Severn G

9.4

Nose has ripe plum, cedar shavings, dried blackberry, over-ripe black cherry, crushed black currant, menthol syrup and dried violets.

Palate has dried black currant, moist soil, cedar shavings, moist cigar, ripe blackberry, dried black cherry, rose hip tea with light tannins.

A beautiful cork, almost no soak; pulled clean with a standard screw. This is really in the zone tonight after a 6H decant. Drink 2022-2028 from proper storage.

Paired to Allen Bros USDA Prime Hanger with Dijon/Rosemary/Garlic/Lemon Zest marinade. Grilled to great 130° centers, 10m rise/rest to absolute perfection.
(I was honestly fighting with two cats to eat dinner tonight.) — 3 years ago

Luke Kilcup

9.1

Completing a 16,17,18 vertical Syrah tasting at Proper in WW. Very bright fruit! — 5 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.5

The 2018 Grand Puy Lacoste has a quintessential Pauillac nose of intense black fruit infused with graphite scents, pencil shavings and a very discreet marine influence. It is beautifully defined, less opulent than the 2018 Lynch Bages tasted alongside, yet maybe more complex. The palate is medium-bodied and taut, offering sappy black fruit, gritty tannins and a lot of crushed stone. The focused, graphite-driven finish could only come from this appellation. Superb. A wine to correct those bemoaning that Bordeaux no longer makes "proper Claret." (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2021)
— 5 years ago

Severn G

9.3

Just concluded the annual Fall seclusion at our cabin in the Rangeley lakes region of Maine, mobile service up there is mostly non-existent, after several days I am posting again. Notes are somewhat brief, as my focus is relaxing and watching the Common Loons swimming and diving in the cove in front of our camp.

Nose has smoked roses, partially dried black cherry, dried cherry, dry autumn leaves and dried vanilla bean.
Palate has smoked cherries, smoked blackberry, fresh rose petals, dried Bing cherry, little to no tannins, mild acidity remains. Future bottles may be 2024+ in proper storage. Superb pairing to slowly (apple wood) smoked pork loin with a tight crust (thank you medium thick fat cap) and appreciable smoke penetration. — 5 years ago

Jay Root

9.1

Peppery, acid, lighter on the fruit. This would pair really well with chili or a similar dish — 7 years ago

Pooneet K

9.1

Very nice but perhaps a bit over the hill - from half bottle. Truly classic as expected with lots of deep leather, dusty dark red fruit, cassis, and refined tannins. Good acid that does hold things together nicely. Nothing like a good Bordeaux to ring in proper wine season. — 7 years ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.2

Potential to grow awesomly with some proper ageing 91+ — 7 years ago

M. Christopher Roebuck

9.4

Sticking with St. Emilion for the night. This wine is quite different from the last. Deep dark stewed blue fruits and figs, pencil lead, quite extracted, nose and palate in harmony transmitting similar notes. Even the darker color forshadows the darkness to follow. This wine is oppulent, but without the big fruit forward New World bravado. It stays true to Bordeaux but pushes the limits. Medium plus alcohol and body, slightly drying tannins, long finish. I regret that I have finished my steak because this wine craves a proper food pairing. Excellent and it will only get better.

94 points — 3 years ago

Aaron Tan

8.9

"You didn't know Krug's oxidative?"

While I've had my fair share of Krug over the years, I've never found any as oxidative as this 06' (save for a few suspect bottles), which led me to proclaim that the bottle was less-than-pristine. Normally this would not have been strange given the abysmal state of cold chain in Malaysia, but GL was quick to rebut with the statement above.

