romo

9.4

Just enough brett to make it interesting. Captivating nose, sensual texture. — 15 days ago

Cameron Parry

9.2

Took about 2 hours to open. Dark & dried cherries. Acid still nice and firm. Tannins still going strong but clearly softer and more fine grained. Feels somewhat unbalanced - good acid, good tannin, not enough fruit. May have missed the optimal window. Still very enjoyable. Only a touch of Brett. — 4 months ago

Doug Powers

9.4

[En Magnum] This is absolutely a beautiful, 30-year-old, Beaucastel Rouge in large format, mostly clean (just a trace of Brett), red fruits, still some structure, but not tannic, balanced, complex layers of flavors, long finish, really a top-notch Beaucastel with old school ABV (13.5%)!, lovely!!! — 6 months ago

with Jim

Ben Lehman

9.0

For one of my all time favorite wines, this was a bit disappointing. What has previously smelled like garrigue and lavender, this time around smelled a bit too much of brett for my taste — 4 years ago

Matt Perlman

9.4

Lot of funk initially but on day two this really turned into a stunning wine. Give it some air and be open minded if there’s Brett at first because this is special stuff — 18 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Brief notes. Dense crimson with a ruby rim. Traces of cowyard, (mild Brett?) also blackberry and black pepper notes. A rich palate of medium plus intensity - savoury and earthy notes and black olive. A fantastic food wine. Love this style. One of the better world expressions of Syrah. Have my last bottle in early 2028. — 2 months ago

Aaron Rankin

9.4

These have begun showing Brett/funk, but this bottle is clean. My first without the horseshit kiss. PnP. Forest floor, wet sticks, and a bramble pie cooling by a distant window. This is Autumn Pinot at its most perfect. Plush mouthfeel with viscosity like a mild reduction (not reductive). While the tannin has faded, the concentration provides more than expected structure. — 4 years ago

romo

9.4

Called Grenache blend. Obvs Pegau. Brett suburbs crazy balance. — 2 months ago

Doug Powers

9.3

Lovely, sweet mature fruit (dried redfruits), there might be a touch of Brett (but less than the 1995 Beaucastel I posted last week), suave and complex on the palate, lingering finish, excellent Chateauneuf-du-Pape at its peak!! — 6 months ago

with Jim

Shay A

9.4

This was served during my annual WWC hosting. Typical format of sparkler, three whites, four reds, one dessert, all served blind.

Poured alongside the 2003 Mondavi VHR as a comparison. 60 cab/40 merlot.

Decanted an hour. The similarities between this and the ‘03 Mondavi VHR the first hour was shocking…even as the host, I wondered if I switched the wines. Slight hint of brett but certainly not overpowering. Leather, herbs de Provence, sweet vanilla pipe tobacco, graphite up front aromatically. Dark roast mocha, red and black berry fruit, cassis, really nice vein of acidity and tannin. This remained unchanged during the lunch. Seems like it’s in a peak window (maybe close to the top?) where I imagine it will hold another 5-7yrs easily before turning more tertiary. — 3 years ago