Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.4

Dark ruby red with lighter edges. Dark nose with layers of cocoa, a bit dirty, earthy and dark berries. Medium tannins (6.5/10) and full bodied. Elegant palate with tons of dark notes. Layers of black cherries, cassis, dark earth and tobacco leaves. Long and lingering finish. Drink till 2022. — 8 years ago

with David, Ron and 3 others

Spencer Stuart

8.9

Burst of fruit but leaves you flat on the finish. — 8 years ago

DL

9.2

Smells alcoholic, kind of stings my nasal canals. Has a musty, rounded smell over it, di says is American oak. Tastes complex, not super sweet, kind of savory. Feeling spreads out and mellows out in mouth. Has tannins, leaves an aftertaste, but not unpleasant — 8 years ago

with C

Weijie Shi (Jay)

9.4

One of the best Bordeaux I’ve ever had. Just ready to drink. Ripe black fruits dominant mixed with delicate cedar box, tobacco leaves, truffle and forest floor. Rich and big structures, dusty tannins, 1min finish. Amazing! — 9 years ago

Igor Beron

9.2

Chocolate, oak spices, gravelly, sweet fruit. Tiny touch of dry leaves. Fine grained tannins. Long. — 9 years ago

Chris England

9.2

One of the best vintages of this fab Chateau @ £52 drinking lovely now & next couple of years 👍

🍇 53% Cab S, 45% Mer & 2% Cab F

🍷 Deep ruby red

👃 Crushed wet mineral rock covered in earth & leaves w/ mocha, liquorice pushing through plump dark plum, squished blackcurrant & smokey oak

👄 Med body of silky smooth fully integrated ripe dark fruits in liquorice, mocha & earth

🎯 Med+ mocha liquorice dark fruit — 9 years ago

Matt Duncan

9.5

Out of mag. Cheese rind, apricot fuzz, lemon grass. A richness that intuits the cellar it was made in. — 10 years ago

with Haley, Nicholas and 1 other

LM Segal

9.0

Fresh, sturdy. Bright cherry nose and a mouthful of tart darker berry and tea leaves. Solid. — 10 years ago

Charles Okoye

9.4

Try to describe love and you will come up short like me describing this wine. A welcoming aroma teases the tip of the tongue. But the true joy comes at the back end of the sip as blackberry plum smoke disappears and leaves your palate yearning for its next encounter. — 11 years ago

Lynn Penner-Ash

Owner/Winemaker Penner-Ash

8.9

Red fruit, touch of tea leaves. Lovely texture — 12 years ago

Chris England

9.4

One of my favourite well priced Pauillacs @ £55 in a great year that keeps evolving lovely 👍 I’ve always loved the label and we call it “The dancing men” 😁 what do you think they’re doing?

🏵 94 points

🍇 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot & 12% Cabernet Franc

🍷 Opaque blackened ruby

👃 Crushed wet minerals & pencil lead through soft elegant smoked oaky black berries w/ spiced plum jam , light mocha, herby tea, soggy earth & wet autumn leaves

👄 Med bodied smooth rich mocha infused & earthy driven dark berries & plum with a soft liquorice tone

🎯 Med+ earthy mocha dark berry liquorice slight dry mineral linger w/ a black tea smackeroony — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Weekly Wednesday Wine Committee and this was a special treat as not only was Weston from Montagu Wines in attendance, but Jason Moore, owner and winemaker for Modus Operandi Wines out of Napa. Blind format as always. 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert.

Every part of me, and most everyone else in the room, called this New Zealand SB. Never had a SB with so much grass and jalapeño pepper on the nose. More grapefruit rind came in to play later and it had a typical SB finish with acidic/stone driven notes, but what a nose! — 8 years ago

Chris England

9.5

Incredibly underrated @ £69 & drinking just lovely now @ peak 😍 Fab buy 👍

🍷 Opaque garnet ruby w/ brick edge

👃 Gorgeous soggy earth & leaves, soaked smokey oak, flinty crushed rock minerals, leather, herbs, liquorice, mocha, blackcurrant & dark plum

👄 Med body of creamy smooth earthy blackcurrant & dark plum in liquorice infused mocha w/ minerals, all beautifully balanced

🎯 Long earthy mocha liquorice mineral dark fruit seduction

😍 My kind of wine 😎 — 9 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

8.9

Third of the four year vertical we are trying out for #WAWineMonth. We had the 05, 07, 08 and 09.

Medium garnet red. Light baking spices on the nose with some tobacco but a bit muted overall. A bit younger characteristics to start on the nose but never really opened up. Medium plus tannins (6.5/10) with a medium plus body. Layered palate with cherries, bitter dark cocoa powder, tobacco leaves, a touch of tomatoes, and damp earth. Solid minerality in the medium plus finish. Drink till 2018.

