Ron Siegel

9.4

Classic La Mission nose that is in a perfect spot showing red & black fruits, cedar, leather, earth, graphite, spice box along with sweet tobacco — 15 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.1

Last bottle of this (of 4). It’s turned into a solid Pessac and in my view it’s close to peaking (though admittedly I tend to favor wines on the younger side than many Bordeaux enthusiasts). It’s for that vaguely-vegetal tobacco-y / cigar box note I like, as well as some nice ripe fruit and some metallic minerality on the nose. Medium-bodied on the palate (surprisingly for an ‘18), and quite dry, but with a lot of cling in the finish. Nice tannins (soft) and decent acids. — 4 months ago

Dave

9.0

Costco wine number 2 of 5 for the family suarêz. These came in the cute gift box, let's see how it does. This wine is very tannic, it has nice cherry flavors with leather and stone. After an hour of being uncorked, it tastes just fine! I truly like it more than a $60 Pomerol I tasted last week. Not bad.
Listening to Black Sabbath — 7 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

A dense Ruby in colour. Black currant, dark plum, mocha, dark chocolate, and cigar box. The Penfolds Cabernet DNA if you like. Dense and powerful. This wine at 20 years of age is just a pup. The “Rewards of Patience “ has a window to 2045+. I’ll probably have the next one in 10 years or so. The release price of the latest vintage is now over $600 - too expensive IMO. Apparently substantial material from the old Block 42 in the blend - planted in the 1880’s. — 2 years ago

Lee Pitofsky

9.7

Wow. Absolutely stunning tonight. So generous and giving after hardly any aeration, 2000 Angelus wafts from the glass and the decanter with explosive aromatics of blackberry jam, creme de cassis, cigar box and damp earth. It has the most perfect balance of deep fruit intensity and tertiary character, and the palate shows an incredible combination of finesse, density and lift, with a regal mouthfeel and melting tannins. Just stays with you forever. A masterful seesaw between power and elegance. For my tastes, this is in the perfect spot. Fabulous. — 3 years ago

Steve Anderson

9.3

Fun to share this Mag with a couple of old farts who claim this as their birth year @romo @Bill Bender
Great cigar box nose and probably in better shape overall than those two!
— 5 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

2015 vintage. Wow. Respectable nose that undersells what is to come. Light/light-medium body. Powdered tannins mixed with the balanced flavors of ripe cherry. tobacco, spice box, dark chocolate and dark plum. Complementary, yet unobtrusive, oak treatment. Long draw and complex finish goes over the minute mark. Best QPR Pauillac I've had in a few years. Currently drinking like it has an additional five years of age on it...knitting together so nicely. Stash a few of these in the collection for guilt-free pleasure down the road. — 5 years ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.9

A complex, stunning, beautifully elegant wine!
Really well preserved bottle with very little ulage!
Needed a bit of time to open up and lose the damp smell - showing cedar wood, cigar box, red fruit, leather, a bit of mushrooms, complex & still evolving in the glass!
On the palate this was smooth, mellow with bright acidity, layers of juicy red fruit accents and tertiary aromas. The length was just incredible. Sophisticated & elegant.
A truly spectacular & special bottle! — 2 months ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.4

Château Pichon Baron 2023 – Pauillac, Grand Cru Classé en 1855. BDX France 🇫🇷

Overview
A commanding and traditionally styled Pauillac delivering power, precision, and aristocratic structure, driven by a 66% Cabernet Sauvignon–dominant blend with 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot and 1% Semillon support. Dark fruit density, mineral authority, and refined oak integration create a wine that feels impactful today while clearly engineered for long-term evolution and layered complexity.

Aromas & Flavors
Blackcurrant, cassis, blackberry, graphite, pencil shavings, cedar, cigar box, crushed gravel, subtle dark cocoa and savory spice.

Mouthfeel
Full-bodied with firm yet polished tannins, excellent mid-palate density, vibrant structural tension, tightly knit acidity, and a long, authoritative finish that builds rather than fades.

Food Pairings
Dry-aged ribeye, lamb rack, beef Wellington, venison, mushroom-forward dishes, aged hard cheeses.

Verdict
A textbook expression of elite Pauillac: powerful, elegant, disciplined, and deeply age-worthy. The wine delivers immediate presence while clearly signaling even greater complexity and harmony with time in bottle.

🍷 Personal Pick
This is serious wine, fierce yet controlled, deeply impressive without arrogance, and loaded with finesse under the horsepower. A bottle that earns respect with every sip and promises an extraordinary future in the cellar. — 5 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Welcome to Pebble Beach Food & Wine 2025.

2012 in Bordeaux is a great memory as Sofia & I had a great 5 year anniversary trip to Italy where we were married, ending in Bordeaux. Picking Mouton Merlot for a day, lunch with the Baroness, having steak and sipping 82 Mouton. Pinch me is what I said to Sofia.

Saint Julien is the elegant region on the Left Bank. While 2012 was an ok to good vintage it will always be packed with great memories.

Branaire-Ducru in grand vintages is still a great value. Always elegant with this kind of bottle age and more.

Hour decant starting notes.

