Rob Kiley

9.2

Maybe the best expression of Riesling I’ve had from Ovum, certainly Oregon. Off-dry, orchard fruit, tropical fruit, minerality and slight petrol — 6 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.1

Must needs about an hour to blow off. Then bright cherries in the nose terrific acidity on the palate. Tooth coating tannins. This needs another year or two. Acidity makes it great with rich foods like the braised lamb shoulder I had it with. — 8 years ago

with Lyle

Erik Nordman

9.4

Another killer Lauer Riesling. These '15 Rieslings from Germany in general have been so consistently awesome thus far from what I've tasted. Intense, bracing, angular, and at the moment, a bit austere (albeit pleasantly so, in my opinion). Give this a bit of air, because it shows a little too much struck-match reduction right out of the gate, but it blows off relatively quickly. Also very young, definitely one to cellar for a bit here. Pours a pale to medium (-) intensity straw hue. Decently concentrated nose of a boatload of wet, crushed slate, petrol, slightly underripe nectarine, starfruit, and green apple, Parmigiano rind leesiness, shiso leaf, and a subtle jasmine green tea character that I think will likely emerge some more with a bit of time in bottle. On the palate, the nose is mirrored almost identically in terms of flavor and those dense layers of flavor ride an absolute lightning bolt of intense, high acid. Light to medium (-) body but with great oily leesy texture, medium (-), in-balance alcohol, and the wine finishes dry but I can tell there's some RS to balance what would otherwise be like, enamel-stripping acid. Definitely less than 10g/L though, I'd guess. Quite evolving and complex. Awesome. Give me some crispy pork belly and a glass of this and I will be happy. Definitely going to get another bottle to put away for a while. — 8 years ago

with Cassie

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.0

Perfect way to finish off a stunning meal. Dark golden yellow. With lots of hay and wheat on the nose. Super thick syrupy texture with tons of honey and honeysuckle. Possibly has had little TCA. Great acidity (6/10) and full bodied. Long finish too with lots of life left in it! Drink till 2030. — 9 years ago

with India and Steve

Spinning_spins

9.6

This red took a full 2 hours to open up, but the cedar, spice, raspberry and young leather aromas are growing, gradually, in intensity. Now (2 hrs later) the spice and vivacity are off the freakin chart! Very youthful, well-balanced, nuanced. Old school Bordeaux-like, but seems higher in acidity. However, while the acidity is medium+, it is tempered by full, red fruit, 13.5% abv, present but non-intrusive tannins, and a medium-bodied texture with excellent length (over 1 minute). The other factor is the one that says "Wow!", and that is definitely true here. Memorable and unique, I must get more for the wine fridge. — 9 years ago

Ryan Guinn

9.0

After 45 minutes in a decanter the wine opened up. A great pairing with beef tenderloin. Dark cherry with a spiced finish. — 10 years ago

with Hunter

Jeffrey Lew

9.7

Ex-Chateau bottle. Testament to perfect storage. Light Amber edge with a darker core. Started off full of toast and just a whiff of brett. Slow ox for 2 hrs then poured. Amazing life for a 54yr old wine still in its stride. Light and dark fruit with seamless integrity and polish. Classic old BDX. After the initial funk blew off it kept developing in the glass. I could drink this all night long. Awesome — 10 years ago

Patrick Knöfler

8.9

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

Nick Stutzman

9.6

Thanksgiving 2013. Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Aunt Betty Sue — 12 years ago

Jonathan

9.3

Berry. Guessed this but was 2 years off. — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

One day wine sale today at all Northern California Whole Foods locations. 20% off all wine. 30% off any six bottles or more. Can’t find this any other place for $59. Knock em down! If you live in another part of the country, you just have to ask the wine department person when they do theirs. Tell the wine person to add you to his email reminder list for pre-order or just the sale date reminder. I believe they do it three times a year. — 8 years ago

Chris England

9.1

An off vintage that shouldn't have improved! @ £47 this 07 is drinking lovely right now w/ all tannins soft & integrated 👍

