Just Bee

Joseph Phelps Vineyards

Insignia Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2013

Just like the Togni I thought this was too young and tannic for the moment.
Others scored this a lot higher.
— 11 days ago

Bob, Tom and 5 others liked this

Château Montrose

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2014

We think something has changed at Montrose after the departure of Jean Bernard Delmas. Its not a bad wine by any means but the style is modern and extracted. At ten years this ie very drinkable and great quality but does not speak to its terroir as it used to. Hope its just one year… — 18 days ago

Jose Roberto Palazzoveronique paillardAdriana Pagliano
with Jose, veronique and 1 other
Adriana, Daniel and 10 others liked this
Jay Kline

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The most recent vintage of Montrose I’ve had was the 2000 vintage but I’ve have enough experience with the estate going back to vintages in the 1960’s. If it has changed, that’s borderline criminal.
Alexandre Pagliano

Alexandre Pagliano Premium Badge

We have same experience, pretty much all vintages from 1966 to 2009. This 2014 is a good wine but little resemblance to our experience in so many vintages. We hope its a one off, but we dont really know. To your point if they changed, well its criminal indeed...

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2022

Obviously a great wine but also very hyped and maybe too highly regarded. Tasted at a 2022 Bordeaux Fair and it surely was delicous and quite mesmerising for what it was. But it just lacked that extra panache. — 2 months ago

Ridge Vineyards

Monte Bello Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2019

Just a half bottle test.. way way too early. Decanted and it needed a solid hour before it unfolded at all. Great structure lurking but this experience was impaired by immaturity. — 4 months ago

Andrew, Jan and 19 others liked this

Château Pontet-Canet

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2006

Always one of my favorites. The 06 is a beutiful wine. Black and blue fruit, great minerality, tender tannins, wonderfully balanced. Regal texture, just wonderful with my steak tonight. The 06 are drinking wonderfully now. Always a pleasure! — 11 days ago

Somm, Joe and 8 others liked this

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1986

Mary H
9.2

Age is just a number. Still has strong, heady aromas and flavors of apricots, stone fruits though no more tropical notes.after some time, aromas of creme caramel. Powerful backbone of acidity, tempered by flavors of herbs and bitters. Beautiful but with some complexity that comes with maturity. Paired with a slice of basque cheesecake. — 24 days ago

Ron, Billy and 2 others liked this

Produttori del Barbaresco

Barbaresco Nebbiolo 2020

Just wow, deep rich, and also clean and worth every penny and every drop — a month ago

Château Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2007

No formal notes . Medium deep ruby . This seems a bit more advanced . This is a bit harder and more structured on the palate , more tannin , less velvety and a bit more astringent . More spicy , drier on the palate . This needed more time to open . This was quite difficult to judge , I wasn’t 100% convinced about this bottle as it just seemed a little oxidative, however it did actually seemed to come together better after an hour or so , but still quite hard and astringent in comparison to the others (especially La Mission) . Showed a touch more mineral and grafite on the finish too after a while. This needed time , and I would imagine another bottle might tell a different story . — 3 months ago

Anthony, Andrew and 6 others liked this

Opus One

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2012

Medium deep ruby , quite thin garnet rim . Quite a lot of cassis, herbal grafite notes , touch of blackberry , scorched earth , a bit for floral after a while in the glass. On the palate this shows more sweet dark fruit, touch of spicy oak, blackcurrant , dark cherry and cacau . Balanced acidity and sweet slightly grippy tannins , just balanced alcohol . Spicy sweet blackcurrant, grafite tinged finish , decent length. This is still young and quite fruit driven but is enjoyable now with food . Better in 5 years or so and will last well a further 8-10. — 13 days ago

Somm, Rob and 11 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

This is not a knock on anyone or this producer. For 10 years a friend of mine was the Assistant Winemaker at Opus. He is now back in Bordeaux, rebuilt & raised the quality of Clerc Milon. Now is in charge of all Rothschild properties. This is just me thinking out loud. I have been to this property many times and bought a glass of their Cabernet to take to their top deck and take in a spectacular view of the Napa Valley. Enjoyed many of their vintages in those very nice moments. However, knowing the quality of 2012 vintage and their price point, I and I think most expect & want more than a 92 point wine. Which begs the question, how long can they push bottle price with this level of quality? At what point does the quality price ratio kick in? To a bigger picture, how sustainable is the high quality respected producer wine economic model going forward? To me, a fascinating question going forward.
Andrew Cullimore

Andrew Cullimore Premium Badge

Yes @Somm David T , this was actually served blind , the only wine at lunch ..and we had plenty of time to get to know it before the big reveal . I was trying to evaluate the quality in the glass without the distraction of the label, which is always an illuminating experience . It’s a good wine, and went very will with our steaks but it certainly doesn’t represent good value nor is it a stellar example of 2012 . I would be perfectly happy to have it again mind you , as long as I wasn’t paying .

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2007

No formal notes . Medium deep ruby , thinner rim. Quite deep and spicy nose , dark fruits , quite classic . On the palate quite dense , but rounded and suave tannin . Quite dense and meaty after a while , long and really well balanced , good length and a mineral , slate tinged finish. In this flight this was quite obvious as Latour , just the structure and density marked it out . This is a good Latour to enjoy at the moment , the tannin is polished, good freshness and density. No rush however I expect this to continue well for a least another decade , maybe more — 3 months ago

Ron, Anthony and 13 others liked this