Pippa

9.0

If one person in the relationship likes salinity and minerality and reads The New Yorker. And the other likes perfumey but still dry whites and reads The Economist. Well this is your wine. Cloudy/unfined. Unripe peach, honeysuckle, and salt. — 25 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Brief Notes:- A medium weight red fruited savoury, earthy, bombshell of M+ intensity…a tarry note with liquorice adding to its Chateauneuf personality. An excellent example. More Burgundian than Rhone in weight and texture. Not sure further cellaring will add much but delicious right now. NB I have a bottle or two left and maybe a magnum? Must check. — 3 months ago

Julia Indik

9.4

First flavors are a splash of cherry and orange. Then a smooth slide to spice, touch of leather and wood. Tight and restrained finish ending with a bright note. — 6 months ago

with Robert

Blake Anderson

8.9

Very drinkable — 2 months ago

Pooneet K

9.4

Happy Valentine’s Day! Continuing our tradition of pulling one of these each year - 11 down, only 1 more to go after this! Reminder that we need to choose a new case of something soon.

This is excellent as always but I’m not sure hits quite the same high note as last year’s bottle. Fine mousse, nose a bit more restrained. Palate is explosive and so deep with wonderful candied caramelized lemon peel. Wonderful pairing with carbonara! — 2 months ago

AEL

9.0

If you're going to open the 2018 in 2023, you have to at least let it breathe. Nose is light but well defined, with sour cherries, a metallic note, and a hint of earth. Palate silky, with a smokey note. Classy. A gift from Doug B. at year end. — 4 months ago

Vanessa

9.2

Happy Labor Day holiday weekend in the USA!

We’re enjoying a night off from studying while sipping a lovely Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2011 paired with a grilled steak, baked potato, green beans, and mushroom / zucchini kabobs. Soon (and sadly) we’ll have to say “au revoir” to summer.

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste is situated on the left bank of Bordeaux, i.e., west of the Gironde Estuary, in the commune of Pauillac. Soils here are gravel-based, and free-draining, ideal for ripening the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon grape, which dominates in this Bordeaux blend.

Pauillac is known for producing age-worthy, structured Cabernet Sauvignon wines due in part to the growing environment. No wonder it’s home to 3 out of 5 first growth wines in the 1855 classification, including, Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild, and Château Mouton Rothschild. This particular wine ranks highly, as well, as a fifth growth and understandably so.

Based on our research the 2011 vintage in Bordeaux seemed to fast-forward many typical growing processes and timelines; grapes were budding and ripening ahead of schedule with warmer temperatures early in the season followed by notably cooler temperatures in August, ahead of harvest.

It’s remarkable how variable seasonal conditions can affect a wine’s profile, especially in less consistent climates like Bordeaux where vintage variation is a serious thing… still, this wine is lovely.

It is deep ruby with a medium (+) intensity of developing aromas offering notes of ripe blackberry, cassis, black cherry, plum, black licorice, anise, violet, tobacco, leather, clove, nutmeg, cedar, pencil shavings.

On the palate, this wine is dry with medium (+) acidity, high tannins that are ripe and smooth, a medium (+) body, medium (+) intensity of flavors consistent with the notes. The finish is medium(+).

This is an excellent wine that is drinking well now and could age further.

Cheers to the beauty born in 2011 in Pauillac AOC with this Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste! — 8 months ago

with Deked1

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. — 5 days ago

"Odedi"

9.2

#AgedWineTuesday

Dark ruby in color with a short reddish rim.

Full bodied with medium plus acidity.

Dry on the palate with blackberries, black currants, cooked cherries, spices, oak, vanilla, licorice, chocolates, light earth, light vegetables, herbs, tobacco leaf and black pepper.

Medium finish with grippy tannins and raspberries.

This 15 year old, Fifth Growth Bordeaux, is still young and tight. Needs 5 to 10 years in the bottle to mature properly.

I gave it 90 minutes in the decanter, but it probably was not enough.

Robert Parker 96 points. Wine Spectator 92 points.

Showing nice complexity with a nice mouthfeel. Grippy and rich.

Definitely needs food at this point, like a big piece of steak.

A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.

13% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$125. — 4 months ago

Whitney Haynie

9.7

Michelle 09/22/2023 — 7 months ago