Tonight smooth, ripe, round, juicy; brambly blackberries/black raspberries, dark cherries, cherries, black plum, some strawberries, raspberries with blueberry tones. Dry tobacco with ash, leather, spice box with some heat, lightly grilled meats, volcanics, moist clay, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, light vanillin, mid berry cola, dark chocolate bar, forest floor with leaves, sandalwood, steeped black tea, bay leaf, dry thyme, mocha powder, dry caramel, crush, dry rock/limestone, dry river stone, bright red flowers mixed with dark withering flowers, nice round acidity and a balanced, smartly tensioned, elegant finish that lasts 90 seconds & lands on herbs & earth. — a year ago

Tom Garland

9.1

1.5 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment) . An amazing deep dark ruby red color. On the nose: black fruit, stewed meat, cigar box, floral, pencil shavings. Taste: modern style and at 14 years in its drinking window. Soft, but powerful, creamy, with dark plum/cherry, cedar, cocoa, earth, graphite and a medium finish. Drinks well, and looking forward to popping more bottles over the years and see where it goes. — 3 years ago

with Brenda

Nicolas Greinacher

9.3

This wine was love at first sniff. Medium garnet in color, a mesmerizing perfume of blackcurrant, ripe blackberry, sweet spice, wet tea bag and cigar box introduces the 2001 Château Ducru Beaucaillou. What an elegant, drop-dead gorgeous nose! Medium bodied and silky textured, the wine shines with remarkable balance and wonderful complexity. Drink now until 2030. — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

Tried twice. Blend of 67% Cab Sauv and 33% Merlot, bigger Cab% in ‘17. Deep Ruby with aromas of dark fruits, oak and spice. On the palate flavors of fresh blackberry, plum and currants with licorice and cigar box spice adding some cedar and slight floral notes. Fine ripe tannins, long finish ending with layers of fruit, cedar and spice. A joy to drink. Opening now but will last another decade+. Nice! — 5 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.6

Slight younger looking , a little more ruby both in the core but still mostly garnet rim.
This is high toned slightly redder fruit , less dense than the preceding 3 . Cherry , red plum , cedar, seaspray . On the palate this is again quite elegant and refined , cherry , red plum some cassis , red plum , cigar box . Not overly weighty with perhaps a little less noticeable tannin than some of the others . Long vibrant , spicy grafite tinged finish . Very elegant , reserved and I suppose very Lafite , this grows during the experience but was actually voted in last place by the group , that somehow doesn’t surprise me, at the end of the day one wine did have to come last, and this was relatively discreet only showing its real breeding and class with time in the glass. Needs time , but is very promising , probably another 5-10 years (as with almost all the others ) , will last well a further 20 if not more . The elegance and style of this wine is fantastic , this really grows in the glass . Had to be Lafite for me . Bronze medal here . — 2 months ago

Dave

9.6

I had a bottle of this limited edition in 2021, and at the time it was one of the best bourbons I'd ever enjoyed. Got my hands on a bottle of 2025 and it now costs considerably more. Really great juice. Although 109 proof, this does not throw too much heat. It tastes very much like a wheater (which it is not), yet the rye content is also prominent from the nose through the sip. Cherry, leather, cornbread, and cigar box. Best way I can describe it is that EH Taylor and Pappy 15 had a baby. It's very good.
Listening to Cheap Trick — 5 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.5

1998 vintage. Decanted and tasted over the course of two hours. Upper shoulder fill with good (not great) cork. Desired and anticipated "funk" in the nose throughout enjoyment. That light-medium L'Evangile body...the Burgundy of Pomerol. Usual spice box, cloves, tobacco and dust flavors coming in loud and clear with plenty of punch. In a great place currently. Don't see this improving but easily holding firm for another decade. It was ready steady good from the get go and neither gained nor lost anything noticeable during the 2 hour show. 12.8.23. — 3 years ago

Doug Powers

9.3

Cigar box, pencil lead, also some lovely spicy redfruit aromas, still pretty structured, but showing a deep core of lovely dried redfruits, some sweet fruit notes in the long, lingering finish, very fine LLC!! — 3 years ago

with Jim

Willem Booij

9.4

This is again a great wine, one of the better vintages of this classic Margaux estate. Such a shame it’s our last bottle. Still a powerful mid palate with dark cassis tones with the old fashioned cigar box with matches in it😉 and a great balance in this impressive wine. — 4 years ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.0

Surprisingly youthful for 35y, served from a magnum.
Still deep in colour, with not much evolution towards the rim.
Uplifting aromatics with cigar box, tobacco leaf, cedar wood, some kirsch, but also some black currant jam.
Medium bodied on the palate with nice balance, the tannins still surprisingly grippy, though a touch dry.
Nicely poised, with good flow and high drinkability.
What a surprise! — 5 years ago

Paul J

9.5

1hr+ decant. Lovely purple, dark red color. Amazing nose of cigar box, dark cherries, and ever so subtle green elements. Wine was deep and chewy to start with a touch of vanilla and oak at the end, which wasn’t out of place at all! It did start to fade towards the end or I would have been @ 96. Reminded me of all those great Bordeaux’s we drank in London!! Finish was medium plus. Paired lovely with mustard and applewood marinated ribs. — 5 years ago

with Brooke