Mike Saviage

9.9

Tasted blind. Deep purple color. Looks very young, compared to the 45 Margaux next to it. Almost opaque. Notes of black fruit, cracked walnuts, sweet fruit, raspberry and some cedar desk. Super rich in the mouth. Seems young and is firm, but tannins are softened and the mouthfeel is velvet touch. Long finish. It peacocks all night. The walnuts thing leads my guess to Latour, but can this be the 45? Is it a 61 or 82? Could be... I go with it being a 59 given how young it seems. Just an amazing bottle of wine, open for ~9 hours by the time we left, it seemed to effortlessly power along. Thanks Stan! — 4 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Last night in MT at the lake. Gave this several hours of air. Nice dark tawny color. Vibrant in the glass. The nose is great right away and stayed on point through the evening. Notes of black cherries, warm raspberries, old cedar, some plums and a little leather saddle. Rich and silky in the mouth. Velvet glove. Long finish. Great wine. — 6 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.5

Amazing Champagne poured for us all night at a fairy tale wedding! — 7 years ago

Will Bean

9.4

What a find on half price wine night! Such a deal, especially with so much bottle age! — 7 years ago

with Jack

Mike Saviage

9.7

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny, translucent and old looking. Awesome nose. Notes of leather saddle, pencil lead, currants, cherry, soil, and some toasted hickory. All guessed 61 Bordeaux. This got better through the night and was at its best in the last glass. — 7 years ago

Stephen Jackshaw

9.4

This is a beautiful wine. Tannins shed, drinking like velvet and pure. Berries, cherries, some leather, and a long finish. I could sit with this and a charred steak every night. — 8 years ago

Mike Mayer

9.2

Extremely complex and rich wine that explodes with lots of dark fruit, caramel, chocolate, licorice and eucalyptus on the palate. In some ways it almost takes on a Syrah like taste with interesting hints of roasted meats. Very nicely integrated but big and bold. Probably has a long cellar life if you can keep your hands off it! — 9 years ago

with Lisa

Severn G

9.6

The weekend upon us and we're hosting another dinner party for a couple of friends. Tonight's theme was Rhone wine, so good stuff on deck, with age.

Notes pending... (Entertaining guests first 😉)

Absolutely perfect, yet only coming into it's zone, decade to go here...

Notes from +24H open:
Nose has ripe cherry, dried cherry, dried blackberry, red velvet cake, ripe plum and dry, mineral-ly earth.

Palate has silky-sweet cherry, ripe red currant, (light) cigar wrapper, dried cherry, faint eucalyptus, faint wood notes, dry earth, faint iron notes on the long finish. Mild tannins persist today. Expect to enjoy this vintage another +10Y when held in proper storage.

This bottle was singing at the top of its register last night, slightly diminished today. Absolutely perfect cork, no Durand required for extraction. Acquired a mere two years ago, from a local retailer beginning to close down his shop. He purchased a case on release, stored in his cold cellar; when I got to hunting it only a single bottle remained.

I've had the 2000 vintage before, and it was a treat in a more youthful stage, but a delicacy with our meal last night. We baked a 3lb beef tenderloin (Kinderhook Farm; Valatie, NY) coated in an herb paste then an herbed panko crumb crust with parmesan. About a 50m cook, 30m rest yeilded a perfect 130° center. Served alongside smashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts with thick cut bacon. We had fantastic company, connecting again with a wine trade friend and his wife after a few years break in our dining schedules. — 4 years ago

Eric B

9.3

Bargain of the night and surprisingly delicious. The 06 is in a good spot right now. Pop and pour. — 7 years ago

with Ryan, Kelsey and 1 other

Jack Petras

9.8

Fortunate enough to have tasted this along with 6 other stunning wines last night during a cellar tasting. This 36 year old 2nd growth was nearly perfect, unusual but very pleasant mint, camphor, crushed sage and rosemary aromas with the same cooling delicate herbal initial palate. Dried but expressive red fruits mid- palate with a great structural graphite element throughout. Whiff of new leather. Changed in the glass showing different mellow facets. Pretty much intercepted at the exact right time. A real privilege to taste such a renowned vintage with folks who appreciates what was in front of them. — 7 years ago

Mickey K

9.5

Excellent, bold new world take on a traditional CDR. Tobacco and raisins. Maybe cinnamon or cardamom. But more fruit forward with jammy dark berries. Tangy. — 8 years ago

Nena Madonia

9.9

Sunday night wine — 8 years ago

with Andrew, Dana and 1 other

Jared Elder II

10

The big hit of the night! Great fruit foward wine for pairing with this awesome dinner. — 9 years ago

Bodil Martin

10

For our anniversary last night🍷🍷🍷💖💖 — 9 years ago

Ron R

9.6

Date Night - A tremendous gift from @Martin G Rivard! Actually, I kind of begged him for this as Anne-Marie loved the wine. Just like toilet tissue, this wine is on a roll!
Reminds me of roasted chestnuts, cinnamon and cut flowers on the nose. Palate is perfectly balanced, and multi-layered. Nice display of maraschino cherries and hints maple syrup. Tannins are perfectly poised. Acid is in check. Primo... — 6 years ago

with Anne-marie

Shay A

9.4

Monthly WTF guys blind tasting group. This month was our annual, and famed, Left Bank vs Right Bank theme. All wines served blind as usual. Started off with a Rosé and a champagne. Great night.

This was one of my favorites of the night. One of the best young Bordeaux’s I’ve tasted. Ripe and modern nose (fruit forward) with smoked meat and baked blackberry pie. The palate revealed cocoa/dark chocolate, baking spices and a hint of blue fruit wrapped by black fruit. Big. Will obviously get better, but was shocked how good this was now. I called this ‘12-14 Left Bank. — 7 years ago

with Andrew, Jack and 6 others

Michael Flynn

9.1

Beautiful nose and long finish . Matched well with grilled flank steak at Libby’s birthday, then perfect next night with truffle and mushroom pasta ( TJs). 1ltr bottle! — 7 years ago

leon egozi

9.2

Superbowl of wine night. From a magnum — 8 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.5

Wine of the night. This wine had EXCELLENT fruit, and showed NO VISIBLE SIGNS of decline. Great powerful blackberry. I was guessing 01 Stag's Leap or Rutherford. Turns out it was Caymus SS 01, but I was second guessing myself on the year because it was a very purple color into the decanter and showing well. The wine had great vanilla on the front, blackberry on the front, and a more youthful middle and finish with some herb. This wine has 10 years left in it no doubt. Whoever cut this one off at 2017 has no idea. This one literally showed no signs of decline whatsoever. Drink by date 2007 - 2030. — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

10

To me the most complex wine of the night offering a deep cerebral experience, with what I thought of as a berry bouquet garni was the 2000 Haut-Brion. The most contemplative, while also a deeply pleasurable wine, offered layers of classic Bordeaux notes of toast, coffee, currants, cassis, subtle & smokey campfire embers, cigar box...the list goes on and most of that was in the nose. The palate was texturally seamless, packed and stacked with structure that never got in the way, though you would notice it on the finish letting you know it was there.

2005 was locked up and unrelenting at first, the second go an hour later was more repenting but it was still not nudging much. A thoroughly excellent wine, but just not revealing much beyond the hints of its greatness.

#hautbrion #pessacleognan #bordeaux #wine — 9 years ago