Looking Glass

Château Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 1934

5-Oh Bday Dinner... From a half bottle. Deep red and purple color. Mostly opaque and thick in the glass. There is still some good fruit in the nose with gravel and soil notes. Very round in the mouth. The wine hung in there over the hour it was consumed. Nice experience with an 80+ year old wine. — 10 years ago

Château Cheval Blanc

St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

Informal gathering to drink some Bordeaux varietal bottles with steak.

1986 Cheval Blanc: This one showed suspect ullage, to the point where it had been hard to flip it. And in the end, it did turn out to be a controversial wine--was the orgasm 40 days, or was it 36 days? Hard to say... An extraordinary wine, classic in its own way, with fragrant dark flower and black cassis aromas wafting from the glass, and maybe more importantly for us, exploding in the mouth. Some of the more ordinary adjectives, like "smooth" and "balanced", are accurate enough, but obviously don't do this one justice. One could do a fluid dynamical description of the time evolution of this wine in the mouth, a broad attack that gave way in about 3 seconds to a sensation of acceleration and flaring across the entire breadth of the palate as the wine detonated, an oenological version of a jet... And then a persistent finish where the inner mouth perfume resonates as it fades slowly (or simply moved off to some parallel universe).
— 11 years ago

Tenuta San Guido

Bolgheri Sassicaia Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 1983

The wine was medium to dark garnet in colour. On day one it offered red fruit, cherry, balsamic vinegar, cola, leather, mushroom, earthy and vegetal notes and a wet sewer component on the nose. On the palate the the wine showed red fruit, cherry, blackberry, tobacco and earthy notes, the acidity was quite pronounced, the wine became slightly drying and even more acidic after some time in the glass, and the fruit faded a bit. Two days later, on day three, the medium-bodied wine was more balanced and showed red and dark fruit, some chocolate, some tobacco, spices and earthy notes on the nose, and red fruit, cherry, leather, tobacco, earthy and balsamic notes on the palate, with just a faint touch of greenness, paired with medium-plus well-integrated tannin, medium-plus acidity and very good length. I had almost written-off the wine on day one and then, surprisingly, it showed much better the third day. Holding-up well. 90 — 11 years ago

Louis Latour

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru Chardonnay 2008

Thank you BTG in Salt Lake City for having this by the glass !! — 11 years ago

Beaulieu Vineyard

Private Reserve Georges de Latour Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Pours clean dark purple into the glass showing no age. I'll be damned if one couldn't enjoy the dark fruit aroma from 5 feet away. Wow. Dark fruit, leather and pleasant oak quality supplemented with a silky tannic structure that gave a 60 sec finish. Not the most complex Latour I've enjoyed at this point but this bottle actually tightened up over an hour after opening indicating much life ahead. Sheeeit! — 11 years ago

Anthony and Lundmark liked this

Château Musar

Bekaa Valley Red Blend 1998

Violets. Over-ripe melon, the nose is beautiful. The palate has a lovely spicy cardamom layer to it. Thanks David for the last glass! — 11 years ago

Thomas Tuffy-JoaoLaura Sundh
with Thomas and Laura
Thomas and Chris liked this

Château Gruaud Larose

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2001

2001 vintage lovely dense plumbs, currants, violets and spice on the nose. Rich and warm, headily inviting, with the perfume jumping out of the glass capturing and demanding attention. Tightly packed mouthful as well, surprisingly medium bodied, good fruit and tannin, but closed and needing time. Good aftertaste, probably needs 3 to 5 years before opening up to its best. — 11 years ago

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend

One of my favorite of the appellation. Spice is perfectly balance with red fruit. It´s earthy, complex and refined. A piece of beef tenderloin on barbecue, fleur de sel and a glass of Beaucastel, what else?! — 11 years ago

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 1994

Yep - that's Cabernet! - still looking youthful 20 years on.. — 11 years ago

Stuart liked this

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1993

Paul Kaan
9.5

1993 Lynch Bages looking fresh. Paulliac structure perfect for a 4hr 70C rib roast #FilthyGoodVino #Bordeaux #FromTheCellar — 12 years ago

Tom, Gobindjit S. and 1 other liked this