Scott Soren

9.6

Special bottle. Really in its sweet spot. Fragrant nose , with some Mourvèdre funk. Sweet tannins with dark red fruits. Some Tobacco and black olive. Matured further in glass over the hour and a half the bottle was consumed. Just left you want g more — 4 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Brief Notes:- A medium weight red fruited savoury, earthy, bombshell of M+ intensity…a tarry note with liquorice adding to its Chateauneuf personality. An excellent example. More Burgundian than Rhone in weight and texture. Not sure further cellaring will add much but delicious right now. NB I have a bottle or two left and maybe a magnum? Must check. Had another bottle 17 weeks later on 18th May 2024 with similar notes. Pale tawny, dirty Ruby in colour - almost transparent. First aromas of tar, roses and violets. Medium bodied / red fruits, strawberries and raspberries in a savoury style. — 5 months ago

Ira Schwartz

9.5

Finally lost my Heitz MV virginity. One word, wow. The mint-eucalyptus was there on the nose. A very powerful wine that smelled powerful and tasted powerful. Besides the mint , hints of earth & cigar notes but clearly in the background. I was having a hard time trying to grasp how youthful and balanced the wine was on the palate. I found the fruit was on the darker side with lingering tannins. I left this in the decanter for three days. The nose really never diminished, the palate grudgingly. If I had to nitpick I felt it was lacking some of the complexity that I would have expected at this stage. — 6 months ago

Nathan Renfro

9.5

Lovely wine. Nose of leather, pencil. Ruby red. Silky mouthfeel. Fruit, black, blue and red, all ripe, lush, and juicy. Tannins are silky yet full. Leaving a very long finish. Beautiful wine drinking fantastic now with lots of life left. — 7 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.6

Having my annual 2002 Penfolds Bin 389 - now 3 bottles left. Definitely a beautiful mature Cabernet Shiraz from this cool vintage. Has the Penfolds DNA of. Chocolate, Mocha and Black fruits. Wonderful balance - very polished with at least 5 to 10 years in front of it. This is why one cellars Penfolds Reds. Your patience is repaid in spades with the finished product…..maturing at glacial pace. My plan is to have the next one in 2024, then 2026, then 2028. — 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. — 2 years ago

Stuart Pollack

9.9

Beautiful wine. So earthy, leathery, and powerful. This wine still has years of life left. A nearly perfect Cabernet Sauvignon blend with a Mediterranean twist. It tastes like an extremely high-end Chateauneuf-du-Pape dominated by a high-end Napa Cabernet. Perfect with my Greek lamb chops. I wish I could have left it open longer but I consumed it at my favorite BYOB Greek restaurant. If you find this wine at a reasonable price, buy it. At $90 a steal. — 4 months ago

Delectable Wine

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9.7

The 2009 Léoville Las Cases is poured blind and just soars in the glass. What stunned me was the tension and precision on the nose, tropes that I do not find with many Left Bank wines in this vintage. It has fabulous mineralité with that crushed stone element more pronounced than ever. The palate has beguiling symmetry, perfectly poised with a peacock's tail on the finish. Just a fabulous Saint-Julien. Tasted at the Bordeaux versus Stellenbosch dinner in South Africa. (Neal Martin, Vinous, December 2023)
— 5 months ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Perfect condition btl from an owc that is in its prime with many yrs left showing red, black fruits, currant, cedar, leather, earth, licorice, menthol, spice box & tobacco. — 6 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2003 vintage. Last tasted 10.16.22 (9.1) and a relatively disappointing showing then. This time round, decanted and tasted multiple x's after 1.5 hours-3 hours. Decent sed yet less than expected. Good fill but cork seemed a tad dry. The blueberry, cocoa powder nose was there with the quintessential, P-L hallmarks. Light-medium body. A billowing, smoky initiation, then plum along with graphite and touches of cedar + espresso crema. Left me wanting just a little more and thinking a different bottle of this same P-L vintage just might yield a 9.5. This and La Mission Haut-Brion fave two red BDX producers and this did nothing to change that. Hopefully, another P-L 2003 cycles through soon enough to prove my theorem. Thanksgiving 11.23.23. — 7 months ago

Will Stanley

9.6

Such is the way of life at López de Heredia, the 2010 Reserva was only released to the market last year, while most bodegas are currently extolling the virtues of their 2019s. Well, as a fan of Viña Tondonia, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the 2010, fabled year that it is, having enjoyed many a superb wine from other producers in this vintage.

