John W

9.0

Dark ruby coloration. On the nose, dark berries, anise, leather, tobacco and warm spices. On the palate, big fruit right away, dark berry and cherry, with hints of vanilla, oak, raspberry, tobacco and leather. Medium body and nice smooth mouth feel. Long finish with the fruit prevailing. — 5 years ago

Conrad Green

9.3

A beautiful nose of soft red fruits, some spice, soulful plummy stuff. Very burgundinian but the plushness of US Pinot. On the palate this has great poise. Light but intense this has lovely fresh fruit and some gnarly wild herbs with underlying acidity and good length. Apparently the ‘j’ refers to Jayer cuttings being the source of the Pinot. If so, that would go some way toward explaining why this is so aromatic and balanced. Excellent — 6 years ago

with Naoko and Larry

Beth

8.9

Notes of savory smoked meat, earth, wet leaves, red cherries and underripe raspberries. Also baking spices, cloves. More medium bodied than light. Acidic, long finish. — 7 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.3

Brownish tawny. Regal, clear and almost opaque. Sweet old Bordeaux nose. Notes of cola, cranberry, plums, dried fig, earth, spice and some wood. A bit thin in the mouth at the start but with air it firms up. Decent finish. Grows nicely in volume and impact. The fragrant nose is what you remember. — 7 years ago

Clara

9.6

Well balanced dark cherry, black berries, wood shavings, graphite, vanilla, hint of phenol, lingering on your tongue on and on. I can't say it's definitely worth it's price but it's darn close. — 8 years ago

Narun P

8.9

Tasted at Chateau
51% M, 39% CS, 5% CF, and 5% PV

Deep purple, no sign of age, compact rim. Youthful.

Fruit forward, dominated by red currant, underripe raspberry, red cherry. Baking spices and new wood smell.

On the palate, surprisingly approachable. Med plus tannin but softened already, med full body, dry. The midpalate really needs to fleshen out. Slightly lacking. Finish on nutty new oak.

Time will tell if this will turn out to be in line with a line up of superb recent wines from this classic house. 89+? — 8 years ago

Aurash Jason Soroosh

9.0

Crisp, clean, yet pleasantly tanniny. More of a pink color than orange. Good wine, nothing crazy, but good. — 9 years ago

Christian Fischer

9.3

Only for special occasion. Good or bad. This one is still special — 9 years ago

Bernardo Llaguno G.

9.0

What a wine. Berny balanced a lot of fruit in it, typical French wine. Some meats and wood but not excessive. Great to drink now. — 10 years ago

Andrew Tucker

8.9

The nose has notes of lavender and a faint reminder of beach sand. The first sip started a bit spicy with cinnamon and nutmeg. The tannins are high and chalky at first but fade quickly. The finish is a nice combination of wood, toast and blackberry. I think this wine would benefit from another few years of aging. — 10 years ago

Brett Rogosin

9.0

Beautiful even color. Nose of ripe red plum, plum skin, leather, wet cinnamon bark, wood bark and some vanilla. Stay ok some grippy tannins with acidity that hits the tip of the tongue and slowly expands around the outside of the mouth. Palate transfers through with some dark chocolate and blackberry. This can use time, but is quite tasty right now. — 6 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

From a bottle with a nice fill and solid cork. Tawny color. Dense. Exotic nose. Notes of plum, black cherries, old wood desk, tobacco, leather saddle, dark soil and a little menthol. Improved over 5 hours as it got more air. Long finish. A truly great aged bottle of HB. — 6 years ago

Chris B.

9.0

Strong, traditional Tempranillo with a little bit of a twist. I really enjoyed the wood burning stove aromas. Big but well-rounded tannins, surprisingly present fruit and acidity, and then a delectable current of grilled steak, bloody and rare. A bargain at the price. — 7 years ago

Frank Kuo

9.2

Nice color of gold. Nose is nutty, ripe banana, a bit oak and spice, quite pleasant. Taste is also plenty of ripe banana, plenty of mineral, some oak, and a hint of sweetness. Aftertaste is a bit short with dominant minerals. Quite direct tasting experience and she deserves some good scores. — 8 years ago

Donald Patz

Owner/Winemaker Patz & Hall

9.7

I’ve had other 1966 wines some of which remain very austere and hard. This 1966 from Leoville las Cases reveals the potential that 1966 carried now fully revealed. Delicious exotic plum and spice and berry/cassis herb and exotic wood and... — 8 years ago

