Andrew McIntyre

9.6

This wine gets so much hate and I really don't understand why. Had it 3-4 times and has always been such a pleasure to drink. WOTN contender here with power, elegance and complexity. Could have drunken the whole botttle on my own! — 8 months ago

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9.3

The 2003 Ducru-Beaucaillou, picked 15-25 September and matured in 90% new oak, has a ripe and opulent bouquet with lavish black fruit, fresh fig, dates and a touch of liquorice, though here is no sense of over-maturity here. It is fresher than a lot of ‘03s that I have recently tasted. The palate is well balanced with supple, rounded tannins. There is a real candied essence to this Ducru-Beaucaillou, with quite a pronounced liquorice finish that you want to go back to. This is ageing well - one of the better wines of this infamous growing season. Tasted at the Ducru Beaucaillou vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2022)
— 3 years ago

Aaron Tan

8.9

"You didn't know Krug's oxidative?"

While I've had my fair share of Krug over the years, I've never found any as oxidative as this 06' (save for a few suspect bottles), which led me to proclaim that the bottle was less-than-pristine. Normally this would not have been strange given the abysmal state of cold chain in Malaysia, but GL was quick to rebut with the statement above.

He's had far more Krug than I have you see - decades, instead of years - so he may well be right here. It could have been the vintage, or my palate, or just needed more air to blossom - whatever the case, this certainly fell below expectations. Sure it was dense and quite linear, and Krug does indeed lie in the school of oxidative champagnes, but this just lacked the balancing freshness that one would expect from a producer of this caliber. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was a distinct musky note that I see so often in ill-stored whites, and abhor. So the real question is - was GL right? Is this a typical Krug 06'? I believe another specimen is required to draw proper judgement. — 4 years ago

E & K G

9.1

Violets, roses... so much to love here! — 6 years ago

Matt

9.5

The perceived ripeness of fruit and level of suave tannin here was surprising to me. An 88’ a couple of years ago was so elegant and finessed where this showed a surprising level of concentration. That said, beautifully mature wine, its tannins have softened immensely and wrap the mouth, silky and soft. To tertiary, earth driven, behind a bit of dried berry, currant, and plum fruit laid pipe tobacco, peat, pipe smoke, dusty earth, dried flowers, worn leather. — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.5

Night 1 of the Fall WNH event in San Antonio. What a killer start to the extended weekend, all courtesy to Shawn and Jennifer for hosting! Tonight was Italian wines.

Another in the running for WOTN. Maple and rich! Cherry and vanilla tobacco on the nose with herbal spice and a strawberry tart finish. Young and acidic! There is a very underripe red fruit dominant profile here. Crazy how young it tastes for 23yrs old. Bravo @Shawn R ! — 7 years ago

with Mike, David and 5 others

Shay A

9.3

(Two previous 1983 vintage wine reviews never made it on here, so copying from CT).

My experiences with 1983s has been fairly positive, and this PL certainly is among the better I’ve had from the vintage. Holding color nicely with deep ruby and slight bricking around the rim. Started off a bit dense and muddled, but hit stride about 30mins later with a mix of red and black berry fruit, cassis, a streak of herbal green down the middle (something I always get with PL). Excellent example of the fruit showing lots of flavor without being overly ripe. Leather, sweet pipe tobacco, graphite, and still some vibrancy at the finish with tannin structure. Clean and elegant at this stage. Showed well over the course of two hours. Drink up and enjoy. — 9 months ago

Turd Ferguson

9.0

Fully resolved and probably barely past peak. Downhill from here. Tasty with Indonesian spiced fried chicken and nasi goreng — 3 years ago

Barberry Garden

9.5

Tasted blind. Since the list of white wines was known to me, the guess is obvious here. Unique and amazing style. Oxidative notes, bread and butter, baked apples, honey, nuts and mushrooms. It even has notes of flowers and grapefruit. Complex and well balanced with right volume and long aftertaste. IMO it lacks evolution, but amazing aftertaste with flavours of mushrooms, apples and honey. Happy to taste it again in almost a year. — 3 years ago

Severn G

9.6

The weekend upon us and we're hosting another dinner party for a couple of friends. Tonight's theme was Rhone wine, so good stuff on deck, with age.

Notes pending... (Entertaining guests first 😉)

Absolutely perfect, yet only coming into it's zone, decade to go here...

Notes from +24H open:
Nose has ripe cherry, dried cherry, dried blackberry, red velvet cake, ripe plum and dry, mineral-ly earth.

Palate has silky-sweet cherry, ripe red currant, (light) cigar wrapper, dried cherry, faint eucalyptus, faint wood notes, dry earth, faint iron notes on the long finish. Mild tannins persist today. Expect to enjoy this vintage another +10Y when held in proper storage.

