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+ — 4 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

Matt Perlman

9.3

So smoove. Mellow, aromatic, no hard edges, Brett or greenness to be found. — 9 years ago

Jeff Choy

9.0

Still a lot of life left despite the vintage. After decanting for an hour it is hard to find any flaw with it. — 9 years ago

Merritt Santino Raül Gilé

9.0

This was breathing fire 15 minutes after opening. Nose was Christmas Pudding with Hard Sauce. Heavy raisin on the tongue. No other way to describe it. Definitely softened after a couple hours. To be honest, I liked it in the pudding phase best. #DNWC — 10 years ago

with Alison

Marshal White

8.9

Just the merest suggestion of funk — 10 years ago

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. — 5 years ago

Jay Bergesen

9.2

Hard to beat. Rose truth in a bottle. Unparalleled roundness with mouthfeel. Strawberries, garrigue, acidity, and the hint of a green olive. — 7 years ago

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9.5

The 2014 Barolo Monvigliero is quite refined and gracious, although it is also surprisingly dark, dense and concentrated by this wine's standards. A shy, reticent wine, the 2014 is going to need time in bottle to flesh out, especially in the midpalate. I have seen this with other vintages, and expect that it will be the case here as well. The precision, clarity and silkiness that are so typical of Monvigliero start to emerge as the wine opens up in the glass. Readers should plan on being patient. If that is not possible, try to taste the 2014 as soon as possible, because these wines have a tendency to shut down hard post-bottling. As always, Monvigliero is fermented with 100% whole clusters. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, February 2018) — 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

Rafael Landestoy

9.4

Hard to follow the Cheval Blanc but Pichon Lalande never disappoints. Another beauty! — 10 years ago

with Janet, Jorge and 1 other

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! — 10 years ago

with Meena and Eddy

Chris Drake

9.9

When you want a great wine..... Hard to resist a Caymus — 10 years ago

Ed Lehrman

9.3

Hard to fully enjoy as the outdoor temp was 95 but still delicious. — 6 years ago

JFP

9.2

Opened very well. Excellent sipping wine with pate and hard breads. — 7 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

Nick Yungner

9.4

Hard to rate this early — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.8

If there were ever an archetypical Syrah, Jamet's Cote-Rotie would be a strong candidate. To me this is a pure expression of a classic Northern Rhone Syrah. It is not a single site, but a blend of terroirs, encompassing over 20 sites mostly from hard rock schist bedrock with little to no topsoil. There is NO Viognier in this wine like one might expect from most Cote-Rotie that might have 1-5% co-fermented.

Importantly, there is also a lot less of the oak character that can dominate and overwhelm many Northern Rhone wines. The oak maturation, while not short at 22 months, only uses 15% new oak with no trace of it on the palate as it is perfectly integrated. Grape bunches are whole cluster fermented and macerated for up to 3 weeks.

The 2007 we have here was drinking superbly for a young wine, showing lively and racy layers of peppercorn spice, roast beef, and warm blackberry and currant fruit from the hot 2007 vintage. While from a warm vintage, not a hair is out of place. Density and purity exude from the nose and hint at what a brilliant future this wine has. Perfect acidity and fleshy ripe tannin provide the backbone structure for father time to peel back the layers of this beauty. I will be chceking back in 5 years at the earliest. — 9 years ago

Matt Sterr

9.0

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