Little Black Dress

Château Léoville Barton

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1988

Shay A
9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty.
— an hour ago

Pinotman, Tom and 2 others liked this

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2000

David T
9.3

Happy birthday honey. 🎂🥳🎉❤️

The Chateau that got my wife Sofia to finally love Bordeaux (1995). Expected more from the this property in 2000. But 2000 is still either the stubborn I think it is or just not as good as critically advertised. 20 years in bottle and think it needs at least 10 more years. Also, a touch of v/a-bandaid. It has nice balance with soft fruit & earth. It just lacks the wow factor for the property & vintage. Maybe, it is in a dumb faze. But, I’ve been waiting 20 years for 2000 to come out of its shell. I love this property but it is not up to its reputation…even for lesser vintages. It might be outstanding in another 20. This bottle is a little flawed and perhaps maybe (?) a better 2nd day wine. Tonight it is leaner than I would expect. Ripe; blackberries, black raspberries, plum, dark cherries, poached strawberries. Sweet lead pencil, charcoal, volcanic ash, spice, nutmeg, some cinnamon, vanillin, dry tobacco, sandalwood, limestone, dry crushed rocks , dry pebbles, dark, rich earth w/ dry leaves, dry herbs, hints of Worcestershire sauce, moist clay, withering mid floral bouquet with excellent acidity and a wire to wire finish that is balanced, nicely tensioned and elegance that lasts minutes. One of the few slightly flawed bottles in 25 plus yrs of collecting. I can count them on just over one-hand.

Picture of Sofia picking the 2012 Mouton Rothschild Merlot.
— 6 months ago

Jason, Bob and 18 others liked this

Château Cheval Blanc

St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

From a just opened owc purchased on release. This needed a little air to show mostly black fruits with spice box, dried herbs, earth, leather & tobacco notes. — 7 months ago

Severn, Vino and 17 others liked this

Château Pavie Macquin

Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1997

Particularly approable little beauty that fights well above its weight. Full body with extra long finish with big black berries and and hints of Indian spice. Magic and great value. If in Toronto, stop by Alobar Yorkville. Great wine list and the owner is hands-on in the qood way. — 2 months ago

Ira liked this

Château Léoville Poyferré

Saint Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2011

Silky smooth nose, velvety and soft, with forewarned black currants, just a LITTLE pepper, dark cherry and maybe a little pine forest floor? Some sediment and still grippy tannin, but starting to really loosen, with prominent ripe red fruits of dark , brooding plum, cherry and dark fruits, with hints of graphite, wood, and smoke over a still zingy finish. — 4 months ago

Caymus Vineyards

Special Selection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Plush and blowsy. Plum, violets, strawberry, black cherry. A pretty open knit fruit bomb. Quite high alcohol and a soft finish. Lacks a little structure and personality. — 6 months ago

Mark, Shay and 5 others liked this

The Prisoner Wine Company

The Prisoner Napa Valley Zinfandel Blend 2021

Deep purple in color; plums, black cherries, and oak on the nose; high acidity; high tannins; a little hot; tastes like black plums, licorice (I think), and blackberry jam with a long peppery finish. Nellie likes it. I do too, but it's more fruit forward than what I prefer lately, but very good — 7 months ago

Nellie Bauman
with Nellie
LM liked this

Flora Springs

Trilogy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2021

Inky in color with a short purplish rim.

Strong nose with black fruits, cedar, licorice, chocolates, light vegetables, wild flowers and peppercorn.

Full-bodied and smooth, with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with blackberries, black cherries, currants, cedar, vanilla, spices, espresso, cola, herbs, licorice, dark chocolates, light earth and peppercorn.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This young Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Napa Valley is already delicious.

Rich and engaging. Powerful and dark. Still a little unforgiving. Spicy and fruit forward.

Much earthier on the nose than on the palate. Only after 2.5 hours it balances out, so be patient.

Will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years, and has good potential to become a 94+ point wine. Would be nice to revisit it in 5 years.

I Had a few vintages of this wine and it is very consistent.

Good by itself as a sipping wine or with food. Will pair nicely with a big piece of steak.

A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot and 5% Malbec. Grapes were handpicked and aged for 18 months in mostly French oak barrels.

14.2% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$95.
— 2 months ago

Paul, Ted and 12 others liked this
Jay Kline

Jay Kline Influencer Badge Premium Badge

Flora Springs “Trilogy” is low-key 🔥

Château Léoville-Las Cases

Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1995

1995 vintage. Great aging cork in good shape. Decanted and tasted immediately, after 30 mins and after 2 hours. Decent amount of sed. Slight brickish color. Initially and generally throughout, reticent nose and flavors. Very tightly wound overall. Eventually able to coax a small amount of black olive out of the nose along with minerals for days. Some dark cherry and plum allied with baking chocolate in the transition from mid-palate to finish. It was tough sledding in the frontal palate. Super dry with summer earth/dirt at the start. Obvious class but never really flashed more than a few cards to play. Perhaps a different bottle shows a little more love? Producer is always on the leaner side so unbridled optimism on that front is likely wasted energy. 10.25.23. — 6 months ago

Ted, Andrew and 9 others liked this

Château Pontet-Canet

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1995

Slightly deeper ruby garnet , narrower rim . Deeper and younger , touch of wood smoke then quite ripe black fruits , rounder with better definition on the nose than the 1994 . More degraded cassis and grafite noticeable than the wine before, tobacco , touch of seashell , marine influence comes though . On the palate the fruit fills out better than the 1994, quite dark and serious , grafite , tobacco and cedar , however the tannin is less rustic and better integrated . Nice balancing acidity. This has quite good length and is showing well now though could age a little longer. Probably is best drunk over the next few years — 8 months ago

Tom, Severn and 6 others liked this