Greg Wright

9.2

Reticent and austere at the beginning but then started to open up. Dark red fruits, savory notes, violets emerge. It has good acidity and tannin balance but the austerity is going to require more patience. — 5 years ago

Garret Walter

9.3

Super young but showing so well. Beautifully perfumed. I’m sure will reward a little patience if you can manage. — 6 years ago

Matt Sterr

8.9

Perhaps the best box 📦 Wine I’ve ever had. — 6 years ago

Stephen Redenbaugh

9.3

Restores my faith in Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnay. Lifted nose of ripe pear and saddle leather. The oak is integrated and still enough acidity to accent the creamy richness. Beautiful balance and long silky finish. The wine is in a nice spot but I still think it will reward some patience. — 7 years ago

Tom Wood

9.4

If you had the patience, this is ten, even twenty years — 8 years ago

Lance E. Farman

9.3

Your patience will pay off with this one. Tannins have lots of grip. As another reviewer says, 'definitively, yes'! — 8 years ago

Alexis Whitesides

9.2

Beaujolais cry, without the price. So smooth, so juicy. Really great and easy drinking. Can drink all day long, everyday. — 8 years ago

Natrone Means Business

9.7

Oh good God, this wine is the balls. Really just a kid, this is one of those wines I wish I had the patience to open up 20 years from now, but I know my lack of patience when it comes to aging wine. Get this wine if you like muscular Cab! — 9 years ago

Tony Ware

9.4

Like a lamb to the slaughter, and also the perfect accompaniment to slaughtered lamb as an Easter treat. Even with a decade+ on it, it felt young. Candied dark red fruit, baking spices, earth and herbs, yet never dried out. Dense, but never weighed down. Beaucastel is wine that truly rewards patience. — 9 years ago

Richard Steinberg

9.6

I apologize to the wine making team for our lack of patience. Oh well, it was worth it! Buckle up and enjoy the ride. — 9 years ago

Thomas Hughes

10

Stuck in between banner vintages (2000 & 2005), 2003 is a great year to find "value" in Bordeaux. With the rise of the Far East's middle class, "Super Second" classified French reds sell for over $100 per bottle. (And 2 to 3 times that for the exceptional 2009 & 2010 vintages). So for my 2013 birthday, why not open a 10 year old Paulliac? 1st, this requires patience. After decanting, the glass needs time to develop. It's been 45 min and finally starting to exhibit it's elegance. Smooth, balanced, caressing ... You can almost taste the centuries of expertise. When I started getting into drinking wine, I was vain in thinking "French wines, can they be that good?" Yes, they are but not at any price! Don't just take out a mortgage to buy anything; research and try 2nd labels of vineyards. This wine is brilliant, but I still prefer Chateau Leoville Las Cases as my favorite 2003 Bordeaux. A very happy Cheers! — 11 years ago

with Heidi

Severn Goodwin

9.3

Nose has spicy cherry, tanned leather, juiced raspberry-blackberry, cigar box, cocoa nibs, exceptional.

Palate has blackberry reduction, ripe cherry mash, moist leather, cedar shavings, light mocha, nice acidity and dissipating tannins are gentle, long finish.

We've been enjoying these Heredia crianzas for many years, but they do need time to settle in and we're still drinking these too young, but damn they are guilty pleasures.

Decanted 2+hrs, drink now or enjoy over the next 4-6 years without concern.

$22, yes I know that reads like a crazy price, because it is, only patience is required! — 5 years ago

Atsushi Kamitani

9.0

with a little bit of patience, it gives light berry taste with soft tannins. — 6 years ago

Jay Kline

9.4

Popped and poured; consumed over three hours. Tremendous Cerretta. Looks like ox blood in the glass...incredible visual with zero signs of age. Intoxicating aromas of kirsch, pie crust, tar, fresh roses, and tiramisu. On the palate it was all kirsch and sous bois supported by a mountain of tannins still, 12 years in. Beautiful acidity and the finish sits with you for well over half a minute. It was still going strong by the time we reached the bottom of the bottle. This wine will last for decades to come and I have expectations for it to start showing its best closer to 2025. Drink with patience or hold. — 7 years ago

