Andrew Cullimore

9.4

Medium lemon yellow , fine bubbles . Quite restrained and mineral focused on the nose , then lemon confit , quince, touch of orange flowers, with some pastry notes , white flowers , honeysuckle also . Quite intense and mineral on the palate , fills out well with some lemon oil and pastry notes also , but this is reserved and elegant in style , more mineral , chalky and more intense than the 2013 had last week. Really refreshing acidity . Long and complex on the finish , I would imagine this needs more time than the 2013 too. Come back in 5 years , will show well for a further 10-15 years , perhaps longer. Very promising . — 8 months ago

Lori Kern

9.4

Excellent. Smooth with a touch of spice. Dark cherry, dark plum, raspberry with a hint of spice and tabacco. Wonderfully balanced and earthy. Went well with a spiced filet mignon and earlier with a hard parmesan. Opened beautifully over the course of 12-24 hours — 9 months ago

Tom Garland

9.3

Decant for sediment and pour. Still a wondrous dark garnet with bricking. On the nose: beautiful gotta keep coming back notes of dark plum, smoked meat, cigar box, touch of barnyard funk, vanilla spice. Taste: silky smooth with brambly cherry, dirt, leather, cedar, grilled peppered meat with a medium plus finish. YUM! Still drinking well at 33 years old. — 2 years ago

with Brenda

Donald Williams

9.5

Always a really nice wine at a great price. — 3 years ago

with Bonnie

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

A blend of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot, blended then aged for 24 months in 50% new and 50% once-used American oak. Deep Ruby color with aromas of black fruit, licorice and minty floral notes. The palate beautifully displays rich ripe blackberry and black cherry, a hint of sweetness, vivid acidity and the right touch of toasty vanilla oak, still youthful in development. The wine has nicely integrated tannins, still holds some grip on a long finish which should give way to let this wine age for the next decade+. Excellent, Tasting Sample! — 6 years ago

Chris England

9.7

My 3rd try if this £72 🇨🇱 beauty (now £90) & it’s coming along lovely 😍 Great balance & whilst drinking well now it could be really epic in time if I leave a few 😉 Having had this aged I can tell ya it’s gonna be a good en 👍 Looking forward to trying the Vina VIK 2013 😁

🐮 Paired w/ Mrs Es Beefy Cheesy Cottage Pie, butternut squash, sugar snap peas & mini corns 👌

📍 Vina Sena 2013

🏵 97 points w/ more potential

🍇 A Vulcan grape mind meld of 58% cabernet sauvignon, 15% carmenere, 12% malbec, 10% merlot & 5% petit verdot

🍷 Deep opaque ruby

👃 Rich blackcurrant, blackberry, spiced blueberry & cocoa w/ violets, lavender, mineral, forest floor, red fruit liquorice & a touch of smoked oak

👄 Med+ body of creamy smooth silky rich blackcurrant, blackberry & raspberry w/ blueberry, cocoa, mineral & liquorice

🎯 Long lingering dark fruit smooth explosion with a raspberry liquorice & cocoa boom & coffee 💋 — 7 years ago

Greg Koslosky

9.3

Very saline and mineral driven with a touch of honey . Nice stuff! . — 7 years ago

Chris England

9.5

Grabbed @ £125 in Selfridges for Mrs Es birthday hotel room night slouch cap 😁 even bough a decanter to decant 🤣 great but will show better w/ age 😉

🍷 Opaque ruby

👃 Peppered cherry pie, a treacle raspberry bakewell tart tone & cocoa sprinkles w/ a light earthy dry cured meat herby smokey oak backbone & black berry fruits

👄 Med+ bodied dark cherry & raspberry chocolate pie w/ fine dry tannins & a blackberry undertone

🎯 Med+ touch dry dark cherry & raspberry chocy licky lips w/ a dark fruit linger — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

The nose on this wine is stunning baring the alcohol heat. Perfumed red florals and candied dark and lighter red fruits. While the wine is truly elegant, the alcohol is seriously burning the back of my throat. The bottle reads 14.1 but I think over 15 degrees. Maybe, they wanted to save on the higher alcohol tax. The wine starts so beautifully only to burn the back of my throat. The fruits are ripe, elegant and beautifully soft. Blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, raspberries, faint back palate of strawberries, sweet/soft leather, black licorice, violets & roses, rich delicate & sweet wet black earth, soft light baking spices, caramel, milk chocolate, figs & dates, amazingly sweet dark minerals, touch of black tar, touch of spice and a rich long elegant dark fruit liqueur finish. I would score this wine higher if it didn't punish my palate and throat with the burning alcohol finish. — 9 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. — 10 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

