Mariana Puga

9.7

this is really nice! i notice some floral and strawberry notes — 2 months ago

with Raul

Peter van den Besselaar

9.3

Vintage 2008 | Reliable old school Rioja, well balanced with vanilla, mocca, cedar — 4 months ago

Scott Kahn

9.5

Beautiful wine - one that has improved with age! Deep and rich color with a bouquet of cedar in the glass. Dark and plentiful fruit, integrated albeit present tannins, and a long finish. This is best Estournel that I have sampled! — 4 months ago

Melanie Hogan DelBuono

9.3

I was surprised it was in a clear glass bottle. Still very young but surprisingly light. Very vanilla with fresh cherry’s. Not a big Cabernet at all. — 4 months ago

Joe DAscoli

9.3

Super sweet and oaky on first open but matured up with a 3 hour decant

Still quite fruity but with steak, it gives a lot of red berry fruit and the oak is reasonable and the sweetness is gone with the airtime.

Overall good wine but I thought it lost out to the Paul Hobbs LPV ‘14. — 5 months ago

Joe Weinberger

9.6

For my palate, exactly where I would want an aged CdP to be. Still has fruit and grip, but with secondary elements supporting and adding complexity. Really fantastic. — a year ago

Ericsson

9.0

Revisiting this disruptive wine as I often do. This time 24 years after it’s initial release, and much has changed since since it’s inception. The wine is still exciting, maybe for the wrong reasons, maybe for the right reasons but exciting nonetheless. It’s still a big and bold beast of a wine, no matter the vintage. — 7 months ago

Daniel P. Drake

9.1

We opened this beautiful Cava, the 2020 Ravantós i Blanc Conca del Riu Anoia Extra Brut Cava Rose. From Catalonia Sant Sadurni D'Anoia, Spain. A blend of 44% Xarel-lo, 39% Macabeo, 12% Parellada and 5% Monastrell.

On the nose is strawberry, lemon, white peach, lime peel, almond and a bit of minerality.

On the palate there is strawberry, citrus, lemon, lime peel, tarragon, hazelnut, yellow apple and minerality.

This wine is medium bodied with an onion skin color with a bone dry mouthfeel medium + to high acidity that leaves us with a long fresh citrus wet rock finish. At $23 you can't go wrong. This will hang with the best sparkling wines. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend please stay safe and healthy heading into this week ahead. Nostrovia! 🥂🥂🥂🥂 — 2 years ago

E & K G

9.1

A bit disjointed and not the balanced velvet powerhouse I remember when I had the 2003 vintage. — 6 years ago

Paul K

9.4

@Ryan Mullins and @Jeff Loo are spot on. This needs 10 years. I double aerated back into bottle for 12 hour corked decant and after two hours open in glass this is still closed. You can still taste the potential though. There is a density and purity of fruit behind it that I’m excited to open up one day. Was still a great experience. 94 for now. Will hold remaining bottles for at least 5 years. Please yell at me if u see another post of this wine before then. — 6 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

Medium lemon yellow , fine bubbles . Quite restrained and mineral focused on the nose , then lemon confit , quince, touch of orange flowers, with some pastry notes , white flowers , honeysuckle also . Quite intense and mineral on the palate , fills out well with some lemon oil and pastry notes also , but this is reserved and elegant in style , more mineral , chalky and more intense than the 2013 had last week. Really refreshing acidity . Long and complex on the finish , I would imagine this needs more time than the 2013 too. Come back in 5 years , will show well for a further 10-15 years , perhaps longer. Very promising . — 3 months ago

Jane Nuss

9.1

Pale gold with fine bubbles. Blossom, apple, pear, tangerine, lemon, brioche, and toasted almond. Dry, medium body. Well-balanced acidity with a crisp, medium-plus finish. You can find this stuff almost anywhere these days. But I must say, I still like it.
— 4 months ago

Damian

9.9

Decanted in the glass for 30 minutes, with bottle open during that time and later. The best wine experience so far. I tried it before on a tasting and was not impressed. Brioche, toast, citrus, apple and racing acidity were still present in my mouth after 2 minutes of taking a sip. I prefer to drink it the way I described at the beginning vs straight from the bottle that was standing in ice. — 4 months ago

David White

9.3

It’s 10 years since Serge. Hochar’s death whilst swimming in Acapulco on NYE 2014 and I think it’s appropriate to celebrate his legacy that is the modern Chateau Musar.
I first tasted Lebanese wines in London circa 1986 when I used to go to a couple of Lebanese restaurants in Shepherds Market near Mayfair in London
Al Hamra is still in business
I’ve been to Beirut several times and always stock up at the airport duty free
So a toast to a departed icon of the wine world
Since my last 2011 4.5 years ago (see note) this has aged wonderfully and I’ve up my rating several points
Another few years and it will be further improved
Optimal decant time was around 3.5 to 4 hours
Ethereal stuff — 4 months ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.4

