Will Stanley

9.4

The 2016 Chateau Musar, the winery’s latest vintage on release, is much less forthcoming on the nose than the 2013 and ‘15 that I’ve tried recently, despite - or perhaps because of - the fact that the Hochars consider 2016 to be a successful and very ageworthy vintage.

The nose is quite dense and tightly wound, much like a left bank Bordeaux presents in its youth, not yet revealing its cards besides aromas of cedar, steeped plum, smoked beef and cinnamon. The palate, however, is open for business - powerful and saturated, striking that wonderful Musar balance between dark fruit and tangy acidity, expanding towards a puckering finish with good length.

The lasting impression here is of a very modern rendition of Musar, with great clarity and purity to the fruit, fine tannins, refreshing acidity on the palate and great drinkability now (though equal potential to age). My preference of late remains the 2013, but that’s now quite hard to buy - so I’d happily have a case of this instead.

94+ — 3 years ago

Luke Kilcup

9.4

Caymus is just hard to beat. So smooth, bright yet subtle red fruit tones — 5 years ago

JFP

9.2

Opened very well. Excellent sipping wine with pate and hard breads. — 6 years ago

Tony Garcia

8.9

Sings of storage issues, low neck, slightly materized, tea leaves, tad gritty, some of the classic LaTache elements were under the surface if you focused hard. — 7 years ago

Jake Rubash

9.6

Interesting comparison between the Fulldraw and Tynan wine. Both were opened about 2hrs. The flavor profile is somewhat similar between the two, showing chocolate and dark blue fruit for the Tynan and red fruit for the Fulldraw. Great spice and pepper with each. The main difference is with the tannins and finish. The tannins on the Tynan are fairly noticeable (in addition to some heat) while the Hard Point’s are already integrated. The finish on the Hard Point is incredibly long and luxurious. @Connor McMahon exceptional wine — 7 years ago

Marshal White

8.9

Just the merest suggestion of funk — 9 years ago

Matt Sterr

9.0

Nelson Sauvin and cascade hops. Ultra dry. — 10 years ago

Jeremy.Buss

9.1

After a very busy weekend, we sat around the table eating leftovers. Hard to see a Kosta Browne being a complement to “leftovers” but it was wonderful. Light red:purple color with strawberry and blueberry on the nose and some slight earth tones coming through the palate. This feels and tastes like a Russian River Valley Pinot but softer. Definitely worth having again. . . And again. — 4 years ago

David Langstaff

9.2

Decanted four hrs. Opened up. Soft and integrated. Wished for a little more backbone but hard to get with merlot and can franc. Beautiful, light wine. — 4 years ago

Delectable Wine

Follow to learn about our favorite wines & people.

9.7

Bright, deep ruby. Ineffable scents of dark berries, graphite, minerals, licorice, violet, dark chocolate and sage. Wonderfully suave, fine-grained and plush but light on its feet, and every bit as complex in the mouth as on the nose. Really impeccably balanced, classy wine with uncanny precision and inner-mouth aromatic lift and a resounding, endlessly building aftertaste that leaves the taste buds quivering. A wine of great finesse and energy, not to mention noble palate-saturating, fully ripe tannins. This is more about subtlety than weight, but is still hard to scrape off your palate. This already coats every square millimeter of the palate but may yet expand further. All of this fruit was harvested in October. (Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, May 2020)
— 5 years ago

KA

9.3

Probably the most interesting Rose I’ve ever had . Extremely rare and hard to get and I can see why. — 7 years ago

Jordan Gianelli

9.1

Really well made, beautifully balanced and slow to reveal its depth. Disclaimer: it's hard for me to get past hints of Brett so the nose was a bit of a turn off, but it was not enough to make it difficult to enjoy. Fancy lil wine! — 9 years ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.4

Came close enough to the '55 Latour that I had to think hard about it for a minute! — 9 years ago

with Meena and Eddy

Steve Alcorn

9.7

Tasted June 20, 2015. A perfect bottle that lived up to its reputation. So hard to find one with guaranteed provenance and not a fake. From the German cellar of Armin Diel, Mahler-Besse. Almost overwhelming chocolate mint, dust, great tannic structure, cherry cola, eucalyptus bark, vanilla, unchanged in the glass for two hours. This wine will likely live another 100 years. — 10 years ago

with John, Ron and 1 other

Justin Farrar

9.3

A little tight upon opening but then came to life. Easy to drink, hard to stop. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

National Rose Day!! I guess that’s a thing. Figured I should open one of my favorite Rosé wines on the planet. Unfortunately, this has become so hard to find in my neck of the woods that it’s nearly unobtainium. I would otherwise drink this all summer long. On the nose, strawberry, melon, blood orange and a little bit of funky cheese. On the palate, brambles, strawberry, citrus. Fabulous body…nearly chewy. Low tannin. Dry. Great acid. Super long…over a minute with minerals for days. A truly special wine that everyone can find a reason to love.
— 4 years ago

Mono Head

9.1

Wax was hard to get off. Essentially scrapped it off. Before cork even came out I could start smelling the wine. I thought it would be corked. Cork melted off even with an ah so. First sip just had a little bit of funk but overall very drinkable. Much like a French Bordeaux. Fruit is muted, dry. Dark fruit finish. Smell definitely is dry and has an older funk, herbal, medicinal - not in a negative way. Would have loved to seen how it would have done decanted but had no time. — 5 years ago

John Geddes

8.9

19 crimes, can't go wrong. — 7 years ago

Scott Wren

9.6

Okay, I get what all the fuss is about. Hard to believe that something so layered and 'sweet' can have such refreshing acidity. Like being inside a leaking beehive during the lightning storm — 9 years ago

Cass Franklin

9.8

Life is good. 50 years of Latour with a beautiful bouquet and palate of luscious fruit, soft tannins but obvious longevity, another decade at least, hard to believe the age with so much life. — 9 years ago