Mark Farrell

9.5

Deep ruby in color with slight brick color on the rim. Nose is quite pleasing with berry compote, lavender, and dark chocolate. Also a bit of earthiness. Wow. A great mouthfeel on this wine. Well balanced with tannins still a bit heavy. That said, I like my wines with a bit more tannic backbone. These notes are from pop and pour taste. Will let it open up a bit and will update if it changes significantly. — 10 months ago

Delectable Wine

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9.5

The 2018 Léoville-Poyferré performs similarly to the bottle tasted a few weeks earlier in the UK for my in-bottle round-up, although here I sense more opulence on the nose, perhaps more florality. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins, broad and sensual, plummy with that beguiling symmetry on the finish. It needs several years in bottle but it will be well worth the wait. Tasted at the Léoville-Poyferré vertical at the château with Sara Lecompte Cuvelier. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2022)
— 3 years ago

David Walser

9.4

Thanksgiving with relatives. Brother-in-law never has had an Opus One so I dug into the cellar and found my last one; a 1989 half bottle. I thought it was passed its prime but the brother-in-law thought it was wonderful! I’m not remembering where this vintage rated. Some people just like the funkiness of old wines but I just like them much younger. It was time for this one to go away and am glad some got some enjoyment out of it. His rating, not mine. I gave up on the brand several years ago, sold off my collection at a profit and haven’t looked back. I’ll try it if it is presented to me but don’t have a desire to purchase anymore. — 4 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2015 vintage. Tons of smoke and baby fat front-loaded. Back end starting to come together. Big-bodied. A little disjointed currently but all the components are there for this to be really really beautiful in 3-4 years. A fave, bang for the buck/qpr Margaux producer. Rating a 9.2 but could see it at 9.4 retasting in 2025. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.0

2013 was the first year that Sea Smoke started practicing biodynamics in the vineyard. Previous years were already farmed organically. At the age of 7, this still comes across as a baby. Dark violet in the glass, this was pretty tightly coiled but after 30min of air, it started to reveal itself. Predominately red fruited with bruised strawberries and some flowers and spices, this was pretty tannic. In fact, the tannins seemed to build with more air; never to the point of being overbearing but pretty stiff nevertheless. Good acid. Nice finish. A polished wine that I ended up enjoying more than I thought I would. Years to go on these. — 6 years ago

Joe Lyons

9.2

Dark fruit, needed to decant for about an hour to have it open up! Great tannins really at its peak in my opinion !!! — 7 years ago

with Michelle

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.0

I really liked this wine when tasted at the winery in May 2024. Now it seems closed - the exuberant fruit i remembered is gone (tried 2 bottles to be sure). These recent samples (Dec. 27th) did drink more like reds and lacked the usual „man what is this“ wow effect of E&M. Faint hint of strawberry, elegant and pure. Opens up after 4 hours. — a year ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.6

2019 vintage. Classic Pauillac. Cassis, lead pencil and cedar wood. Give it time to open up in the glass and see the magic unfold. A complex wine with layers of black fruit, balanced by ripe tannin and fresh acidity. Impressive mineral length. Excellent old school Pauillac. Abv. 14,5%. — 3 years ago

Tom Garland

9.1

2 hour decant (decent chunky/cloudy sediment). A purplish dark magenta color. On the nose: in your face aromas of plum, leather, cedar, currants, floral, mint and smoke. Taste: a smooth, dry, elegant, nicely balanced wine with black fruit, minerals, graphite, black pepper,, and a smokey herb long finish. Give it a few more years to come around, has potential. — 4 years ago

with Brenda

Tom Garland

9.6

1.5 hour decant (decent chunky/fine/cloudy sediment). An amazing dark purplish ruby red color...still looks young. On the nose: Nice big beautiful aromatics of graphite, currants, forest floor, sweet tobacco, creme brulee, and a little green veggie/barn yard funk. Taste: NICE! A smooth, soft, elegant, vibrant medium plus body wine with cedar, leather, blueberry, earth, smoke, and a crushed gravel-pencil lead_medium plus finish. Could drink this all night, but will probably be gone in the next hour. — 4 years ago

with Brenda

D Scher

9.2

1984 vintage. Cork difficult to extract, ended up in several pieces. Beautiful deep color, little to no bricking even at this age. Seductive at one hour+ of air with black cherry, raspberry, some vanilla, green pepper, graphite. 12% ABV. From the FIL’s collection. — 6 years ago

Keith Lite

9.5

A big bold plumy purple bomb As dense and luscious as a wine can get in a glass. Decanted for 2 hrs and its still a baby with blackberry, dark chocolate licorice and pepper on the nose and on the palate. A long long finish and loads of tannins to sum it all up — 6 years ago

with Bruce

Veronica Paulsen

9.6

Love this wine! Light, and delicious, very coastal and cool. Tannins are poppin’ in this wine. Love 👏🏽 it 👏🏽 might be one of my new favs for easy drinking. Pairs with a light meat dish or a meatier fish. — 7 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2009 vintage. Decanted and open for approx an hour before tasting. A little tight but Burgundian body and flavors. Wasn't picking up any Syrah notes in the nose either. 7.22.23. — 2 years ago

Jason Gelman

9.0

heavy pencil shavings and cigar smoke on the nose. black olive and green bell pepper too. color is definitely what you’d expect in a 20 year old wine. palate is consistent with nose, very bordeaux-lite. heavy cigar box. a lot of olive and herb tapenade character. some black pepper on the finish too. very savory overall. — 3 years ago

David Nicewicz

9.4

Magic hour, magic wine. Pristine bottle of 1995 L’Evangile delivered - graphite, smoke and cassis perfume reflected perfectly in the palate with notes of juicy plums and chewy tannins. Happy Friday y’all — 3 years ago

Randy Fillingim

9.5

As good a Pinot - 2009. - that I have had. Seamless. Tannins and fruits in near perfect harmony. Initial taste - amazing. AND it finishes just as good. — 4 years ago

David White

9.2

What a fabulous wine
Decanted and lots sediment left in bottle
Lovely floral tones with soft subtle tannins
Wine grew in stature over time and revealed complex nuances as it opened up
— 6 years ago

Jeroen Wagemans

9.2

High up in the mountains now and also this wine is quite elevated. @Anthony De Blasi — 6 years ago

with Amanda

Mark Flesher

9.0

Really interesting to drink this one at 16 years old. And although I think this was on the back side of the hill, it was still very much in the game. Lost lots of its sweet fruit cham. More linear. Mulberry and some fig and clove. Can definitely taste the age. If cellared well, I actually think this has a couple of years but I don't think it has more than that. — 6 years ago

with Dan and Shay