He's had far more Krug than I have you see - decades, instead of years - so he may well be right here. It could have been the vintage, or my palate, or just needed more air to blossom - whatever the case, this certainly fell below expectations. Sure it was dense and quite linear, and Krug does indeed lie in the school of oxidative champagnes, but this just lacked the balancing freshness that one would expect from a producer of this caliber. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was a distinct musky note that I see so often in ill-stored whites, and abhor. So the real question is - was GL right? Is this a typical Krug 06'? I believe another specimen is required to draw proper judgement. — 4 years ago

S.R.Alexander

8.9

Really unique and proper dry indeed. Very delicate with the lightest hint of apple. Refreshing and low abv. — 5 years ago

Benno

9.4

Dark with ageing only evident at the edges. Lovely line of acidity giving a long mid-palate of blackcurrant and forest floor. Drinking nicely, but could has plenty of years ahead. Nice, proper wine. — 5 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.4

From 3L. Bought in 1996 by the host. Waited all these years for the proper event to unbutton that cork. #freundfest2018 — 7 years ago

with Mark and Rob

Aaron Rankin

9.2

My first white Beaucastel and my first white proper Rhône. Light golden. Rich, unctuous. I get the dried fruit and fruit skins. Hard overall for me to describe. Too much going on and I don’t have the words for it. Loved it overall. — 7 years ago

Brian Finegold

9.2

Served at the proper temperature and allowed to breathe, this wine delivered rich plum and black berry fruit flavors with an undercurrent of earthiness. Wonderful expression of the Sangiovese grape. — 7 years ago

Aravind A

9.1

Still solid Rocks district syrah. — 3 years ago

Andrew Schirmer

9.2

Proper claret. Dark fruit, leather, mineral. Nice structure—balanced acidity, softening tannins, medium finish. Aging lesser bottles can really pay dividends. — 4 years ago

with Alsu

Severn G

9.3

Nose has neverending crushing of flint/granite, warm lemon curd, salted yellow apple slice, cool Asian pear and old, crystalline cheddar.

Palate has ripe pineapple, over-ripe yellow apple, moist chalk/limestone, dried coconut shreds, faint butter notes, table salt with medium acidity. A great wine, slow oxidation for 2H then decanted 3H, so many years in front of this amazing bottle. Drink this 2026-2030 from proper storage.

Pre-birthday dinner for our dear COVID bubble friend; we've only allowed one of our close friends into the house for almost the past year, tonight we're celebrating that he's one year older than me. 😉 — 5 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.4

7.5 years ago, I bought this from a local bottle shop for 55 bucks. And I'm not really sure how I held on to this one for so long except maybe I had a similar vintage and thought it was nowhere near ready. Well, this one was ready tonight. The front has a nose of sweet oak, herbs, blackberry. The entry is blackberry with a touch of pencil shaving. Medium to full-bodied. The middle goes a little bit darker with some perfectly ripe plum and figs. Perfectly aged blackberry in the background as the core and backbone of this wine. Finishes actually with pretty sweet oak tannin and really not a lot of pepper spice. This went very well with non-spicy Asian cuisine which was the fare tonight. I think this wine would go perfectly with anything that isn't too spicy as I was not really picking up a lot of acidity, spice, or pepper notes on the middle and finish. This is drinking at its height right now and probably will for the next three to five years with proper cellaring. — 5 years ago

Jay Kline

9.2

I have never really taken the time to explore the wines of Germany. In fact, I have more experience drinking the wines further to the south, in Austria. I have no proper excuse other than to say that I have been distracted by other regions. Bottles like this are making that excuse harder to accept. This was flat out awesome. Koehler-Ruprecht is a very traditional producer that practices a very strict, non-interventionist approach. No irrigation. No fertilizer. No herbicides. No enzymes. Nothing added or subtracted from the wine save for minuscule amounts of sulphur post fermentation and prior to bottling. This Pinot Noir is gorgeous, in a slightly more rustic sense. The appearance is a touch cloudy but far from murky. There’s a fresh, beautiful, lifted perfume of crushed strawberries, cranberries and ferrous minerals. Some stone, flowers and dust too. The palate is bright and racy with predominately red fruits and minerals. Fine tannins. The acid provides a long finish that forces a smile. There is some real vigor in this! A truly compelling wine. If I don’t make a better effort to spend the time exploring the great wine producers in Germany, well then, shame on me. — 6 years ago

JJ Lumia

9.0

Killer Wine Night. Lineup of 17 wines. Tasted blind. Theme was Old World Killer “B” (the letter “B” has to be the first letter in one of the proper nouns in the wine e.g., region, varietal, type, winery name, etc.)

Wine 15. dark chocolate nose. Lot of tannins. Espresso. Velvety. — 7 years ago