David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Great 05 fruit with classic Bordeaux profile.

Starts with the bright, ripe fruits that 05 gave. Blackberries, black raspberries, very, dark cherries, black plum, raspberries, plum, perfect graphite for days, cedar, fresh & slightly dry tobacco, forest floor with dry leaves, perfect, dark spices, dry crushed limestone, dry river stone, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanillin, salted caramel, dry, dark chocolate bar, steep tea with fruit, anise to black licorice, haunting herbaceous notes, saline notes, dry to moist clay, bright, mid to dark florals framed in violets, excellent acidity with amazing tension, beautifully balanced & structured, polished, wire to wire finish that lasts close to two-minutes. So round on the palate. Great with the El Salciciero ribeyes.

Corn picked today from my organic garden. Ten to fifteen plus year left. — 9 months ago

ESF

9.3

Yeah yeah, I know this is not considered a great vintage, but this is a Cracking Claret! Leaner in style and not a verbose powerhouse, it still delivers an elegant rendition of traditional Pauillac flavors. The cherry was more like kirsch liqueur, the cassis, graphite, leather, gravel, tobacco, the bay leaf... all beautifully delineated and intense. The mid palate was polished to perfection. Tannins are sturdy enough but seamless & integrated. The finish persists and invites another drink. Got these on a great deal from K&L back in the day and glad I did! In a great drinking window right now. — 3 years ago

Tom Garland

9.3

1.5 hour decant(surprisingly just a little cloudy sediment). A prodigious medium dark garnet color with little signs of aging. On the nose: funky stewed meats, blackberry, smoke, plum, minty pepper, creme de cassis. Taste: KABOOM! Rich, silky, full body wine with blackberry, earth, cedar, wet gravel, menthol and a cassis pencil lead long finish with some ashy tannins. In its prime drinking window and this 13.8% alc wine should rock another 10 years. Cheers! — 4 years ago

with Brenda

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Merry Christmas Eve-Eve everyone! 🎄🎅🤶⛄️❄️🎁🍷

On the nose, leap dark currants & cassis with bright red, dark, blue & purple florals at pop & pour. Ripe; blackberries, dark cherry kirsch, plum, mulberries, blueberries, poached & strawberries, black raspberries & raspberries. Black licorice, star anise, dark chocolate bar, volcanic & limestone, steeped fruit teas, dark cola, sweet tarry notes, black, rich, turned earth, mid, dark spices, cinnamon stick, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, barrel shavings with char, dry brush, leather, fresh tobacco, granite, some eucalyptus, mint notes, light, dry herbs with fresh & some withering red, dark, purple and blue, fresh and slightly candied florals.

The body is; round, ripe, & rich. The tension, structure, length and balance are just beginning their sweet spot. The tannins are; rounding, tarry & still chewy. Plenty of life left in the 09...8-10 years. Dark currants & cassis. Ripe; blackberries, dark cherry kirsch, plum, mulberries, blueberries, poached & strawberries, cherries, black raspberries & raspberries. Black licorice, star anise, dark chocolate bar, volcanic & limestone, dry, crushed rocks, dry stems, steeped fruit teas, dark cola, sweet tarry notes, black, rich, turned earth, mid, dark spices, cinnamon stick, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, milk chocolate, mocha, caramel, barrel shavings with char, dry brush, leather, fresh tobacco, granite, some eucalyptus, mint notes, light, dry herbs with fresh & some withering red, dark, purple and blue, fresh and slightly candied florals. The acidity is round & spot on. The ripe, rich, ruby, elegant, balanced & polished finish is splendid and persists nicely on the palate with mid, dark spice on the long set. So much better with this much age. Really delicious tonight!

A steal now at under $35 upon release at Costco.

This wine is close to its peak and will hover there 3-4 years.

Photos of; the Estate, old large oak vats and David Heitz.
— 4 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Happy birthday to my wife Sofia! She wanted to go have a birthday lunch in Big Sur at Nepenthe. With these views, who wouldn’t want to go celebrate there? Great vistas, good food and an even better wine list. Krug by the glass and so much more! Good warm up for lunch.

It’s a combination of reductive and oxidized style on the nose. Bruised apple, bruised Bosc pear, well overripe pineapple, marmalade, touch of caramel, creamed cider, understated honey notes, chalkiness, seashells, some oysters, volcanic minerals w/ fruit blossoms & withering yellow lilies.

The palate shows more reductive style than oxidized. Less pronounced bruised apple, bruised Bosc pear, well overripe pineapple, white citrus, marmalade, touch caramel, creamed soda, apple cider, understated honey notes, chalkiness, seashells, some oysters, volcanic minerals with fruit blossoms & withering yellow lilies. The acidy is quite nice. Very good; structure, length & balance. The long, beautiful, rich, finish is just what you’d expect from Krug.

Photos of, the outdoor bar with that view, whew, Nepenthe pumpkin, with the cell tower signal so bad & no wi-fi, they need a antique phone booth and the outdoor lounge/waiting area, complete with a ping pong table.

