La Belle France

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2017

Light golden in color.

Beautiful nose of honeydew, apples, honeysuckle, tropical fruits, spices and melons.

Full-bodied with high acidity and long legs.

Sweet on the palate with apples, citrus, mangoes, spices, honeysuckle, herbs, honey and light earth.

Long finish with sweet honey notes.

This delicious 9 year old Sauternes is drinking beautifully now. Complex and interesting. Elegant and fruit forward. Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel.

Feels very fresh, but a bit subdued and earthier right now, compared to other vintages. Will continue to age nicely in the next 40 years.

Loved the nose more than the palate here. So expressive.

Wine Spectator 96 points. Robert Parker 99 points.

A blend of 75% Sémillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. Aged in all new French oak barrels for 24 months. Drank from a 750ml bottle.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

93 points.

$450.
— 6 hours ago

Juan, Rob and 7 others liked this

Jean Foillard

Côte du Py Morgon Gamay 2021

Bright strawberries and rainbow skittles. - at Laurelhurst — 5 days ago

Lyle, Peter and 5 others liked this

Taittinger

Comtes de Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay 2014

Somm David T
9.4

The 2014 was nice. Still needs some additional development. Give another 3-5 yrs.

On SQ11.
— 16 hours ago

Jeroen, Ira and 6 others liked this

Château Léoville Poyferré

Saint Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2009

This had lots of black fruits, spice, licorice, earth, graphite & tobacco — 14 days ago

Sagee, "Odedi" and 13 others liked this

Château Gruaud Larose

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

Delicious with Pat’s grilled steak. Lovely nose, dark fruit and long finish. ($89) — 20 days ago

Jay, Jean-Philip and 2 others liked this

Château Rayas

Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grenache Blend 2010

Jol
9.4

Très puissant bonne année Ouvert depuis la veille — 11 days ago

Joe, David and 5 others liked this

Salon

'S' Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil Brut Chardonnay 2015

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2015 pours a crystal clear, pale straw color with persistent mousse. On the nose, the wine is developing with bright green apple, star fruit, citrus tree blossom, lemon curd and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with high acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is long. This is a baby but there’s already a lot of material here. The texture is extraordinary. Expect a long life ahead. Drink now with maybe a short decant, through 2055. Third tranche. Disgorged September of 2025. — 21 days ago

Zach, Vanessa and 10 others liked this
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

Beautiful purity in this one.

Château Palmer

Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 1983

Medium ruby garnet with quite wide garnet rim . Still quite youthful for age . Aromatic from the off, with red plum , cherry , hedgerow fruit , cigar box , scorched earth , dried flowers . On the palate this is medium bodied , with lots of herbal tinged red fruits , tobacco , grafite, with good volume. Perfectly balanced acidity and suave resolved tannins . Long tobacco edged , red fruit finish . Very detailed and aromatic, no need to decant , really pretty and in a lovely spot though don’t see this improving further, as after about 2 hours this particular bottle starts to fade a little , loosing its aroma and showing a touch of rain water and wet rock hints on the nose, and fading a little on the palate . Drink now and over the next 5 years or so to get the best of this . At Restaurante Fasano , Jardins , São Paulo — a day ago

ESF, Tom and 5 others liked this

Domaine Jean-Louis Chave

Hermitage Syrah 1994

At this point, with this group, a Legends dinner simply wouldn’t be appropriate without at least one bottle of Chave Hermitage.

Opened about 90min prior to service; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 1994 Hermitage pours a slightly hazy garnet with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with perfumed notes of dried brambles, dried blueberry, dried purple flowers, black olive, mushroom, espresso, leather, stony earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and slightly sanguine. Delicious with the 5 Spice Cured Duck prepared with marinated Bing cherries, crispy shallot and Olathe corn polenta. It was such a pleasure to taste the ‘94 Chave next to the ‘85 Gentaz. Two Northern Rhône Legends working with their respective terroirs. Where the Gentaz was all about the aromatics of Côte Rôtie, the Chave was brought more of the power from the Hill of Hermitage. Drink now through 2056.
— 17 days ago

Andrew, Bob and 12 others liked this
Peter Sultan

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Damn… I feel like your chef should also get top star billing in your review!!😉😜@Jay Kline
Lyle Fass