Cody Short

9.3

Fantastic wine but slightly closed. This needs some serious air or even better, a few more years. This is going to be an incredible wine with patience. — 7 years ago

with Holli

Cody Short

9.6

WOTN and just crazy good. Still so young at 27 yrs and really needs another 10 to show it's full potential. A strong decant helped open it up but this still has so much more to give. A true delight right now but patience will be rewarded. — 8 years ago

with Suzanne and Holli

Manny Abascal

9.2

An incredible and consistent value. Wish I had the patience to wait 20 years or access to older vintages. Young, woody, acidic, with strong blood orange on palate. This will be great in 10-20 years, but sadly I will have drunk all of my bottles before then. — 8 years ago

Lenard Henson

9.2

Lenard had this 9 years ago

with John

Alex Powell

9.2

A bit wound up on nose, still smoky with fresh blackcurrant and elderberry, pine bough, tangy orange and tobacco leaf. Very woodsy, but also quite shy...palate is hugely mineral and mouthcoating, touch of spice, monumental and fresh, long length. No doubt quite excellent, but not showing its arsenal today...wait 5 years at least if you have such patience! — 9 years ago

Delectable Wine

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10

The recipe for greatness in this bottle, equal parts:
• Rutherford's stony, alluvial soil
• Cathy's sage-like light touch in the winery
• The patience for tannin, fruit & mineral characters to become perfectly in sync dance partners
• The generosity of friends to share
• Outstanding drinking companions — 10 years ago

Keith Fisher

9.2

Bought this on release and cellared since. This is showing well with no urgency to open now. I’ve always been a fan of the Backus, but this is certainly a good value if you have patience and cellar space. — 5 years ago

Scott Taddeo

9.7

he wine itself is intensely aromatic leading with touches of violets, lavender and blue gum before notes of black currant, cassis, ripe plums, liquorice, dark chocolate and some toasty oak. Immediately assertive in the palate with power being the defining message, the wine is extremely focused with inherent freshness nestled within its big frame. It’s extremely youthful and those with patience will surely be rewarded, but jeeze it’s hard to stop drinking it now 🔥 — 6 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.6

A blend of 58% Cabernet and 42% Merlot, aged for 26 months in French oak (67% new). I'll start off by saying this wine is good now but will be great in another 5-10 years if you have the patience. Rich aromas of dark fruit and mineral spice. Raspberry and juicy cherry with notes of licorice, currants and floral spice. Fine dusty tannins with a rustic edge, well integrated, nice balance, lingering ending with earthy tones. — 7 years ago

義崇 平林

9.9

tripワイン会
ラムーノ
華やか〜（≧∇≦） — 7 years ago

Sarah Helen

9.5

Turkish delight/rose water, orange blossom, white melon, pencil lead, perfectly balanced acidity. Juicy to plush mouthfeel. Lingering watermelon — 8 years ago

GFM

10

This truly is one of the finest red wines ever made. Such heritage, such patience and resilience of a winery in a dire hostile environment . 1995 a classic vintage, tasted 6-28-16. Just thrilling, balanced and sexy. — 8 years ago

Christopher Marshall

9.8

Possibly the finest example from one of the great unsung vintages in the history of Oregon Pinot. In rewarding the patience that these cooler years demand, it now expresses deep connectedness and complexity from start to finish: the sensuous perfume of the nose, continuing all the way through to the long and soft effervescence of the finish. This is a decidedly classic vinous composition. — 8 years ago

Wine101Hamden

10

To say this wine was fantastic is an understatement. Elegant, velvety body with hints of cedar, cinnamon spice. Glad I didn't wait too much longer to open this as the cork was drying out and snapped halfway in the neck. Extracting that cork was like defusing a bomb on Mission Impossible but with much patience we got it out without damaging anything. Phewww!! 😅 — 9 years ago

Scott Gruber

9.9

Wow. Forget anything you know about Chardonney. Aroma expands. Long finish. First drinking as apertif, but will pair soon with cod and mango salsa. — 9 years ago

Eric Hiatt

9.0

Nice vin de pays. Keep returning to bottle for more perfumed strawberry preserve and black olive. — 11 years ago