Jay Kline

9.3

Presented to me, double-blind. The wine pours a deep garnet color with an opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears, and some signs of light sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with a mix of ripe and desiccated, mostly dark fruits: cassis, black cherry, plum, mixed brambles, old leather, pipe tobacco, pencil shavings, and fine baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin (that is mostly integrated) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long.

Initial conclusions: this could be a Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend, Tempranillo (or based blend) or Grenache-based blend from France, Spain or the United States. I feel like this leans more towards its fruit than its structure, even though it is a fairly well balanced wine in both regards. As a result, I am calling this a Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend from the United States, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain from a producer like Dunn, 2006. Shiiiiiit. To be honest, I’m not terribly surprised since this is Cos and from a warm vintage no less. Drinking well now and should through 2050+. — 9 months ago

Doug Powers

9.5

Violets, violets and more violets aromatically, after sitting in the decanter for 15 minutes, this wine decided to show its still youthful tannin, likely to inform me that it was still way too young to drink, long finish, but ideally needs more cellaring, one of my favorite Bordeaux ever, I have some more bottles so will wait on those, amazing!! — 10 months ago

with Jim

David Nicewicz

9.7

Birth year vintages are a roll of the dice but luckily I landed on a pretty solid classic - 1978. So for my birthday this year, we opened an LLC and wow was this perfect. The sommelier was surgical in removing the cork which split in half but he managed to extract it. The nose on this wine was a 10 - loads of cassis, licorice, dusty library and leather. Palate was extracted cassis, leather and great acidity and liveliness, just like my 44 year old self. It’s just pure magic when bottles this old perform - happy Friday everyone. — 5 years ago

Scott Soren

9.3

Just the best rosè. Always killer. It’s on the higher end for rosè but sometimes so worth it. — 6 years ago

Delectable Wine

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9.6

The 1983 Cristal is fabulous. Rich, ample and generous, the 1983 is incredibly inviting, with tons of class and personality. A wine of real volume and textural breadth, the 1983 has enough pedigree to drink well for many years. None of the elements stand out in the 1983, the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. “Nineteen eighty-three is a different animal from some of the other wines of the decade,” Lécaillon explains. “It was a heavy crop, with a lot of fruit. There was so much wine in the cellar that the team could not get to everything in a timely fashion, and so there were some lots that started to oxidize a bit, and that, naturally, made the wine bigger.” In tasting, though, there are no off aromas or mushroomy flavors that suggest the wine is fading. If anything, the 1983 is spectacularly beautiful right now, even in the presence of other wines from more highly reputed vintages. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, December 2018) — 8 years ago

Matthew Hughes

9.2

Yes. So tasty but better than that, it reminds me of the steak dinner when I tried these in late vintages for the first time.... — 9 years ago

with Jay and Ed

Michael Horkay

9.4

Here is a wine that will outlive the big names of 1990. The Shaffer was youthful beautiful and could easily go another ten to fifteen years. This would easily be confused with a saint julien Bordeaux. Just simply silly with hints of tobacco and cassis and some minor lead pencil notes.... Just honoredv to try it. — 10 years ago

david decker

9.5

Restores my faith in Beaucastel. not the barnyard funk usually there but delicious, balanced, dark stewed fruit, a bit of earth and woods. Already sad it will be gone soon.... — 11 years ago

Chris Tyler

9.3

2012 - HT to @Lyle Fass for bringing these in. So light in color it was almost a rose. Pine needles and resin on the nose. Nice medium plus body. Delicious and unique! — 12 years ago

Noah Chasin

9.2

Initially concerns it was shot, three hours later it proved to be quite delightful. — 10 months ago

Robert Torretti

9.3

1990 Chateau Lynch Bages in Nebuchadnezzar. At a Lynch Bages dinner for the Commanderie de Bordeaux NY Chapter. Paired over the course of three courses vs the 1995, 1996 and 2000. The 1998 was also served earlier in the evening. So youthful, given the large format. Still got to experience different stages of evolution of the wine as it was poured throughout the night. Well balanced and beat out the other wines that night, with rhe 1996 showing more pepper and spice but also green bell pepper from the Cab Franc. The 2000 also showed strongly, but could not outshine the 1990. — 10 months ago

Mark Gibson

9.6

Fine fine bead…
love it 50 years old. Apricot creme brûlée. Wasn’t expecting it to be still together! — a year ago

with Brian

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.8

So deep and layered nose. Just wanna dive in and stay there. What a wonderful World. Despite The palate does not fully respect the nose, it is very balanced and integrated. Don’t say 2023 isn’t a good vintage!! 98-99. Elegance. — 2 years ago

Fabian Kühlhorn

9.2

High fill, perfect cork. Dense red and dark fruit, somewhat developed. No signs of fruit fading. A little bit of forest floor. Was expecting it to be a lot more developed, presumably this bottle had a long way to go. I wish I had another… — 4 years ago

John Kartunen

9.1

So yummy that it would best with less of a chill than most. Ripe cherries and cedar, structured — 6 years ago

Brian J.

8.9

At almost 15 years old, this baby was about to retire so we decided to finally open it for Christmas dinner. Still that classic Silver oak fruit. Nice velvety texture. — 7 years ago

Matt

9.6

The hallmark, and almost its give away, is its balance of all the complexities that come together to create a stunning wine of richness, precision, harmony and length. There’s so many facets to this wine and they all seem to be working together to weave a whole, uniformed wine. Reminiscent of Batard Montrachet, but with a little more CA sunshine to boot. So powerful but so playful and energetic on the palate. — 8 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.8

If there were ever an archetypical Syrah, Jamet's Cote-Rotie would be a strong candidate. To me this is a pure expression of a classic Northern Rhone Syrah. It is not a single site, but a blend of terroirs, encompassing over 20 sites mostly from hard rock schist bedrock with little to no topsoil. There is NO Viognier in this wine like one might expect from most Cote-Rotie that might have 1-5% co-fermented.

