Joe Flo

9.7

Hitting on all cylinders. — 11 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

8.9

1986 vintage. Ripped through six bottles (one corked) for a 1986 BDX dinner @ Mister A's-San Diego. All bottles appropriately aged fill and decent+ corks. Double decanted and tasted over the course of 5 hours. Mix of powdery and stubborn (non-chunky) sed amongst the 6 bottles. Light-medium body throughout. Somewhat muted experience overall. None of the bottles (with variation) shone/sung. Wine is firmly on the downside of the bell curve with best days behind it (based on the 5 + corked bottle examples). There was none of the usual P-L flavor markers but the body hung in there. Pains me to say this but drink up now unless you've got a larger format bottle. Maggie (+) would probably yield a higher score. 3.14.24. — a month ago

Brett Francis

9.5

Started the night with the 2018. This year also had scents of walnuts, boysenberry and a bit of barnyard, but extended into cigar smoke. The texture and color were both excellent and the flavors were full bodied spanning from boysenberry, through leather, into seared steak, but also had cigar/tobacco. Enjoyed by all. — 3 months ago

Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 3 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

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

Dave Mayers

9.3

03 out of mag. Decanted 2 hours. Huge red fruit in the nose. The body was delicate. Perf drinking window. Red cherry, Bordeaux like pallate. Silky finish. All class. — 3 months ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.7

Beautiful subtle aroma from Merlot makes it pretty. Its free spirit nose makes you feel what the wine is going to be about. Drinkable and fresh. Apparently missing weight but it doesn’t miss a bit all the way thru the tasting. The aftertaste is long and very, very pleasant after one minute. — 4 hours ago

Vino Joe

9.5

Decanted and simmered for hours. By Hour 3+ this broadened into a deep and luxurious wine. Ripe fruit - currant blackberry. Nice mouthfeel with some mineral residue. Not a long tail on this but it did linger still. Not particularly fragrant. A bit inward overall but all the pieces good and bad kinda fit together and it was nonetheless quite enjoyable. — 2 months ago

romo

9.4

Oops, i did it again. Cab franc-y with substantial stuffing and a powerful frame. Tons of authority across all disciplines. — 2 months ago

Brett Francis

9.5

This was fantastic, strong, and yet still seemingly understated. Although I am no fortune teller, this seemed strong and young. I couldn’t place all the flavors I experienced, but to my palate there was raspberry, blackberry, smoked meats, soil after a rain, and portobello mushroom all matched with a beautiful color to stare at between sips. Long pauses to enjoy the long finish. — 3 months ago