This bottle was singing at the top of its register last night, slightly diminished today. Absolutely perfect cork, no Durand required for extraction. Acquired a mere two years ago, from a local retailer beginning to close down his shop. He purchased a case on release, stored in his cold cellar; when I got to hunting it only a single bottle remained.

I've had the 2000 vintage before, and it was a treat in a more youthful stage, but a delicacy with our meal last night. We baked a 3lb beef tenderloin (Kinderhook Farm; Valatie, NY) coated in an herb paste then an herbed panko crumb crust with parmesan. About a 50m cook, 30m rest yeilded a perfect 130° center. Served alongside smashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts with thick cut bacon. We had fantastic company, connecting again with a wine trade friend and his wife after a few years break in our dining schedules. — 4 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.7

The 1999 Salon ‘S Blanc de Blancs’ Champagne is a magical wine that is sinfully good at twenty years of age. Disgorged in 2011 this wine leads the way with an extraordinarily good nose of salted praline with shades of wet stone, damp earth and bright citrus fruits that all mingle marvelously in the glass. The silky mousse captivates the senses. Bright green apple and kumquat flavors connect with diatomaceous earth, and shades of white truffle on the palate. The freshness here is quite extraordinary. While delightful now, this one of a kind Champagne will provide drinking satisfaction for at least another fifteen years. Drink 2019-2039- 97 — 6 years ago

jesus g

Hospitality Schramsberg Vineyards

9.6

I’m really beginning to see this transition where the 2013s-16s of Rhône and Burgundy are already so drinkable and showing ripe fruit. Like they are making them to drink now, this winemaking style is showing a little more fruit extraction and from what I’ve seen here in Napa, you’re sacrificing the ability to age there for the early drinkability. Hopefully I’m wrong and these are all just warmer vintages. I just wanna see these wines reach their potential 10/20 years out — 7 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2018 vintage. Decanted and tasted after 15 mins and one hour. Beautifully feminine and expressive nose leapt out of the decanter. Medium body. Nice balance of dark fruits and tannins but slightly disjointed. A bigg Napa vintage so either another decade or a three hour tour...er...decant would seem to be the ticket here. 01.31.25. — 9 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.1

No formal notes. Maybe slightly less dense ruby, wider rim . More refined and quite elegant , medium bodied , slightly more cooler greener fruits . This quite aromatic initially, mix of red and dark hedgerow fruits . A little more refined and small boned , perhaps a little light a shorter than others . This was impressive out of the gate , aromatic and charming quite mineral also , though it was the only wine that faded a little with time in the glass . This appears to be at its peak though probably will remain here for another 5 -10 years perhaps — 9 months ago

David Foster

9.5

Dry strawberry. Fantastic. Only available here for 6 months and then not. — 3 years ago

Adam Beasley

9.0

Way too young. Still pretty tough after a 5-6 he decant. There’s is a lot of structure here and the dark roasted fruit plays well with the other aromas / flavors like charcoal, pencil lead, and soil. Not my go-to style of wine, but decent with prime rib. — 4 years ago

Rob Brobst III

9.8

This could garner a perfect score in about a decade.... gorgeous blackberry, raspberry, cedar and orange sorbet scents that are extremely pure and refined. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, very precise acidity and layers of crisp black fruit laced with vanilla from the new oak at the moment. That will be subsumed in time. What you have here is a very precise, multi-layered, almost sensual Montrose that is going to delight many for years to come. This is highly recommended--one of the finest Left Bank wines this vintage. — 5 years ago

E & K G

9.2

Balanced but almost to a fault. Probably some bottle variance here but it doesn’t leave a big impression. Wet stones... not that I know what they taste like... graphite and elegant flavors of dried roses, forest floor, plum and cassis. #happynewyear — 7 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.7

The 1990 Cristal is remarkable. Polished, nuanced and light on its feet, the 1990 is all class. Citrus, orchard fruit and floral notes are wonderfully lifted throughout. A slight reductive note adds character on the finely knit finish. I can’t think of a better way to start this tasting. Simply put, the 1990 is a total rock star. Moreover, it is much more delicate than most wines from this ripe vintage. Amazingly, the 1990 tastes like it is still not ready! “Nineteen ninety was my second vintage here,” says Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon. “It was ideal. The fruit was just perfect. We blocked the malolactic fermentation completely and only fermented 6-7% of our lots in oak, as opposed to the more typical 20%, in order to preserve as much freshness as possible. The wine was made by my predecessor, Michel Pansu, but I was learning. This was the first year I started working with oxygen by reducing sulfites in vinification to pre-oxidize the Chardonnay musts, as I do know, which allows me to get rid of all the unstable, oxidative compounds. With Pinot, on the other hand, you need a little bit of sulfur at crush or you lose the brilliant fruit. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, December 2018) — 7 years ago

Meg Herring

9.6

Want a bojo that can age? Here it is. — 7 years ago