Steven Heydemann

9.1

The 99 is a favorite vintage for the sweetness of the fruit and the intense Mediterranean notes but this bottle was a little short on the finish. — 8 days ago

Vino Joe

9.3

I am biased for Rioja but this is a very good demonstration of why. Great balance ripe reserved fruit in harmony with some slight puckering length. Better in 10 years. Totally fine now. — 12 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.5

Medium lemon yellow , persistent fine perlage . At first quite shy , needs a bit of time to get going . Then buttered pastry , confit lemon and roast nuts , quite bold and rich , just a hint of chalky minerality . On the palate the richer , deeper theme continues , those pastry and buttery notes , confit lemon and a creamy mouthfeel . Long balanced finish , the chalky acidity really helping to cut through richer , mouth filling profile . Coming back to this at the end of the meal , having sat 6 hours in the glass , this still shows remarkable freshness and life. This seems young to me still , certainly has everything for a long life ahead , better in 5 years perhaps and will show well a further 10-15 perhaps . — 13 days ago

Norman Gennaro

9.5

I’m tasting a bit of greenness and it’s faded but for what it is and its age - nice — 2 days ago

Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to do a side by side with the ‘88, and also check in against the Montelena. Profile wise, this leans ripe and modern stylistically. There is a kiss of brett that takes you to Bordeaux but it’s mostly red and black fruit driven with a vanilla pipe tobacco sweetness, leather, cassis and a little bit of a floral note, especially aromatically. Big structure for the vintage, but open for business now if you can give it a few hours in the decanter. — 20 days ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.6

Very intense, expressive and pretty nose. It keeps showing well on the palate with a nice long finish. Big wine for the vintage. — 18 days ago

Joss Salgado

9.4

This wine has aged so beautifully! Smooth tannings, subtle aromas of black cherry, plum, black currant, pencil shavings, dried herbs, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and a hint of mentol.
A wonderful wine for a special occasion. — a month ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.5

Deep almost opaque ruby , narrow ruby rim . Quite closed and mineral at first , cassis , dark richer rounder fruits , blackberry and dark cherry . Richer more dense darker fruits on the palate , cassis , blackberry , with quite a mineral , grafite , earthy undertone . Rounded but high gritty tannins , good balanced refreshing acidity . Quite a big powerful wine but the alcohol is well integrated . Good length , with a touch of grafite and spice on the saline tinged finish. This should be given time , another 10 years preferably , and will show well for a further 10-15. — a day ago

Andrew McIntyre

9.5

Birth year Latour for our 700th wine on Delectable! Very mature but still with lots of life. Leather, graphite and earthy notes and still so much power. A great pleasure to drink! — 14 days ago

Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

A treat to try this next to the ‘88, and also against a mini-flight of Leoville Barton. This ‘14 was shockingly odd…unbelievably high toned, sharp, and bing cherry driven aromatically. It actually has this weird cherry reduction profile but also a malic/butter note that needs time to blow off. Crème de cassis and red licorice on the palate with a small amount of graphite. A lot of Calistoga cabs for me show the warmth of the region and this evidently is in that vein, but it’s very Montelena-esque at the end of the day. I’d hold another 5-7yrs. — 20 days ago