Tasty but a little out of age — 7 months ago
2008 vintage. Had never come across the "Little Hill" until today. Light-medium body. Decanted and was fairly musty for 2-3 minutes before it started to blossom. Some blue fruit/menthol/eucalyptus throughout the experience. Demonstrative spice component on the back end. Could really only ding this on being slightly "watery" on the front palate. Otherwise, this is kicking now and has plenty of life and love to give. 5.27.23 — 2 years ago
Sweet, ripe black fruit. Charcoal, fresh and elegant acidity, brilliant balance. Starts very strong, then perhaps lacks a little length (in comparison to the Pichon Longueville ‘08). Powerful, but truly beautifully balanced, gorgeous exotic sweetness in the nose. — 3 years ago
Really good. A little young but still good on the nose and light finish at the same time. Not incredibly complex but still intriguing. I could drink a LOT of this often. — 5 years ago
I’m really beginning to see this transition where the 2013s-16s of Rhône and Burgundy are already so drinkable and showing ripe fruit. Like they are making them to drink now, this winemaking style is showing a little more fruit extraction and from what I’ve seen here in Napa, you’re sacrificing the ability to age there for the early drinkability. Hopefully I’m wrong and these are all just warmer vintages. I just wanna see these wines reach their potential 10/20 years out — 7 years ago
Tasted blind. Tawny but still with a dark ruby core. Nose has diverse notes of dried cherries, brush, some soil and a little eucalyptus. Rich and has perfect balance in the mouth. With the last sip this wine had 9+ hours of air and it was still perfectly balanced. This started great and stayed on a plateau of greatness all night. — 8 years ago
What can I say? I love a granache. — 8 years ago
Unique blend. A little sweet. Good table wine. Not for everyone though. Kinda breaks the rules of red wine. — 10 years ago
This is an excellent wine. Full, robust, and had a little spice to it. — 11 years ago
Red fruits, black plum, oak, tobacco, smoke, leather, excellent balance. A little too soft for my taste — 5 months ago
Came off a little disjointed. Give it some as I see a bright future. The cab franc is noticeable in a good way with a dried herb note. — 6 months ago
Decant for sediment(lots of fine/cloudy sediment) and pour. A majestic tawny dark red color. On the nose: sweet port like with dried plum/cherry, herbaceous, rich soil, mushroom, pepper. Taste: Amazing! juicy, refined, balanced, savory wine with dried cherry, black raspberry, earth, tobacco, mint, and a nice mocha baking spice medium plus finish. YUM! Still delivering at 44 years, and glad to have a few more bottles. — 8 months ago
A really nice dry rose. At times felt a little sparkly — 5 years ago
1984 vintage. Cork difficult to extract, ended up in several pieces. Beautiful deep color, little to no bricking even at this age. Seductive at one hour+ of air with black cherry, raspberry, some vanilla, green pepper, graphite. 12% ABV. From the FIL’s collection. — 5 years ago
I love Dominus but this bottle was a little off. :(. — 7 years ago
Sublime depth and complexity, mushroom, leather, black pepper, charcuterie, intergrated with beautiful red and black fruit. Beautiful texture and weight - rounded but with good heft. Lots of oomph — 8 years ago
Wow. Like a berry pie with a little spice — 9 years ago
Decided now would be a good time to try out out the 2013 Prisoner. While not as good as the 2011 the structure is different, showing a ton of black pepper and balsamic on the nose with a little bit of violet flowers, and a very lovely, elegant finish. Big bold red and black fruits give way to a lush, black peppery back end. The finish is shorter than expected but still nice. This is still a good wine, just not as good as previous vintages. — 10 years ago
Nearly 20 years in bottle. It is still ascending will drink well for another 15 days plus years.
From a warm vintage. Beautiful, even toned fruits with elegant earth & amazing lead pencil bloom for days.
This is approaching its peak, another 5 years from its peak.
Well resolved wine-fruits. The fruits are juicy, blackberries, black raspberries, plum skin, dark cherries & slightly, poached strawberries with a highlight of pomegranate. Mocha, dark chocolate, black tea, sandalwood, sandstone, limestone, some mushroom notes, dark, rich turned earth w/ dry leaves, dry tobacco, dry leather, dry herbs, dry stone, caramel notes, dry, withering, dark, purple & red flowers with excellent acidity, balance, tension, structure and finish for days that lasts 90 seconds. — 5 months ago
Had this at Car Talk night. Peter picked it — 8 months ago
Nose is dark red fruit with blackberry, blueberry, and cooked strawberry. Palate is dark cherry, cooked strawberry, ripe blackberry, rhubarb, ripe fig, caramel, cola, oak, cedar, mushroom, green pepper, cinnamon, and truffles. Medium tannins, high acid, medium alcohol, and long finish. An outstanding Chinon. — 2 years ago
Had two bottles on Thursday, August 5th. The party had a different dishes including lamb chops, ribeye steak and one had soft shell crabs. Solid wine with some remaining fruit (but in 3-5 years the fruit may have passed), and good amounts of tobacco, cedar and leather. The first bottle was a little green bell pepper, as you would expect with some under ripe cab franc. The second bottle was better integrated, but had fewer fans at the table. — 4 years ago
Tasted blind. Tawny color, translucent with amber rims. Notes of black cherry, cedar, some spice and a little barnyard floor. Sweet fruit in the mouth, with tannins fully resolved. Guessed 1955 Calon Segur. Perfect looking bottle, the cork revealed this bottle was reconditioned by the Chateau in 2000. — 6 years ago
2005 vintage. Blackberry, black cherry, earth, mushroom, black olive. M acid and body. M+ intensity, round tannin, finish and complexity. — 9 years ago
RP 94
Described as elegant
Agree though a little disappointed
Great wine but wanted a bit more
Unique flavor profile
Had at the Battery in SF — 11 years ago
Last bottle! Being discontinued at the restaurant — 12 years ago
Doug Powers
Medium-dark-red color, very little browning at rim, this shows a little of the “overripe” notes I’ve found in 1990 Bordeaux (and CdPs), nice concentration and depth, long finish, the ripeness carries into the finish and detracts just a little. — 5 months ago