Crowded Hour

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2000

With a 2 hour decant (needs 3) the 2000 Lalanden has noticeable Petit Verdot and pales in comparison to its sibling the Baron in this vintage. Still a very good wine! — 3 months ago

Château Montrose

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1990

Simply superb bottle! Decanted for an hour and consumed over next two with beef stew — 4 months ago

Ted, Joel and 5 others liked this

Château Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2007

No formal notes . Medium deep ruby . This seems a bit more advanced . This is a bit harder and more structured on the palate , more tannin , less velvety and a bit more astringent . More spicy , drier on the palate . This needed more time to open . This was quite difficult to judge , I wasn’t 100% convinced about this bottle as it just seemed a little oxidative, however it did actually seemed to come together better after an hour or so , but still quite hard and astringent in comparison to the others (especially La Mission) . Showed a touch more mineral and grafite on the finish too after a while. This needed time , and I would imagine another bottle might tell a different story . — 5 months ago

Anthony, Andrew and 6 others liked this

Dalla Valle Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

1 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment). A striking still dark purplish magenta with some bricking. On the nose: beautiful perfumed notes of dark fruit, spearment, stewed meat, worn leather, smokey earth. Taste: smooth, creamy, balanced, silky wine with some black raspberry, earth, mocha, metallic, and a long licorice black tea finish. YUM! Past it's peak for any fruit fans, but still some time with the tertiary/secondary flavors. — 7 months ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland
with Brenda
Brenda, Rick and 12 others liked this

Beaulieu Vineyard

Private Reserve Georges de Latour Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

A good, solid California Cab but what’s all the fuss about? I’m seeing ratings of 98, 99, even 100 from JS. Really? No way. This is a clear case of praise crossing over into hype. Granted, still a bit young and not at its peak but after five years in the bottle and an hour of decanting it needs to be more than just fine if it wants to justify stratospheric scores. This wine compares unfavorably to Ridge Monte Bello, Stags Leap Cask 23 and other peers. It lacked sophistication and poise—where’s the promised minerality, graphite, cedar shavings, oak, leather, blackcurrant, cherry, and complex balance of fine grained tannins, fruit, acid and alcohol? Where? We chose this wine for a birthday dinner at Lawry’s Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. Not a disaster but a disappointment given our high expectations (and the high price).
— 9 months ago

Ira and "Odedi" liked this

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2004

+1 hour decant(some fine/chunky sediment). A splendid crimson red color. On the nose: wonderful bouquet with plum, stewed meat, cassis, sweet tobacco, funky earth, leather. Taste: silky, finessed, balanced wine with red berries/plum, coffee grounds, cedar, tobacco, and a nice peppery pencil lead long finish. YUM! Pure class in a glass. — 10 months ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland
with Brenda
Brenda, Vino and 22 others liked this

Abreu Vineyards

Madrona Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

1 hour decant (lots of chunky/fine sediment). A stunning still dark ruby red with some purple hues. On the nose: blackberry, rich potting soil, slight menthol, little green veggie and black olives, floral. Taste: smooth wine, silky tannins coat the mouth with some dark cherries, bitter chocolate, soy sauce, pepper, and a metallic cedar dry finish. Seems like it should be drunk sooner than later, but holding its own at 20 years. — 3 years ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland
with Brenda
Brenda, Paul and 13 others liked this

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2000

Two hour decant this 2000 Pichon Baron is exceptional! Very smooth glycerin like coating covering black and red cherries, leather, tobacco, olives and smoke simply outstanding. The finish could be a bit better though — 3 months ago

Ira, "Odedi" and 9 others liked this

Produttori del Barbaresco

Barbaresco Nebbiolo 2015

Good after sitting for an hour or so, and with food — 4 months ago

Brian Broxson
with Brian
Bobbi Jo, Brian and 1 other liked this

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2014

With a four hour decant this bottle was brilliant! Notes of cedar, tobacco, cassis, dried blueberries it was an excellent accompaniment to the Matsuzaya beef — 6 months ago

Paul, Peter and 5 others liked this

Caymus Vineyards

Special Selection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Super sweet and oaky on first open but matured up with a 3 hour decant

Still quite fruity but with steak, it gives a lot of red berry fruit and the oak is reasonable and the sweetness is gone with the airtime.