🍇 70% Cab S, 27% Mer & 3% Cab F

🍷 Opaque ruby

👃 Mineral & pencil lead driven earthy spiced blackcurrant & dark plum w/ leather, wet leaves, mint & smokey cedar/oak

👄 Med+ body of creamy smooth blackcurrant & dark plum w/ mocha & minerals, all well integrated now

🎯 Med+ ripe dark fruit, mocha & mineral coating — 9 years ago

Craig Stanfield

9.5

Started wth a slight must on the nose, but that blew off. Opened to round and bright red and some blue fruit. Tobacco and wood (not lavish oak, maybe cedar) round it out. Fine grained tannins and a wonderful finish. Love the value of Rioja and hard to believe I just got some of these babies recently. This was the 125th vintage. — 9 years ago

Greg Gregory

10

Spectacular! Mind blowing. One of my top 10 of all time. On every serious wine lover’s bucket list, and here we had a nigh perfect bottle. While aromatically a little recalcitrant, you still got some of the Margaux violets and potpourri on the nose, hints of clove, all trying to shake off their doldrums. But on the palate, it was timelessly ravishing. The finesse, richness, balance and smoothness, with an underlying, almost flabbergasting mixture of complexity and delicacy, was just astonishing. The finish is marvelously sweet and intense, with chocolate and cassis and utterly seamless tannins. This is a miracle of wine making and an exaltation of vintage and terroir besides. Wow! And bravo! We can only pray for an encore of such a wine. — 9 years ago

Jason Phillips

8.9

Good blend, especially for the price. Good nose and spicy finish. — 10 years ago

Richard Young

Wine Specialist Christie's

9.2

"Off-vintage" Latour, always a pleasure — 10 years ago

with Christie's

Christopher Hoel

Sommelier/Senior Wine Advisor Soutirage

9.9

En magnum and off the hook!!! — 12 years ago

Melanie McIntyre

9.5

No one likes a show off ;) — 12 years ago

Nick Hammond

9.9

An unbelievable wine, still ripe, even in an 'off vintage' — 13 years ago

Scott Soren

8.9

I love Dominus but this bottle was a little off. :(. — 8 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.2

This was the one in the tasting that received guesses ranging from Pinot Noir from US to Burgundy. Definitely a little off from the traditional. Candied black cherry and raspberry, cola, herbal influence in the middle and a little bit of mint on the finish. Improved only slightly in a 4 hour decant window. Still a baby. Looking for this one to improve quite a bit over the next 10 to 20 years. — 8 years ago

Bret Barker

9.3

Off vintage but who cares? Tignanello is a personal favorite. Took a good hour to open up, this wine tastes surprisingly young. cherry, earthiness some mineral and a little smoke flavor as well. Very good — 8 years ago

Ki Punwar

Owner, California Wine Republic

9.2

Very drinkable now. Light and lively and pure -loving the off vintage of the Reserveé — 9 years ago

Jordan Franceschini

9.5

And this is supposed to be an off vintage? — 9 years ago

Mark Lipton

9.4

If you have to drink a 2011 Napa Cabernet, this is the one. Overcomes the flimsiness and off-centered taste of many of its peers. Blueberry, suggestive of Alexander Valley cabs, is present in spades, and wonderful, smooth, and satisfying midpalate and finish. — 10 years ago

George Chen

9.3

Why do LVMH almost ruin these great chateaus? Even this off year was more luscious and interesting than any recent vintage after they sold out! Sigh... — 10 years ago

Mark N Ricca Jr

9.1

Funky nose that blew off to reveal dark fruit and earth. Deep complexity. — 10 years ago

Dan Fredman

Chef Sommelier World of Pinot Noir

9.0

Still way young, more than a hint of horse barn funk permeated this on day one but blew off after a day in the decanter. Good depth and finish, just needs another decade on the cellar. — 11 years ago

Brett Evje

9.9

Off vintage but come on.... — 12 years ago

Pedro Rusk

Wine Educator Kendall Jackson

9.6

Sparkling Chasselas very limited and like many things that are hard to find the reward is great — 13 years ago