John Malcolm

9.5

Blueberries, herbs, and cedar. Complex, elegant, and intense. Such a lovely wine. Decanted for about four hours and served with lamb — a magnificent combination. — 4 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

From a great old looking bottle with a mid shoulder fill. Cork is fully saturated and the crud under the capsule had formed a strong seal. Slow-ox’d for a few hours, then decanted for an hour or two before taken to L’Escargot in Carmel. Amber tawny rims with a reddish tawny core. Crazy nose right from the start. Notes of sweet black cherries, tobacco leaf, plums, black pepper, ash and crusty wood, pencil shavings, some just unwrapped cigar and some menthol. Silky in the mouth with firm structure and soft but present acidity. Long and memorable finish. Outstanding performance over several hours. — 6 years ago

Gaurav Tiwari

9.2

This is a classic! Decanted for 3 hrs. Clear watery hue, beautiful pale Garnett in the middle. Medium viscosity, medium alcohol. On the nose, red cherry, strawberries, flowers, spices - thyme, clove, wet cigar, wet leaves. On the palate, confirmed red cherries, strawberries and powerful/rigid but silky tannins and racy acidity to balance it all. Long earthy finish. Elegant yet tough...like a ballerina! Very well balanced and serious wine from a good producer. This is their entry level Barbaresco that punches above its weight for what it costs. Stocking up.. this will drink even better in 5 years. — 6 years ago

B

10

1994 Screaming Eagle. Dinner w J&L B and D&M H while staying with D&M in Santa Ynez. Opened and waited about an hour. Decanted right before serving. Tons of jammy dark fruit. Opened more in the glass. JB mentioned full palate and balance. Great finish. Preferred this to ‘91 Dominus once this opened up. — 7 years ago

Vincy

9.5

A very complex wine with big muscular structure. Earthy smell at the beginning, Graphite, pencil shaving, tobacco leaves, coffee beans, very strong tannic but change to silky after hours. Decanted it for more than 5 hours it showed a different way. Really impressive for this Sunday night. — 8 years ago

Pooneet K

9.3

Absolutely delicious Brunello from 2001. Intense aromatics, deeply mouth filling. Decanted for a couple hours. Had with prime dry aged steaks. Just an awesome pairing. Really an iconicly excellent wine. — 9 years ago

Christopher DiPalmo

9.1

Amazingly preserved, needed to be decanted for an hour but tasted the whole way through and what an experience. Perfect pairings for an evening at Kitchen a Bistro to celebrate my brothers birthday. — 9 years ago

Warren Grossman

9.4

Decanted, still in sweet spot. Very much enjoyed — 9 years ago

Jared O'Connell

9.4

1979...decanted ~1hr and doesn't need a longer decant. Still some fruit here but brilliant menthol and smokiness. Light body despite bold red color. Enjoyable but after 2.5 hrs had definitely faded. Careful with the cork though too. — 10 years ago

Jane Shiverick

Partner Langdon Shiverick Imports

9.1

Decanted YESterday — 11 years ago

Frank Turner

9.4

Beautiful depth and balance. Still retains fruit and very smooth in mouth. Decanted for 2 hours — 11 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

From a great looking bottle with a fill almost into the neck. Double decanted and left in the bottle for 5 hours before attacking it. Amber color. Good weight and haunting nose. Notes of old cedar, mocha, plums, cola, dark fruit, molasses and some sweet red cherry. Early on it’s all about the amazing nose. But with time the wine gains weight and you have a gorgeous old St Estephe in front of you. Still giving its all, and although the fruit is somewhat faded, this has complexity and structure that still drives the experience. And that nose is simply stunning. Great showing. — 4 years ago

Mario Vaillancourt

9.1

Decanted 90 minutes. Very dark opaque colour. Nose with dark fruits, some black currant early on but some spices as well and some oak. Tasted blind the nose seems more CNP then Right Bank. Palate is dense, powerful, nice acidity in the middle, ripe fruit, volume and depth along with a delicious finish with a slight dryness. Very good but there is a little bit of warmth to it caused by alcohol that makes the whole balance very slightly out of sink with the rest. 90-91

Carafé 90 minutes. Couleur foncée et opaque. Fruits noirs, cassis aussi, du bois un peu. Fait plus CNP que Rive Droite au nez. Bouche délicieuse, puissante, dense, du volume, belle acidité en millieu de bouche, finale est assez longue, un peu asséchante et une touche alccoleuse qui affecte un peu l’équilibre d’ensemble. Très bien malgré tout, mais pas certain que ca deviendra grand. 90-91 — 6 years ago

