Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

BSR don’t come to the African bush without it. Just like American Express, don’t leave home without it. Missed it!

All my previous notes apply.

Photos of, the nearly 20 Lions we found on our afternoon game drive. Three Males (one of them featured with the big yawn) four Lionesses and 12 or 13 Cubs, the completion of seeing the “Big Five” experience with this Buffalo on our morning game drive and most of the Lion pride laying in the sand awaiting the evening hunt.

9.3 on the BSR and a perfect 10 on our game drives.

@Severn Goodwin This ones for you! 🤣 Cheers! — 6 years ago

Briggs Donaldson

9.6

This wine was fabulous to me. My wife gave it a 9.5 and I think it was a 9.8, so we compromised. Its fruity and bold on the front with a multitude of earthflavors experienced to the back. — 7 years ago

Jeff Cohen

9.3

One of the best value wines ever. Beautiful fruit and balance. — 7 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.1

K, this rating is certainly biased by my past experience with A. Rafanelli which has been amazing. Unless you want to open 2015 and allow to sit a couple days...wait! This is too young to be opened which makes me grateful I have another bottle I’ll crack open in, say, a year or so and it’ll be perfect out of the bottle. That said I tasted this day by day for three days and it just kept improving. If you open too young give it TIME. In youth it needs some time but once it has time? Hot damn. The tannins, alcohol, acid and fruit are in equal balance three days in...now. Wait two years and it may be extraordinary out of the bottle. — 8 years ago

Josh Copeland

9.3

Outstanding. Just out fucking standing. Still a cherry bomb after all this d time. Perfect tannin structure. I could have crushed three of these to my face without coming up for air. — 8 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.0

Light ruby red. Beautiful color. Intense and rich nose from the pop-n-pour. Plum cherries, red berries, purple floral notes, some cinnamon and a touch of petrol. Great structure on the palate with moderate acidity (6.5/10). Medium to medium plus body with tons of red berries, light broken twigs and wet minerality. Medium plus finish. We believe this is their entry level Pinot. Excellent work. Drink till 2021 — 8 years ago

with India

Kelvin Woodfin

9.2

a wine I wish I had more of. — 9 years ago

with Rick

Rich Friedland

9.1

Medium-high acidity. Leather, currant and gooseberry. Nice for duck or rack of lamb. — 10 years ago

Jon Snow

9.2

Delicious wine for a great price. Very good balance of fruity and dry. This is definitely a go-to favorite. — 10 years ago

Andrew Lampasone

Owner Wine Watch Selections

9.2

Part of the three vineyard dites very forward and delicious pear fruit — 11 years ago

Paten Hughes

9.9

My favorite :) thinking of my Olga's, Masha's & Irina :) — 12 years ago

with Kevin

Mark Mannebach

9.1

Nice blend - smooth with dark fruit and wet stone mineral — 6 years ago

Adam Zell

9.2

Been sitting on this for some time and blindly pulled it out of the cellar. My wife went for a second glass, which means she LOVED it. — 6 years ago

Peter Rabe

8.9

Full mouth experience and a delight for a Pinot. Enjoyed at home with a Gouda and salami. Purchased on recommendation of store clerk. $18.99 per bottle. — 7 years ago

Chip Hughes

9.5

On tap. One of the original greats. Dank, juicy, crunk. #threefloyds #paleale — 7 years ago

Ryan M

9.6

WOW at first pour this was incredibly smooth. After 2 hours this tastes like one of the best cabs I’ve ever had. Dark red, tart raspberries, cinnamon, spice box, cherry early but subsided over the decant, clove, pine tree, chocolate early, french oak intensified over the hours. — 8 years ago

with Larissa

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.1

Some more #whiteglovelove for you guys haha @David L @TheSkip @Bill Bender @Martin G Rivard @Shay Aldriedge @Shawn R @Ron R
@Carl Fischer @leon egozi


First wine in flight three for the Bordeaux Master's Class at Heart's Delight with all wines from Margaux.

