Hanibal

9.4

Wow...time has been great for this champagne to complexify and still has nice fine bubbles
...an experience....1990 — 5 years ago

Rob Russell

9.0

Just had this in Bordeaux a few weeks ago. Like most wines of this vintage it took a bit of imagination to fully appreciate. It is clearly time to drink this wine, it may be on the downhill side of life. Overall a good experience for what was not noted as a premium vintage, but is a very solid wine. — 7 years ago

Tree Kilpatrick

9.0

Zingy, ripe and fruit filled. Flavors are smooth operator and sweetest taboo. Tart and juicy on the finish. A fruitful wine drinking experience. Ages beautifully. — 7 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.8

1986 vintage. At Au Fils du Zinc in Chablis - thank you Fabian for picking the best white wine experience of the year. This was a wine that Mr Raveneau didn't release because he thought there was too much oak and sulphur. Only recently did they realise they had a gem. Medium golden hue. Honeyed, white peach, lemon pieces, iodine and crushed rock minerality. Slight bovril note and sea shell with air. Amazing complexity. On the palate, perfect balance between fresh acidity and body, highly concentrated and layers of complexity. Very very long. Outstanding. Still fresh enough to last another 7-10 years at least. — 8 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Tawny amber color. Translucent with a heavy weight in the glass. Has a hotness in the nose and almost seems a bit fortified in the mouth. Notes of brown sugar, mocha, some pepper and sherry. You can definitely feel the power and weight of this wine, but we suspect this has turned a bit to become a little bit madeirized. Still a memorable experience. — 9 years ago

David Langstaff

9.4

This wine needed about 3 hours to release. Initially tight with uncomfortable medicinal nose which then totally dissipated. Drinking now next day and you get the age of fully integrated but not fading tannins. Nose has a delightful dark fruit and smokiness. Great fit of nose and taste, meaning - when tastes after smelling the experience is consistent and not jolting. I think the color purple in a subdued way. Very nice. Memo to self: decant and watch for sediment, and enjoy three hours later. — 9 years ago

with Cynthia and Chris

Jonas Johansson

9.3

Great Napa Cab. — 9 years ago

Gerry Schwartz

9.8

Iconic bottle absolutely stunning still well balanced with soft tannins. Great bottle once in s lifetime experience — 10 years ago

Justin Smith

10

Full body experience. — 10 years ago

Mike Wu

9.6

In Mag. 76s DRC are all drinking so well now. Tks Geoff! (tasted at The Fine Wine Experience Burghound Gala Dinner) — 11 years ago

Fabien Lainé

Blogger VinDeling.com

9.2

1960 was for kind of forgotten close to the nice 1959 and 1961 vintages - but the wine still handle well, with a light profile, a nice experience from a nice gift, maybe 60 was better for the Beatles !? However it feels kind of younger than 1960 at first sight, an off vintage in good shape but will get soon enough to its peak 😐 — 11 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Some friends of ours brought this to our backyard dinner last night. This is not a producer I buy. So, it was nice to revisit and nice of them to share.

The first thing I would say, is this is a well made Pinot Noir. Having said that, I don’t buy it due to its pricing. If you are buying this from the winery, its price point is still too high for it’s quality and gets worse yet when you go to the secondary markets which, many do, due to its limited production & wait on their list.

I say this because I have had countless examples of Sonoma & CA Pinot Noirs that are as good for $75 or around that price point give or take a little. The Hendricks Pinot from Santa Lucia is a similar style and for me, is better than this Marcassin. The Hendricks is $75 on futures buying.

Our friends that brought it, whom we share a mutual friendship with another Sommelier. He told them they had to drink this as it was getting old. I can tell you that is simply not the case. This wine has another 7-10 years of fine drinking ahead. These statements happen when your consuming wine regiment is based on a steady stream of always drinking wines young...It just happens.

The wine shows beautiful mid & dark candied, floral fruits, heavy baking spices and too much cinnamon stick for me. Beautiful, dark, red, blue and purple florals. It is well balanced, lush, elegant, polished with nice round acidity.

A very nice wine just overpriced IMHO. You can do just as well for less and you would only lose out on the fact you are feeling good about opening a cult name Pinot for yourself or to impress others. Not a dig, just the wine psychology that experience has led me to through the devotion of studying wine and consumers feedback. Not all, but enough to call it what it is. I myself have fallen prey to those emotions & I’m sure will again.

Photo of, Marciassin Winery, Helen Turley-Co Owner, Ryan O'Donnell-Winemaker and a Sonoma vineyard they source fruit. — 5 years ago

Martin G Rivard

10

Quick funny story:
Christine & I are LUCKY to have Kelly work in our office but we are BLESSED to be able to consider her and Darryl as dear friends.
We recommended to Kelly, prior to her going on vacation in Charleston SC, that they should stop by the Belmont hotel. They have a bar and restaurant that is 2nd to none in that area. Christine & I LOVE it!!!! Kelly sent me a quick text to say “hey, we’re at the Belmont! And about to have dinner!”
Being the goof ball that I am..... .....I called the Somm and said “I don’t care what they ordered, bring them a Shafer Hillside Select with some age on it!!!”. 10 minutes later he was decanting a 2003 Hillside Select table side! I love that hotel! Incredible service, incredible food and always a phenomenal experience! The only thing better are-our friends that are there right now!!!!

