Roberto Carli

9.2

It leads with black olives, then a touch of brett but pleasant, purple flowers, and a good amount of stony minerality. Very quintessential Syrah. A little bit of bacon fat and smoke. On the palate the body is light. Tannins are moderate and fine and it brightens up the profile with good acidity even though the finish is not very long. It's very clear what they're trying to do and they're achieving it here. — 8 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

4th wine . medium deep ruby garnet , thinner garnet rim . Quite deep and serious again , spicy with more cassis , touch smoky , mineral with touches of dry spice and cool sea breeze . On the palate this again has more grip a touch more mid palate , quite masculine in style, cassis , tobacco , grafite and resonable length. Polished and quite suave in style , more intensity and density than the others , more generous too. Probably better in 5 years and will last well a further 10. Guessed Mouton on this one . — 4 days ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Presented to me double-blind. The wine pours a deep garnet with an opaque core and some rim variation; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and signs of sediment. On the nose the wine is vinous with notes of cassis, blackberry, black plum, tobacco, menthol, leather, and mix of cool and warm spices. On the palate the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This is really delicious.

Initial conclusions: this could be a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend or other Bordeaux-styled blend or a Tempranillo based blend from the United States, France or Spain. This saw French oak so I eliminated Spain. I thought the fruit was outshining the structure…so I liked the USA over France. And, based off the appearance, I thought this probably had 30+ years of age. Final conclusion: this is a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend from the United States, from California, Napa, Rutherford; 1994. Ugh…the 1990 vintage in Bordeaux has bit me twice now recently. Really awesome stuff! Drink now through 2040+. — 2 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Medium ruby garnet, quite thin garnet terracotta rim . Quite rich , with ripe red fruits , some tobacco , warm spiciness , cigar box , ripe cassis , sous bois , after a while touch of coffee. On the palate this also shows good roundness with ripe red and dark fruits, cassis , red plum , grafite , touch of earthiness . Balanced acidity and rounded sweet tannin . Quite juicy with a grafite edged finish . Pretty good length. This is at peak now . For now and over the next 5 -8 years. Quite generous and showy , ripe but balanced, a good showing. — 5 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

1st wine. Medium garnet with quite thin , garnet rim . Some herbal touches , with earthy terracotta note , touches of dry spices, grafite . On the palate this has good freshness and of tobacco and earthy cassis , quite grippy, dry tannin. A bit foursquare , but quite good length and balance . This probably needs a bit more time , 5 -8 years and will last well a further decade . Had this down as the Haut Brion. — 4 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

5th wine . medium deep ruby , touch more garnet . Slightly wider rim . Quite cool and mineral again , more grafite with some cool cassis , blackberry. On the palate this is slightly lighter in body , leaner perhaps but very elegant , fresh and quite saline, tobacco , grafite and herbal tinges on the finish . Reasonable saline length. Fine lightly grippy tannins , good acidity . This is showing quite well though would perhaps benefit from a few more years . Better in 3-5 years and drink well a further 7- 10 . The next day this actually shows a little better , elegant and refined, nothing showy , very Lafite , so I’m glad I guessed this correctly ! Overall this was a very interesting tasting , there is nothing showy or remarkable about the 2006 1st growths , they are quite classic and also showing quite a lot of structure still , with good freshness though they perhaps lack a little stuffing and intensity . They were quite even quality wise, with the high points being the Mouton (though the Lafite improved the following day to upgrade its score and draw level ) and the low point being a relatively disappointing Margaux . The vintage will continue to improve over the next 5 perhaps 10 years in general , though they may always just lack a little density and excitement . — 4 days ago

David Kline

9.5

Rim to rim no waver. Slightest bricking. Nose of earth, chocolate, cedar, violet. Palate showing grainy tannins and bing cherry shrouded in black currant with red currant emergent. Black mushrooms have a showy cameo with a chocolate-tobacco high kick. The wine is slightly green and just slightly aggressive though thoroughly enjoyable in every sense. Give this one a couple more years, even if most 10s are showing. Enormous energy with black cherry riding out the sunset.

#ChsteauCosdEstournel #cosdestournel #SaintEstéphe #leftbank #bordeauxrouge #bordeaux #deuxiemecru — 5 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

2nd wine . Medium garnet ruby, thin garnet rim . Quite serious and mineral , more grafite and , tobacco , seaside scents , spice . Quite cool and elegant in the mouth , sweeter tannin though quite dense still on the palate . Cassis , grafite , cocoa and tobacco finish . Quite rich , good length , spiced finish. This is quite refined and elegant , well balanced freshness , if rounder , more plump than the others (alcohol perhaps ? This is 14,5% but it doesn’t stick out ). Again quite young , needs another 5 years and will last a further 10 or so . Had this down as the Margaux ! — 4 days ago

"Odedi"

9.2

Ruby in color with a wide purplish rim, and medium plus intensity.

Pretty nose of black fruits with cedar, vanilla, chocolates, mediterranean spices, eucalyptus, tobacco, herbs and black pepper.

Medium plus in body and smooth, with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with black currants, blueberries, blackberries, cooked plums, cedar, tobacco leaf, light earth, herbs, chocolates, spices and peppercorn.

Nice length on the finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This is a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. Fruit forward and elegant. Spicy and entertaining.

Good right out of the bottle and better with airtime.

Complex and engaging, with a soft mouthfeel. Really enjoyed the nose here.

This 5 year old Cabernet based Bordeaux blend is already drinking beautifully, and will continue to age nicely in the next 7 to 10 years.

I've had a few different vintages of this Cabernet and it is very consistent.

Wine Enthusiasts 92 points.

Good by itself as a sipping wine, or with food.

A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc and 6% Merlot. Aged in (50% new) French Oak barrels for 22 months.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$55. — 2 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

Pretty deep ruby garnet , medium wide garnet rim . Aromatic and really classic with a mix or red and dark fruits , tobacco , grafite and cedar . On the palate this is quite linear , again with the red and dark fruits from the nose, cedar and grafite and quite rounded resolved tannins . Fresh acidity , good cedar with grafite length , very classic in style . Enough density and fruit to cover the rest of the structure. In a perfect place now at least in this format , and probably will be over the next 10 years . This was from an Imperial , at BBR in London . — 3 months ago