy drinking for a long time to come. Great with Lamb. — 8 years ago

with Paul

Mark Flesher

9.5

A nice Grande Cuvee by Krug. I didn't get to have much of this at all. I do remember that this one had a hair pin trigger on it! I let it breathe for a bit. This one had a nice straw colored hue. Lots of lemon and some nutty characters. Was going to come back to it. It was set down when greeting a guest, and gone very soon thereafter. I remember great fruit but thinking this one probably is still too young. — 8 years ago

with Dan, Benjamin and 2 others

Rick Jordan

9.0

VINTAGE: 2004
BOTTLE: 375ml
APPEARANCE: Deep red, garnet meniscus, viscous legs.
NOSE: Allspice, white pepper, bell pepper, dark fruits.
MOUTHFEEL: Round, medium - acidity, medium + tannins.
PALATE: Cinnamon, tomato leaf, leather, hints of vanilla.
FINISH: Long with sandalwood throughout and some cocoa at the very end.
NOTES: Picked this up in December of 2017, thinking the 375 bottle will have made this ready to drink immediately. Was not wrong, it is drinking well, but there is sufficient backbone left in this wine to age for many more years to come, even in a 375. Nice layers of complexity that were fun to tease out, but still many notes that I don’t yet have the ability to properly identify. I look forward to trying again with more years under its belt. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

On the nose, stewed fruits of; black plum, blackberries, dark cherries, plum and blueberries. Mocha, chocolate, mixed berry cola, sweet spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, loamy mineral soils and dry dark florals. The mouthfeel is less concentrated than other vintages of Corison but that's indicative of the 10 Napa vintage generally. The tannins are nicely resolved with another 5-8 years before they are completely resolve. The fruits are; dark cherries, black plum, plum, black raspberries, blackberries with strawberries that dance around the rest of the fruit. There's nice barrel toast, vanilla, nutmeg, light clove, cinnamon, touch of wood shavings, liqueur notes, caramel, mocha chocolate, mix berry cola, loamy soils, dry crushed rocks, bramble, dry stems with nice soft round acidity. The finish is a little lean but tasty. Good balance of fruit and earth with long, rich elegance. Cathy slightly overachieved the 10 vintage as a whole. Photos of; her estate building, Cathy in her vineyard, grapes coming in at night (better to harvest when the fruit is cooler) and her estate vineyard in all it's glory. Producer notes and history...Cathy Corison grew up in Riverside, California. She studied biology at Pomona College and was on their men's diving team, because the school didn't have a women's team. In 1972, she had to take an extracurricular class. She signed up for a trampoline class, but changed her mind upon seeing a sign-up sheet for a wine tasting class. This class was the catalyst that sparked her interest in winemaking. After graduation in 1975, she moved to Napa Valley in California. She received her Master's degree in Enology from University of California, Davis. Upon moving to Napa, she started working in the tasting room at Sterling Vineyards and at a wine shop. During this time, she was getting her Master's degree at the University of California, Davis. She was told by her professor that she would not get a job in Napa Valley because of being a woman. However, if she wasn't the first Napa Valley female Winemaker, she was certainly one of the first. She tried to get a job at Freemark Abbey and was denied because they believed she could not work in the cellar. She almost took a job at Christian Brothers in the enology lab. However, she decided not to take the job and in 1978 she became an intern at Freemark Abbey and eventually became their Winemaker. She joined Chappellet in 1983 and was their Winemaker for nearly ten years. She founded Corison Winery, in 1987. The winery is located in St. Helena, California in a barn built by her husband, William Martin. Corison makes Cabernet and Gewürztraminer. They produce about 3,500 cases a year depending on the vintage. The winery makes a Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and as well as a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The Kronos is an estate wine that is made from organic grapes. The vineyard is dry farmed. The grapes come from one of the oldest vineyards in Napa Valley. The Napa Valley Cabernet comes from Rutherford. The Gewürztraminer is called Corazón and comes from the Anderson Valley. — 9 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

It needed an hour decant to come around and blow off the barnyard funk. After that, elegance, ruby blue and red soft fruits; blueberries, bright cherries, fresh juicy strawberries, some cooked green bell early on that gradually faded, steeped tea, soft saddlewood & minerality, a touch of easy wet black earth, pebbles. The 88 has all the classic characteristics and elegant finish one comes to expect from Pichon Lalande. Not their best but pretty darn good on Christmas Eve into Christmas. Merry Christmas all!!! — 11 years ago

Winston Biltz

9.6

Elegant wine with finesse and a smooth finish. Violets on the nose. Slight hints of pepper . Cab franc and floral notes come through in the end. — 11 years ago

with Bob

Steven Kahn

9.3

The nose was a 10, but maybe a bit past peak...finish just didn't quite come through. — 12 years ago

Charles Schneider

9.9

Extraordinary, with many extraordinary years to come! — 13 years ago