Tom Garland

9.4

1 hour decant(lots chunky/fine sediment). A gorgeous inky purplish garnet color. On the nose: dark fruit, forest floor, smoked meat, floral, cigar wrapper, pencil lead. Taste: smooth, rich, creamy mouthcoating wine with blackberry/dark cherry, dark chocolate, earth, tobacco, baking spice, and a cedar/graphite medium plus finish with some slight dusty tannins. Had this 2 years ago, and it's improved. In the beginning of its drink window at 18 years? Wow — 2 months ago

with Brenda

GaryWEdwards

9.5

Big lush, dark fruit that has not reached its peak window yet. But she ain’t far away. I was able to obtain a vertical of 01,02,03,& 04. My first foray into that vertical. No rush on this one but very impressed. Leather, pepper, if not cigar leaf here . Suffice it to say, there is a lot going on here and my lack of Cali knowledge has new intrigue — 2 months ago

Arturo Kassel

9.3

Been sitting on it for a decade and boy was it worth the wait. It’s everything I’d want in a St. Julien Bordeaux. Silky tannins, elegant mouthfeel, great balance of red fruit and earthy undertones. Sadly, that was my last one. — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

Slightly deeper ruby with a little narrower , less garnet rim . This is quite deep and slightly more herbal on the nose, floral perhaps , a little more austere. Spicy Cassis , tobacco , herbal touches . On the palate this is slightly more velvety with a riper dark fruits , mixed with a touch of dark cherry , spice and subtler , riper tannin . Quite ripe , more polished tannin. A bit bigger and riper in style , alcohol a bit more noticeable . Quite good dark cherry , dark chocolate, cassis finish . This is a little more polished , but probably needs a little more time , better in 5 years and will last well a further 10 . Overall a good showing , a classy , polished performance — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

No formal notes . Pretty deep Amber , copper colour . Intense marmalade , saffron , creme caramel . Rich on the palate with rich marmalade , saffron notes . Good acidity , but rich. Good length . This is drinkable now and shows quite an advanced colour , though due to its richness will probably carry on delivering for another 20 years , perhaps longer .

This was a rather fascinating evening put together by our incredibly generous host. All 2007 reds were served blind in two flights: 1st Mouton, Haut Brion, Cheval Blanc , La Mission Haut Brion then Latour , Lafite , Petrus and Margaux . Overall the wines showed well , and were mostly enjoyable to drink now , though there is no rush . This somewhat maligned vintage can give a lot of enjoyment in the right environment, I certainly wouldn’t hold back from opening or purchasing any of these wines . They mostly show good density of fruit , personality and elegance , with good freshness. These are not powerful wines , and at times perhaps the fruit can be a little cooler or greener but I was pleasantly surprised by the way they performed , just goes to show you should never write off a vintage without trying the wines ! — 3 months ago

romo

9.5

Special birthday gift from a generous friend. This 375 is 🔥 with cola, cherry, sous bois, no alc showing on the energetic finish. Wow. — 4 months ago

David White

9.3

It’s 10 years since Serge. Hochar’s death whilst swimming in Acapulco on NYE 2014 and I think it’s appropriate to celebrate his legacy that is the modern Chateau Musar.
I first tasted Lebanese wines in London circa 1986 when I used to go to a couple of Lebanese restaurants in Shepherds Market near Mayfair in London
Al Hamra is still in business
I’ve been to Beirut several times and always stock up at the airport duty free
So a toast to a departed icon of the wine world
Since my last 2011 4.5 years ago (see note) this has aged wonderfully and I’ve up my rating several points
Another few years and it will be further improved
Optimal decant time was around 3.5 to 4 hours
Ethereal stuff — 4 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Brief , informal notes . Medium garnet , garnet terracotta rim . Quite mature and tertiary with coffee , cacau , dark cassis and smoky notes . On the palate there are some sweet ripe dark fruits, meaty notes and a tobacco , soy tinged finish . Quite rounded sweet tannins and balanced acidity . Medium length finish , though just a little one dimensional , this shows pretty well overall . Drink now and over the next 5 years . — 6 months ago

