Mike Saviage

10

Tasted blind. Light gold color, youthful and heavy in the glass. Notes of citrus, white clay, sea shells, wet river stone, kiwi and some honey. High pitched. Massive fruit and structure. This powered along all night and never slowed down. Easy to guess as the 90 Raveneau Clos as we've had this many times. A debate ensued about what is a perfect white burgundy and where this sits... it would be really hard to get better than this, IMO. Spectacular. — 4 years ago

B

10

1997 Phelps Insignia. Didn’t decant. Poured from bottle. Wine evolved in the glass. Red roses, tar, lavender, dark fruit, cassis, mineral, earth, pencil shavings. Delicious with steak! — 6 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Last night in MT at the lake. Gave this several hours of air. Nice dark tawny color. Vibrant in the glass. The nose is great right away and stayed on point through the evening. Notes of black cherries, warm raspberries, old cedar, some plums and a little leather saddle. Rich and silky in the mouth. Velvet glove. Long finish. Great wine. — 6 years ago

Keith Lite

9.5

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

with Bruce

Conrad Green

9.8

A treat. Dark in color, slightly cloudy. A powerful nose with dark, very mouton fruit. Incredibly aromatic, blackcurrant, mint,graphite, dried herbs, eucalyptus. The palate is extraordinary. So dense and powerful for a wine of almost 70 years. Dark fruit with a savory undertow- leather, thyme, sour cherry, dark chocolate. Really precise flavors and long. After an hour or two in glass there’s notes of coconut and soft wood. Extraordinary. Clearly there’s a lot of age on this but the sheer quality makes for a really dynamic wine. An exceptional bottle, and a teal treat. — 7 years ago

with Howard, Tony and 1 other

Mike Saviage

9.4

Light gold, nicely effervescent in the glass. Notes of lemon, chalk and a little toast. Creamy in the mouth. This is just getting started. — 8 years ago

Jason Chang

Proprietor NINE SUNS Winery, HOUYI Vineyard

9.3

I feel as if this would be amazing if not following the Rayas. Great nose but pretty wound up and tight still. Didn't open up much after being in glass an hour. Need to revisit. — 9 years ago

with Wai, Chris and 2 others

Lewis Chester

9.2

2003 vintage. From Jay. Very nice. Much better than expected. Goes down all together way too easily when you're surrounded by snow! Deep ruby core washing out towards the edges. No bricking...yet. Nose is a preponderance of dark fruits together with blueberries and ripe cassis with slight under tones of cloves and a hint of graphite. This is a very fruity affair- takes me back to Christmas. The wine expresses on the palate as it does on the nose. Layers of rich fruit with traces of brown spice. There's a lovely sweetness here that makes the wine a pleasure to drink despite the relatively modest acidity. The tannins are soft and lush. The finish is good with a continued preponderance of fruit right to the very end although it is moderate in length. This is a very quaff able wine...could be at this all night with pleasure just sit me down in front of an open fire and hand me a Montecristo! 92+/100. Drink now to 2028. NB - no need to decant. This wine can happily be poured from bottle post opening and allowed to open in the glass. — 10 years ago

Eric Urbani

9.2

Thank you BTG in Salt Lake City for having this by the glass !! — 11 years ago

Rafael Landestoy

9.4

It got better as the night progressed, always a sign of amazing champagne. Left it in the glass and as it opened up and got down to room temperature it got better and better. — 11 years ago

with Ilida

Mike Saviage

9.5

Tasted blind. Dark gold, heavy like oil in the glass. Piercing nose full of energy. Notes of apricot, tan spice, orange, some grilled pineapple, and a little caramel. Rich and heavy in the mouth. Powerful. Guessed 83 Climens. — 4 years ago

Lawrence Bernstein

9.0

1/21 This 1993 Cab was superb. It changed a lot in the glass gaining power and then losing it. It lost it’s power but it still had strength. This was a complex wine with a lot of minerality and very well balanced and a nice finish. 90 — 5 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.7

