Ron Siegel

9.3

This was open & drinking beautifully with notes of meat, iron, dark fruits, sweet, savory spice, mineral, violet & tobacco notes. — 10 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

This bottle of 1976 Chateau Lafite Rothschild was cellared in a wine cave part of its life and a modern cellar the more recent part of its life. The fill for this bottle was mid-shoulder and the label had been tattered from back when it was in the cave. Using a Durand, I was able to pull the cork intact and it was saturated but seemed to have done its job. The color was good and the wine was sound; in fact, it was very much alive and full of character! Opened about four hours prior to service and decanted for sediment (of which there was plenty). No formal notes. At this stage in its life, the 1976 Lafite pours a garnet color with an orange rim. The nose is straight up old-money. Classy aromas of desiccated red cherries & red currants, dried tobacco leaf, graphite, a mix of organic and inorganic earth, leather and dried baking spices. On the palate, the structure was still quite palpable with tannins till present and acid doing its job with aplomb. Confirming the notes on the nose. The finish is long and graceful with some nice stoney minerals. Drink now but well cellared examples could hold longer if you wanted…but if you’re even thinking about it, just open it! — 3 years ago

Anthony Cammarata Jr.

9.0

Takes a while to open but when it does, classic Opus. Less tannin than other years with lots of dark berry flavors. — 6 years ago

with Daniel and Michael

Andrew Shaheen

9.1

Always fantastic. Took 30 min mutes to really open up. Classic and delicious — 7 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

This was much more open than the Masseto showing a beautiful nose of fruits & spice. — 7 years ago

James Forsyth

9.4

I bought a case of this delicious Barolo a while ago and am delighted every time I open a bottle. Texturally this is a wonderfully attractive wine. Both ripe and floral, it lingers powerfully and yet with lightness. One of two Vietti wines enjoyed at Antique Garage's original location is Soho (having enjoyed some haloumi the week prior at the new location, I was back for more). — 9 years ago

Ed Lehrman

9.1

09 En Chaillot. Delicious but not very open. Great with filet and truffle butter at Les Clos SF — 10 years ago

Martin Diehr

9.0

Unique / Bordeaux style wine. Needs time to open and despite the age, would improve with decanting this wine. Old world nose, well balanced on mid palate with forest notes and wild berries. Medium finish — 11 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.3

2004 vintage from Clape. Deep ruby hue. Violet and floral, very plummy - dark fruits. Hints of sweet spice, nutmeg and cardoman, smokey notes. On the palate, medium plus body, high acidity - integrated and refreshing. Medium plus, plush and ripe tannins. Long finish. The plums to the fore. Still quite primary and youthful. Should develop nicely over the next 15 years. Open in 2025. — 11 years ago

Sam Coturri

Winery Sixteen 600, Enterprise Vineyards and the Moon Mountain District

9.5

That perfect balance between bright red fruit and dark aromatic herbs. Ready to drink now (after being open for an hour or so) — 12 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

Pretty deep garnet ruby , garnet rim . This is pretty open and aromatic, with smoky creme de cassis , grafite , blackberry and cedar , light herbal touches , really quite classic and noble . On the palate this has good balance and density , good freshness also . Ripe , very fine but perceptible tannins . Dark fruits , grafite , tobacco , long and detailed slightly mineral notes on the good length finish . Really elegant , though quite serious and traditional, not easy to pull off. This is drinking perfectly now (Coravin might have helped here , I would certainly decant if I had a full bottle) , though still quite fruit driven with some tertiary complexity coming through . Really harmonious and complex . From now and over the next 15 years, maybe more . At Doppo Restaurant, Soho . — a year ago

Nathan Renfro

9.4

Dark inky black almost. Black fruit. First bottle of the Howell Mtn in a while. Just a quick open bottle decant, drinking incredible. Super smooth fine tannins. Lovely balance of ripe black fruit, black cherry. Toblerone. Great mouthfeel and lovely finish. The ‘14s are starting to hit their stride. Really good. — 4 years ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.4

