Up Stairs Wines

Château Gruaud Larose

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2010

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.
— 8 months ago

Château Musar

Bekaa Valley Red Blend 2011

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
— 10 months ago

ESF, Bob and 1 other liked this

Caymus Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Seemed like the right time to open this. The candy like flavor that I see people complain about had blown off this wine and it just had this incredible purple inky color and rim to it. Very enjoyable. Still had good fruit and sweetness without losing too much luster. Caymus used to age forever but I would drink these up by 10th bday. — 4 years ago

Château Léoville Barton

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2011

Full-bodied with acerbic bite, beginning to open up splendidly. — 6 years ago

Marchesi Antinori

Tignanello Toscana Super Tuscan Blend 2005

Off vintage but who cares? Tignanello is a personal favorite. Took a good hour to open up, this wine tastes surprisingly young. cherry, earthiness some mineral and a little smoke flavor as well. Very good — 8 years ago

Shay, Adam and 1 other liked this

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend

1982 vintage. Color still fairly youthful. Meniscus not too wide/watery. Brickish, minty nose with big cedar & baking chocolate flavors. Holding up better than expected for a fruity vintage. — 8 years ago

Paul Jaboulet Aîné

La Chapelle Hermitage Syrah 1959


This had a marvelous perfumed nose, redolent with dark fruit, garrigue, spices and pepper. The wine is just delightful, a more grown up, sophisticated version of the ’45, lacking some of its zest, but expressing beautiful composure, seductive in its remarkable balance. You get licorice and sweet truffles past the mid palate, it is showing somewhat more lavish fruit than its more famous ’61 sibling, thyme and provencal herbs emerge next, and the beautifully cushioning tannins are evident in the midst of the sumptuous fruit, all cohering so wonderfully on the brilliantly elegant, panache-filled finale.
— 9 years ago

David, Velma and 27 others liked this

Olga Raffault

Les Picasses Chinon Cabernet Franc

Charlie Abbott
8.9

The QPR here is insane. Enjoyable now, plenty of cranberry, black peppercorn, green tobacco and pencil lead, but clearly age worthy also. Curious as to why this hasn't been snapped up by everyone yet — 10 years ago

The Prisoner Wine Company

The Prisoner Napa Valley Zinfandel Blend

Everything it's cracked up to be. What an amazing red blend. Delicious. — 10 years ago

Noella, Stevie and 13 others liked this

Dominus Estate

Dominus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1996

Charlie Beatty
9.6

Dominus 2006 really good , not like 2001 the other night but: really opened up after 1 Plus Hours! Wow ! Love this wine all the time anytime!! Thanks to Lewis Samuel and his Fabulous Wife!!! Charlie — 11 years ago

Charlie and Brian liked this

Ridge Vineyards

Monte Bello Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2005

Enjoyed with a Cantonese beef stew, dad's recipe. Decanted 3 hours before dinner and it still held tight graphite, cedar, and black fruit notes. A touch closed up or young right now, will revisit my next bottle in 5 to 10 years — 8 months ago

Taittinger

Comtes de Champagne Grand Crus Brut Blanc de Blancs 2013

Nice minerals, citrus, opens up over five-ten minutes in the glass, bubbles are not overpowering. — 9 months ago

Vino, Bob and 10 others liked this

Spottswoode

Family Estate Grown St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon 1975

Took about 90 minutes to open up, but it was worth it. Still in its prime and drinking great. — 2 years ago

Joe, Tom and 6 others liked this

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

Drinking great. Wide open after an hour decant. Typical currant fruit profile and picking up leather & other secondary notes since last tasting this a few years back. I have always been bullish on 96 Medocs but feel like they are really hitting their stride as of late. — 6 years ago

Dunn Vineyards

Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

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

Bruce F Taub
with Bruce

Ridge Vineyards

Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel Blend 2015

Now this is straight up delicious California wine and a fantastic paired with marinated fajitas. Great now but still structured to age with depth. Ridge is making a Zin lover — 8 years ago

Jordan Vineyard & Winery

Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Just opened in 2017 - was tight the first evening and definitely needed time to open up. Earthy, mushroom/forest floor notes on the palate, despite bright acidic nose. Crowd pleaser - happy I saved this.