The 2004 Dom Perignon Champagne is sinfully good at fifteen years of age. Showing off its downright sexy golden hue, the wine evolves quickly once in the glass displaying a dazzling array of aromatics, from orchard fruits to peat moss and toasty brioche as well as shades of salted Marcona almond that all nicely meld together. The palate yields a wonderful combination of richness and tension. There is a lovely ripe, almost unctuous texture to this aged Champagne. Flavors of salted macadamia nut, ripe pear, kumquat zest and shades of Shiitake mushroom with lighter biscuit undertones all combine brilliantly. This is a satisfying, downright hedonistic champagne that will be extremely long-lived. Drink 2019-2040- 97 — 6 years ago

Blake Walker

9.3

45 min decant. Medium bodied, with earthy nose initially, picked up cherry, cedar notes with time in glass. Soft mellowed tannins & smooth finish. Thanks Pops! 👍 — 7 years ago

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9.8

The 1978 La Mission Haut-Brion is a candidate for the greatest Bordeaux wines produced during the 1970s. Without question, it is the highlight of the vintage. I have tasted it several times over the years and each time, my appreciation is heightened further. Still youthful in appearance, the bouquet soars from the glass with almost high-toned blackberry, cigar humidor, warm gravel and that signature trait of black olive. You could nose this all day. The palate is medium-bodied yet there is much more density than you will find on other 1978s. Notes of black fruit, bay leaf, graphite and earthy tones, the latter emphasized with aeration. Decanting is strongly advised because it responds to a long opening, deepening all the time, developing a sustained cedar tincture that lingers in the mouth. It is a fabulous La Mission Haut-Brion that at 40-years continues to give so much pleasure. Tasted at a private dinner in London (ex-château bottle). (Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2018) — 8 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Fresh, light gold. Bright and vibrant in the glass. Even more vibrant in the nose. Exotic, notes of lemon peel, wet river stone, petrol, slate, apricot and spice. Great rich fruit matches some impactful acidity. Long finish. This is great juice, still young, and has some more to give down the road. — 8 years ago

Howard Greenfield

9.4

Very nice CdP- decanted for an hour or so- but got better in the glass as dinner went on — 9 years ago

Kyle Groombridge

9.3

"I make wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is at Calon"... I can see why Nicolas Alexandre Marquis de Segur said these iconic words after having this wine in my glass. The nose is so inviting with warm spice, cigar smoke, embers, and toast. Raspberry syrup, plums, vanilla, and toffee on the palate. Nice thread of smoke throughout with nice balancing fresh fruit. What an enjoyable wine! 20 months in new oak - obviously the more accessible style the new owners are going for... the Pinot the other night gave an experience, this one tells a story. — 9 years ago

Jae Cho

9.1

Still tightly coiled, giving its perfumed nose after 1.5hours in glass. Medium to full with a focus long cab fruit — 10 years ago

Ira Schwartz

9.3

I felt like I needed a snorkel and fins when I placed my nose in the glass. I cannot recall a wine that showed so much seashell and saline. Laser focused compared to the 2005 Dauvissat's I recently tasted. Wave after wave of salt, minerals and citrus. A very long and fresh finish. No rush to open. Textbook. — 11 years ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Super fresh and precise on the nose. Packed with minerals- lime, slate, salinity. Quite a glycerin mouthfeel. Super fresh and compact. All the transparency of 2011 and Raveneau. Needs time in the glass to open up. Still a puppy, but spectacular and all in place. Benefitting from air. — 4 years ago

