Bruce Leboff

9.3

Boom. A big wine - right in the window. Tons of dark fruit and cassis on the nose. A tinge of smoke as well. Smooth on the palate. A lovely well balanced wine. — 5 years ago

with David

Evan Bienstock

9.5

2004. This is terrific. The nose is sweet red fruit. Everything is elegance here. In a perfect window now! Pure enjoyment. — 6 years ago

Joe D'Angelo

9.4

The 1994 La Mission Haut-Brion is absolutely fabulous and looks to be one of the top wines from this vintage. It begins with stunning aromas of dried cherries and currants along with leather, tobacco, dried spices and hints of cured meat that all take shape in the glass. On the palate this is absolutely seamless, with beautifully resolved tannins and notable depth and this glides effortlessly into the elegant finish. This is still showing remarkable well after 25 years, and should offer a drinking window that could span another decade. — 6 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

So fresh & just beginning to enter its drinking window. Red & black fruits, cedar, leather, earth, with a hint of vanilla oak & cigar box. — 7 years ago

Bill Bender

9.4

My favorite BDX of the night in a runaway. Inviting warm sweet red fruit, some oak treatment, full mouthfeel and ample lush length. In an excellent drinking window. Good to see the 03s settling down a bit. Thank you @romo — 7 years ago

Rodney Lee

9.5

I feel like this Wine is in its prime drinking window now. Cola, red fruit, and some Rutherford dust make for smooth drinking Cab. — 8 years ago

Alec Jeffery

8.9

A good Cru Bourgeois from Medoc, in the drinking window, very smooth, classic notes, looking for a little more drive and structure from a great vintage. — 9 years ago

DrinkBordeaux

9.3

1995 Château l'Evangile from a half bottle. Still has that nice ripe red fruit, menthol, tobacco, truffle, wet leaves, and dustiness on the nose. Medium bodied, rustic, and at time austere. A medium length finish. Could benefit from a bit more acidity, but otherwise the balance is there. Still has tannins to resolve. Based on experience from half and standard bottles, this is a great time to drink this wine as it's definitely in its drinking window. My only concern is that as its fruit fades, it may become austere to the point that some may not enjoy it. But right now, there is a lot of old style charm that is easy to like. There's also no rush to drink this, as I'll bet the fruit stays ripe and in the forefront for a least a few more years. — 9 years ago

Robert Vernick

9.5

This wine was drinking beautifully. Right in the optimal window, but it will stay there awhile so no rush. Great nose (dark cherry, tobacco, cedar, leather), good acidity and very nice complex long finish. Best part is that it was hard for my tasting partners to identify correctly. — 10 years ago

Justus Benjamin

10

A beast in the glass. Huge napa cab. Bold without losing complexity. — 12 years ago

Stas Medvedev

9.4

🏅 Rating 94+/100 (4,45⭐)

This is my 3rd and the last bottle over the past year. It definitely sits at its plateau now and fully awake. Difficult to say when the drinking window will close down. ⁣
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Lots of energy and precision. Cabernet Sauvignon dominant. Perfumed black currant jam with leaves. Complex tertiary aromas make a beautiful bouquet. Balance of tannins, fruits and acidity at its perfection. Tannins have soften but not yet faded away.⁣
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Undoubted 2nd Growth quality. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Wednesday Wine Committee from this past week. A fantastic hosting by @joe leatherwood . 1 sparkler, 2 whites, 5 reds, 1 dessert wine. All tasted blind as usual.

Very good right now and hardly showing any heat. It’s so well balanced and integrated that I called this early ‘80s port. Plethora of baking spices, cherry liqueur, dark cocoa dipped graham cracker, dates and cherry fig. Nice sweetness. In a good window. — 6 years ago

with joe, Dan and 2 others

Mike Saviage

9.5

Bright tawny color. Regal in the glass. Notes of tart cherries, dry herbs, a little menthol, earth, some mocha. The cherry note is strong and enjoyable. Similar to prior experiences with this wine, it’s very Burgundian. Always solid. Still in a great drinking window. — 6 years ago

Pete Tulyathan

9.6

Deep dense Ruby in color with a tinge of garnet at the rim. The 14% Merlot is hardly recognizable when I took a whiff, with the 85% Cabernet clearly dominating the nose, but in a sort of mellow, tantalizing kind of way. The outstanding scent was the strong scent of pencil shavings, indicating high minerality. After a couple hours, I picked up a scent of cured leather, damp earth and old leaves that are quite persistent. I think all that new oak is quite well integrated now. A sip of the Mouton '05 left a sense of a lush and silky black fruit texture. There was a hint of chocolate in the second layer. The tannin level was just right. The acidity has already started to mellow down. The aftertaste lasted three full minutes. This wine is now in the early stage of it's drinking window. Mouton '05 is powerful and fund to drink, yet a very complex and elegant wine. Worthy of above 95 scores. — 7 years ago