K. Syrah

9.1

2017. Decanted 4+ hours. Pains me to not give one of my favorite labels a 95+, but this hot vintage is simply missing the red fruit to go with all the rustic leather and barnyard funk that makes Pegau so unique. Rich but not sure fruit is going to come around. Discounted- $50 at Wine Library, elsewhere. — 6 years ago

Charles Garrison

9.5

Rich, without being heavy; elegant and balanced; darker fruits with a wonderful finish; decanted 90 minutes and continued to improve through the evening — 7 years ago

Shay A

9.3

Half bottle and outstanding. Only bottle decanted for 30mins or so. Crushed blackberries, graphite/lead, bay leaf. At almost 21yrs old, still fairly tannic! Killer weight. Bordeaux like on the palate...a chalkiness to it, alongside leather, plum and fruit skins. Don’t be scared to let this sleep for another 5-7yrs. — 9 years ago

with Dan and Mark

admiral von schnauzer

9.1

This wine crushed. Inky darky beautiful reddy goodness. Huge cherry bomb but without the sweet over extracted ca style. (Duh. Its not CA) much more of a palette encompassing cherry thang. Great length, not a tonne of sediment. Decanted. — 9 years ago

Bill Carroll

9.1

Decanted for 3 hours. Barn floor, rustic raspberries, cow hide, smoke. Acid is balanced but solid funk. Great steal for $40 — 10 years ago

Pooneet K

9.3

Really, really nice. Decanted for 1.5 hours and this guy is ready to go. Definitely a touch more fruit forward than expected, but still an excellent core of acidity that keeps it super lively. Very silky tannins at this point, no point to wait longer but also not at all over the hill. — 10 years ago

Jeffrey Long

9.4

Nice gamey nose with a hint of toluene. Decanted, but over the course of 1.5 hours the palate never quite caught up with the nose. Regardless, an excellent complex wine. — 11 years ago

Andrew Turner

9.5

Our 10th anniversary wine. Excellent once decanted. — 5 years ago

Will Stanley

9.5

Decanted for around an hour, the recently released 2013 Grand Vin from Chateau Musar is an enormous wine at present in its youth. Gradually, it opened into a gorgeous, exotic and utterly unique product of this unlikely corner of the wine world. There’s plenty of Bordeaux-like character in the form of dark fruit and cigar box, but there are notes too of cranberry, liquorice, clove, mandarin and five spice. The mouthfeel, as a whole, has a quasi Brunello quality to it, with its bright cherry fruit and mouthwatering acidity. But woe is anyone to compare this wine to any other, for it is incomparable. One of Serge Hochar’s last vintages before his passing in 2014, and one that will doubtless have a long life. — 5 years ago

DAL 9000

9.3

On the deck. Decanted and left to breathe for an hour. Pours inky purple. Bouquet of dark cherries and plums. First taste is dark cherries and plums with a brutal dry finish. Softens in the glass for a milder dark cherries and chocolate(?) and plums with a medium dry finish of smoke and leather. — 6 years ago

Aaron Hamrock

9.8

Decanted for two hours. This is absolutely beautiful wine. The@fruit acid and tannins are in perfect harmony. — 7 years ago

B

10

Magnum 1982 Pichon Longueville Contesse de Lalande. First time any of us had tried this. July 4 group dinner at Bouch (A&S, J&D B, McC). Loved this. Decanted and served pretty quickly. — 8 years ago

Jim Enloe

9.1

Very nice, different from the traditional Napa cab. Firm tannins, should be decanted. Last glass the next day did better (under vacuum) — 9 years ago

Ted Corvey

9.3

Take this with a grain of salt because at this point in the night my taste buds were a little scorched. Very fragrant red fruit on the nose. Initially this was still tremendously wound up. I wish we had opened it and decanted for longer as after two hours it was still slightly tight but the lovely fruit flavors persisted over cocoa and tobacco leaf undertones. All in, I wish I had let this rest for a few more years, but still drinking pretty well now. — 9 years ago

with Scott and Kyle

Matt Brock

9.3

I've had this bottle in the cellar for a LONG time (probably past peak)...waiting for the right occasion. Here is to ten eventful years of Builders Bargain. Jammy, delicate flavor. 13 years of aging has given this a very earthy quality. Decanted for 90 minutes but should get even more spectacular through the evening. Cheers! — 10 years ago

with Jennifer

Jack Clare

9.5

Decanted, it was outstanding all evening...not early or late, in its prime! — 11 years ago

Curtis Osborn

9.4

Curtis had this 11 years ago