Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Merry Christmas 2025! 🎅🎄🎁 🍷 ❄️ ⛄️

23 yrs since birth and 21 yrs in bottle and the evolution is beautiful. Perfect w/the ribroast.

Fruits still holding with excellent integration. Blackberries, black plum to pudding, strawberries, raspberries, black cherries, sandalwood, soft, dark spices with gentle heat, mocha powder, some milk chocolate, caramel notes, understated graphite, anise to some black licorice, gravel, dry stone, used tobacco & leather, mid berry cola presence, dry twig, moist clays, red, dark florals with a violet frame, excellent acidity, well; made, balanced, tensioned, structured with an elegant finish that lasts nearly two- minutes and falls of soft earthiness & soft spice. — 6 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Medium ruby garnet, quite thin garnet terracotta rim . Quite rich , with ripe red fruits , some tobacco , warm spiciness , cigar box , ripe cassis , sous bois , after a while touch of coffee. On the palate this also shows good roundness with ripe red and dark fruits, cassis , red plum , grafite , touch of earthiness . Balanced acidity and rounded sweet tannin . Quite juicy with a grafite edged finish . Pretty good length. This is at peak now . For now and over the next 5 -8 years. Quite generous and showy , ripe but balanced, a good showing. — 8 months ago

Conrad Green

9.7

So gnarly and violet and intense. Iron and dark plum and leather with blood and forest floor. So complex and delicious — 9 months ago

with Matt

Dean Quintal

9.5

Deep, dense red-purple hue. licorice, toasty oak, and subtle mocha notes. Dark fruits like blackberry and plum are noticeable, but it's more restrained than overtly fruity.
full-bodied, with sultry dark fruits (black cherry, plum), dark chocolate, licorice, and spice. Can’t wait for at least another 5 years before I try this again. Didn’t feel too you but feels like it will be better with age. — 9 months ago

Delectable Wine

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9.3

The 2004 Vieux Château Certan was picked starting September 20. This is a little fuller on the nose compared to the 2002, with more fruit concentration, red plum and raspberry, wilted rose petals and a touch of thyme. This is very endearing and open, yet there is vigor. The palate is well-balanced with finely chiseled tannins. While not the most complex vintages of this decade, it is very well-balanced with a fine bead of acidity, lightly spiced with a dash of cracked black pepper on the finish. I have admired this Pomerol since first tasting it from barrel, and I still do. Drink now or over the next 12 to 15 years. Tasted at the VCC vertical in Etikhove, Belgium. (Neal Martin, Vinous, July 2024)
— 2 years ago

Collin Clark

9.7

Oh so smooth with mellow plum and wild grape but not too sweet. Just right, yes. — 5 years ago

with Joanna

Kimberly Anderson

9.3

Beautiful scents of black plum and a little vanilla. On the feminine side for a Napa Cab. Precise flavors of black fruit, tobacco, leather with an under layer of smoke. Nice smooth finish — 7 years ago

with Chad

Peter Wassam

9.8

A softened ruby color. Beautiful balance, everything in harmony. Wet earth, raspberry, cinnamon, a whiff of truffle, intoxicating nose. So much ripe, fresh red fruit on the palate. Such soft tannins, damson plum, a mineral streak running through. Drinking a 15 year old wine for 15th anniversary of diabetes. This is splendid in the moment — 9 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.2

2011: all varieties. Meaty, lavender, garden herbs, smoky, but still very vibrant red fruit. Lovely vibrancy of red fruit and all Mouvedre and Grenache aromatics. Sweet fruit, juicy acidity, hot indian spice and liquorice. Plum, cherry, spiced. Quite ready now. — 11 years ago

Anna Filipovich

9.3

Deep, elegant Super Tuscan now firmly in its tertiary phase. Nose leans more to leather, tobacco, dried herbs and balsamic notes, with the red cherry and plum fruit clearly in the background. Medium‑plus body and acidity, fine chalky tannins; savoury flavours of dried red fruit, cedar and spice carry through on a long, resolved finish. Showing peak complexity today and unlikely to improve further with cellaring, so firmly in the drink‑now camp. — 6 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.1

Slightly lighter garnet core , lighter terracotta rim . Quite muted on the nose , quite herbal and spiced notes, some red plum and floral sous bois , black tea . After a while this opens up slightly , showing a bit more detail , but never jumps out and grabs your attention as other bottles have. On the palate this is better , with the roundness and slightly sweet , red plum , summer fruits , sous bois and lightly herbal , grafite tinged , saline finish of reasonable length . Quite refreshing acidity and suave tannins . On this basis drink now and over the next few years. However , there are better bottles out there . This was disappointing compared with other bottles I’ve had , though the palate was more sound and it wasn’t flawed. A bit of a perplexing bottle. — 8 months ago

Serena Wu

10

2010 vintage in 2025. Phenomenal! Dried fruit leather, plum on the nose. soft tannins on the palate. — 9 months ago

with Stephanie and Brad

Anthony Cammarata Jr.

