Ch Neuf Vieux Tele ‘11. Perfection- balanced, nuanced - fulsome yet supple and not cloying. light on its feet, with taste , finish… yes please I’ll have more. Drank 11/19/24 at A Cote, Oaktown — a day ago
1990 vintage. Excellent fill and halfway saturated cork. Used a Durand but surmise a regular waiter's friend, wielded carefully, could have done the trick with the cork. Decanted and tasted after 30 mins, one hour and two hours. Some obvious sed but not troublesome or overtly noticeable. Original owner-château direct on original release. Super cold cellar because this was lagging noticeably behind other '90's and LB's. Bigger tannic structure (for a generally feminine-styled house) than anything save a Latour, Mouton, Ducru Left Bank property. Even more guts than Lynch-Bages or Pichon-Baron '90's currently stored above 55 or so degrees. Surprising but made sense. Light-medium body. Appropriate color. 3-4 years left in this stage unless larger format in play. Slight, fleeting burst of richness in the frontal palate and a tad brickish and then it just flowed on, without speed bumps. A little cocoa powder and cedar/tobacco. Suspect 750ml specimens not stored as cold/religiously will be showing more in the 9.0-9.1 range and farther down the backside of the bell curve. 10.26.24. — 25 days ago
Medium ruby , hint of garnet , slight narrower rim , more garnet hue . Quite mineral , herbal tinged blackcurrant, seaside scents . Slightly aloof and austere, though this improves with time in the decanter . However on the palate this opens up with classic cedar tinged dark fruits , blackcurrant, grafite , sea shell and saline tinged. Complex , complete , classic , grafite and mineral tinged with pretty long length finish . Still slightly grippy tannins but these are well integrated and quite polished , fresh balanced acidity. This shows very well and is just coming into its prime drinking window, this also held up very well in decanter for the 4 hours we had it open , always retaining great freshness and verve. From now and over the next 10 to 15 years perhaps . — 22 days ago
Part of a Chateau Mouton Rothschild vertical from 1988-1990. This was my second time enjoying the 1990 vintage and, much like my previous experience, this was rather quiet early and then came on with the business, late. As before, a mix of red and black cassis, ripe and desiccated cherries, tobacco leaf, cedar box, old leather, damp earth, some mushrooms and baking spices. After two similar experiences, I believe this vintage needs a lot of patience and a lot of air to wake up. Without either, it will be misunderstood. Drink now through 2040+ — 19 days ago
+1 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment). A splendid dark ruby red color. On the nose: Intoxicating/intense nose of black fruit, dark currants, worn leather, forest floor, coffee grounds, minty dark chocolate. Taste: smooth, satiny, structured, balanced wine with chocolate covered brambly blackberry, tobacco, earth, cedar, black pepper, and a herbal licorice long finish. A medium body old world style wine that shows well right now and should continue to provide more years of enjoyable sipping. — 5 days ago
Jay Kline
Double decanted two nights before service. The 2006 pours a deep, slightly hazy garnet color with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with a mix of desiccated fruit and funky umami notes: bruised and desiccated strawberry, red rope licorice, nori, Cherry Dr. Pepper, cracked black pepper and leather. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is forever long and saline; it just hangs around forever. Initially, this came across as bit backward but it really gained power and character the more time it spent in the glass. Drink now with patience and through 2036. — 11 days ago