Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2022 vintage. A heady mix of opulent and juicy overseen by recalcitrant acidity. Heavy body. Vineyards: Little Bit, Seashell, Ladybug and Good Hand. Heritage Shot Wente clone. 1.574 cases made. 11.15.24. — a month ago

Ericsson

9.5

Needs a good couple of hours to open up to opulent dark fruit with great integration on the palate and velvety tannins. Cheers. — 6 months ago

Andrew McIntyre

9.5

Massive monster of a wine that will obviously polarise. The type of wine that you drink while being fed grapes and fanned with a giant palm leaf. Opulent and luxurious with blackberry, brambles and tar. Its going to be too much for a lot of people but if you like your wines full of flavour then this is for you! — 9 months ago

Aaron Tan

9.3

“Perfectly rounded” was what first came to mind when I drank this. Rich and opulent, yet incredibly seamless. Even in its youth, the mealy and creamy vanilla oak character did not feel out of place, especially against the preserve-like fruits ranging from lemons to apricots. Expectedly long with a dense glycerol-like texture, savoury finish, and energising acidity. Not typically a style that I’d rave about, but credit where credit’s due, the concentration, texture, and oak quality were all remarkable. CW even went so far to say that it was Monty-like, and I’m certain he isn’t the first nor last person to make such a claim. However, we too noted that the warmth and lack of verticality in structure was a dead giveaway of its Napa origin. A contemplative wine of great presence at this point, but probably needs another decade or more to be truly digestible. — 2 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Big 18 sunshine nose. Violets, mulch and spice. Some nice sweet wood as well. But just enormous spice. Very Fruh. Palate is so elegant and full of violets and wonderful inner mouth florals. Really nice opulent texture and just floats. Let’s see what air does. After air this gets more linear and gains edge and energy. Really different now than when it was p and p. — 2 months ago

Delectable Wine

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9.2

The 2004 Léoville Barton is less opulent on the nose than the Langoa but offers a little more refinement and terroir expression. A touch of seaweed develops with time. The palate is fresh on the entry. It is one of the most saline Léoville Barton that gets the saliva flowing. It is classic old-school Anthony Barton with a judicious dab of black pepper and menthol furnishing the finish. Excellent. (Neal Martin, Vinous, June 2024)
— 6 months ago

Mike Lev

9.3

Opulent fruit, soft tannins, fragrant anise, rosemary, sage, toasty notes. Very good. #garagiste — a year ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Opulent styled Pomerol, silky tannins showing berry, plum fruit with mocha, licorice & tobacco — 3 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.7

At my 2015 Chardonnay Challenge the Giaconda was a consensus 3rd. Easily the most smoky, sulphidic, struck match of the 6 wines. I loved it. On the palate a powerful wine. Opulent. This wine is becoming difficult to source and sells out in a flash upon release. — 3 months ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.4

A brilliant vintage for this. Honeyed apricots, limestone, baked apple, honeysuckle, so aromatic and ripe but also tense and mineral. Palate is ripe, rich and honeyed but has dazzling purity and freshness and a nougat character to the wine. Mouthwatering and perfectly balanced. Brilliant! As this airs it’s getting much more grip and structure. Really dense and mineral but also honeyed and opulent. Multifaceted. — 2 years ago