Mike Saviage

9.5

Dark purple plum skin color from center to the rim’s edge where some scarlet also appears. Opaque. Great fruit forward nose that grabs your attention. Notes of blackberries, ripe plums, violets, tobacco, forest floor and some crushed walnuts. Rich and silky in the mouth. Great balance and texture. Tannins perfectly integrated. Long finish. If a Cal Cab can be seductive, this is it. Still youthful but in a great zone tonight. — 8 years ago

Lyn Farmer

9.2

Medium ruby color and a pronounced nose of raspberry, violet and a spice note reminiscent of sandalwood incense. Lovely medium body with silky texture. Good acid balance for food pairing and a long lovely finish. Wonderful evocation of serious Beaujolais — 9 years ago

Kyle Groombridge

9.2

Second Matthiasson wine that I've tried and it definitely does not disappoint. Low alcohol, elegant smooth mouthfeel and not over-the-top with the cream which is a breath of fresh air for a Californian Chardonnay. Pineapple, guava, and a hint of banana on the nose, Meyer lemon and a distinct minerality on the palate with just a dollop of creamy texture. A lovely wine. Bravo. — 10 years ago

Brad Hemmer

9.1

Silky, creamy mashed banana, honey, nutty, apples. Great texture, nice acidity, fun wine. — 10 years ago

with Jenny

Martin Frowde

9.2

Drinking the 1991 in 2016 after over 2 hours of decanting. Wonderful light sherry type nose with a hint of pepper and quite brick red colour around the edges. Such a soft texture on the tongue though still a little astringency on the finish. Very good. — 11 years ago

with Georgina

Criso Santiago

10

Very great vintage with a dry sweet texture wonderful with a nice home cooked meal, and the right person to enjoy it with :) — 11 years ago

Patrick Blondin Sommelier

9.8

Notes d'amande, de pâtisserie- vanille, pain grillé. En bouche notes iodé, fruits à chaire blanches - 2003

Le 1998 développe des notes de noix mélangés, minéral, encore du fruit. Texture enveloppante et longueur — 13 years ago

Adam Kincaid

9.1

Showing gorgeously. Tons of stone fruit round out this gentle friend, but it all starts with a white flower bouquet that keeps luring you in for sip after sip. Apricot and peach are the dominant fruits. Nice oily texture, a little hot. This grape is the actual love child of riesling and gewurztraminer, and there is no doubt about that. — 8 years ago

with Jillian

Doug Kahn

9.0

Not my favorite vintage of opus. Too lean and faded at points. Not much power and texture as I would like at this age — 9 years ago

Alex Xu

9.8

Sublime depth and complexity, mushroom, leather, black pepper, charcuterie, intergrated with beautiful red and black fruit. Beautiful texture and weight - rounded but with good heft. Lots of oomph — 9 years ago

John Kanellopoulos

9.6

Did not decant on purpose and enjoyed almost 5 different wines from 1 bottle the finesse, body, aromas texture color and purity of left bank Bordeaux in a 750cc bottle we were lucky with the cork on this one...
— 10 years ago

Zach Rhodes

9.2

Powerful and velvety texture. Plum, blueberry, currant, boysenberry. — 10 years ago

with Daniel

web bond

9.2

Phenomenal texture — 11 years ago

Paul Kaan

Winemaker/Blogger FilthyGoodVino.com

9.6

It's Bordeaux O'Clock. 81 Palmer oppulent, refined texture, fresh, layered & yummy! A bit of extra Pre-Parker finesse perhaps? #FilthyOldVino — 12 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

When it comes to my B-day, there is only one fit, an old Pichon Lalande with my Ribeye. As a lover of Bordeaux, these two are my favorite pairing. It’s a very slow walk to the finishline. A small bite of steak and a sip of 89 Pichon Lalande. Then, repeat until finished. I had some concerns about this bottle. A slightly slippery and crumbling cork. The first sip was not bad, but not what you want or are expecting. After some time in the decanter, it really started to shine. On the nose; ripe, ruby, floral cassis, blackberries, dark sweet & sour cherries, baked strawberries, blue fruit hues, dry cranberries, baked rhubarb, saddlewood, soft, used leather, bay leaf, touch of sage, hint of spearmint, eucalyptus, vanilla, cinnamon, crushed dry crushed rock powder, black turned earth, dry brown soil with clay, tobacco leaf and perfumed red florals with violets. The body is full, round and silky. Tannins are well resolved at around 80%. The texture, length, tension and length are in a sweet spot. The fruits are ripe, ruby & expressively floral. Blackberries, dark sweet & sour cherries, baked strawberries, blue fruit hues, dry cranberries, baked rhubarb, saddlewood, soft, used leather, bay leaf, touch of sage, hint of spearmint, eucalyptus, vanilla, cinnamon, crushed dry crushed rock powder, black turned earth, dry brown soil with clay, scorched earth, tobacco leaf and perfumed red florals with violets. The acidity is just a little off but still nice. The finish is divided nearly equally in fruit, earth, florals and herbaceous. It’s very enjoyable but falls just a little short in longer, lingering length. This bottle had good storage, not great. Even so, still has another three to five years ahead. A bottle with excellent storage has another five years beyond this one. Photos of; the backside of Pichon Lalande, angled terrace view of their vines right next to Latour, my steak & twice baked potato (so good) and CEO Nicolas Glumineau. — 8 years ago

Bryant Bickel

9.3

Damn good, layers of lemon, white peach, some honeydew notes has enough of everything, body and a texture that's light and playful but has the weight to roll around. Made me rethink why I don't go for white blends more often and the answer is few do it right! This is so right! v.2015 — 10 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.1

Oh heck. I wish I had more. I don't know Aussie wine but don't think that would make a big diff in how to interpret this oner. It is an individual and a nice one at that.
It is smooth and merlot Berry then POW there are your Gewurtztraminer spices and whoa. Despite my hatred of the color of yellow I can dig it. Yowza. — 10 years ago

garret plocher

9.4

Crisp nose with a strong yeast component. Great balance and texture, showing great! Lemon curd and apple on the pallet. Robust bubbles. — 11 years ago

Sergio Licea

10

Bright red cherry, dried meat, olives, white pepper, black pepper, white flowers. Soft silky texture with balanced acidity to smooth tannin feel. Long finish, slightly bitter kick towards the end. Awesome! — 11 years ago

Charles Schneider

9.3

In a bit of a reductive stage, but beautiful texture. I had a schistgasm. — 12 years ago