Mary H

9.7

Y’quem two days in a row? Pinch me! Turpentine/French basement comes across the nose. A flavor punch to the palate, a mouthful of fruit and a looong finish - stewed apricot, peaches, apple. A hint of woodsiness (cypress?) and a sweet creaminess like crème caramel. Amazing wine that frankly overshadowed the apple tart tatin dessert pairing. — 8 months ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

A Cabernet Sauvignon dominant blend of all 5 Bordeaux varieties, aged for 10 months in 25% new French oak, deep Ruby with aromas of dark berry fruits, oak and cigar box spice. On the palate flavors of blackberry, cherry and currants with cacao and herb spice. Fine tannins, long finish ending with fruit, oak, spice and earthy mineral character. Nice! — a year ago

Erica Gamble

9.0

Very dark color. Very dark fruity nose but substantial flavor. A little bit of earthiness. — 4 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.7

From a great old looking bottle with a mid shoulder fill. Cork is fully saturated and the crud under the capsule had formed a strong seal. Slow-ox’d for a few hours, then decanted for an hour or two before taken to L’Escargot in Carmel. Amber tawny rims with a reddish tawny core. Crazy nose right from the start. Notes of sweet black cherries, tobacco leaf, plums, black pepper, ash and crusty wood, pencil shavings, some just unwrapped cigar and some menthol. Silky in the mouth with firm structure and soft but present acidity. Long and memorable finish. Outstanding performance over several hours. — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

Warriors game in the backyard with friends. Hoping for an early celebration with the Billecart Rose. Go Warriors! 🏀

All my many Previous notes apply.

Cheers to a good weekend everyone! — 6 years ago

William Hughes

9.4

William bottles one of the best Grenache Blanc world-wide. Brine and dried green herbs on the nose. The herbs carry to the palate with flavors of melon and Asian pear. — 7 years ago

Vasanth Balakrishnan

9.0

This producer consistently over-delivers for the price. #napavalley #cabernetfranc presents black and purple fruit on the nose, violet hints, some wet slate undertones. Gleaming acidity framing plum compote, cigar box and earthy soft tannins on the sterling long finish. — 8 months ago

Shay A

9.3

(Two previous 1983 vintage wine reviews never made it on here, so copying from CT).

My experiences with 1983s has been fairly positive, and this PL certainly is among the better I’ve had from the vintage. Holding color nicely with deep ruby and slight bricking around the rim. Started off a bit dense and muddled, but hit stride about 30mins later with a mix of red and black berry fruit, cassis, a streak of herbal green down the middle (something I always get with PL). Excellent example of the fruit showing lots of flavor without being overly ripe. Leather, sweet pipe tobacco, graphite, and still some vibrancy at the finish with tannin structure. Clean and elegant at this stage. Showed well over the course of two hours. Drink up and enjoy. — 9 months ago

Chris McClellan

9.0

Big bold delicious with blackberry and blueberry. Minty notes, medicinal, with smoke/vanilla/toast, and some tertiary notes of leather and peppercorn. Tannins smooth, easy to drink...its very tasty, but just too much alcohol in the end..no doubt a long finish, but with that finish, I could blow fire... — 5 years ago

with Ryan

Nik Weinberg-Lynn

9.1

Not much left on the nose - a little whiff of pomegranate. Super savory and saline notes on the palate. Interesting. — 6 years ago

Nancy Bernstein

9.3

Loving this Lynch Bages courtesy of special friends and being invited to the man cave!! — 6 years ago

Tom Hamilton

9.0

Coravin model two allowed me to tap into this 70 year old bottle. Smooth at first, didn’t improve much during the first 30 mins. Stayed solid throughout. — 7 years ago

Gregory Summers

9.2

Celebrating my ladies vintage birthday with friends....tender gentle bubbles, light crisp flavors with a creamy finish. — 8 years ago

with Tom and Bob

Vijay Parikh

9.5

Two hour decant this 2000 Pichon Baron is exceptional! Very smooth glycerin like coating covering black and red cherries, leather, tobacco, olives and smoke simply outstanding. The finish could be a bit better though — 8 months ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.3

Everything about this wine is DARK. Deep ruby/purple color bordering on black. Aromas of black and blue fruit, Asian spices and coffee. Flavors of cooked black berry/plum/currant fruit, bakers chocolate, tar and espresso. Hint of black pepper on the long, lingering and silky finish. Extremely concentrated with lively acidity. Tannins are firm but in harmony. This is a wine you quickly take notice of. Probably at (or just past) its peak. Thanks for the wonderful gift, Petey P! — 8 months ago

Dave Teal

10

Yep, it’s pricey, but if you are having a special occasion meal with family and friends, it’s smooth and flavorful, you know you are drinking quality. — 5 years ago

John Mckeown

8.9

Nice everyday Pinot. — 6 years ago

Will Stanley

9.4

Wow. I’ve waited a long time to try my first Tondonia (surely this is a milestone for any budding wine collector, no?), having held onto this 2002 for a while and having a case or two of Heredia’s more recent vintages downstairs.

Such was the anticipation for trying this Rioja stalwart that I was almost nervous that it wouldn’t live up to it - especially with 2002 being such a rotten vintage for Spain’s flagship wine region. But this was staggeringly youthful, piercingly savoury with a gentle balance of tannin & acidity but all the supple features of an old school, aged Rioja. This is really special stuff. — 6 years ago

William Hughes

9.4

This is even better than a few months back! Terrific balance of floral notes, fruits, tannins, and acidity. — 7 years ago

Justin Hart

9.4

Ah, the Rocks at Milton-Freewater produce such remarkable and distinctive fruit. Morgan Lee’s take on the Stoney Vine Syrah is outstanding. Earthy, gamey, succulent, dark and full stone fruit (plum) that just keeps going. This is good for another 5 years I think. — 8 years ago

with Cherish and Jen