I didn’t Have a drop of this wine but I am scoring it a 10 based on experience alone!! It must have been “Badass in a Glass” as I always say!
I’ll let Kelly and Darryl fill in the official tasting notes!
by the way Kelly: don’t love SC tooooooo much, Christine & I can’t operate that place without you! See you next week! 👍👏👏👏👏👍
— 8 years ago

with Christine

Jason MacLean

9.2

A chewy, structured burst of natural fruit. Excellent for the price. Finally. — 9 years ago

Charles (Chad) Bucklin

Owner and founder of C. T. Bucklin Wine Advising

9.5

Just a special experience. The nose was powerful and dynamic evolving beautifully over 30 minutes. A smokey phase, a pine phase, and a strong floral phase. The palate was balanced and smooth. The fruit was dead but resembled fruit leather. Two bottles opened, one had grip left, the other didn't. #moutonrothschild #grandcruclassé #2ndgrowth #bordeaux #pauillac #1928 #ctbucklinwine — 9 years ago

Brian Duffy

Sommelier & Beverage Director The Barrymore Las Vegas

9.2

This bottle started off on the wrong foot. It was muted and a bit dumb. After A decanting and about 4 hours it evolved into a beautiful experience. — 9 years ago

Justin Mahoney

9.6

The big boy of the birthday weekend. Still big, bold, full of fruit, booze, celeriac yet approachable and smooth as you'd expect for its age. Could go another 10+ and an experience I'll never forgot. Definitely not a value play though

@simons bday weekend 2016 — 10 years ago

Andrés Solís Lira

10

Still young as a baby after 18 years of cellaring! Only just developing honey and tertiary aromas. A palpable development in the glass from tight and stern to full-bodied and ample. Orange blossom, yeasty, again honey. A woodied, complex, extremely rewarding after taste. Like another user said it is not about bubbles but about intense aroma and profound flavour. This is clearly an ULTIMATE sensorial experience from a house that has released only 37 editions in 85 years. @WineTraining #salon #champagne #blancdeblancs #1997 @Dusan Bradanovich — 10 years ago

Tyler Harbour

9.0

Of course I love the wine. But drinking the wine at their tasting room is a true experience. The nose and the taste scream of macerated strawberries that slap your lips with a velvet glove. Brilliant mix of fruit and alcohol. — 11 years ago

Alex Tuttle

9.7

It's an experience..... — 12 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.5

The 2009 'Cristal' is a completely stunning Champagne which impresses with its polish, complexity, weight and silky mousse. The brightness is wonderful with intense lemon zest and kumquat aromatics that all mingle in the glass. The soft mousse and bright effervescence really impresses. The freshness of the wine also shows beautifully on the mid-palate, displaying not only good weight but intense orchard fruits that mingle with the wet stone, and high-toned citrus zest accents. I love the silky mouthfeel that adds to the wonderful experience. This is settling in after some time after release. Drink 2019-2035- 95 — 6 years ago

Dan Michael

9.5

Wow, just wow, this is simply one of the best wines I have tasted. Toasty nose, big and rich without being heavy, perfect with everything on the table, awesome experience! — 7 years ago

Joe Gillies

9.8

Amazing wine experience!
If you have never tried an Emidio Pepe wine look up his wine making process.
Highly highly recommend trying one his old school classic wines!

Decanted for 60 min.
Initially a bit funky but that diminished over time. It has a great nose and very hard to describe over than funky with some cherries. Earth, sour cherry, and a bit of leather on the palate.

This is truly incredible wine experience and well worth seeking out! — 8 years ago

Michelle La Berge

9.9

Aged fabulously. Brought with us to a restaurant with a deep vertical of this winery. Phenomenal wine experience. — 8 years ago

Matthew Steilen

9.5

Distinctive experience — 9 years ago

with Galen, K and 1 other

Tom Kobylarz

9.4

To me the most complex wine of the night offering a deep cerebral experience, with what I thought of as a berry bouquet garni was the 2000 Haut-Brion. The most contemplative, while also a deeply pleasurable wine, offered layers of classic Bordeaux notes of toast, coffee, currants, cassis, subtle & smokey campfire embers, cigar box...the list goes on and most of that was in the nose. The palate was texturally seamless, packed and stacked with structure that never got in the way, though you would notice it on the finish letting you know it was there.

2005 was locked up and unrelenting at first, the second go an hour later was more repenting but it was still not nudging much. A thoroughly excellent wine, but just not revealing much beyond the hints of its greatness.

#hautbrion #pessacleognan #bordeaux #wine — 9 years ago

Charles (Chad) Bucklin

Owner and founder of C. T. Bucklin Wine Advising

9.7

A true experience. The color was beautiful and well intact. The nose bursted out of the glass with incredible complexity and elegance. Sweet black fruits, paprika, smoke, mushrooms, and just dying flowers dominated the nose and palate. The structure was well intact with silky tannins, fine acidity, and present alcohol. The wine just kept on going for at least 45 minutes in the glass and length on the palate was equally impressive. #drc #DRC #domainedelaromaneeconti #grandsechezeaux #cotedenuits #pinotnoir #burgundy #1947 #ctbucklinwine — 9 years ago

Matt

9.5

Velvet texture and finish and really integrated structure. Lots of American oak and tobacco cedar notes. Fruit has faded a bit but opened up with time. Cool experience — 10 years ago

Pat Doherty

9.7

Perfect lush lively delicious Cabernet. Aged exquisitely. Wonderful experience with ribeye steak — 10 years ago

Janet Kenyon

10

Full-bodied, and very velvety-smooth! An extravagant but worth while experience! — 11 years ago