9.4

What a great refined wine. The 2018 Insignia opens with aromas of dark fruit, florals, and spice. On the palate, blackberry, mocha, and plum come through with a nice texture and tannins. The finish is long, savory, and elegant. Wow! — 10 months ago

with Daniel and Michael

Blair Campomizzi

9.6

A surprise addition of the night. A great blend, about 75% Cab, 14% merlot with CF and PV filling in the remainder. Plum, blackberry and fig show through nicely. Touches of vanilla. — 4 years ago

with Marilea

KDU Wine Club

9.3

Earthy and berry aroma. Smooth and velvety with tastes of black currant, plum, and cherry. Dusty and chalky with a mouth coating feel. Slightly dry and spicy with a lingering finish. — 6 years ago

with KDU

Ron Siegel

9.4

Love this vintage of Pape Clement from a pristine btl showing the classic 70 Graves with an intoxicating nose of black plum fruits, cigar ash, mineral, cedar, iron, leather & dried herbs. — 9 years ago

Deborah Parker Wong

10

Umami, tea leaves, leather, bright and focused mid palate of umeboshi plum, celery salt and sweet pipe tobacco. Looong and memorable. — 9 years ago

Jon Simpson

9.3

Baking spices, savory herbs, blueberries, plum, lavender... A velvety finish. Enjoyed over conversations at Le Bernardin between courses. — 10 years ago

Andrew Goldstein

9.8

Black berries, plum, light, chocolate, spicy finish. — 13 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

This had a polished, elegant mouthfeel showing red, black fruits, plum, graphite, mocha, spice with floral & tobacco notes. — 6 months ago

Andrea

10

Delicious!!! Warm, soft. Enjoy and be merry. Lucious purple plum flavor. #MAH — 7 months ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Inky and dark. Powerful fruit with iodine, salinity and a cold dark plum. Very fresh and pure. Savory — 9 months ago

with Bex, Walker and 1 other

Charlie Tapp

9.2

Strawberry, red candy, plum and eucalyptus. Feminine and polished.

Drink now. — 9 months ago

Ericsson

9.3

Well. These vintages are becoming rarer and rarer now that Beyoncé and Jay Z popularize it. Plum, graphite, tobacco on the nose. Poised and elegant on the palate, with silky fruit, fine grain tannins and a minera edge to it 👌🏻 — 9 months ago

Jack Krawczyk

9.8

still tight on the tannins and rich plum flavor. could enjoy for 5-10 more years. — a year ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Deep Ruby, aged for 18 months in French oak, about 25% new, aromas of red and blue fruits with spice and earthy scents. On the palate flavors of plum, cherry and blueberry with some spice and cacao. This full-body wine had velvety smooth tannins, well balanced, long finish ending with fruit, spice and earthy character. — 4 years ago

Greg Wright

9.5

Dark plum and cherry fruit with some earthy notes. More time in the glass and the wine starts to show a demi glacé like texture. Stunning and should age well for another 10-15 years. — 7 years ago

Al Shikoh

9.0

Ruby violet color. Blackberry, cassis, plum, cedar, and hints of green pepper on the nose. Although there is ripe, supple New World fruit on the palate, it drinks a bit like an Old World Bordeaux. Made from Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. — 9 years ago

with Lisa and Kelly

Vinous Favorites

Delicious wines for less than $25 chosen by Vinous critics

9.1

Dark and voluptuous to the core, the 2013 Zinfandel Old Vines shows off gorgeous resonance and pure texture. Dark red cherry, plum, spice, tobacco and new leather are all beautifully expressive in this perfumed, nuanced Zinfandel. (AG) — 10 years ago

Elizabeth McCrone

8.9

Tried this 2009 we got as a holiday gift ... Nicely balanced in terms of structure and fruit. Great plum flavors, smokey finish. We liked it a lot! — 11 years ago