@Nepenthe Big Sur — 6 years ago

Inseon Hwang

9.5

Amazingly fresh and fruity for a 50 year old bottle. Organic earth, gravel and minerals to finish. — 2 years ago

Byron Fuller

9.5

Full stride and not going anywhere. Cedary, mentholly, raspberry white pepper nose. Decanted and really blossomed around an hour. Beautiful mouthfeel and coursing power shows up in the midpalate giving plenty of secondary fruit and gravel and tobacco. Just fabulous. These bottles were stored cold bit I’d be surprised it doesn’t last another 20 years. — 2 years ago

Rob Mayes

9.2

Re edit. After leaving the bottle open, this is actually quite good. Nice structure. Minerality finish. — 3 years ago

Mike Pernecky

9.3

Wife liked it. — 4 years ago

Andrew Kienle

8.9

Phenomenal balance even if not terribly complex. — 4 years ago

Eric Stec

9.0

2017 on 9/25/19. — 5 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Tasted blind. Light tawny but there's a nice brightness in the color. Great old Bordeaux nose. Notes of black raspberry, cherry, moist forest floor, gravel and a little mocha. Amazing complexity in the mouth. This has more going for it in the mouth/finish when compared to the 55 Palmer next to it. The 55 Palmer overall was a better experience, but this was best in class for its complex mouthfeel. Guessed 1961 Palmer. — 5 years ago

Stanislav Lobanov

9.0

16.5/20 (90/100) Аромат спелых ягод черешни и ежевики, слив, молочного шоколада и конфет. Тельное с умеренной кислотностью и интенсивными, вяжущими, но бархатистыми по текстуре танинами. Типичный Стелленбош. #capewine2018 — 6 years ago

Delectable Wine

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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) — 6 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Dark scarlet color with translucent light reddish rims. Old wine nose. Notes of black and red fruit, gravel, barnyard floor, old leather and some old desk wood. Fruit is a bit faded but this has plenty of life with decent acidity and a nice structure. Got better with air and opened up nicely. Better than the last bottle of this lot, despite being a more ragged looking bottle. — 2 years ago

Carter Pelham

9.7

Shared with close friends - everyone’s first Monte Bello, and a great one at that.

Took this bottle out to share at a local fine dining establishment, to pour it blind for our friends. Wrapped neatly in foil. We get seated and explain to our waiter. “The bottle MAY be a little bit older so take care with the cork,” I said, not wanting to give away the age to our friends. He proceeds to break the cork about halfway down, right through. No big deal. He’s a younger guy and I think a little flustered, he goes off to get assistance.

Comes back with another server. As the guy walks back up, I say “Thanks for helping us with our mystery bottle”, clueing him in on the idea that there’s a reason that we have it wrapped in foil. “Would have been nice to know it was an older vintage wine,” he replied brusquely. Ok… Server 2 digs around for a bit with an ah-so before punching the cork into the drink. Oh well. None of us are really phased by this, it happens.

They grab a strainer from the bar. Server 2 starts pouring at a decanter and immediately the first glass or so just goes everywhere on the table. I start to die inside. He remains silent. Gets on target with the rest of the bottle, finishing pouring, and says “Your 2004 Ridge Cabernet”, purposefully ruining the blind tasting, I guess. Walks away without another word, leaving his mortified coworker to clean up his mess and apologize.

This actually happened. On to the wine:

Beautiful medium opacity ruby with no browning.

Smells like a Pauillac on the nose. Blackcurrants, blackberry, black licorice, slight graphite, and damp tobacco. As the night goes on it reveals dill, vanilla, buttered toast, and slight dry woodsy notes.

The wine is surprisingly light in body, very much a claret. The tannins are silky, finely woven, and extremely integrated. The main thing we notice on the palate is that the wine is so perfectly integrated it is a little difficult to pull individual notes out of it. Expansive over the palate without being weighty. The finish is forever.

A memorable evening. — 3 years ago

with Linh and Sarah

Paul T HB

9.7

First time having this one, its a very nice bottle.
Stats, $225.00 release, $75.00 on K&L sale makes it even better!

And finally, there’s The Vow, which in this observer’s opinion is the marquee offering of the ’14 Gravel Series. Sourced from a narrow strip of rocky soil that runs through the South East corner of Round Pond’s Rutherford vineyard, T — 4 years ago

Shengli Hu

9.2

2003 hot vintage, still kicking, leather, gravel, allspice, and stewed red fruits. — 5 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

In the ski chalet or in this case, the bar- Salmontini that overlooks Ski Dubai inside The Mall of the Emirates. Sofía is skiing and I’m having a glass Laurent-Perrier. Two bad discs don’t make for enjoyable skiing. Perhaps, the worst thing I could do for them. I’m getting the better end of the deal! 😋

We already spent a half-hour playing with King Penguins! 🐧 What fun!

As for the champagne, the nose reveals, green apple, lemon lime, pineapple, some hints of green melon and honey, vanilla, cream soda, beautiful soft chalkiness, sea shells, gentle volcanic minerals, spring flowers, Jasmine and yellow lilies.

The body is nice and glides easily over the palate. Nice mousse and mouthfeel. Green apple, lemon lime, pineapple, some hints of green melon and honey, vanilla, cream soda, notes of ginger, baguette crust, beautiful soft chalkiness, sea shells, more pronounced volcanic minerals than the nose and penetrate into the palate, spring flowers, Jasmine and yellow lilies. Really nice soft acidity and micro bubbles. The finish is rich, elegant, nicely polished and persists minutes.

Happy Good Friday and Easter weekend!
🐣 🐰 — 5 years ago

Jason Gelman

9.5

2nd time trying this bottle; this time to celebrate the birth of my baby boy. So delicious and soulful, lots of rustic charm. Definitely needs several hours to open up so waited til day 2 to drink most of the bottle and once again it opens up beautifully. Rich plum, tobacco, earth, gravel. Love it. — 6 years ago