C R

9.4

Starting to soften up and enter its drinking window. 👌🏻. Very balanced vintage. — 8 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.3

Dark murky reddish color, almost opaque. Crazy nose with notes of cherries, earth, herbs, tree bark and beets. Very rich in the mouth. A touch of heat/alcohol. Very Grenache-y. Good finish. Entering a nice drinking window but no need to hurry. — 8 years ago

Richard Lin

9.0

A nice surprise! Soft but drinking well for a short window. Decent fruit but start to fall apart after an hour or so. — 9 years ago

with Richard

Mark Royer

9.5

Holding up. Good window to drink now. — 10 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.5

Dark ruby. Translucent and regal. Floats in the glass. Leather saddle, cedar cigar box, spice, dirt, and gravel notes in the nose. Rich and powerful in the mouth with notes of black fruit, stone, a warmth of cassis. Long finish. Coats the mouth and lingers. Still youthful. In the early part of a very long drinking window. — 10 years ago

Mike Mighetto Hoefling

9.4

Great stuff. Little VA, earthy with dark fruits. Now is a good drinking window. — 11 years ago

CYesh

9.1

Dense black current fruit with hint of a Bordeaux like charcoal. Finish was a touch short and I felt the alcohol was a bit higher than the 14.5% on the bottle. As such it was just a touch unbalanced. Still an excellent wine drinking nicely in its window as of today. — 12 years ago

Tom Garland

9.2

1.5 hour decant(lots of chunky sediment). A medium dark murky ruby red color. On the nose: YUM... aged perfume with blackberry, eucalyptus, cinnamon, toasty oak all jump from the glass!! Taste: red fruit, caramel, currants, spice..a soft, lush wine with a cedar/tar DRY (eehhh)decently long finish. In its drinking window and could go another 4 years. — 6 years ago

with Brenda

Joe Weinberger

9.0

Black and blue fruits, some tobacco, cedar, and roasted herbs. Tannins almost fully resolved. Seems to be in its prime drinking window. — 6 years ago

Ron Siegel

9.2

This is just starting to enter its drinking window. — 6 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

Masterclass in San Francisco with Saskia De Rothschild, Chairwoman DBR Lafite.

Saskia told me they are buying an existing property or starting one in China.

The nose reveals; ripe and slight stewed fruits. Blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, dark plum skin, dry cranberries & poached strawberries. Dark, dry soils, limestone minerals, touch of bandaid=VA, saddle-wood, steeped black tea, dry river stone, dark rich & dry soils, crushed rocks, dry underbrush, cherry cola with dry and fresh dark and red flowers.

The body is full and thick. This wine is just coming out of its infant stage and just starting to stretch it arms & legs. The tannins are firm, rounded and powdery. The structure, tension, length and balance show the beauty of the vintage but, the drinking window on their 2000 is somewhere between 2035-2080. Blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, dark plum skin, dry cranberries & poached strawberries. Dark, dry soils, limestone minerals, touch of bandaid, saddle-wood, steeped black tea, dry river stone, dark rich & dry soils, lots of graphite, crushed rocks, limestone, dry crushed rocks, gritty volcanic minerals, dry herbs, dry underbrush, cherry cola with dry and fresh dark and red flowers. The acidity is round and beautiful. The finish is very good now but, if you don’t cellar it 35 years from birth, you are cheating yourself out of something truly special. Its well balanced, rich, ripe and persists for days. 95 now with more to come in 16-25 plus years.

All wines arrived weeks ago directly from the Chateau.

Photos of; the Crown Room on the 23rd floor of the Fairmont where the Masterclass was held, tasting set up, Saskia De Rothschild, Chairwoman DBR Lafite presenting and another view of the city of San Francisco/Bay and the Golden Gate Bride in the background.
— 7 years ago

E & K G

9.4

Always surprised by how long good wines can last. I would never have called it a 20yr old wine blind. Good balance and really came alive with the fruit after 1+ hours in the decanter. Good drinking window but can still hold off for a good 3-5yrs depending on how you like your Bordeaux. #happynewyear — 8 years ago

Richard Adams

9.7

Outstanding purity and balance. Prime window now. — 9 years ago

Rahul Mukherjee

9.0

Epic, but obviously tight low alcohol Cab. Opened nicely over a 2 hr period though clearly needs more time and not close to ideal drinking window. — 10 years ago

Doug Sayed

9.0

2006 vintage. Deep dark fruits on the nose and palate, with a touch of funk. Classic Cabernet starting to enter its peak drinking window. — 11 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.1

In a great drinking window now with an easy 5 more years to go. Old school aromas and flavors of stems, peppercorns, meat, and crushed blueberries with a good old school funk. #pegau #chateuneuf — 12 years ago

with Javier and TJ