Bells Up Winery

Tenuta San Guido

Bolgheri Sassicaia Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 2004

Lovely wine that took about an hour to really open up. Sad that this has gotten so pricy! — 13 days ago

Lauren
with Lauren
Bob, Joe and 8 others liked this

Dom Pérignon

Brut Champagne Blend 2012

Mary H
9.3

Great follow up to other sparkling wines - if you’re drinking this all night you don’t get the full contrast of the depth of flavor and long finish of vintage Dom. Elegant and bright. Classic Champagne. — 7 days ago

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2018

A. R.
9.1

Just don’t open this yet folks. Took about 4 hours in a decanter to open up at all. Very classic dusty and graphite nose. Powerful red fruit and tannins. Good mid palate. Good acid. Very long finish. QPR not great. Needs min 10 years to calm down. — 23 days ago

Jean-Philip, Ira and 6 others liked this

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1988

Medium ruby , hint of garnet , slight narrower rim , more garnet hue . Quite mineral , herbal tinged blackcurrant, seaside scents . Slightly aloof and austere, though this improves with time in the decanter . However on the palate this opens up with classic cedar tinged dark fruits , blackcurrant, grafite , sea shell and saline tinged. Complex , complete , classic , grafite and mineral tinged with pretty long length finish . Still slightly grippy tannins but these are well integrated and quite polished , fresh balanced acidity. This shows very well and is just coming into its prime drinking window, this also held up very well in decanter for the 4 hours we had it open , always retaining great freshness and verve. From now and over the next 10 to 15 years perhaps . — 2 months ago

Jan, Anthony and 10 others liked this
Shay A

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Had this last night (only other time was 4-5yrs ago) and both showed extremely green aromatics. Classical Lafite elegance on the palate.
Andrew Cullimore

Andrew Cullimore

Yes @Shay A i think it showed better on the palate , as you say very classic Lafite , aroma was really quite discreet and austere , just wonder whether this will step up a gear with a little more time in the cellar

Château Léoville Poyferré

Saint Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

2019 vintage. From Magnum. Medium body up front with that pirouetting away at the end and finishing with a lighter footprint. Drinking great now and just dropped into cruise control for the next 2.5 decades. Great effort. 12.11.24. — 10 days ago

Ruud, Andrew and 20 others liked this

R. López de Heredia

Viña Tondonia Reserva Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2011

You're not 40 every day and I wanted a special wine to celebrate that special day. Fortunately the wine bar / open kitchen restaurant we went to had that special wine, amongst 400 references, that I had been desperate to taste for a long while. I didn't take notes so it's all from memory, but the nose is what I liked the most. Coconut notes, leather, cherries, coffee... I spent probably 15 minutes in total smelling that wine. The palate was great with some acid drive, some matter but not in an overwhelming way, some gentle, well integrated tannins in the rear, before a long finish with savoury notes, red fruits, coconut and that gentle grainy tannic layer. A great experience to top up a day to remember.
Oh and if you happen to be in Warsaw, Poland and be looking for a great wine place, make sure to check our Kontakt - wino & bistro.
— 11 hours ago

Scott@Mister, Ira and 6 others liked this
Jay Kline

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Great choice!
Peter van den Besselaar

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Congrats Daniel! Fine experience.

Spottswoode

Family Estate Grown St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

Huge wine. Took several hours to open up but had intense and beautiful blue and black fruit aromas.

— 2 months ago

Tom, "Odedi" and 9 others liked this

Château Léoville-Las Cases

Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1990

Medium ruby , terracotta /garnet rim. Quite round and ripe , red plum , cigar and ripe blackberry, touch of soy . Touch of cocoa , blackberry and ripe dark cherry , black tea . Quite sweet , rich on the palate, generous for Las Cases , slightly dried fruit , fig and red plum . Pretty decent length , balanced but quite discreet acidity , rounded tannins . This is at peak now and I don’t see much up side from here , so best to drink over the next 5 years or so, though it did hold up in the glass quite well . Atypical for Las Cases with its ripe fruit, quite low acidity , sweet tannin: also this only has 42% Cabernet Sauvignon. Overall probably the least successful of the wines in this tasting , but the level overall was very high. — 12 days ago

Daniel, Jan and 11 others liked this

Caymus Vineyards

Special Selection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Super sweet and oaky on first open but matured up with a 3 hour decant

Still quite fruity but with steak, it gives a lot of red berry fruit and the oak is reasonable and the sweetness is gone with the airtime.

Overall good wine but I thought it lost out to the Paul Hobbs LPV ‘14.
— 21 days ago

Bob, Andrew and 3 others liked this

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

Forty-plus years on, people still talk about the greatness of the 1982 vintage in Bordeaux. There are multiple factors that contribute to this and it’s fair to say that Robert Parker’s reaction played a major role in the early popularity; certainly in the States. While some may say that 1982 was merely a “good” vintage by today’s standards, I think history has proven it to be empirically special; there was just so much quality from top to bottom. And yet, even with the high praise of the vintage, the tone shifts to hushed whispers when the 1982 Mouton gets mentioned. Up until that point, the Chateau had sort of underachieved after receiving its unprecedented promotion in 1973. But in 1982, a year full of great wine, they created a legend and firmly cemented their First Growth status. Today, I’m pleased to report the plaudits for the ’82 are all warranted.

Opened and double-decanted earlier in the day. The ’82 Mouton pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core with some sediment; almost youthful when compared to many of the other older wines poured on the night. On the nose, the wine is developing still; loaded with cassis, black berries, leaf tobacco, leather, and fine baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with fabulous structure. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and full of power. A stunning wine and well in its prime…a window I expect will remain open for a longtime to come. Drink now with bacchanalian abandon and through 2082.
— 11 days ago

Ira, Jan and 25 others liked this
David T

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I picked the Mouton Merlot in 2012 for a day. At the two harvest lunches I attended, they served the 82. Every time they bottle, they take the remaining barrel juice, filter it and then serve the remains at their harvest luncheons for workers & guests. The second lunch I attended, we were seated at the Baroness’s table may she RIP as she passed in 2014. In 2012, they drank the last of the 82.
Jay Kline

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@David T what an awesome story and experience
Bob McDonald

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@Jay Kline I agree re the 1982 Bordeaux vintage. The Chateau Margaux was one of the greatest wines I have ever drunk whereas the Lafite Rothschild was somewhat underwhelming. Bought at the same time from the same shop and stored the same way.