Graves, Bordeaux

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2005

What a special treat!!! So enthralled by the moment that I forgot to take a photo with the dessert last night. 😜 This wine was stunning! Layered, complex, balanced. Pronounced and concentrated notes of dried apricot, peach preserves, marmalade, orange zest, Meyer lemon peel, citrus blossom, gardenia, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, lavender honey, and beeswax. It coated the palate with a lasting finish. Again, such an absolute treat!! — 9 days ago

Deked1 J GreenePaul K
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Deked1, Vin and 25 others liked this
James K

James K

So awesome! MN’s wine A-team.
Paul K

Paul K

@James K looking forward to getting us all together!
9.8
Vanessa

Vanessa

@James K @Paul K We would love that! 🥂🥂

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

1986 vintage. Ripped through six bottles (one corked) for a 1986 BDX dinner @ Mister A's-San Diego. All bottles appropriately aged fill and decent+ corks. Double decanted and tasted over the course of 5 hours. Mix of powdery and stubborn (non-chunky) sed amongst the 6 bottles. Light-medium body throughout. Somewhat muted experience overall. None of the bottles (with variation) shone/sung. Wine is firmly on the downside of the bell curve with best days behind it (based on the 5 + corked bottle examples). There was none of the usual P-L flavor markers but the body hung in there. Pains me to say this but drink up now unless you've got a larger format bottle. Maggie (+) would probably yield a higher score. 3.14.24. — 4 days ago

Paul, Lyle and 6 others liked this
Pinotman /// Andreas

Pinotman /// Andreas

Oh 😥. Sounds like a bust.
David T

David T Influencer Badge

While I respect, own many vintage from them, as well as, one of my favorite non 1st growth producers and love the style of 80’s Bordeaux (82, 86, 89) I don’t believe this vintage from them ever lived up to expectation or critics reviews.
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

@David T To be fair, had a few examples of this particular wine and vintage that ticked off the 9.6 mark for me. Don’t rate anything above a 9.7. When it was at the top of the bell curve and just on either side of that summit, it didn’t suck. Life rolls on.

Château La Mission Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 1985

Lovely vintage In a perfect spot showing the classic La Mission character with its red & black fruits, cedar, leather, graphite, mineral, dried herbs & cigar box. — 24 days ago

Aaron, Scott@Mister and 8 others liked this

Château Rieussec

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1999

excellent Sauternes — 23 days ago

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Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

2010 vintage. Classic Pauillac with ripe cassis, lead pencil, and cedar wood. Still very young, but a class act. Concentrated, profound, and impeccably balanced, with layers of black fruit, a serious structure of haute couture tannins and balancing acidity. Long, mineral finish. Impressive, but nowhere near its peak. — 8 days ago

Ira, Peter and 5 others liked this

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

Still shows some lovely primary redfruits, cassis, currants, quite tannic as well (characteristic of the 1986s I cellared), long, lingering finish, should show even better after my wife’s grilled lamb and my grilled steak come off the grill. I will say I was nervous when the final 1/8-inch of the cork severed off my old Ah-So cork puller, but not a problem!

Interesting sidebar — I purchased this upon arrival in 1989 at K&L in SF — by that time there were widespread reports of bad corks in Ducru from (at least) 1985 and 1986, so when I visited the shop I explained the situation and committed to purchasing 6 bottles, but only if I knew this batch didn’t have the cork problems — so, I said I’d pay for another bottle and we could open it together in the shop, I’d pay and also buy the other 6 bottles if it was NOT corked, and said if it was corked, then they’d pay for the opened bottle and I wouldn’t take the 6 other bottles — they agreed, we mutually tried the bottle then and there, no cork taint so I paid for 7 bottles total.

Telling the story in part because K&L has always been, IMHO, one of the classiest wine shops in the U.S., and they deserve credit agreeing to my deal (BTW, Wine Advocate had written about the cork taint issue within the preceding 3-6 months, so they were aware of the potential for it) — anyway, they’ve gotten a lot more of my business in the past 35+ years since!!
— 9 days ago

Jim Powers
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David T

David T Influencer Badge

K&L is the gold standard Wine Merchant example for the rest of the country!
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

@David T, I cannot disagree!!
Jay Kline

Jay Kline Influencer Badge Premium Badge

@Doug Powers great story. Thanks for sharing!

Château Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2011

I have favoured Haut-Brion in blind tastings before, but not this time. This is not the most praised vintage by any means but still. Haut-Brion still comes with some expectations. It’s solid and well made, but fairly closed. There are of course signs of class and aristocracy shining through but too underwhelming at this occasion. — a month ago

Andrew, Fabian and 3 others liked this

Château Pape Clément

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

Yes this is young but there is already a good wine coming through. Not the heaviest Bordeaux and with floral und fruit notes there is plenty to enjoy. Obviously it needs more time but would visit again in the future. — a month ago

Maura, Bob and 24 others liked this

Château Pontet-Canet

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2015

We visited there in the early summer of 2015 and now we got to try the fruits of their labor in the vineyard we witnessed at that time. A bio-dynamic vineyard with horse and plow 😁. Their wines are fantastic. This wine was richer in fruit and more expressive than perhaps characteristic for the Pauillac region. But the layers of earth infused flavors and the most subtle hint of ‘barnyard’ made it a sensation. Topped off with a grippy finish keeping the flavors lingering in your throat. www.spokenwines.com. — 3 days ago

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Pétrus

Pomerol Red Bordeaux Blend 1990

dark and intense. Gnarly fruit and an inky intensity. Gorgeous on the nose. Floral notes, deep plum with black pepper and a velvety texture. Long and still young but so pure and delicious — 5 days ago

BOT Matt LichtenbergPaul Woolls
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Tom, Jan and 11 others liked this