Importantly, there is also a lot less of the oak character that can dominate and overwhelm many Northern Rhone wines. The oak maturation, while not short at 22 months, only uses 15% new oak with no trace of it on the palate as it is perfectly integrated. Grape bunches are whole cluster fermented and macerated for up to 3 weeks.

The 2007 we have here was drinking superbly for a young wine, showing lively and racy layers of peppercorn spice, roast beef, and warm blackberry and currant fruit from the hot 2007 vintage. While from a warm vintage, not a hair is out of place. Density and purity exude from the nose and hint at what a brilliant future this wine has. Perfect acidity and fleshy ripe tannin provide the backbone structure for father time to peel back the layers of this beauty. I will be chceking back in 5 years at the earliest. — 10 years ago

Gary Huang

9.5

let it air for sure before drinking but so good. so bold, strong, structured. hints of olive, dark berries. a bit of cocoa and definitely tad bit citrus yet full bodied. — 11 years ago

Marisa Reisman

9.2

I picked this wine, so clearly I like it. Fun Pinot because it is made by the Wagner family from Caymus, so a Pinot nurtured by a cab expert — 12 years ago

with Levon, Adriana and 2 others

Alder Yarrow

Wine Blogger Vinography

8.9

Great but not as amazing as it should be. — 13 years ago

Ericsson

9.7

Yes—exactly that kind of wine: timeless, composed, and quietly authoritative.

It smells so good on first pour. Damp pine forest floor and clean mountain air register immediately. Everything else unravels from there; but that initial pop-and-pour sniff is pure magic.

On the palate, blackcurrant, cedar, graphite, and dried herbs unfold with control, carried by freshness and finely etched tannins in a medium body.

So classic, so intellectual, and deeply mesmerizing. Drink now or age. — 10 months ago

Doug Powers

9.9

So, my long time wine group buddy brought this bottle from his cellar, absolutely stunning 36-year-old Bordeaux, but honestly, it tasted like a 10-year-old wine, so fresh and so amazingly long on the finish, honestly needs another 25-30 years in the cellar, nigh perfect!! — 10 months ago

with Jim

Peter Sultan

9.3

Columbia county 2.0: end of a meal, nightcap of sorts. So so perfumed with dill & vanilla & tree sap, as if Willy Wonka decided to get into winemaking. Really just lived for a while breathing this in. On palate it’s remarkably agile & light, even though the body of red fruits is firmly medium boned. No signs of decay or slowing down- even the cork was perfect-easily can go on another several decades ( it feels). God what a treat. — 4 years ago

with Owen

Vanessa

9.3

Celebrating our completion of the WSET Level 3 exam today!

It was a labor of love. Results won’t be released for several months, but, hey, we poured ourselves into this prep and so wine not celebrate the milestone of getting ‘er done!

Cheers @win_tries_wine @deked1 — 6 years ago

with Deked1

Ellen Clifford

9.1

The juice, the energy, the dammit I don’t want it to be so tasty but...Artemis got you. Because she’s a goddess and says so. I mean, there are other deities. Ones more powerful or whatevs but I’ll run through the woods with this for a night — 7 years ago

GabWine

9.6

When we open from 1987, we expect everything. One thinks of its conservation in cellar, the risk that it is passed or incredible, with the tannins having evolved in this vial ... The cork pulled-out, in perfect state and one knows in advance that one hit the jackpot and that it will be phenomenal. A coppery robe, a complex nose with aromas of black and floral fruits. In the mouth, an explosion of flavors that take the length and makes us go back in time. A very large estate for an incredible wine, to fall 😍🍷 — 9 years ago

Greg Gregory

9.4

A remarkable wine, a bit like many ‘45’s in its power and concentration. And while those who are after some more of the La Chapelle structure may be disappointed (and I have sympathy with aspects of the assessment), this is such an full expression of fruit and terroir, that I can really only cheer. Plums, orange zest, pepper and currants on the enticing nose. The palate is awash in luscious, sweet fruit, soy tinged, with melting tannins, round and soft, pure velvet past the mid palate, and it finishes with gusto, batons twirling, with layered exuberance and appealing length. — 10 years ago

Ryan Carey

Founder Wine Confidential

9.4

This wine rocks. Though this is usually one of my two favorite Orin Swift wines (w/ Palermo), I was very pleasantly surprised by the 2013 Papillon. I get mint and espresso and oak followed by dark fruit and a little chocolate. And if you know anything about me, I pretty much love all of those notes, so it is no surprise that I love this wine. Surprisingly approachable right now, or drink over next couple years. — 11 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.9

My 4th bottle, the best and my last, this absolutely killed it and is why I love Napa Valley Cabernet, especially #Spottswoode. 12 years old this easily has another 10 to go but is in a beautiful place right now. Open or decant for 30 minutes, though I did not decant. A deep resold color, not a sign of brick as one would expect. Shows the importance of provenance (bought from winery). A complex set or aromas and flavors of creme d'cassis, currants, sweet and sour cherries, sweet cedar, and graphite. Palate wise the textures are all in alignment, with medium to full body, ample acidity and medium grain slightly chewy tannins that may be it's only flaw. #2002 — 12 years ago