Slightly deeper ruby with a little narrower , less garnet rim . This is quite deep and slightly more herbal on the nose, floral perhaps , a little more austere. Spicy Cassis , tobacco , herbal touches . On the palate this is slightly more velvety with a riper dark fruits , mixed with a touch of dark cherry , spice and subtler , riper tannin . Quite ripe , more polished tannin. A bit bigger and riper in style , alcohol a bit more noticeable . Quite good dark cherry , dark chocolate, cassis finish . This is a little more polished , but probably needs a little more time , better in 5 years and will last well a further 10 . Overall a good showing , a classy , polished performance — 8 months ago

Conrad Green

9.2

Intense cherry with a touch of tar. Iron and dense but very pure fruit. Good stuff but still tight and unyielding — 9 months ago

with Bex

Jay Kline

9.4

It was Father’s Day and I had decided on grilled rack of lamb for dinner so I selected this bottle of 2011 Chateau Musar rouge from our cellar. According to Musar’s records, the 2011 vintage was one of the most challenging since the early 1990’s. It was ultimately a late-maturing vintage with harvest taking place on October 13th, the latest since the 1983 vintage!

I decanted this bottle about eight hours prior to dinner. It should be noted that immediately upon opening, the bouquet was strikingly gorgeous with powerful aromatics that were obvious from several feet away and this trait carried through until dinner time.

In the glass, the wine presents a deep garnet color. Slightly turbid with a near opaque core. On the nose, black plums, blackberries, cassis, tobacco, organic earth, exotic spices, leather, spiced meat, and pomegranate. I detect a touch of VA as well. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the nose with an added bit of red rope licorice. Lovely, long, savory…amazing. This was a brilliant compliment to the lamb (which was served with beets and goat cheese and fattoush) and everything I wanted in a Musar tonight. Drinking well now with a hefty decant and I expect well cellared examples to drink well past 2035. — 2 years ago

Oliver Seaman

9.1

Fressssshh — 6 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.8

The 2014 Mouton Rothchild is a stunning wine that is already making its case for one of the wines of the vintage. Graphite, salted dark fruits, tar and mocha with a touch of red bell pepper all marvelously combine on the nose. Silky and marvelously textured, with an incredible complexity and viscosity, the wine shows wonderful brightness and a seamless quality that artfully dances across the mid-palate. Stunning and simply marvelous even at the five year mark, this is only an infant now and has decades of life to go. Try to resist this beauty for at least three more years. Drink 2021-2045- 98 — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Certainly one of my favorite Pomerol producers. Not their best vintage but still very good and it pairs very well with Ribeye.

On the nose, ripe & sweet; blackberries, dark cherries, blue fruit hues, strawberries, cherries & a touch of pomegranate. Vanillin, mixed berry cola, steeped fruit tea, light dry herbs, cinnamon, menthol, hints of eucalyptus, limestone, dry clay, sweet, rich turned, dark earth, gently, bright, fresh red & dark florals.

The body is medium. The tannins 80% resolved. The fruits are fresh & ripe; blackberries, plum, dark cherries, strawberries, cherries, pomegranate, hues of blue fruits. Steeped fruit tea, vanillin, creamed raspberry cola, some cinnamon, some soft spice, dry herbs, limestone minerals, dry clay, light dry herbs, dry stone, crushed dry rocks, menthol, eucalyptus with soft red, dark & blue florals, nice acidity and an elegant, well balanced finish.

