edward Simpson

9.0

10yr wedding anniversary gift from park hotel Kenmare, 27.2.2020

Surprisingly good, all the traditional champagne notes and then a few extras, great way to celebrate. Hint of sherry perhaps? — 6 years ago

Gene Buonviri

9.3

Dark black / red edges. Dark cherry & blackberries with currants. Long legs & pleasing tannins on the finish. Excellent pairing with grilled aged Rib-In Ribeye. Great for 40th wedding anniversary. Looking forward to next bottle on 45 anniversary. — 6 years ago

Mike Daniel

8.9

Paul Hobbs’ Hans is evident in this good value Malbec. Dark, fruity, a little glycerol. Not out of the park, but great value for a sub $20 Malbec! — 7 years ago

Nate Lane

9.3

Cherry and spice, just like the label says. Great balance. This one is out of the park. — 8 years ago

with Karalyn

Gunja Gargeshwari

9.0

Great value cab made in Menlo Park (5 minutes from my house) ! — 8 years ago

Paul J

9.3

Dark and inky out of the bottle. A little funk on the nose, so it might need more air, but it reminds me of the smell of all the great Napa caves we have visited! I don't drink, own, or ever see that many petit verdots but this one isn't bad. Nice cherry fruit, with a nice subtleness on the palate, and just a hint of spice on the finish. Quite lovely and a nice change from white wine Sunday's....moving it up 2pts as the additional air did wonders and it paired beautifully with lemon, pepper pork tenderloin, white rice, and collard greens with garlic! — 9 years ago

with Brooke

Robinson Farrar

9.1

Not as good as the Windsor Merlot. But still great — 10 years ago

Paul J

9.4

PnP’d. Purple color. Had trouble differentiating between Napa, Aussie Shiraz, and Bordeaux. Very similar to Chateau Dassault, which I love. Age did wonders for this wine. Great combination of dark cherries, oak, and tar. Powerful but not terribly deep. Medium minus finish. — 6 years ago

with Brooke

James Webb

9.1

Lemon and apple crisp. Great full smooth body with enough acid holding everything in the right spot. — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.7

Howard Park also showed how well their Cabernet ages by showing this wine from the excellent 1999 vintage. At the Langtons Classification tasting 17 weeks ago. — 7 years ago

Ted Corvey

9.3

Have been buying a drinking a ton of Savennieres, so this was suggested as a good alternative. Did not disappoint. Waxy texture with apricot and peach notes. Great balance. And yes, I did play the Jurassic Park theme at some point during the bottle. — 8 years ago

Yuen-Chuen Chan

8.9

Fruity flavor and good Shiraz — 8 years ago

Dave Bartel

9.3

Great Tempranillo. Bought at suggestion of wine store in Estes Park. Yummy — 9 years ago

Jeff Clement

9.1

A nice wine to finish a great safari drive in tarangire park — 9 years ago

Anthony Lombardi

9.2

Very special. It does take some time to open up though. The aromatics show up first & they are spectacular florals & perfumed red fruit with just a whisper of smoke. The tannins are massive here & once they yield, that smoky note follows across the palate with some darker fruity notes. Really great. — 10 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.0

Whenever I have a really older bottle of wine, I think, what was I doing in this case 1989?

About this time of year, I was walking into Candlestick Park for the Bay Bridge World Series while this wine was fermenting. I was walking through the parking lot when the 89 earthquake hit. It was like Godzilla was a Gopher tunneling under my feet. The stadium erupted with a resounding cheer. Earthquake during the World Series...yeah! It wasn’t until an hour later that hard reality set in.

This Chateau Lynch-Moussas is a recent direct purchase from the Negotiant. 89 was a pretty good Bordeaux year. So, why not see how a 5th Growth producer wine evolved over 30 years. It’s a treat to enjoy wine with this much age.

While Lynch-Mousses has improved vastly in more recent vintages, back in the day, they made some nice wines but, not great. This wine shows beauty & elegance but, it lacks fundamental elements of high quality. However, its fruit and structure have held up nicely over the years.

The nose reveals a fair amount of; barnyard, mushrooms, ripe; blackberries dark currants, dark cherries, black raspberries & strawberries on the edges of the glass. Black plum skin, dark chocolate, raspberry cola, mocha, caramel, clove, nutmeg, burnt cinnamon, tarriness, graphite, leather, old tobacco, dark spice, dry herbs, dark, rich, black earth, stones, dry brush, steeped tea with withering red & dark florals.

The body is still full and round. The fruits are still ripe & slightly candied. The wine is still holding an interesting drinking window, it’s on the decline. While that sounds not good, I find them in this phase infinitely more interesting. Ripe; blackberries dark currants, dark cherries, black raspberries & some strawberries. Black plum with skin, dark chocolate, raspberry cola, mocha, caramel, clove, nutmeg, burnt cinnamon, vanillin, tarriness, graphite, leather, old tobacco, dark spice, dry herbs, dark, rich, forest floor, mushrooms, stones, touch of limestone minerals & crush rocks, dry brush, steeped tea with withering red & dark florals with violets. The acidity is round & excellent. The long finish is; rich, ripe, well balanced & intergraded with long drier but, very floral persistence.

Excellent with our steaks. Still has another 5-7 years of good drinking ahead with excellent storage. I also miss the 12-13% ABV of the 80’s Bordeaux’s.

Photos of; the entrance view of Chateau Lynch-Moussas, Count Jean-Baptiste Lynch of Ireland and Chateau founded in the 1800’s, the owner/operator since 1961 - Emile Casteja and their barrel room.
— 6 years ago

Steven Van Haren

9.7

You can't ask much more from a Champagne. This new label was just released on the Avize Grand Cru, and this bottle was disgorged in only October of 2017. If you want one of the freshest Blanc des Blancs in the market, buy this now. High acid, mineral, tense, penetrating, saline, citrus, and only improves with time. Good luck holding onto it, we drank 3 bottles in less than 4 hours. Truly one of the great values to be found today. Available at Prospect Wine Shop in Park Slope. — 8 years ago

Brendan OConnell

9.2

Opens up nicely. Great Coombsville winery. Enjoyed a magnum. — 9 years ago

with Geoff

Ming L

9.0

Recommended by the sommelier at Riverpark. Cedar, tobacco, herbs. Shows age with weight and great texture, but still retains freshness and vibrancy. A rare find. — 9 years ago

Marc Stubblefield

Wine Sales at Vino Carta and Kogod Wine Merchant

9.0

Standing up for a day was not quite long enough, but managed to get most of the gunk to settle out. Best at cellar temp, and a really lovely match with spring vegetable fettuccine. Herbs and marmalade and tea and great texture. That color tho... — 10 years ago