One could argue it was a bit young, but this wine to me - every vintage - remains one of the greatest of all time. I smell and taste the dark fruit (currants, etc), I taste the iron, i taste the dark stones, I taste the garam marsala. And holy sh!t, the texture… — 5 months ago

Doug Powers

9.3

Great color, still very youthful at age 25, this paired perfectly with some farm-raised elk loins we purchased in Reno 3 months ago that I grilled on the Weber, complex, long finish, really quite fine!! — 7 months ago

with Jim

Mike Evans

9.6

Nutty but still fresh, at peak and pretty much exactly what I want in an aged Champagne. — 9 months ago

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9.5

The 1989 Pichon-Baron repeats its performance from the vertical tasting in May 2018. It storms from the glass, bearing copious blackberry, cedar and perhaps a little more mint than I noticed on the previous bottle. There is so much youthful zeal to this harmonious, refined Pauillac that you would barely guess it is 30 years old. Long and tender with a graphite-infused finish, this bottle might be even better than the ex-château example. Tasted at the 1989 Bordeaux dinner at Hatched in London. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2019) — 6 years ago

Joel Armijo

9.0

Solid vintage but didn't age as well as I hoped Still very enjoyable — 8 years ago

James Luis

10

I can't never go wrong with any stag's leap — 12 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

No formal notes . Pretty deep Amber , copper colour . Intense marmalade , saffron , creme caramel . Rich on the palate with rich marmalade , saffron notes . Good acidity , but rich. Good length . This is drinkable now and shows quite an advanced colour , though due to its richness will probably carry on delivering for another 20 years , perhaps longer .

This was a rather fascinating evening put together by our incredibly generous host. All 2007 reds were served blind in two flights: 1st Mouton, Haut Brion, Cheval Blanc , La Mission Haut Brion then Latour , Lafite , Petrus and Margaux . Overall the wines showed well , and were mostly enjoyable to drink now , though there is no rush . This somewhat maligned vintage can give a lot of enjoyment in the right environment, I certainly wouldn’t hold back from opening or purchasing any of these wines . They mostly show good density of fruit , personality and elegance , with good freshness. These are not powerful wines , and at times perhaps the fruit can be a little cooler or greener but I was pleasantly surprised by the way they performed , just goes to show you should never write off a vintage without trying the wines ! — 3 months ago

Victor Charcan

9.4

Great wine in a great vintage. Dark fruit, well handled oak, plums and cherries, great acidity and fine tannins and length — 4 months ago

George Booth

9.1

Got this wonderful bottle of wine from our good friend Lucia — 4 months ago

Rick Phillips

9.6

After 35 years I was not expecting much. Especially when the cork disintegrated on opening. Aureated on decanting and was happily surprised. After about 20 minutes opened to dark chocolate, leather but so smooth. The last glass was pure delight. Howell Mountain at its best! — 5 months ago

with Letha

Jan A

9.3

From Coravin at my nephews restaurant at Sundays Italian lunch. A nice moment to check in for my bottles that I have in my cellar. Obviously way to young but drinking well nevertheless. Solid wine, potential 94-95 with some age but not the best vintage IMHO. — 5 months ago

Jay Kline

9.3

I never would have anticipated drinking my birth year of Cheval Blanc out of a Solo cup yet, here we are. The ‘81 is ruddy still; deep garnet color with some browning towards the rim and loads of sediment. The nose shows some of the telltale green-ness of vintage but everything has found harmony: the fruit has blossomed and structure has integrated. Dark fruited with tobacco, dried purple flowers, mushrooms, herbs and soft eastern spices. Charming! No particular rush to drink these but lovely now. — 7 months ago

Pooneet K

9.2

Krug is always most welcome, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. This is edition 169. A bit more yeasty and slightly less acidic than previous versions, to my taste. But if you like the Krug style - which we do very much - it hits the spot per usual.

My wife used to work with Fritz Hatton, proprietor of Arietta wines and auctioneer for Zachys. Fritz always says to have a half bottle of champagne waiting in the fridge in case you need a “midnight snack”, and I have to agree with him! — 4 years ago

Alex Whitcomb

9.3

me likkkkey — 6 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

Sweet red berry fruits, with some earth, leather and spice, ethereal bouquet very elegant and a silky mouth feel. I love Palmer and rate the 70 equal to the 66. — 10 years ago

Patrick Forde

8.9

Dark Pinot, med to heavy body, slightly smokey, smooth, I like it. $18 — 12 years ago