Made up of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec. — 9 years ago

with Sean and India

Scorewine

Wine writer http://www.israelwines.co.il

9.0

A fantastic 2002, this lovely wine shows once more that today there aren't really bad years in Bordeaux, this Pontet Canet was well structured rich and tempting. Deep red, tempting rich multi layered nose ripe cherries, black current, coffee, cigar box, and tea leaves, full rich body, dry tannins, full of black fruit, high acidity and a long chewy finish. Was worth the wait, my score 90. Drink to 2022 — 10 years ago

Chad Henderson

9.1

Smells like limes and fresh cut grass. Taste of limes, asparagus and minerals. Dry and acetic aftertaste. — 10 years ago

with Kristen

Alex Powell

10

What can I say here? I can't imagine (let alone have encountered) a more stunning bottle of riesling...ok maybe if this had the complexity on the nose that another 30-50 yeaars of cellaring would bring, the sateen texture, the implosive and utterly beguiling mid-palate, savoury throughout yet mesmerizingly sweet without sugar, this has the first time Father and I ever pulled out the note 'bakeapple' aka 'cloudberry' in a wine. Piercing lemon as well, sumptuous peach and fresh cut grass resemblance haunts your nose. Simply a championship creation that almost produced tears with my mouth full. This was so young, it will age forever... — 11 years ago

TheWineStalker

9.0

Peach is the first aroma to greet your nose. There's a specific floral aroma of the bouquets that come out in the autumn, and like you're taking wet autumn leaves, and of course white pepper. Flavors of lemon, canned pear juice and yellow apple. Finish is spicy with white pepper and citrusy with lemon-lime. Fun with sophistication. — 11 years ago

Gary Westby

Champagne & Sherry buyer K&L Wines

9.6

Grass, brioche and plenty of mid palate weight... A great prestige cuvée for current drinking. — 12 years ago

Ariel

9.0

Full bouquet, taste of fruit blackberry and aged oak with a noticeable amount of tannin and a loooong finish as it opened up. Going from tangy to spicy and leaves your mouth feeling like it went to sleep for a good 30 seconds. — 8 years ago

Ian Staub

9.2

Wow, this really blew me away. Upon opening, lots of tertiary aromas - cedar, leather, rich earth - which gave way after decanting to a beautiful and pure fruit expression. Wild raspberries & ripe red cherries, both a touch funky, crunchy and mineral. Baking spice, dried leaves, and some green steminess are there too. Great fruit-driven acidity with integrated silky tannins. Drinks like something much much younger than it’s 13 years. I’m there with people who are saying this is Burgundian. Elegant and complex, will definitely be grabbing some more! — 8 years ago

Jake Hajer

9.1

Big aromatic nose of grass and grapefruit. Mellows on the palate, but still lean with Bosc pears. Great cali example of an old world style. — 8 years ago

Chris England

9.4

I 💗 the smell of Figeac in the morning! A hot random year in Bordeaux with many hints & misses - this £110 fav of mine is a sure hit 👍 Stunning nose, good body but average finale

🍇 35% Cab S, 35% Cab F & 30% Merlot

🍷 Opaque ruby

👃 Smokey spiced dark plum through minerals, oak & cedar, soggy earthy leaves & liquorice w/ mocha, black cherry & herby tones 😍

👄 Med body of creamy smooth silky stewed dark plum w/ minerals, mocha & liquorice

🎯 Long plummy creamy molasses liquorice earthy touch dry linger — 8 years ago

Chris McClellan

9.3

Wow...loved this wine. Tart red fruit, med plus acid, smooth med tannins, leather, earth driven, soy, leaves, and that heavenly kiss of new american oak with vanilla and dill . Just an outstanding classic example of Rioja..IMO! — 9 years ago

Chris England

9.2

Quick review as drinking w/ friends 😉 Not the best VCC I've had but still a decent aged drop 😎 @ £113

🍷 Garnet red w/ brown

👃 Rose petal perfumed mushrooms in a damp cellar filled w/ earthy soggy leaves through stewed plum, dark cocoa & smoked soft oak

👄 Med creamy smooth body of sweet blackcurrant & earthy plum in mocha

🎯 Med+ plummy mocha — 9 years ago

Jim Wagonfeld

9.3

At opening, a room filling aroma of fresh cut grass. Clear pale yellow. full palate of citrus, 💐, honeysuckle and herbs. Good minerality. long finish. A bit of RS? Overall a lovely effort. SB for those who dismiss this varietal.
— 10 years ago

with Judy

Kendall Johnson

9.8

Sweet to start and tart at the finish. Mainly tastes of grapefruit, passion fruit, and grass. Soft, rounded texture. There's more complexity and bigger flavor if you let it sit out a bit, but not too long because then it loses the crisp finish. #vinebox — 10 years ago

Joel Pennington #❤️🐢🍷

Owner/Winemaker Slow Turtle Vineyard

9.5

Unbelievable, a bright styled Sav Blanc with peach and lemon grass. I think this is my favorite Sav Blac out of the US, going to get a case next. — 11 years ago

Jonathan Tharp

8.9

Sweet grass, peach, and grapefruit, then a little bit of what I can only call Christmas tree. Crisp and med-high acid, low phenolics — 12 years ago

Ryan Stewart

9.0

Pronounced intensity, with aromas of green bell pepper, asparagus, apricot, and freshly cut grass. On the palate, lychee, grapefruit, lemon, and bell pepper with a long finish. — 13 years ago