Tom Garland

9.3

2 hour decant. A marvelous medium garnet color (decent fine sediment). On the nose: dark berries, cassis, forest floor, sandalwood, pencil shavings, chocolate, and cigar box. Taste: layered, balanced, still young wine with dark cherry/plum, cedar, dark chocolate, charcoal, and a lingering tobacco/leather finish. YUM! No hurry, a long distance Las Cases. — 9 months ago

with Brenda

Jan-Willem van der Hek

9.1

1990 left bank tasting Le Vineur. Alive, bit green, cigar, tobacco, silky, lacks bit of depth but still very enjoyable. Rather prefer the 89... — 5 years ago

Shengli Hu

9.2

Bright ruby with a garnet rim of medium minus concentration. Tobacco, pencil shavings, cigar, cedarwood, licorice, fresh pomegranate, raspberry, tart red cherry, stony minerality. Lightly spiced. Elevated acidity, medium soft tannins, medium alcohol. Medium body. — 6 years ago

Bill Bender

9.2

Moving fuel. 42 year old Tempranillo and a uniquely American delicacy to celebrate Independence Day 🧀 🇺🇸 I’m unpacking boxes and listening to the Padres vs Dodgers so other than the wine I’m full throttle Americana today. The Vina Todonia cork dropped in to the bottle immediately upon contact from the Durand so I was not hopeful....but it’s totally intact and it presents with significant bricking in the decanter with expected brown and red tones and is chock full of secondary notes of burnt fig, savory smoke, cigar and soil. Soft tannins and waning acidity but it seems to be putting on “weight” as the afternoon progresses. Another solid showing from this producer at an advanced age. Great stuff. Happy 4th of July to all!! 🍎 ⚾️ 🍷 ☀️ — 7 years ago

Chris Nichols

9.1

Incredible potential with beautiful balance. Black fruit with a spot of white pepper. Nice oak of leather and cigar ash. Not ready yet but will try it in 5 years and probably be blown away. Decanted for 90 minutes and still tight. — 9 years ago

Matt

9.4

Dusty, cigar ash, R. Apple skins, dried earth, spices, dried herbs, smoke. Structurally this wine is very sound with vibrant acid and tannin still holding on. Almost Nebbiolo-like in texture and elegance. Very pretty and beautiful. — 10 years ago

Lisa Hallgren

9.6

1976 Vintage. Pretty amazing. Iron & earth, tobacco, cigar box, straw, dried prunes, and dried savory. All the good stuff. — 11 years ago

Steven Hammer

9.6

Nose of menthol, jam, black tea, old cedar. Complex. Balanced mouthfeel with notable acid and decent heft. Finish layers through cigar to licorice and fresh pepper. Just right now. — 11 years ago

with Lauren

Antoine Pin

Wine Buyer Kroger/QFC

8.9

Pass! Looks too much like Chocolate Shop. $17 / 88pts — 13 years ago

Des Adams

10

Paid $10 at Hy-Vee since it was in the wrong basket — 9 months ago

Lars Kirstein

9.1

Again a red Bordeaux in perfect shape, cigar box with leather and earthy notes, red fruits and violets on the palate, medium body and medium finish with a good acidity so you really want to drink the next Glas — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

Tried this 2x recently. Wow! Ruby with complex fruit aromas, spice and oak. Blend of 90% Tempranillo & 10% Graciano, 48 mos on American oak. On the palate ripe Berry fruits, powerful yet elegant, with spice & smoky earthy notes on full tannins. Long finish, nice mouthfeel, ending with mineral earthy tones and cigar box spice, a joy to Sip!! Tasting great, has more aging potential, try in 10+ years! Great Value! — 6 years ago

Hanibal

9.1

The best of the trio 08, 09 and 10. Lots of cigar box, red fruits, tobacco...a beautiful young wine that should improve in time — 6 years ago

Mike

9.4

Starting strong. All the best berries and a hint of cigar. 🍷👍🏼 — 8 years ago

Rob lupella

9.4

Good. Flavors of tobacco. Lighting but not in bad way. Will buy again — 9 years ago

Colin Cahoon

9.4

Classic Rioja. Dark cherry and blackberry nose with cigar box in the background. More dark cherry, plum, leather and mocha on the palate. Chewy tannins and lingering acid through the finish. Powerful but balanced from start to finish. — 10 years ago

JKT

9.5

What a nose! Fruit but strongly tinged with spice and hints of cigar? Medium body with fruit and acid but latter lingers into finish which RC says should note be for Napa cab and sign of post prime by 5+ years. But still great to drink. Next day under agon the nose lost that spicy note but the palette holding very nicely. More rounded today. — 10 years ago

Joseph C Burke

9.3

1990 Deep ruby; nose of black cherry, tar and cedar; cherry and cassis on palate, bit of eucalyptus and herbs, sweet tobacco and cigar box. Much better than a bottle of '90 I opened 4 weeks ago which was tainted. — 11 years ago

PJ

9.5

Great way to warm up on a 20 degree night! 🍷 — 12 years ago

Davis Smith

Sommelier Acquerello

9.7

Bottle of the Night: Cigar, brambly dark fruit, full midpalate, long finish. THIS is what Napa Cabernet with age can do. — 13 years ago

Mark Mannebach

9.3

Plum boysenberry with cigar chocolate notes and allspice on end — 3 years ago

Will Stanley

9.5

Decanted for around an hour, the recently released 2013 Grand Vin from Chateau Musar is an enormous wine at present in its youth. Gradually, it opened into a gorgeous, exotic and utterly unique product of this unlikely corner of the wine world. There’s plenty of Bordeaux-like character in the form of dark fruit and cigar box, but there are notes too of cranberry, liquorice, clove, mandarin and five spice. The mouthfeel, as a whole, has a quasi Brunello quality to it, with its bright cherry fruit and mouthwatering acidity. But woe is anyone to compare this wine to any other, for it is incomparable. One of Serge Hochar’s last vintages before his passing in 2014, and one that will doubtless have a long life. — 5 years ago

Garen Staglin

9.5

Eucalyptus, and cigar box. Cellared direct from winery. Holding up extremely well. Last bottle. 🥵 — 6 years ago

Phil Castellano

9.1

Great IPA to start a Monday evening! #cigarcitybrewing — 6 years ago

Michael Sixbey

8.9

Good wine but needs to breathe a bit first — 8 years ago

Peter Brush

8.9

Lots of cigar, leather, forest floor. Fruit is mostly in the distant background. Drink now. — 9 years ago

Scorewine

Wine writer http://www.israelwines.co.il

9.0

A fantastic 2002, this lovely wine shows once more that today there aren't really bad years in Bordeaux, this Pontet Canet was well structured rich and tempting. Deep red, tempting rich multi layered nose ripe cherries, black current, coffee, cigar box, and tea leaves, full rich body, dry tannins, full of black fruit, high acidity and a long chewy finish. Was worth the wait, my score 90. Drink to 2022 — 10 years ago

Daron Watson

9.2

perfume of fruit & diaper funk ~ fruit currently surrounded by cigar box & cedar tannins — 11 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.4

2001: going into a black olive, black truffle note. Rich meaty notes, vibrantly meated, smoky, leather, tobacco, cigar. Towards full, complex, chewy. Light liquorice, light black truffle. Tip top. — 11 years ago

Anthony Weytjens

Winemaker & Estate Manager at Edge Hill Estate

9.7

Great wine! Took about 45 min to open up but when it did... Wow! So amazed with still having black fruit flavors behind the cigar and moroccan leather! — 13 years ago