with Walker, Tony and 1 other

Will Stanley

9.3

Easily one of the finest aromas I’ve experienced in a Rioja, and indeed any wine, in the past year, truly a beguiling and complex experience that begs your nose to remain in the glass. I must note for my own posterity that on the palate I was initially a little underwhelmed. I’m not sure why. I think because this is such a subtle and elegant Rioja, and that I’m so out of the habit of drinking wines from this region and perhaps even, by extension, subtle and elegant wines as a whole. But the more I tasted it, the more I enjoyed it. I had a similar experience with the Viña Ardanza 2010 (which at the moment I prefer to this). But this 904 Gran Reserva is a beautiful, medium to light-bodied Rioja, very fruit-forward with Burgundian delicacy and a charm so typical of the finest wines of this region. A melange of coconut, vanilla, dried cherry and Mediterranean herbs are followed by an impressively saturated palate with medium orange peel acidity and very fine, resolved tannins. I must admit I cannot yet calibrate this wine with the notes of prominent critics, who talk about power, acidity and tannin, but maybe time will tell. This should be a terrific wine to follow over the next ten to twenty (plus) years. — 5 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Deep yellow gold, heavy in the glass. Great leesy old white burg nose. . Notes of sweet lemon, apricot cardamom spice, more lemon peel and some river stone. Rich in the mouth. Tons of structure and acidity. Needed 5 hrs of air to really come on. — 7 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny, translucent and old looking. Awesome nose. Notes of leather saddle, pencil lead, currants, cherry, soil, and some toasted hickory. All guessed 61 Bordeaux. This got better through the night and was at its best in the last glass. — 8 years ago

Martin G Rivard

9.8

My toss up for wine of the night! Drank like an absolute stud! A phenomenal example of a premium Bordeaux. Badass in a glass to say the least! — 8 years ago

with Christine

Byron C Mayes

9.1

Straw gold in the glass. White mousse dissipates rather quickly. Fine persistent bubbles. Modest and very subtle nose matches lean plate of green apple up front and lemon mid palate. Firm mouth-watering acidity; surprising to is for a wine of this age. Very short, bright finish. — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.9

Chateau Latour is my favorite 1st Growth, they demand patience and inspire not just hedonistic pleasure but also analytical thought.

Both amazing but need massive amounts of air or another 15-20 years minimum in the cellar. I get the feeling they both will hit a plateau once they blossom and slowly move towards full maturity for decades.

The nose on the 2005 rose with little agitation and shot from the hip to nose with ease. By far the most youthful and I tense nose of the evening.

The 2000 was not dissimilar in its progression, if a bit more refined from the extra few years in the glass. A cerebral wine that was also deeply pleasurable, it kept bringing me to what this wine will be like in 15-20 or more years. Easily a 50 years wine from a macro view.

Epic #latour 2000 and 2005 #pauillac — 9 years ago

Chris Bensick

9.2

Having failed miserably at our 2015 new years resolution to drink up our aging cellar faster, we're glad we still have some of these around. Shy at first but then becoming fuller in the glass, this was an excellent hamburger wine tonight. With Alex in Oakland 12-17-2015.. — 10 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.2

5-Oh Bday Dinner... From a half bottle. Deep red and purple color. Mostly opaque and thick in the glass. There is still some good fruit in the nose with gravel and soil notes. Very round in the mouth. The wine hung in there over the hour it was consumed. Nice experience with an 80+ year old wine. — 10 years ago

Patrick Knöfler

8.9

The wine was medium to dark garnet in colour. On day one it offered red fruit, cherry, balsamic vinegar, cola, leather, mushroom, earthy and vegetal notes and a wet sewer component on the nose. On the palate the the wine showed red fruit, cherry, blackberry, tobacco and earthy notes, the acidity was quite pronounced, the wine became slightly drying and even more acidic after some time in the glass, and the fruit faded a bit. Two days later, on day three, the medium-bodied wine was more balanced and showed red and dark fruit, some chocolate, some tobacco, spices and earthy notes on the nose, and red fruit, cherry, leather, tobacco, earthy and balsamic notes on the palate, with just a faint touch of greenness, paired with medium-plus well-integrated tannin, medium-plus acidity and very good length. I had almost written-off the wine on day one and then, surprisingly, it showed much better the third day. Holding-up well. 90 — 11 years ago