Medium to deep ruby red. Layered nose with an attack of blackberries and cinnamon. Followed by an undertone of red cherries. Heavy tannins (7/10) with a touch gritty in texture, almost like a soft sandpaper. Quite a bit of a acidity but still balanced with notes of yeast, sweet spices, cinnamon, vanilla, and dark black fruits. Dry medium plus to full body with a long finish. Drink till 2037+. (91+) — 8 years ago

with Sean and India

Richard Adams

9.9

One of the top 3 Chards I've ever had. Right up there with The Judge. Liquid gold... Honeysuckle, ripe pear, vanilla. Long finish. Low acidity, maybe peaking now, but very impressive for a 2010. — 9 years ago

with Ksenia

David L

9.3

13' 3/4 of the winery is sold to Kosta Browne. They sell to 26 different labels😳 — 9 years ago

Angela Malo

9.0

Tastes good. — 10 years ago

James Darch

9.1

Great value drop — 10 years ago

Bob Halifax

9.5

@LangmeilWinery never seems to fail to deliver. We don't see a wide array of wines but they're definitely a fave. — 11 years ago

Dr. Owen Bargreen

9.3

Now quite evolved at nearly twenty years of age, the 2002 Lange Estate ‘Three Hills Cuvee’ marvelously showcases this incredible vintage in Oregon as the wine is showing brilliantly right now. The palate is plush and dense, showing wonderful range and tension. Black fruits, citrus rind, pomegranate seed and black truffle. Complex and delicious, this is right in its sweet spot. The wine shows good mid-palate richness and is nowhere near finished as this will cellar well for the next decade. Drink 2019-2028- 93 — 6 years ago

Donald Patz

Owner/Winemaker Patz & Hall

9.5

Impressive. Blue-black color. Deep and complex aromas of black currant and plum; cedar and licorice. Rich but not sweet in the mouth. Delicious and should evolve for many years. — 6 years ago

Joline Dunbar

9.7

Smooth and full of flavor!
— 7 years ago

Ryan Mayes

9.7

Wine of the weekend! Only the second time in Diamond Creek’s illustrious history when they’ve blended fruit from all three vineyards. Having tasted all three ‘13s (which are all outstanding wines — RP gave 98, 99, 100 I believe), this bottling is my favorite. Drinking remarkably well today and will just get better with time. Thank you for opening and sharing with us, Cidy! — 7 years ago

with Marcus

Mike Mayer

9.2

Subtle hints of red fruit and citrus on the nose. Lots of raspberry, plum and spice on the palate. Very elegant in style with refined tannins and firm fruit overtones makes this a great wine now. — 8 years ago