Photos of, the front back of Vieux Chateau Certan, Owner Alexander Thienpoint barrel tasting the 06 vintage and Estate vines. — 7 years ago

with James

Matt Austin

Owner/Winemaker, Grosgrain Vineyards, Walla Walla, WA

9.4

Developing well with many great years to come. Nice little touch of brett. — 8 years ago

Conrad Green

9.5

Beautifully resolved with soft cherry and brambles. Gorgeous and long. A touch of rosemary and a tart quality. Delicious — 9 years ago

with Matt and Paul

Conrad Green

9.4

A touch of caramel, pure fruit still. Great balance and acidity. Leather and cherry. Very good — 9 years ago

with Tony, Matt and 1 other

Jonathan Lipsmeyer

9.5

This differs from the 07-09s in that it has an intriguing green aroma (bay leaf? Menthol? Geranium? Some strange stalky pollen?) and seems just a touch hotter at 13%, but my beloved skunky Black Forest wine is here and this is just gorgeous. Pomegranate and cranberry. Lacks just a tiny bit of heft on the finish to be truly stratospheric. — 11 years ago

Paul J

9.6

This was awesome!! 1hr+ decant. Nose of a great Bordeaux. Super complex with cedar, dark fruit, some sweetness, and a touch of vanilla. Well structured and balanced. — 8 months ago

with Brooke

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

No formal notes . Slightly lighter than the others , but still ruby , touch of garnet at the rim. Spicer and rounder red and dark fruits . Finer and more mineral more elegant on the palate . Quite elegant . Refined and elegant , mineral , good balance and acidity . This came across as lighter than the others , though with no lack of definition . Mineral , grafite tinged finish . Showing well this is probably going to have a slightly shorter life than the others , but is great for medium term drinking , over next 5-10 years perhaps . — 8 months ago

Tyler Felous

9.2

First time with this wine. PnP and probably could have used a decant. Great weight. Lots of black olive, herbs. Good but missing something (touch of acidity?) to make it great — a year ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Blend of 74% Zinfandel, 15% Petite Sirah, 9% Carignane & 2% Mataro, aged in 100% air-dried American oak (10% new). Deep Ruby color with aromas of berry fruits, tobacco and earthy spices. On the palate flavors of blackberry and cherry with black pepper, tobacco, citrus spice and a touch of earthy herbs. Fine grainy tannins, long finish ending with fruit, earthy spice and some cedar. Nice! — 3 years ago

Todd Stone

9.2

Very good Rosé champagne. Not as Brut as a typical white version- has a touch of sweetness but still dry. Very smooth, softer bubbles, strawberries & maybe even raspberries. — 6 years ago

with Gordon and Peggy

Jonathan Wall

9.1

Starts with a touch of funk. And rolls into very peppery charred cherry. Still bright and sharp. Would love to see what happens in 5 years but we couldn't resist our only two bottles. — 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

The nose reveals, ripe, brightly floral dark & red fruits. Blackberries, dark cherries, blue fruit heaven, black raspberries, baked strawberries & rhubarb, cherries, prune notes, and dry, slightly burnt cranberries. Mixed berry cola, steeped tea, vanilla, touch of clove, allspice, used leather, limestone minerals, dry stone, whiff of graphite, faint herbaceous notes, dry underbrush, old cedar, tobacco leaf, with withering red & dark withering flowers with violets.

The body is medium to full. The tannins round, nicely softened but still a little tarry. The structure, tension, length and balance are are harmonious and starting its climb to their peak. The mouthfeel is gorgeous and sexy. Brilliantly, bright, laced; blackberries, dark cherries, blue fruit heaven, black raspberries, raspberries, baked strawberries & rhubarb, cherries, and dry, slightly burnt cranberries. Mixed berry cola, steeped tea, vanilla, touch of clove, dark medium spice with heat, allspice, used leather, some sweet tarriness, limestone minerals, rich dark soil, dry stone, whiff of graphite, faint herbaceous notes, dry underbrush, old cedar, tobacco leaf, with withering red & dark withering flowers with violets. The acidity was very good and the finish showed it’s Saint Julien elegance. It’s a beautiful wine now and over the next 15-20 years.

Photos of, Chateau Leoville Barton, the “Gentleman of Medoc”, Anthony Barton, harvest work of their Merlot and their barrel cellar.

An hour and a half in decanter.
— 7 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Bruised golden apple, pineapple, golden raisins, ginger ale, brioche, citrus blend, touch of honey, yellow lilies, quince, orange peel, nut skin, toffee, brilliant acidity, chalkiness and rich long finish. — 9 years ago

Christanna Honer

10

Can't say enough about the depth and complexity. Brûlée, dulce de leche, saffron, cumin, cashews, touch of coconut, kaffir, ginger. Silence-inducing on the palate.

This is perfect. — 9 years ago

Kyo Jin

9.3

Thought this would be a bit lean, but pleasantly proved otherwise. Still very full fruit with a touch greenness. — 10 years ago