La Place
Hopes End Wine
Run Away To The Dark Side To A Place Called Port Misery Shiraz Blend 2015
Wow, jam, dark stone fruit. Deep purple rim. A pleasure to drink as I grill — 6 years ago
Château Palmer
Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 1982
Tasted blind. Reddish tawny, almost opaque. Big shoulders in the nose. Complex. Notes of briary brush, raspberry, hickory, pepper and tobacco leaf. Mellow in the mouth, especially when compared to the big nose. Sweeter fruit finish. Took some deductive time with my guess... 82 Margaux which freaked out my friend who brought the bottle. This is in a good place, not sure if it will improve with more age. But it’s in no danger of declining anytime soon. — 6 years ago
La Rioja Alta
Gran Reserva 904 Rioja Tempranillo Graciano 2005
What a gem. Sweet integrated tannins, with stewed fruits and coconut. Button mushrooms on the finish. In a really nice place right now. Better than I remembered :) out of Coravin — 8 years ago
Château Brane-Cantenac
Grand Cru Classé en 1855 Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005
I have a six-pack of this 05. I thought after 10 years in bottle, it would be interesting to check in on its evolution. While tasty, I’ll wait another 8-10 to open another. Even after 2-3 hours in the decanter, it’s still a very young adolescent. On the nose, slightly sour blackberries & dark cherries, dark currants, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, anise, whiff of spice, steeped tea, dry stones, dry crushed rocks with dry top soil, caramel, vanilla with fresh & dry red florals. The body is thick & full. Tannins are starting to round out. It’s velvety on the palate. The fruits are; bright, fresh & ripe and really show the greatness of the 05 vintage. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, baked black plum, haunting blue fruits, baked strawberries, cherries, raspberries on the long set, dark spice, clay & loamy dry top soil with crushed rocks, dry stones, cigar with ash, graphite, dry stems, slight herbaceous character, mint, used leather, clove, caramel, vanilla, fresh & dry red florals with violets. The round acidity is about perfect. The structure and length are still strong. The balance is in harmony. As for the long finish, it’s lush, ruby, rich and well polished. Photos of; Chateau Brane Cantenac, large wood vats, Henri Lurton and Estate vines. Producer notes and history...Chateau Brane Cantenac began in the early 17th century. At the time, the estate was known as Domaine Guilhem Hosten. Even that far back, wine was produced from the property. In fact, the wine was so highly regarded it was one of the more expensive wines in Bordeaux. It sold for almost as much money as Brane Mouton. This is interesting because of who went on to buy the vineyard in the 1800’s. The Baron of Brane, also known as “Napoleon of the Vineyards”, purchased the Chateau in 1833. At the time of the sale, the estate was called Chateau Gorce-Guy. To get the funds needed to purchase the Margaux vineyard, the Baron sold what is now called Mouton Rothschild, which was at the time of the sale, known as Chateau Brane-Mouton. Not such a good move with hundreds of years in hindsight! In 1838, the Baron renamed property taking his name and the name of the sector where the vineyards were located and called it Chateau Brane Cantenac. The Chateau later passed to the Roy family, who were well-known in the Margaux appellation in those days, as they owned Chateau d’issan. Moving ahead to 1920, the Societe des Grands Crus de France, a group of merchants and growers that owned several chateaux located in the Medoc including; Chateau Margaux, Chateau Giscours, and Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien, purchased Chateau Brane Cantenac. Five years later, M. Recapet and his son-in-law, François Lurton, took over Brane Cantenac along with Chateau Margaux. Lucien Lurton (the son of François Lurton) inherited Brane Cantenac in 1956. Today, the estate is still in the hands of the Lurton family. Brane Cantenac is owned and run by Henri Lurton. After being given the responsibility of managing Brane Cantenac, it was under the direction of Henri Lurton that large portions of the vineyard were replanted. Vine densities were increased, the drainage systems were improved and the plantings were also, slowly changed. The vineyard of Brane Cantenac is planted to 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4.5% Cabernet Franc and .5% Carmenere. Carmenere was used for the first time in the 2011 vintage. The only other Chateau I know that still uses Carmenere is Clerc Milon. The 75 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Brane Cantenac is essentially unchanged since it earned Second Growth status in the 1855 Classification. At least that is the case with the 45 hectares used to produce the Grand Vin of Brane Cantenac. Those 45 hectares are planted surrounding the Chateau. Those vines are located just in front of the Cantenac plateau and are the best terroir that Brane Cantenac owns. They have other parcels, which are further inland and much of those grapes are placed into their second wine, Le Baron de Brane. Those additional hectares can be divided into 3 main sections. Behind the Chateau, they have 15 hectares of vines on gravel and sand, 10 hectares across the road with sand, gravel and iron and a 13 hectare parcel with gravel called Notton, which is used for their second wine. The vineyard is planted to a vine density that ranges from 6,666 vines per hectare on the plateau and up to 8,000 vines per hectare for the vines located behind chateau, in their sandier soils. The higher levels of vine density are always found in the newer plantings. The terroir of Brane Cantenac consists of deep gravel, sand and clay soil. Experiments in the vineyards are currently looking at becoming more organic in their vineyard management. Today, more than 25% of Brane Cantenac is farmed using organic farming techniques. It is expected that over time, the amount of hectares farmed with organic methods will be increased. Brane Cantenac has gone through 2 relatively recent modernization’s in 1999, when they added began adding the first of their smaller vats to allow for parcel by parcel vinification and then again in 2015 when they completed a much more complete renovation of their cellars and vat rooms. While Brane Cantenac is a traditional producer, they are no stranger to technology as they were one of the first estates to embrace optical grape sorting machines. In very wet vintages, they can also use reverse osmosis. To produce the wine of Chateau Brane Cantenac, the wine is vinified in a combination of temperature controlled, traditional, 22 oak vats, 18 concrete tanks and 20 stainless steel vats that vary in size from 40 hectoliters all the way up to 200 hectoliters, which allows for parcel by parcel vinification. 