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When I was in JL’s cellar and he asked me what vintage to pick I picked this.
Somm David T

Somm David T Influencer Badge

Boo-ya

Château Léoville-Las Cases

Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2022

Bomb ass wine!!! Explosive, so so good. Floral, fruity, everything you could want out of a great Bordeaux. Had over lunch after work with dad and Marcello (grandpa and Gina in attendance) — 5 days ago

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1981

45 years on, and still singing. Our friends’ wedding anniversary year. Classic tertiary Saint-Julien: cedar, forest floor, dried cherry, tobacco, pencil shavings — fruit fully resolved into savory complexity. Silky, perfumed, no rough edges. Need time to breathe for nose to be appealing. — 15 days ago

Dave liked this

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1995

Medium deep garnet ruby with a narrow garnet rim . Dusty grafite , cedar and cassis , currants , oyster shell , quite deep and classic . On the palate this is quite dense and tannic still , deep dark cassis , herbal tinged cedar and very grafite tinged on the finish . Fresh acidity , but still good mid palate richness and even though the tannins are quite dry and grippy , this is well balanced and relatively generous . Good length on the classic grafite , oyster shell tinged finish. This didn’t need a lot of decanting time to show well , though it certainly changes and improves with time in the glass . Classic in style , but still quite generous for Latour , this is just reaching its drinking window , will continue at this level for another 5-10 years at least and probably more. — a month ago

Jeroen, Sagee and 17 others liked this

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2008

Somm David T
9.2

Better with the Rib-cap. The 08 vintage was spotty to good. This one shows the shortcomings of the 08 vintage. Really good fruit, but lacks typical, depth, mid palate, and length.

The nose is class Bordeaux.Ripe to ruby fruits of, black plum skin, slightly syrupy blackberries, plum, dark cherry liqueur, strawberries, dark currants. Dark chocolate cake with glaze, screaming, lead pencil shavings, tobacco, leather, dry riverstone, limestone marl, forest floor with dry leaves, soft, incense, black, licorice, red, cola, dry herbs, tomato, leaf, with dark and red flowers, framed in violets.

The palate is ripe to ruby fruits of, black plum skin, slightly syrupy blackberries, plum, dark cherry liqueur, strawberries, dark currants. Dark chocolate cake with glaze, screaming, lead pencil shavings, deep, dark spice that expands wide, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, caramel and vanillin, dry tobacco with ash, leather, dry riverstone, limestone marl, dry crushed rocks, forest floor with dry leaves, moist clays, soft, incense, black, licorice, red, cola, savory dry herbs, tomato leaf, dry oak barrel shaving to cedar with dark and red flowers, framed in violets, acidity is ok, just not right, finish is good, not great, it falls hard on spice and is short of a minute.

93 with the Rib-cap. Green Bean from my organic gsrden. Drink now through 2035.
— 8 days ago

Jay, Rick and 12 others liked this

Dom Pérignon

Brut Champagne Blend 2006

jesus g
10

a 3L absolute rocket — 9 days ago

Dave, Doug and 12 others liked this

Domaine Auguste Clape

Cornas Syrah 1989

Initially this shows just a trace of threshold level TCA (?), iodine, raw meat, some smoke aromas as well, rich and complex, seems a little more refined that the 1990 Sorrel Hermitage “Le Greal”, but without the incredible depth and sheer power of that wine, another great northern Rhone Syrah!! — 21 days ago

Jim Powers
with Jim
Dave, Zach and 8 others liked this
Ira Schwartz

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@Doug Powers I love this wine but stopped buying it because of so many off bottles.
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

@Ira Schwartz, it is SO frustrating that a domaine this great uses crap-ass corks, which was confirmed 37 years AFTER the vintage!!!

Château Pontet-Canet

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2005

What can I say, I absolutely love this wine. — 9 days ago

Domaine Tempier

Bandol Rosé Blend 2024

Ki Punwar
9.3

Tempier rose never disappoints. Paired with Salmon and Caesar salad — 15 days ago

Lyle liked this

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1962

Tired but jammy dried fruit, rubber, BS, violets, rose.
Cherry, pomegranate, red current, nice acid and body. Beautiful!
— 23 days ago

David liked this