Vanessa

9.2

Happy Labor Day holiday weekend in the USA!

We’re enjoying a night off from studying while sipping a lovely Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2011 paired with a grilled steak, baked potato, green beans, and mushroom / zucchini kabobs. Soon (and sadly) we’ll have to say “au revoir” to summer.

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste is situated on the left bank of Bordeaux, i.e., west of the Gironde Estuary, in the commune of Pauillac. Soils here are gravel-based, and free-draining, ideal for ripening the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon grape, which dominates in this Bordeaux blend.

Pauillac is known for producing age-worthy, structured Cabernet Sauvignon wines due in part to the growing environment. No wonder it’s home to 3 out of 5 first growth wines in the 1855 classification, including, Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild, and Château Mouton Rothschild. This particular wine ranks highly, as well, as a fifth growth and understandably so.

Based on our research the 2011 vintage in Bordeaux seemed to fast-forward many typical growing processes and timelines; grapes were budding and ripening ahead of schedule with warmer temperatures early in the season followed by notably cooler temperatures in August, ahead of harvest.

It’s remarkable how variable seasonal conditions can affect a wine’s profile, especially in less consistent climates like Bordeaux where vintage variation is a serious thing… still, this wine is lovely.

It is deep ruby with a medium (+) intensity of developing aromas offering notes of ripe blackberry, cassis, black cherry, plum, black licorice, anise, violet, tobacco, leather, clove, nutmeg, cedar, pencil shavings.

On the palate, this wine is dry with medium (+) acidity, high tannins that are ripe and smooth, a medium (+) body, medium (+) intensity of flavors consistent with the notes. The finish is medium(+).

This is an excellent wine that is drinking well now and could age further.

Cheers to the beauty born in 2011 in Pauillac AOC with this Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste! — 8 months ago

with Deked1

Mario Vaillancourt

9.2

Tasted blind, 3 very different wines but all 3 were excellent and showed their character well.
A magnificent and very explosive nose almos, changing fast, complex, deep aromas of soices, black and then white pepper, Provence herbs, black currant, a superb nose. The palate is fairly powerful, a good acidity to go with the strong tannins but mostly amlkng delicious finish, impressive length. 91-92

Dégustation en semi aveugle, 3 rouges très différents. 3 vins magnifiques et de style différents.
Magnifique nez excessivement aromatique, très complexe et profond, change énormément, allant du poivre blanc, des herbes, des épices, du cassis, superbe nez. Une bouche puissante mais un peu contenue, une finale surtout excessivement longue avec ces notes d’épices douces et de de poivre. 91-92
— 3 years ago

Adam Gäfvert

9.4

Visst är den ganska dyr, men klart den bästa Mencian jag druckit. Mörka bär, rosblad, clementiner, anis och söt kryddighet. Otroligt följdsam men med stabilt eftertryck och längd. Som en riktigt lyxig Côte de Nuits fast för (i jämförelse) ynka 899kr. Fynd. — 4 years ago

Jay Kline

9.1

The 2020 Bourgogne Blanc from Jérôme Chezeaux is a bit unusual in that it’s primarily old-vine Pinot Blanc (about 3/4) with the balance being Chardonnay. As one can imagine, not much of this is made. The wine pours a light golden color with medium viscosity. No signs of particles or gas. On the nose, aromas of stone and tropical fruit: peaches, pineapple, lemon, tangerine, meringue and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ acid. The notes from the nose are confirmed. Finish is long, silky and has a good spine of limestone-like minerals. This was universally enjoyed by everyone at the table and finished way too fast. Drink now but could age for a few years with ease. — a year ago

Cathy Corison

Owner/Winemaker Corison Winery

9.2

Tasting Group 4/3/22 My 4th, Group 2nd. Spice, cherry lifesavers. Flavors follow. Fast — 2 years ago

Aaron Tan

9.4

Outstanding! A befitting wine to break a somewhat self-imposed 3 months dry spell.
Open for business from day one, yet it constantly evolved over the next three days. Red cherries, apples, and brioche dominated the bouquet at the start, which eventually progressed to one lead by smoke and salinity. The palate explodes with a "sweet" core of red cherries and raspberries, finishing with heaps of spice (cinammon in particular) and dried flowers, all wrapped up in an incredibly salty package. Like the nose, day two and three saw salinity take centre stage, along with some apparent wood characters and bitter citrus in the finish. Olivier's wines have always brought a multi-dimensional complexity that's undeniable to any wine lover, but it's that balance of power-without-weight that makes him such a great winemaker. Safe to say, Ulysse Collin is fast becoming one of my favourite champagne estates. — 3 years ago

Aravind A

9.5

In a wide-bottom decanter for 3 hrs and it needed every minute. On the nose: black tea, wild strawberry, soft bubblegum. Amazing acidity and good density, stony minerality, bright red fruit leaning wild strawberry. Soft tannin on the long finish. I wanted to see how this was tomorrow, but it was such a hit that it disappeared fast: eminently drinkable; 12.8% ABV to boot. Wow. Better than I remember my last btl being, if still very primary. — 2 years ago

Milos Milosevic

9.8

This is moving fast towards the top of my list of favorite wines. Absolutely fantastic, I looooooooove this! — 2 years ago

Patricia Schnitzer

9.3

Sept 24, 2021. Purchased in Madrid at Madrid & Darracott wineshop (a must visit if you are in Madrid). I was intrigued by the label. They have 3 wines with photos of men of different ages on the label, denoting the aging of the wine. Genius. Of course i purchased the old man. 🤣🤣🤣 Lovely Tinto de Toro. Would probably age very well, but I couldn’t wait. Lots of stewed fruit. Tannins and acidity. Wish I had another bottle to open in a couple years. Definitely decant! — 3 years ago

Ira Schwartz

9.5

A lesson in one’s wine evolution. Pahlmeyer was one of the first mailing lists I joined . This was the first case purchase of my life. Told to wait 2-3 years before drinking, I did exactly
that. I opened a few bottles over the years and really disliked it. Probably around 2005 a friend asked if I had some wine to donate to charity. Of course I said here is 5 bottles of Pahlmeyer merlot.
That left 3 bottles that I stashed in storage . Fast forward to 2010 and I opened a bottle for a friend who owned a wine store . The two of us looked at each other like deer in the headlights, we were dumbfounded by how good this was. I drank my remaining bottles and have not had this wine since 2016. Thanks to a generous friend who recently said go to the cellar and you pick out wine for dinner. For my palate along with ‘91 Dominus, ‘91 Seavey ‘91 Togni and ‘95 Insignia the best California wines from the ‘90’s. By the way the lack of tasting experience also had me pooh poo ‘91 Dominus.
On the nose a little bit of funk that quickly blew off. Red fruit and plums on the nose give way to a palate of complex and long lasting fruit surrounded by earth and tannins. The wine’s structure leads me to believe that well stored bottles can bring pleasure over the years to come. I would love to taste this out of magnum. — 4 years ago