Mark Leyendecker

9.7

California Cabernet simply does not get better than this. Leather, tobacco, cigar box, pencil, garrigue, perfect acidity, resolved tannins, everything in balance. Total lack of ponderous wood. A masterpiece. From magnum. Brilliant — 8 years ago

Laith A

9.4

This is a big wine with a major manure factor on the nose! Palate is very old world and vegetal with herbs and wood shavings... still with bold tannins.. good legs. Classic, pure interpretation of Brunello! — 8 years ago

Craig Stanfield

9.5

Started wth a slight must on the nose, but that blew off. Opened to round and bright red and some blue fruit. Tobacco and wood (not lavish oak, maybe cedar) round it out. Fine grained tannins and a wonderful finish. Love the value of Rioja and hard to believe I just got some of these babies recently. This was the 125th vintage. — 9 years ago

Nicole Penalva

9.5

Opened on a the first Friday night of a bottle fed baby! $13.99 from total wine. Great cab for the price ... Should buy again. — 10 years ago

Mason Balistreri

Sommelier, International Wine Guild; Balistreri Vineyard; Sales, Joy Wine and Spirits

9.2

Bright acidity from the concrete egg fermentation. The flavors are approachable even though it is a grape most people haven’t heard of. Fresh pineapple and vanilla. People would love it if they could give it a chance. — 11 years ago

Susan Hanners

8.9

Light but full of punch! Tangy dark cherry on the nose, taste is elegant, lightly stays with you in a magical way — 6 years ago

Andrea Watt

9.2

Dark cherry and wood smoke with hints of oak and vanilla — 6 years ago

with Lisa

Geoff Troup

Sales Eder Brothers, Cellar Fine Wines

9.0

Opulent style but terrific. Nuanced, smoke and forest floor. — 7 years ago

Conrad Green

9.8

A treat. Dark in color, slightly cloudy. A powerful nose with dark, very mouton fruit. Incredibly aromatic, blackcurrant, mint,graphite, dried herbs, eucalyptus. The palate is extraordinary. So dense and powerful for a wine of almost 70 years. Dark fruit with a savory undertow- leather, thyme, sour cherry, dark chocolate. Really precise flavors and long. After an hour or two in glass there’s notes of coconut and soft wood. Extraordinary. Clearly there’s a lot of age on this but the sheer quality makes for a really dynamic wine. An exceptional bottle, and a teal treat. — 7 years ago

with Howard, Tony and 1 other

Chris England

9.4

Last time I had dark cherry was there but blackberry is showing now @ £133 a 96-98 in the making, but 93-95 now

🍇 85% Cab S & 15% Cab F

🍷 Opaque ruby

👃 Elegant savoury herb infused cedar wood, smokey fresh pine & new oak through earthy blackberry, crushed mineral rock, pencil lead, cocoa, bluebells, black tea & new leather

👄 Med silky body of spiced blackberry, liquorice, mocha, light balsamic w/ very fine smooth tannins & cherry hints

🎯 Med+ refined earthy blackberry, mocha & liquorice w/ a black tea tone — 8 years ago

Matt Mason

9.5

Oakton wine. Enjoyed with baked salmon. C light ruby with burnt tint; a lot of cherry, cinnamon, forest. — 8 years ago

Edward Chung

9.2

Nice wine...still very young. Lots of tannins-practically chewing on wood for a while. Fantastic once it opened up. It was particularly amazing with cheese tonight! — 8 years ago

Hyunju and Ray

9.0

Good with chocolate. Hints of cherry and some cedar wood on the finish. — 9 years ago

Ron R

9.2

Popped with my family. My wife and her twin brother-in-law were born in 76, so my reputation is resting on Phelps!

The appearance is exquisite. Visibly, it is showing only slight signs of age, with the wine at the quarter shoulder.

On the nose, I detect prunes, cinnamon, tree bark and saddle leather. On the palette, the wine is superbly balanced and harmonious. Tannins are, of course, integrated, but the stature of the wine is still so graceful and refined. Flavors of caramel with a hint of cedar wood and truffles . The finish is sweet and utterly consistent.

For its age, this is an outstanding example. Purchased from Benchmark.

PS - My reputation is still intact 😌 — 10 years ago

with Julie, Pierre-Alexandre and 1 other

Howard Yang

9.0

Deep burgundy purple, smell of cassis, dark fruit, vanilla wood and plum, medium to dull body, smooth tannin with good acidity at the end, balanced and refined with a medium to long finish. — 12 years ago