Touch Down

Paul Jaboulet Aîné

La Chapelle Hermitage Syrah 1988

The fruit for "La Chapelle" is sourced predominantly from Le Méal and Bessards (with a little form Greffieux and Rocoules. Relative to the two Chave’s, the 1988 “La Chapelle” seems a bit more like a Hermitage fastball right down the middle of the plate. Desiccated mixed berries, olives, purple flowers, and minerals with a touch of ethyl acetate. Again a great pairing with grilled lamb and Moroccan spices. Vinous and drinking well now through 2035. — a month ago

Severn, Lyle and 7 others liked this

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1959

Delectable Wine
9.8

The 1959 Latour is a vintage that I have drunk many times. It contains a payload of irresistible and quite precocious red fruit on the nose with blood orange, cedar and a touch of thyme, beautifully defined. The palate has exquisite balance, poised yet powerful, with a multi-dimensional, profound finish that is one of the smoothest-textured you will find on any Latour vintage. Absolutely divine. Tasted at Arbor restaurant in Hong Kong. (Neal Martin, Vinous, February 2024)
— a month ago

Marchesi Antinori

Tignanello Toscana Super Tuscan Blend 2016

Here’s the thing: this is good wine. It’s dense, chewy, and structured. There’s a nice balance of red and black fruit, graphite, cedar, mushroom, soil, and just a touch of Brett funk. It’s fairly tannic, so probably best with food, but can still be enjoyed on its own. I would never be mad if I was offered this. I was lucky to take home an open bottle from a job tonight, but I think the price tag on this is ridiculous. — 2 months ago

Château Montrose

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2023

So elegant Montrose. It builds up an epic journey in the aftertaste. Rich and opulent as usual but with a fine touch of incredible level.
Softer extraction resulted on a fruitier, more sapid and rounder wine than usual. It feels it’s going to be approachable in its youth.
— 21 hours ago

Peter liked this

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1989

+2 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment). A wondrous dark garnet with bricking. On the nose: perfumed notes of stewed plum, currants, old leather, cigar box, smoked meat, truffles, and touch of mint. Taste: silky, exquisite wine with red cherry/plum, old leather, dusty chiseled granite, bitter chocolate, cedar, and a dry graphite/coffee long finish. YUM! Drinks beautifully and should hold for more years of awesomeness. — 24 days ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland
with Brenda
Brenda, David and 26 others liked this
David T

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Nice bottle!

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1995

1995 vintage. Great fill, foil and label. Perfect cork. From a top-notch cellar. Decanted and tasted over the course of two hours. Volcanic ash-styled sed vs chunky-style. Big funk on the nose that resolved after 7-8 minutes. Wine was showing decently (in the 69-72 degree range) but lacking any tannic structure. Placed the decanter atop an ice bucket bath to drop the temp down to 60 degrees or so. Took about 20 minutes but the tannins kicked in the door to say hello. Fruit components stayed constant. Pauillac tendencies were all there. As is the case often with older BDX, the decaying matter/leaves at the onset transitioned to graphite/lead pencil and espresso flavors. This was a superior bottle in great shape. Top of this wine’s specific bell curve. Comparable bottles would look to be drinking this well for the next 5-7 years without dropoff. Out of larger format…could possibly push this into 9.4 status. 2.5.24. — 2 months ago

Ron, Jan and 17 others liked this
Ron R

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Gonna do a “fly by” one of these days. Buckle up…
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

@Ron R Let me know if you’re headed to SD. E-mail me at: scott@asrestaurant.com
Ron R

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👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

Opus One

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1994

This magnum has been laying down for 30 years and is fully mature, medium bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with blackberry, tobacco, earth, coffee and black cherry on the nose. Soft textured, with no tannin remaining, the wine ends with a cherry. An Easter treat. — 24 days ago

Adriano CammarataDaniel CammarataMichael Cammarata
with Adriano, Daniel and 1 other
Tom, Douglas and 6 others liked this

Olga Raffault

Les Picasses Chinon Cabernet Franc 2017

Another outstanding Picasses that is far more accessible in its youth. Open but with more muscle, austerity, and brooding fruit than the ‘14. Need to revise my other rating up rather than this down. — 2 months ago

Spencer, romo and 5 others liked this

La Rioja Alta

Gran Reserva 904 Rioja Tempranillo Graciano 1994

Quite dense and intense. A touch of sweet on the edge of inky fruit. Very good — 2 months ago

Paul Woolls
with Paul
Juan, Iwan and 6 others liked this

Taittinger

Comtes de Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Chardonnay 1996

Happy Valentine’s Day! Continuing our tradition of pulling one of these each year - 11 down, only 1 more to go after this! Reminder that we need to choose a new case of something soon.

This is excellent as always but I’m not sure hits quite the same high note as last year’s bottle. Fine mousse, nose a bit more restrained. Palate is explosive and so deep with wonderful candied caramelized lemon peel. Wonderful pairing with carbonara!
— 2 months ago

ESF, Severn and 13 others liked this
Neil Valenzuela

Neil Valenzuela

Baller wine!
Jay Kline

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Oh snap!