Decanted for four hours, this wine is effusive from the glass, with a strikingly darker, richer aromatic profile compared to vintages such as 2007 and 2001, and more in line with 2008 - but better still. The oak provides a generous chocolate- and vanilla-laced bouquet that also has blackcurrants, blueberries, cranberries and kirsch, and bouquet garni. The palate is, predictably, very austere at this primal stage, but again has a richer, more rounded mouthfeel to prior vintages that is simply wonderful. Needless to say, this is a benchmark wine for the region and will age rather well, and what a wine it will be in decades to come.
— 8 months ago

Mike Saviage

9.9

Tasted blind. Deep purple color. Looks very young, compared to the 45 Margaux next to it. Almost opaque. Notes of black fruit, cracked walnuts, sweet fruit, raspberry and some cedar desk. Super rich in the mouth. Seems young and is firm, but tannins are softened and the mouthfeel is velvet touch. Long finish. It peacocks all night. The walnuts thing leads my guess to Latour, but can this be the 45? Is it a 61 or 82? Could be... I go with it being a 59 given how young it seems. Just an amazing bottle of wine, open for ~9 hours by the time we left, it seemed to effortlessly power along. Thanks Stan! — 2 years ago

Ron R

9.3

Visually, bricking has begun. The nose presented a hint of musty cardboard, at that point, my sphincter started twitching - had I left this too long?
Palate displays spice notes initially, followed by anise, cinnamon and cloves. Mature cherries are also in the foreground with moderate tannins. Finishes with leather, olives notes and moderate sweetness. This is perched on a plateau, and should be consumed now.
The story behind the label is a broken bottle of a 2003 Leoville Las Cases, which pissed it’s pants (so to speak) in my eurocave, back in the day... — 3 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.6

Very deep ruby , ruby rim, shockingly young . Very closed still , mineral , creme de cassis , dark and meaty , grafite , chestnut . On the palate very tight and young , cassis with dark blackcurrant , cedar , tobacco and granite . Concentrated but balanced at the same time , gritty tannins , balanced acidity. Long and complex on the finish , with mineral , grafite notes . A great wine surely , this is so young and with huge potential. I suppose more impressive than enjoyable at this stage. This needs time in bottle, maybe come back in 5 years and will last a further 20-30 . — 5 months ago

Delectable Wine

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9.5

The 1966 Giscours is a wine I have drunk twice or three times before, though never from magnum. This was a golden age for the estate. It has a classic nose for a 1966 Left Bank: black fruit, freshly rolled tobacco, antique bureau and maybe just a hint of curry leaf. Still fresh and unashamedly conservative in style, the palate is beautifully balanced with fine weight and density. It has lost its florality, perhaps now a little more delicate than I recall, yet tremendous in terms of length with veins of blue fruit toward the finish. Utterly divine. Tasted at 67 Pall Mall for The Complete Bordeaux Vintage Guide dinner. (Neal Martin, Vinous, December 2023)
— 5 months ago

Ian Hamel

9.1

2023 fall. Very young - quite powerful and primary, even more so than usual at this stage, but I somehow enjoy that — 6 months ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Blend of 69% Shiraz, 16% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from McLaren Vale, deep Ruby color with aromas of berry fruits and sweet spice. On the palate flavors of blackberry and cherry with notes of vanilla, spice, licorice and tobacco. Fine tannins, medium+ finish ending with fruit, sweet spice and earthy notes. — 7 months ago

Victor Hsu

9.0

1949 vintage (!!!). Very special half bottle, but more than half the volume lost to evaporation. Opened this gem at Totoraku yesterday to go with two full bottles of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, 1996 and 1952 (!!). This Temple of Beef demands special occasion wines. Cork fell apart in the bottle so we poured it all in a decanter but did not wait to sip. Pale strawberry-orange color, surprising tart fruit nose, supremely delicate taste with just a bit of fruit and life left. Not the best bottle on the table but certainly not the undrinkable. Interesting experience. Would gladly do it again in the name of science. Oldest Red Bordeaux I have ever tasted. — 7 months ago

Pooneet K

9.5

One of the best bottles of champagne I’ve ever had. Annual one for Valentine’s Day - 2 left from a case we bought years ago. Getting better each year. Has a bit of a caramel apple mixed with lemon curd thing developing now. Very fine bubbles. Just fantastic. — a year ago

Neal Ferry

8.9

After tasting gem… great Oregon Pinot — 2 years ago