Jay Kline

9.4

Opened a few hours prior to service and enjoyed over the course of an hour. This bottle of the 1986 was re-corked at the chateau in 2011. The wine pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and some dried dark and red fruits: black currants, brambles, black plum, tobacco, pencil shavings, some dried flowers, green pepper, leather, some earth and a gentle mix of cool and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This seemed evergreen and this bottle spending most of its life in the cellars of the chateau likely has a lot to do with that. Fabulous stuff. Drink now through 2046. — 3 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

This was actually the first wine we had at the Bordeaux first growth lunch last Saturday (which wasn’t a First Growth). No notes taken but it did show the quality of the 1982 vintage particularly from Paulliac, and was still going strong. — 5 months ago

Austin Hohnke

9.1

Trivia at Aldo Sohm wine bar. Our team lost by one point. This wine won by many points. I blind tasted my staff and they converged around Rhone. Great stuff! — 5 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

The last of the 2002 in mags brought from the property. Delicious. I would have thought these would have been saved for their member parties. So, a nice surprise.

From The Cellar event at Pebble Beach Food & Wine. — 6 months ago

Ericsson

9.4

Tasting notes during visit to the winery where absolutely everything is done in-house by hand; preserving centuries old winemaking traditions. In the Tondonia offering one can really appreciate the time and patience dedicated to crafting this wine. The wine evolves to a rustic yet graceful profile with strong notes of dark berries with slight oak and dark chocolate. On the palate the wine is bliss, medium bodied, fully integrated, with balanced acidity and a long finish.

The juice is fermented in old large wooden “tinas,” then transferred to American oak barrels (made in house to medium toast specifications), stored underground in their +100 year old cellars for at least a year. After that it is bottled and stored in the same underground cellars and finally released about ten years later. Learning about their curated winemaking process was inspiring. — 7 months ago

Alexander Bastian Nielsen

9.2

Obviously a great wine but also very hyped and maybe too highly regarded. Tasted at a 2022 Bordeaux Fair and it surely was delicous and quite mesmerising for what it was. But it just lacked that extra panache. — 8 months ago

Leo Gentile

8.9

Perfect deep garnet color. Fruit way too subdued for a 2019. Nose was flat. Jordan is a tried and true California cab. But this bottle was not a good showing for the $56 bucks at Costco. Just a nice red wine. Sorry — 9 months ago

Wine Dad

8.9

Had at Smith & Wollensky. — 2 years ago

Narun P

9.0

Funky at first but subsequently blown away. Fresh, leathery, flowery, with some structure. Can tell it was once a great bottling. A bit long over due. — 9 years ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.2

Beautifully aged, drunk this at restaurant Air Accueil in Brebieres. — 11 years ago

Jay Kline

8.9

Decanted prior to service; enjoyed over the course of several hours. This bottle of the 1964 pours a garnet color with significant rim variation; medium viscosity with light staining and significant signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with mostly tertiary notes at this point: cherry fruit leather, actual leather, decomposing log. On the palate, the wine is dry with tannin fully integrated and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium. Alive…but this bottle is old and tired. Drink now. — 3 months ago

edward Simpson

9.4

We had the double magnum of this at Xmas, it's smaller brother is wow...rocks all the boxes and more... subtle, tabac, berries, yup yup and yup W64 40 yo yos — 4 months ago

Tom Garland

9.3

Double decant for sediment and pour. A splendid still dark tawny red color. On the nose: expressive notes of stewed blackberry/plum, worn leather, musty forest floor, truffles, mint. Taste: silky, elegant, savory wine with dried strawberries, leather, cedar, earth, and a peppery chocolate espresso medium plus finish. YUM! Still delivering like a champ at 45 years and glad to have a couple more bottles — 5 months ago

with Brenda

Tyler Felous

9.5

Absolutely singing at 10 yrs. Beautiful weight. Age coming thru with beeswax and acacia with plenty of acidity to back it up. — 6 months ago

Ravinder Singh

9.2

Dinner at home 3/13/2025 — 7 months ago

Tom Barras

9.1

It has a nearly opaque, dark fruited appearance that opens up to very appealing and persistent aromatics and flavors of blueberries and blackberries.