Having had the coveted 2005 vintage just a few months ago, ‘04 is far more open and rewarding today. So seductive and captivating. Smoked meats, black fruits, balsamic glaze and hints of roasted sage leaves and tobacco. The tannins are integrated beautifully and the finish shows wonderful finesse, elegance and length. Gorgeous now but will continue to improve over the next 8-10 years. — 6 years ago

Anthony Lombardi

9.2

Another we brought to Korean BBQ dinner last night. 2012 is open for business and shows plenty of freshness to balance the powerful dark fruit. Excellent as always. — 9 years ago

Tim Edge

9.3

Could sit on it for much longer but tastes great now if you give it time to open up. — 9 years ago

Flavio Menezes

9.0

Very powerful, extracted. Will still improve, as it took over an hour to open up. Good with food, but I clearly see why I drink less and less Bordeaux. — 11 years ago

Matt Gundlach

9.0

Very expressive after about one hour open. Classic Chinon aromas with stuffing on the palate. Very pure, some perfectly ripe bing cherry and pleasant earth notes. (Need roast chicken now!) — 11 years ago

Sharyn Grant

9.0

Big quality fruit bomb - 2006 - drinking softly now, open 2 hours. Would like to see if the fruit resolves over the next few years. — 11 years ago

Gary Hill

9.4

Perfect. Ready to drink. Do not wait. Open it! Went great with braised short ribs. — 12 years ago

with Laura

Andrew Cullimore

9.5

Medium light lemon yellow colour . Quite open and fruit driven , lemon peel , touch of seashell and ripe apple . On the palate a bit more of the citrus fruits with some brioche and ripe apple , mineral tinged finish . Very fresh and vivid . Long mineral tinged , citrus peel finish . Showing pretty young, really fresh and fruit orientated. This is still very nice now , but will obviously benefit from further aging especially in magnum . From now on, but better in 5-10 years and will last well a further 10-15 — 2 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.1

2003 vintage. Decently respectable Pauillac nose. Solid color still. Wine open for three hours. Leanest body I've ever had with a P-L and lacking the complexity usually associated with this wine. Tight and not giving up much at the 3 hr mark. Nice but disappointing given the producer/vintage combo. Wish I'd had 6 hrs to wait hand and foot on this...perhaps it would have totally revealed the expected P-L charms by then. — 4 years ago

Edward Nelson

9.1

Wife wanted date night. Pulled this. Not great, very good. Needed a short time to open up. — 4 years ago

Arron Sweeney

9.6

Took a while to open up. Purple berry fruits, olive, meaty with peppery and gunpowder notes on the nose. Elegant round tannins were still very youthful and grippy. Sweet cassis, pepper, olive tapenade and gamey flavors on the palate. High acidity and well-structured. Could have given it some more time in the cellar. — 6 years ago

Jean-Francois Pelletier

9.2

Deep color. More open than the 1990. Stronger fruit profile with herbs and almost a minty nose. Full body and lingers for a while. — 7 years ago

with Frankie

Manchester Sheldon

9.3

Violets and peppercorns on the nose, it needs some air to open up, dark wood and some earth on the background. — 9 years ago

J Ferrugia

9.4

This is a superb Silver Oak vintage & this magnum was the finest of the producer I have sampled. The '94 has a Deep rich fruit forward nose with currants, spice & ripe fruit. Open 40 minutes.. Bursting on the .palate with dark cherry and spice.. Hints of old leather & currants. This a huge wine at its peak. The magnum preserved it beautifully. A classic Cali cabernet & a delight with tenderloin of beef. If ya gottem', drinkem'.. You wont be disappointed if you have kept a magnum. — 10 years ago

Roy Goble

9.5

Fun to open 1986 wines — 11 years ago

N M

9.2

Needed about 2.5 hours in decanter to open up. Could use more time in bottle. A classic big, bold, chewy California Cab. — 11 years ago

Brian Bell

9.0

Way too early to open, but it's Christmas, so why not. — 12 years ago

Astrid Lewis

10

1947. Can't actually believe I have rated this in my lifetime. Although it had a significant amount of leakage and oxidisation, it was still bright, still had bags of fruit, tannins, acidity. What am incredibly generous wine to open to celebrate our new little company. Thx guys xxx — 12 years ago

with Pierpaolo and Chris