From 375ml. @Lira Restaurant The Chef is the Gordon Ramsey winner.
Resolved, velvety M+ tannins. Ruby fruits of; blackberry pie, black raspberries, blueberries, both plums, dark cherries & raspberries. Dark chocolate bar, slightly moist tobacco, sandalwood to barrel shavings, dry top soil, dry crushed rocks, black licorice, sweet tarriness, dry herbs, light cinnamon, clove, vanillin, mocha, dry, volcanic clay, dark, withering flowers, some lavender framed in violets, excellent round acidity with incredible, balance, perfectly tensioned, softly structured, elegance finish that lasts a full minute. — a month ago
earthy deep flavors — 3 months ago
Was looking forward to this wine the most but sadly this bottle had seen better days. Very tertiary with mushroom and leather. Was still pleasant but suffered from the high expectation... — 3 months ago
Drinking a 3L from 2013 in late ‘24. Love the big format bottles and aging potential. This could go a lot longer I think but is also fine to drink now.
Standard Caymus flavors and aromas that made the brand known. Dark inky crimson color. Blueberries and blackberry fruit mixed with vanilla alongside the tell-tale signs of wet band-aid. Great tannins, medium-to-big acidity, good long finish. Really nice. — 4 months ago
Double decanted two nights before service. The 2013 Insignia pours a deep garnet color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with significant staining of the tears and some signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing but still quite youthful with notes of tart and ripe dark fruit: dense brambles, purple flowers, tobacco, vanilla and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. At 11 years of age, this remains tightly coiled and needs more time to open up and tell more of its story. All that being said, this is very good now…but to my palate, better after 2027 and through 2043. — 6 months ago
My go to N/V Rosé. Haven’t had in sometime…been on Blanc kick.
Paired w/ a plum/pear tart topped off w/ pistachios from the Adorable French Bakery. — 10 months ago
An easy to drink go-to weekend wine for less than $10 — 10 years ago
Private Dinner on the beach to celebrate my wife birthday. The Ritz went out of their way to find this 2008 Opus One. Flavors just burst open after decanting. Fruit was smooth with hints of blackberry and cherry. No earthy or leather just smooth fruit front to back. — a month ago
(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. — 3 months ago
No formal notes . Medium ruby . Bit more coffee and roasted character at first , touch of oak perhaps. Quite rich and rounded on the palate at first, good acidity , good length . More red fruit , more delicate after a while , mineral , oyster shell , mineral and leaner on the long finish . Very classic , grafite tinged . This improved with air and really gained in complexity with time . I would be tempted to leave this a little longer or give it a longer decant . No rush here , will continue well for a further 10 years . Tied as my favourite wine of the flight with the Latour. — 3 months ago
Excellent. In Butcher’s Cut on MSC — 6 months ago
happy birthday to me — 7 months ago
13.5% ABV Salute to Lulu Peyraud of Domaine Tempier in France. Lulu’s father owned the vineyard , and she along with her husband took it over. Sadly we lost her in October 2020 at the age of 102 y/o. This is a blend of old vine Mataro and Grenache. Light salmon color, watermelon initially , later apple. Very nice! — 3 years ago
Very bold, strong, long finish, good. NOT as good after opened for awhile — 11 years ago
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. — a month ago
Big lush, dark fruit that has not reached its peak window yet. But she ain’t far away. I was able to obtain a vertical of 01,02,03,& 04. My first foray into that vertical. No rush on this one but very impressed. Leather, pepper, if not cigar leaf here . Suffice it to say, there is a lot going on here and my lack of Cali knowledge has new intrigue — 2 months ago
No formal notes . Medium deep ruby , thinner rim. Quite deep and spicy nose , dark fruits , quite classic . On the palate quite dense , but rounded and suave tannin . Quite dense and meaty after a while , long and really well balanced , good length and a mineral , slate tinged finish. In this flight this was quite obvious as Latour , just the structure and density marked it out . This is a good Latour to enjoy at the moment , the tannin is polished, good freshness and density. No rush however I expect this to continue well for a least another decade , maybe more — 3 months ago
Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. No formal notes due to the setting. The 2018 is a fairly classic expression of Beaucastel with a mixed bramble fruit set, underbrush, herbs and spices in lovely balance. Good structure. While still on the youthful side, the 2018 is already showing well and was an awesome accompaniment with a wagyu burger. Drink now through 2038. — 4 months ago
Super sweet and oaky on first open but matured up with a 3 hour decant
Still quite fruity but with steak, it gives a lot of red berry fruit and the oak is reasonable and the sweetness is gone with the airtime.
Overall good wine but I thought it lost out to the Paul Hobbs LPV ‘14. — 5 months ago
2000 vintage. Last tasted 9.25.23 (9.2) after 1.5 hours decanted. Popped and decanted this for lunch. Great fill and solid cork. Throwing a bit of sed but less than anticipated. Meh nose. Medium body initially. Started off on the rich side of the ledger but not plush. Had some smoothness afoot. Tasted after 45 mins open, 1.75 hours open and 8 hours open. First two were unspectacular. After lounging in the decanter 8 hours, wine had firmed up, thinned out, picked up plenty of secondary flavors and had that previously missing grip. If you're gonna open this during the holidays or anytime soon, do it very very early...otherwise, it'll be a total waste. Wine has miles to go. No rush to crush but just air it out in advance properly. 10.16.24. — 7 months ago
This could have been a bottle of warm tramp piss and I'd still have loved it... Welcome to this stinkin' planet, Holiday! — 9 years ago
Needs to breathe a bit at first, but drinks well. Tastes more expensive than it is. Good red! — 12 years ago
Michele La
Will definitely buy this bottle again. — 2 months ago