Jason Gelman

9.0

heavy pencil shavings and cigar smoke on the nose. black olive and green bell pepper too. color is definitely what you’d expect in a 20 year old wine. palate is consistent with nose, very bordeaux-lite. heavy cigar box. a lot of olive and herb tapenade character. some black pepper on the finish too. very savory overall. — 2 years ago

Joseph C Burke

9.1

Dark red, nose of cassis, BlackBerry & raspberry jam, hint of eucalyptus; black fruits, plums and cassis on palate, hint of licorice/iodine in the finish, les fruity now than in youth, drink up. — 10 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

Blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, aged in 80% new oak, deep Ruby color with aromas of ripe berry fruits, cedar, floral and earthy spice notes. On the palate flavors of blueberry, cherry and blackberry with vanilla, licorice, tobacco and toasty oak notes. Long rich finish on fine juicy tannins, drinking ok now but has room to age. Very Nice! — 2 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.1

2017 vintage. Extremely difficult to get past the coconut/pickles nose with the aggressive oak. Flavors better than scents currently. Could use an hour or two in a decanter or 7-8 years in the bottle to minimize said oak. Medium body. Will eventually lead the group on an epic hike but not in the next few years. 03.05.25. — 2 months ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.5

When 78 Ducru is on it’s an amazing example of aged Bordeaux but they’re incredibly inconsistent. This was a stunning bottle but two were corked before it. A perfect pairing with black truffle tagliatelle. — 3 months ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Syrah, & Charbono. Deep Ruby color with aromas of ripe berry fruits and sweet spice. On the palate flavors of cherry, blackberry and plum with cacao, baking spice and vanilla. Fine tannins, long finish ending with fruit, spice and tobacco notes. — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

No formal notes . Medium ruby . Bit more coffee and roasted character at first , touch of oak perhaps. Quite rich and rounded on the palate at first, good acidity , good length . More red fruit , more delicate after a while , mineral , oyster shell , mineral and leaner on the long finish . Very classic , grafite tinged . This improved with air and really gained in complexity with time . I would be tempted to leave this a little longer or give it a longer decant . No rush here , will continue well for a further 10 years . Tied as my favourite wine of the flight with the Latour. — 3 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1989 vintage. Opened but not decanted. Just got a (generous) side sample of this as I was entrenched with the weekly wine rep tastings. Tasted after 30 mins and one hour after opening. Definitely bretty (as expected) for the first tastes but that mostly dissipated by the end of the glass. Light-medium body with mostly bowed tannins initially. Longer it remained in the glass, the more the tannins came out to frolic. Still plenty of structure, fruit and front-palate intrigue (usually hidden/buried by tannins). Not improving at this point but-depending on storage and/or bottle size-still more than viable and deserving of massive respect. 01.29.25. — 3 months ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. No formal notes due to the setting. The 2018 is a fairly classic expression of Beaucastel with a mixed bramble fruit set, underbrush, herbs and spices in lovely balance. Good structure. While still on the youthful side, the 2018 is already showing well and was an awesome accompaniment with a wagyu burger. Drink now through 2038. — 4 months ago

Rick Phillips

9.6

After 35 years I was not expecting much. Especially when the cork disintegrated on opening. Aureated on decanting and was happily surprised. After about 20 minutes opened to dark chocolate, leather but so smooth. The last glass was pure delight. Howell Mountain at its best! — 5 months ago

with Letha

Joe Fischer

9.3

Golden with sweet notes of brooches and toast. On the bud, it’s creamy with a slight tartness. — 9 months ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

From a great looking bottle with a fill almost into the neck. Double decanted and left in the bottle for 5 hours before attacking it. Amber color. Good weight and haunting nose. Notes of old cedar, mocha, plums, cola, dark fruit, molasses and some sweet red cherry. Early on it’s all about the amazing nose. But with time the wine gains weight and you have a gorgeous old St Estephe in front of you. Still giving its all, and although the fruit is somewhat faded, this has complexity and structure that still drives the experience. And that nose is simply stunning. Great showing. — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.1

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course two hours. The 2023 Morgon (S) pours a brilliant ruby/purple color with a transparent core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of ripe and tart red fruits: strawberry, raspberry, cherry, a touch of bubblegum, red flowers, licorice, black pepper, a mix of cool spices and rocky minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. This is a more dense expression of Lapierre’s Morgon which isn’t a surprise considering the vintage. Quite lovely with chicken pâté. Drink now through 2037. — 2 months ago

Shay A

9.3

(Two previous 1983 wine reviews never made it on here, so copying from my CT).