Purchased w/ dad in 2014 - industry price $55
— 9 years ago

Hannah Curran
with Hannah
Eric, Jeff and 2 others liked this

Far Niente Winery

Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Big fun wine, wonderful tannins, great with food. Delicious! Could be aged for another ten years and hold up great. — 9 years ago

Opus One

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1998

Okay here we go -- my Christmas wine. Had it with medium rare filet mignon and grilled lobster tail.

Had the same bottle a few years back and it was missing something. Maybe it wasn't decanted long enough? (Although I had the resto at the time decant as soon as I entered) either way, I decanted this bad boy for over an hour and boy did it open up --

It starts off nice and round but shows off its depth with layers of flavors and structure with each second it lingers in your mouth. Dark fruits but not overbearing or jammy. Luscious tannins that balance out with a nice bit of minerality.

Okay enough is enough - this wine was the fucking bomb. Turns out
#OpusOne knows what it's doing. :-)

(Holidays 2015 - wine
#4)
— 10 years ago

Nora liked this

Château Margaux

Premier Grand Cru Classé Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 1971

Woodsy with brighter fruit like strawberry. Some tannins. Opened up a lot in the glass. — 11 years ago

Kurtis liked this
Kurtis Nishiyama

Kurtis Nishiyama

whaaattttt?! so jealous
Meaghan Nolan

Meaghan Nolan

Yeah. It's amazing stuff. Surprising how much it had left and how much it changed in the glass.

Tenuta dell'Ornellaia

Bolgheri Red Bordeaux Blend

Good color and nose. Needing some time to open up. — 8 months ago

Tom, Juan and 3 others liked this

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 1983

Shay A
9.3

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

Continuing a run of ‘83s over the last 3-6 months, this not only showed quite well, but it was at its best after almost two hours in the bottle. Whereas the ‘83 Pichon was clean and elegant, this was a bit more dense and powerful. Beautifully expressive aromatics of potpourri, espresso, fig and leather with a flavor profile mostly on the red/black fruit side of the spectrum. The mid-palate showed good weight and continued to bulk-up during the evening. Old cherry-tobacco note at the finish. Honestly, this drank like it was more early ‘90s than it was early ‘80s. Good.
— 8 months ago

Scott@Mister, Jan and 34 others liked this

Château Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 1949

Once opened up, Smelled like truffle butter. At first tasted like grass — 3 years ago

Vijay liked this

Daou Vineyards

Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Picked up for $19 in VT, great fruit, well rounded bottle, lots of very pleasant red fruit.
Digging’ this one
— 6 years ago

Hermes liked this

Domaine du Pegau

Cuvée Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend

I gave up on Pegau after too many disappointing bottles. This one was super clean - glorious aromatics. Palate was herbaceous with dark fruit, tannic and rustic. Delicious! — 8 years ago

La Rioja Alta

Gran Reserva 904 Rioja Tempranillo Graciano 2005

Once it opened up a phenomenal wine. Incredible nose. Strong aromatics, dried fruits, oak, hints of pepper. Smooth but firm tannins. Cherries and vanilla develop in the mouth. Long, warm finish. Drink now or let it age. — 8 years ago

Mark Parsonson
with Mark
Matt, Colin and 1 other liked this

Château Léoville Poyferré

Saint Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

I can't think of a 2005 I have had that does not taste closed down. Decanted, it was OK but have had a number of 2005s across different communes and all are closed and don't really live up to the hype IMO thus far — 9 years ago

William liked this
Martin Davies

Martin Davies

I've had some lesser ones. Lagune, Chasse Spleen that are open for business. Aim lower!

Caymus Vineyards

Special Selection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Wow. More flavor, much better than their regular cab. Silky, velvet, smooth. Chocolate. Rich fruit. Big, full flavor, lots of flavor. Not old world style for sure, not subtle. It's a big bomb. We would pay up to $75 for this so a bit overpriced to us.
— 9 years ago

Roy, Jerry and 3 others liked this

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend

After a couple hours began to open up. Chateauneuf-du-pape is becoming a fav in this house 2012 vintage. — 10 years ago

Marcel Lapierre

Morgon Gamay 2013

Marc Stubblefield
9.2

When the kid's a mess, bring in the closer. Still wound up, but everything you want from Morgon. Beautiful, bright, and alive. (Sans Soufre 'N' bottling) — 10 years ago

Anthony, Mark and 17 others liked this