with Lisa

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Pichon Lalande is my favorite 2nd growth with a steak. Yup...it's #SteakandClaret night to quote my buddy Gary Westby. Further, it's certainly one of my favorite producers period. I've waited for this wine to be in the bottle for 10 years before finding out definitely how good it was or wasn't. You see, the 05 Bordeaux vintage was exceptional. It's drinking right now better than 00. 00 may turn out to be better, but not for some time. The real issue was the division of scores between RP & NM. Parker had this as low as an 86 and now has it at 89. Neil Martin has been consistently at 95-96. I found it simply inexplicable that Pichon Lalande could have bombed in such a great vintage. Tonight, I know they didn't. This wine is beautiful. Although, I don't believe it will cellar as long as their some of their very best vintages and many others I've enjoyed. On the nose, bramble, ripe blackberries, dark cherries, notes of blueberries, poached strawberries, graphite, baking spices, cedar, lightly perfumed violets and dark, fresh & dry red flowers. The body is medium-medium plus, tannins nicely resolved with 10 years to be completely resolved. Fruits of; ripe blackberries, dark cherries, notes of blueberries, poached strawberries and pomegranate with a whiff of spice. There's notes of dry bramble, soft leather, fresh violets, graphite, cedar, dry stones, dark rich earth, limestone, tobacco, spice-box, vanilla, very light cinnamon & nutmeg. The finish is very long, elegant, ripe, round, smooth, good acidity and beautifully elegant...50-50 earth & fruit. I bought more bottles of this at $85 after it's was first released in futures and I do not regret it. $85 is proving to be a steal for this wine when it normally sells for between $100-$150 a bottle and higher. Might heavy up further after tonight if I find more around the same price. Oh yes...I'm with NM on the scoring. Photos of the Chateau, estate vines, newer tasting room & the Virginie de Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande. Forgive my long post, but my passion and love for this producer is profound. Producer history and notes...as I wrote in an earlier post for Pichon Baron, Pichon Baron and Lalande started as one entity. The first mention of what is now called Chateau Pichon Lalande was the creation of Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan. Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan is responsible for forming many of the top Bordeaux estates today. Pichon Lalande was given its name when Therse, the daughter of the founder received the estate as a dowry when she married Jacques de Pichon Longueville. Pichon Lalande was essentially managed by three women, Therese de Rauzan, Germaine de Lajus and Marie Branda de Terrefort. On the eve of his death in 1850, Baron Joseph de Pichon Longueville divided the property between his five children. His three daughters received Pichon Lalande and his sons Pichon Baron. What happened next was Virginie, the wife of the Count of Lalande took over the management of the estate under the name of Comtesse de Lalande. In 1850 she commissioned the popular, architect Duphot to build a residence inspired by the Hotel de Lalande, located in Bordeaux. Without heirs, Pichon Lalande passed down from aunts to nieces. Following World War I, the Miailhe brothers, bought Pichon Lalande in 1925. They were the ones who planted even more Merlot. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, the daughter of Edouard Miailhe became the new owner and general manager of Chateau Pichon Lalande in 1978. She expand the size of Chateau Pichon Lalande from 40 hectares to it's current 89 hectares. Chateau Pichon Lalande remained in the same family for more than 250 years! In fact, over three centuries, only two families have owned Pichon Lalande. May-Eliane de Lencquesaing sold Pichon Lalande to the owners of Roederer Champagnein in January 2007. This family-run company is managed by Frederic Rouzaud who owned several other wine estates in Bordeaux; Chateau Bernadotte, Chateau de Pez, Haut Beausejour and Chateau Reaut la Graviere. He sold Chateau Bernadotte in December 2012. In February, 2011, Sylvie Cazes was named the director of Chateau Pichon Lalande. She replaced Gildas d’Ollone. Sylvie Cazes was replaced in 2012 by current Director Nicolas Glumineau, who was previously at Chateau Montrose. In 2012, Pichon Lalande renovated the estate with a budget estimated at over 15 Million Euros. The new facilities included; building of a new underground barrel aging cellar and several new buildings...one that houses their new tasting room as shown. This renovation provided numerous improvements in their wine making. Most importantly, in the vinification. They created a new, triple tiered, cellar where everything moves by gravity. They also added numerous new, stainless steel, temperature controlled, double skinned vats. These new vats allow Pichon Lalande to vinify on a parcel by parcel basis as well as get much softer & gentle extractions. The 89 hectare vineyard of Chateau Pichon Lalande is located adjacent to Chateau Latour and and across the road from Pichon Baron. The terroir of Chateau Pichon Lalande is deep gravel with clay and limestone soil and is planted to; 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. — 8 years ago

John Kemper

9.8

I dug deep in the cellar for this one, but the '93 Joseph Phelps Red Bordeaux Blend 'Insignia' amply delivered. Decanted for three hours, this dark purple/crimson blend was remarkably fresh and vibrant with lovely scents of black currant, red licorice and eucalyptus. Tons of black cherry, black pepper and cigar box flavors on the palate. Well-balanced and silky smooth on the long aromatic finish. Still plenty of life remaining and I luckily have two more bottles. — 11 years ago

Erin Norris

9.4

One of my favorites — 12 years ago