Continuing a run of ‘83s over the last 3-6 months, this not only showed quite well, but it was at its best after almost two hours in the bottle. Whereas the ‘83 Pichon was clean and elegant, this was a bit more dense and powerful. Beautifully expressive aromatics of potpourri, espresso, fig and leather with a flavor profile mostly on the red/black fruit side of the spectrum. The mid-palate showed good weight and continued to bulk-up during the evening. Old cherry-tobacco note at the finish. Honestly, this drank like it was more early ‘90s than it was early ‘80s. Good. — 2 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

Medium lemon yellow , fine bubbles . Quite restrained and mineral focused on the nose , then lemon confit , quince, touch of orange flowers, with some pastry notes , white flowers , honeysuckle also . Quite intense and mineral on the palate , fills out well with some lemon oil and pastry notes also , but this is reserved and elegant in style , more mineral , chalky and more intense than the 2013 had last week. Really refreshing acidity . Long and complex on the finish , I would imagine this needs more time than the 2013 too. Come back in 5 years , will show well for a further 10-15 years , perhaps longer. Very promising . — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

No formal notes . Medium deep ruby again. This is a bit greener , spicier , with some red pepper , smokier and darker fruit on the nose . Spicier and a bit more plush on the palate . This actually improved a lot in the glass and was changing quite a lot , became more floral with crunchy fresh dark berries . Polished tannin but nice fresh acidity , quite velvety on the palate . No lack of weight either . Really quite liked this and will no doubt age gracefully even if it is enjoyable today with time in decanter. For enjoyment over the next 10 years or so. — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

No formal notes . medium deep ruby , medium bright ruby rim. Quite spicy a little oak noticeable at first . Mixed dark fruits . A bit more round and juicy on the palate , good acidity , slightly grippy but polished tannins . This becomes a bit more restrained and reserved after a while. Served blind , I actually put this as Haut Brion , due to its generous personality, and polished tannins. Overall showed well in the flight was my top wine (though the Cheval Blanc may well be better in absolute terms) . Can be enjoyed now , though has the substance to last a further decade or so, a good showing for the Mouton. — 3 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.5

Quite light lemon yellow , very persistent , fine bubbles . Quite taut and strict on the nose , chalk dust , white flowers , honey suckle and elderflower , lemon peel , touch oyster shell and a touch of fresh baked bread . On the palate really good volume and density , lively acidity . Lots of citrus with good mineral , oyster shell notes . Long and mineral , saline, tinged finish , hint of toasty brioche on the end . This is really quite young and shows tighter and more mineral than the first bottle we had . Would leave this a few years and will have a long life , better in 10 -15 years and last well a further 10 or so . Great potential — 3 months ago

Bruce Leboff

9.3

Boom. At its nadir probably. Drinking well Rich and full bodied. Smooth on the palette really nice — 4 months ago

with David

Joe DAscoli

9.3

Super sweet and oaky on first open but matured up with a 3 hour decant

Still quite fruity but with steak, it gives a lot of red berry fruit and the oak is reasonable and the sweetness is gone with the airtime.

Overall good wine but I thought it lost out to the Paul Hobbs LPV ‘14. — 5 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

My go to N/V Rosé. Haven’t had in sometime…been on Blanc kick.

Paired w/ a plum/pear tart topped off w/ pistachios from the Adorable French Bakery. — 10 months ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Oxidative notes. Peach, orange, hazelnut. On the palate pretty fresh. Slightly tangy. — 5 years ago

with Lindsay and Bex