Overall good wine but I thought it lost out to the Paul Hobbs LPV ‘14.
— 7 months ago

Bob, Andrew and 3 others liked this

Crowded House

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Zippy, savory funny undertones. Very good! Had at Emily with pizza in NYC. — 8 months ago

Château Léoville-Las Cases

Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2001

Has finally entered a the period to enjoy with patience rewarded. A nice nose of earth, dark berries, and florals. Nice long finish with a bit of plum coming through. An hour decant to the benefit of the wine. — 9 months ago

Ron, Somm and 8 others liked this

Quilceda Creek

Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Did not make it to 3rd hour of decant. Everyone drank it up quickly. Wine got better with each minute. — a year ago

Tom, Bob and 6 others liked this
Bob McDonald

Bob McDonald Influencer Badge

@Joe DAscoli Do you have a vintage Joe?

Joseph Phelps Vineyards

Insignia Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2007

1 hour decant(lots chunky/fine sediment). A gorgeous inky purplish garnet color. On the nose: dark fruit, forest floor, smoked meat, floral, cigar wrapper, pencil lead. Taste: smooth, rich, creamy mouthcoating wine with blackberry/dark cherry, dark chocolate, earth, tobacco, baking spice, and a cedar/graphite medium plus finish with some slight dusty tannins. Had this 2 years ago, and it's improved. In the beginning of its drink window at 18 years? Wow — 4 months ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland
with Brenda
Brenda, Steve and 20 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

Love this JP vintage!

Spottswoode

Family Estate Grown St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

2018 vintage. Decanted and tasted after 15 mins and one hour. Beautifully feminine and expressive nose leapt out of the decanter. Medium body. Nice balance of dark fruits and tannins but slightly disjointed. A bigg Napa vintage so either another decade or a three hour tour...er...decant would seem to be the ticket here. 01.31.25. — 5 months ago

Ron, Ted and 21 others liked this

Tenuta San Guido

Bolgheri Sassicaia Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 2004

Lovely wine that took about an hour to really open up. Sad that this has gotten so pricy! — 7 months ago

Lauren
with Lauren
Lauren, Bob and 9 others liked this

Château Léoville Barton

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1990

1990 vintage. Excellent fill and halfway saturated cork. Used a Durand but surmise a regular waiter's friend, wielded carefully, could have done the trick with the cork. Decanted and tasted after 30 mins, one hour and two hours. Some obvious sed but not troublesome or overtly noticeable. Original owner-château direct on original release. Super cold cellar because this was lagging noticeably behind other '90's and LB's. Bigger tannic structure (for a generally feminine-styled house) than anything save a Latour, Mouton, Ducru Left Bank property. Even more guts than Lynch-Bages or Pichon-Baron '90's currently stored above 55 or so degrees. Surprising but made sense. Light-medium body. Appropriate color. 3-4 years left in this stage unless larger format in play. Slight, fleeting burst of richness in the frontal palate and a tad brickish and then it just flowed on, without speed bumps. A little cocoa powder and cedar/tobacco. Suspect 750ml specimens not stored as cold/religiously will be showing more in the 9.0-9.1 range and farther down the backside of the bell curve. 10.26.24. — 8 months ago

Ira, Jan and 17 others liked this
Ron R

Ron R Influencer Badge Premium Badge

Good notes, mate.
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

@Ron R Hey there! It's been a spell.

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1985

No problems noted despite the age. Very good, but not outstanding. The nose was great at about 30 minutes-1 hour in the glass. The nose seemed to fade over the evening, but still very nice. Acidity is notable. Earthy flavors, tobacco, dried fruit. Great experience trying a 41 year old vintage! — 10 months ago

La Rioja Alta

Gran Reserva 904 Rioja Tempranillo Graciano 2011

Needed at least an hour to open up. Wasn’t good until then. Great combination of savory flavors. — 3 years ago

Sagee, Joel and 7 others liked this