40% of the fermentation takes place in the oak vats. The oldest vines are vinified in vats that are selected to allow for separate parcel by parcel vinification. The younger vines are vinified more often together in the same vats. However, the Carmenere is entirely micro-vinified, meaning that those grapes were completely vinified in barrel, using micro-vinification techniques. This can also happen because the amount of grapes produced is so small. Some vats can be co-inoculated, meaning they go through alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation simultaneously. At Chateau Brane Cantenac, malolactic fermentation takes place in a combination of French oak tanks and barrels. The wine of Brane Cantenac is aged in an average of 60% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling. The initial 2 months of aging is done with the wine on its lees, which adds more depth to the wine. There second wine is Le Baron de Brane. Le Baron de Brane is not new. In fact, previously, the second wine went under the name of Chateau Notton, which took its name from one of the main parcels where the grapes were planted. During the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, having a second wine was important as the estate declassified 3 vintages, due to extremely poor, weather conditions in 1956, 1960 and 1963. Production of Chateau Brane Cantenac is about 11,000 cases per year. — 8 years ago
Domaine François Raveneau
Butteaux Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2006
Beautifully balanced. Lime, stone, oyster shells. Salinity. On the palate cool green apple, hints of melon, limestone. A beautiful tart sour notes on the finish. A lovely haunting finish. In a very good place right now — 3 years ago
E. Guigal
Château d'Ampuis Côte-Rôtie Syrah 2006
Chateau D’Ampuis is a delight across vintages.
The 2006 vintage is really superb! The wine is smooth and elegant, and seems to be all about balance and complexity.
At 14 the wine is rich and vivid and all the pieces just fall in place.
The nose is enchanting with notes of black fruit, earthiness, barnyard, chocolate, a touch of violets and a hint of floral notes.
Full round body, remarkably elegant with lovely acidity and a long delicious finish.
My score 92, drink to 2026 — 6 years ago
Thierry Allemand
Cornas Reynard (R) Syrah
2012 in a great place right now — 7 years ago
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe
La Crau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2009
Ripe raspberry, dramatic spice, dynamic acidity somehow, herbaceous, forest floor, soothing tannin. A little robust and all over the place but quite complex also. — 8 years ago
Château Léoville-Las Cases
Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1983
Tenuta San Guido
Bolgheri Sassicaia Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 2000
At first this was thin and lacking some depth, but over a few hours it arrived in a very nice place putting on weight, depth and deepening nuances of dried red fruits, spice and pyrazine notes. Length is a little short but overall in a good spot and likely having peaked so drink up. — 5 years ago
Château d'Yquem
Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1998
Beautiful. Perfectly balanced. Nothing out of place. Outstanding! — 5 years ago
Dunn Vineyards
Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
Jean Foillard
Côte du Py Morgon Gamay 2009
Killer. Red fruit, minerality, earth, and just the smallest hint of funk. In a great place now but years to go easily. — 7 years ago
Château Léoville Barton
Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2001
The 2001 Barton @ £67 is in a lovely place right now - any Barton fan (I’m one 😉) will love this chewy mouthful of alluring nasal sensual tease 😉
🏵 93-4 points
🍇 70% Cab S, 20% Merlot & 10% Cab F
🍷 Opaque ruby
👃 Char smoked oak, liquorice, mocha, minerals, flint, pencil lead, gravel, tar, soggy earth & leaves through blackcurrant & dark plum w/ herbs
👄 Med body of silky smooth mocha loaded ripe dark currant/berry & plum fruits w/ a mineral loaded backbone & liquorice tones
🎯 Med+ earthy dark fruit, mocha, liquorice & mineral boom 💥& a touch of dryness
— 8 years ago
Jay Kline
It was Father’s Day and I had decided on grilled rack of lamb for dinner so I selected this bottle of 2011 Chateau Musar rouge from our cellar. According to Musar’s records, the 2011 vintage was one of the most challenging since the early 1990’s. It was ultimately a late-maturing vintage with harvest taking place on October 13th, the latest since the 1983 vintage!
I decanted this bottle about eight hours prior to dinner. It should be noted that immediately upon opening, the bouquet was strikingly gorgeous with powerful aromatics that were obvious from several feet away and this trait carried through until dinner time.
In the glass, the wine presents a deep garnet color. Slightly turbid with a near opaque core. On the nose, black plums, blackberries, cassis, tobacco, organic earth, exotic spices, leather, spiced meat, and pomegranate. I detect a touch of VA as well. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the nose with an added bit of red rope licorice. Lovely, long, savory…amazing. This was a brilliant compliment to the lamb (which was served with beets and goat cheese and fattoush) and everything I wanted in a Musar tonight. Drinking well now with a hefty decant and I expect well cellared examples to drink well past 2035. — 3 years ago