There is still a good amount of primary fruit; it is medium/full, well structured with a good balance of juicy acidity and refined tannins at the finish. New oak is there, but unobtrusive.

Overall, this 2010 is a reserved and savory St. Julien that doesn’t whack me over the head with gobs of oak and loads of sweet jammy fruit. It is definitely “worth a search” if you don’t have it. — 7 months ago

David White

9.3

It’s 10 years since Serge. Hochar’s death whilst swimming in Acapulco on NYE 2014 and I think it’s appropriate to celebrate his legacy that is the modern Chateau Musar.
I first tasted Lebanese wines in London circa 1986 when I used to go to a couple of Lebanese restaurants in Shepherds Market near Mayfair in London
Al Hamra is still in business
I’ve been to Beirut several times and always stock up at the airport duty free
So a toast to a departed icon of the wine world
Since my last 2011 4.5 years ago (see note) this has aged wonderfully and I’ve up my rating several points
Another few years and it will be further improved
Optimal decant time was around 3.5 to 4 hours
Ethereal stuff — 9 months ago

Rick Phillips

9.6

After 35 years I was not expecting much. Especially when the cork disintegrated on opening. Aureated on decanting and was happily surprised. After about 20 minutes opened to dark chocolate, leather but so smooth. The last glass was pure delight. Howell Mountain at its best! — 10 months ago

with Letha

B

9.0

3L 1995 Shafer Hillside Select CS. Group dinner at Nmd. Probably should have decanted it longer than the hour we did. It was going through a really funky stage. Just very one-note and dull. — 8 years ago

Michael Mathews

9.1

At Redstone w/Shelly. Just back from Orlando w/Rettke. #pro — 10 years ago

with Rick, Jeff and 2 others

Jay Kline

9.2

Decanted prior to service; enjoyed over the course of several hours. This bottle of the 1982 pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core and some rim variation; medium viscosity with light staining of the tears and signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with a mix of tart, ripe and dried, mostly black fruits: cassis, blackberries, tobacco, dried flowers, grilled Poblano, leather, dry gravelly earth, and fine warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin (integrated) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. One of the earliest vintages of Opus One, this is showing really well at the moment. Drink now through 2042. — 3 months ago

Vinny Brooklyn

9.2

At Smith & Wollensky, New York. Very nice — 4 months ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.4

Always hits the spot at Disneyland 😄 — 5 months ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.5

This is always a beautiful. At this stage it’s quite complex to understand. But it’s clear that with the time it’ll turn onto a special wine. — 6 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

90% Tempranillo; 10% Graciano. Red fruited perfume, earthy with medium plus intensity. Palate at 21 years is developed, balanced and soft with fully integrated tannins. Medium weight with declining strength to its inner core. Not near as good on the 2nd night. This aged overnight and finishes a little sour. I was going to give it 94 points but will now give 90 points. — 6 months ago

Alan Weinberg

9.2

At first underwhelming, started to gain after 30 minutes and was a fine bottle. Never became amazing. Drink up. — 7 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Flight 2 , wine 1 . Quite deep garnet , less terracotta rim . This had a whiff of oxidation about it at first which seemed to somewhat dissipate with time . Some dark spiced fruits , liquorice and menthol hints , cedar and sous bois . On the palate good ripeness and spiced dark cherry hints . Good acidity and rounded tannin . Nice length also , offering some spiced black fruits and menthol hints . Don’t think this is a pristine bottle but was enjoyable none the less , I was unsure at first if this was Napa , but coming back to it … and reading my notes , it became quite obvious . However I had this down as the Ch Montelena , not the Dominus — 7 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.5

2005 vintage. Light-medium/medium bod. Rocking don't bother knocking. So good. At the top of its respective bell curve and looks to hang out for quite some time. Maybe an extended residency? Not going anywhere anytime soon. 12.11.24. — 10 months ago

George Hesse

9.2

Another amazing bottle. At the Ken Wegner Hunt 2019. — 7 years ago

Lexi

9.1

Bright acidity. More raspberry than cherry on the nose. Tannins stick primarily to the tip of the tongue and dies quickly at the back. — 10 years ago