Balance Of Power

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 1988

Super clean and still quite youthful, this is a GREAT example of a 1980s CdP from a vintage of little surmaturite, so awesome balance and perfect acidity suggests this vintage will easily last another 5-10 years!! — 4 days ago

Jim Powers
with Jim
Scott@Mister, Tom and 5 others liked this
Tom Casagrande

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What a triumvirate of CDPs!
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

@Tom Casagrande, another example of a great bottle outperforming critical reviews — of the 3 CdPs, the ratings given years ago would have been higher for the ‘89 Beau and ‘90 Pegau!!

Produttori del Barbaresco

Barbaresco Nebbiolo 2020

Yet another outstanding vintage (2020) of this consistently excellent Co-Op produced Barbaresco. Aromas of red fruit, dried rose petals and anise. Flavors of bright red cherry and raspberry fruit, mint, Asian spices, minerals and orange zest. Long and earthy/smoky finish. Fantastic balance, structure and depth. Fine grained tannins and a silky texture yet still firm and powerful. So delicious now, but built to age for at least another decade. The quality consistency of this wine vintage to vintage is incredible. Outstanding value! Thanks so much for opening this one, Keith S! Happy 60th Birthday, Karyn! — a month ago

Tom and Dave liked this
Dave

Dave

Yes!

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2023

Drinking this pre-release bottle of this iconic wine from Bordeaux.

Light gold in color.

Strong nose and Full-bodied.

Sweet on the palate with high acidity to balance the sugars.

Showing melons, tropical fruits, apples, light earth, guava, herbs, spices, papaya and honey notes.

Long finish with herbs and tropical fruits.

This is a gorgeous sweet wine from Bordeaux. Sexy, seductive and fresh. Creamy and buttery.

Showing great potential, but oh so young. Already delicious and complex. Round, opulent and powerful.

Loved the nose once it opened up (20 minutes in the glass).

Rich and extracted. Fruit forward and intense, yet elegant. Well balanced with a soft mouthfeel.

Good by itself as a sipping wine, or with food. Drunk from a Magnum.

A blend of 75% Sémillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. Aged in all new French oak barrels for 24 months.
154 g/l sugar.

14% alcohol by volume.

96 points.

$500.
— 2 months ago

Scott@Mister, Daniel and 16 others liked this

Louis Roederer

Cristal Brut Champagne 2008

Great balance fantastic fruit hints of lemon peel. Just drinking fantastic. — a month ago

Stef, "Odedi" and 1 other liked this

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Tasted blind. Medium deep garnet ruby and medium garnet ruby rim . Quite cool and restrained , again lots of grafite and mineral , dark fruits . This is quite deep and dark spicy cassis , blackberry and sea spray , saline . Quite dense and robust on the palate again , lots of fine but ripe tannins. Very long , dense , cassis , cedar grafite saline finish . This is a complete and great example of 2005 , great balance and enormous length , the longest of all on show here. Drinkable now , but surely it’s best days are in the future , wait another 5 -10 years , will last well a further 20 - 25 if not more . The apex of 2005 ? For me this had to be the Latour , and an archetypal example of Latour no less . 1st place and the gold medal . — a month ago

Tom, Tom and 9 others liked this

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2009

Paul K
9.7

This is incredible. Such great balance of so many parts. It’s dense, savory, smoky, floral, and juicy with great acidity. The fruit is there but not pronounced, blackberry and cassis- just a balanced part of the whole. I could drink this every night. — 2 months ago

Tom, Dave and 15 others liked this
Rick Phillips

Rick Phillips Premium Badge

Down to 3 bottles but still one of my favorites!
Paul K

Paul K

@Rick Phillips I’ll trade u one of my kids for a bottle. I have an extra…. 😏

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2011

Kevin Arndt
9.4

Dense, complex, still VERY youthful. Graphite, just ripe black currant, it’s a wine with concentration and strength without being overripe and brooding. Balance of alcohol within the structure is perfect. — 3 months ago

Château Margaux

Premier Grand Cru Classé Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

Tasted blind . Médium deep ruby with medium wide ruby rim , slightly younger looking than the rest. Quite spicy dark fruits , touch of pain grillé , mineral , grafite , cedar . On the palate this has a lot of grip and density , but also great balance . Spicy dark fruits , touch of grafite and earthy cedar . Quite rounded mouthfeel. Balanced acidity and grippy ripe tannins . Long balanced finish . Overall this showed well , with a roundness and balance , lovely fruit still , really quite open and fresh . With more time this show a floral character with lovely precision . Of all the wines this though very young is probably showing the most today . Even better in 5-10 years and will last well a further 10-20. Had this down as Haut Brion . This took the silver medal . 96
— a month ago

Tom, Somm and 2 others liked this
Somm David T

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Nice notes on what must have been a splendid night of 05 1st Growths.

Clos des Papes

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 2023

Ok hands up...far too young. Bad planning from me 🙌. That being said...what a wine and I'm so glad I have more!!! Concentration and flavour for days...insane levels of concentration. There is also balance and acidity but oh my what a wine! — 2 months ago

Jan, Ruud and 21 others liked this
Jan de Weerd

Jan de Weerd

The start to an exciting journey! 🙌
Jan de Weerd

Jan de Weerd

The start to an exciting journey! 🙌
Jay Kline

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Yes…but it’s always fun to check into them when they are fresh and then follow the journey.

Château Léoville Barton

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

Already so lovely, but still so young. Medium ruby red in the glass with long, lusty legs and a wide brim. The nose is exactly what you think a classic Left Bank Bordeaux should be. Cassis, plums, and tobacco immediately upon opening. New leather and oak with just the right amount of earth. Very nice.

Big, powerful, and virile. Amazing balance and purity for a wine so young. Still a bit tannic at times but decanting certainly helps with that. Pretty fruit on the palate with blackberries and cherries. Soft vanilla undertones from start to finish along with licorice and more earth on the tongue.

Very impressive with such depth and such personality. As good as this is today it will be so much better if you can show patience. Put these away and try your best to forget about them and you will be rewarded.
— 3 months ago

Douglas, Ruud and 12 others liked this
"Odedi"

"Odedi" Influencer Badge

Very nice wine