Jay Kline

9.1

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of three days. Consistently enjoyable throughout, but best after several hours of air and through Day 3. The wine pours, a deep garnet color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. No signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with expressive notes of ripe and dried cherry, plums, toasted coconut, fresh dill, cedar chest, and soft baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose however, the fruit is much more tart. The finish is long and tangy. A textbook example of old-school Rioja. Lovely. Drink now with patience and through 2036. — 8 months ago

Melanie Orris

10

Lovely bottle — 4 years ago

Bruce Leboff

9.3

A stunning wine. Well balanced and smooth. Elegant hint of cassis and lavender on the nose. Truly lovely. Well balanced- drinking well but could go another 10 years at least. — 5 years ago

with Michael and David

Peter Windred

9.6

4 yrs in oak, 4 yrs in bottle, 10% gracriano for acid and ageing, 90% temp
C:Garnet, med int,
A: med + int, cooked straw, chocolate, choc, tobacco, leather hints, aniseed, cloves, complex, vanillin obvious,
P: quite conc, long length, lovely rubber temp finish, soft tannins. spice, strawberry and mocha flavours persist.
Great classic wine with lots of concentration from a great year suggesting much more potential to come. 35 Euros.. Good value. Fab wine. Fully expect more tertiary flavours and complexity to come in time. — 6 years ago

Lyn Farmer

9.5

Bright, clear ruby with a great nose of cassis, blackberry, violet and mint.
Beautiful length and finesse. Great impression of crushed fruit with hints of forest floor and cedar. The finish leaves a lasting impression of sweet red fruit and supported by a soft blanket of tannins. This is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove - just lovely — 7 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.4

Deep garnet red. Lovely nose with cedar, cigar box, tobacco leaves, and red cherries. Full bodied with medium tannins (7,5/10). Graphite on the palate followed by red cherries, dust, earth, dark spices and minerality. Nice balance throughout. Long and lingering finish. Drink till 2040. — 7 years ago

with Sean and India

Robert Cunningham

Wine Educator DeVinimus, Wine Workshop

9.2

Lovely secondary elements of sweaty saddle leather, cedar and later some cigar box. Soft, integrated tannins. Long finish and very nice nose. — 9 years ago

George Tita

9.2

Lovely place right now. Nice level of 2nd level maturity with still good amount of fruit. Drink up! — 10 years ago

Robert Cunningham

Wine Educator DeVinimus, Wine Workshop

9.3

Soft and lovely — 10 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of two days. Best on Day 2. The 2019 pours a pale garnet color with a transparent core; medium+ viscosity with no staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of Morello cherries, red roses, tangerine, pomegranate, talcum powder, dried sage, truffle, and dried stony earth. On the palate, the wine is bone dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and savory. A lovely expression of 2019 Barbaresco. Drink now with patience and through 2049. — 9 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

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. — 2 years ago

Paul Krzych

9.4

My second favorite after Ruinart. Lovely fine bubbles exuding citrus, orange marmalade, and just baked brioche. Delicious for brunch and Sunday football. — 5 years ago

Zi Yong

9.8

2002 lovely finesse long finish. — 5 years ago

Skip Smyser

9.7

An absolute JOY🍷 Soft lovely tannins! Minerality,flint dried fruit hints of tobacco with a dried currant Overtone.Will drink great at 40🍷🍷🍷✝️ — 6 years ago

Kevin Cahoon

9.6

Absolutely stunning. Minerals, stone and citrus fruit with that touch of reduction that is so fresh and vibrant. Elegant, high toned palate that leads with warm stones to bright apple fruit with a lovely spice component. Long, focused, mineral studded finish. Just superb. Bottles like this can go for 10 plus years. Shows why Leflaive can be so thrilling. — 7 years ago

Conrad Green

9.1

1st vintage if this wine, so a real treat to try. A little shrill and sharp at the front. Lovely fruit. Still some fresh notes but in a good place age-wise. Doesn't hang together as well as the wines beside it. — 8 years ago

with Matt and Paul

Marcus Goodfellow

9.0

Pure, beautiful, true to the varietal, and very deftly made. Lovely wine — 9 years ago

Marisa Reisman

8.9

Had the 1989, beautiful Amber color with honey notes. Losing its effervescence, but the wine was lovely — 10 years ago

David Stein

9.1

Lovely dinner at table de ventabran in Provence. — 11 years ago

Alan Weinberg

9.7

a near perfect bottle—slightly oxidative, creamy, nutty, layered with lovely texture. — 9 months ago

Vino Joe

9.5

The complexity has arrived! Lovely color on this one. Not all my 2007 looks this dark yet but this one had a rich depth and most toasted fruit notes. This is a very good but not great vintage. — 10 months ago

Kamall

8.9

Lovely early drinking Nebbiolo — 2 years ago

Ronald Heijden

9.3

Lovely nose with vanilla and mocha. Young fruit jumps from the glass with every sip. Round in the mouth with nice acid. Still young. — 4 years ago

Aravind A

9.2

Another excellent btl, a little more than a year since my last. On the nose, wild strawberry doused in sugar, cotton candy, lovely green stem notes bring this back down to earth, then nice earthy notes. On the palate, fantastic acidity, soft strawberry, herbal notes, dark cherry, some bark and earth notes, and attenuated tannin on the clean and slightly spicy finish. Yum. — 5 years ago

Lisa Tarulli

9.5

1997. Vtg. Lovely!! — 6 years ago

Mike Beltran

9.2

Such a pretty wine which has shed severe tannins and reveals classic mature Bordeaux flavors. After an hour it opened up a lovely aromatic of muted red fruit and earthy tones. Finish had rolling and palate coating flavors with a very nice finish. Drink now for the pleasure it gives. — 7 years ago

Matt Perlman

9.3

Lovely nose with chalk, lemon, apricot and a saline, marine aspect, like the inside of a seashell. Palate is focused and beautifully delineated, with great length and verve. — 8 years ago

with Steven

Matt Duncan

9.2

Faded fig compote, dusted cherry. Round mid palate with shallow inflection. Lovely herbaceous quality with hints of earth and black tar. — 9 years ago

Pierre And Paula Soler

9.2

Extremely smooth tannins. Lovely drinking wine! — 10 years ago

Kyle Volkes

9.5

Double mag pour, lots of life left in this bottle. Lovely integration of fruit and wood — 10 years ago