Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1999 vintage. Decanted and tasted after four hours. Medium/heavy body. Intense, dark color. Earthy, tannic nose. Plenty of grip and fruit and showing beautiful balance now. Not an Insignia fan but this was excellent and has plenty of quality time left. No rush to crush. 71% Cab, 21% Merlot, 6% PV, 1% Cab Franc, 1% Malbec. 3.5.24. — 2 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.5

Golden Lemon colour . Rich nose , vanilla lemon tart , toasted nuts, touch of butter . Persistent and rich , ripe lemon , candied peel, orange rind , yellow fruit , quite creamy . Good acidity, lovely balance , rich though still mineral on the finish, structured. From now , though absolutely no rush , probably even better in 5 - 8 years, will last another 10 years. — 9 months ago

Elizabeth

8.9

Honey lemon, fresh lime, a bit of mineral and sea on the nose, on the palate it’s got oak, butter, ripe lemons, blood oranges, nice acidity rush, watery finish. Refreshing and not heavy, good balance of oak and freshness. — a year ago

Alexandre Pagliano

9.2

Blackish purple robe, nose of cigar box, asphalt, blackcurrant and a hint of black pepper and spices. Medium bodied and very velvety, good length. Ready now but no rush. A really good bottle from a vintage we dont particularly like. — 2 years ago

with Adriana

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9.5

Rich and explosive from the get-go, all the elements of the 2021 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Francia are massively dialed up. Black cherry, plum, incense, licorice, mocha and sage all rush from the glass. Dynamic and vibrant to the core, the 2021 is seriously impressive. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, January 2024)
— 4 months ago

Alexandre Pagliano

9.4

Dark ruby robe, showing some bricking at the rim. Nose of cedarwood, top soil notes, cassis, asian spices. Oh so good in the mouth, in spite the very tannins of the vintage. Starting to open up, will probably get even better in another 5 years or so, no rush but already very very enjoyable now. Great bottle and we loved it.
— 10 months ago

Byron Fuller

9.4

Stunning. I often find I prefer LdH reasonably younger (GRs at the 10-15 year mark). This was vigorous, gorgeous, and very fine. Tiny bit of bricking but really still dark-core garnet color right on pour. Lovely nose of warm red fruit, flowers, that iconic snap of VA, and some forest floor action. But much less mushroomy & evolved than many other 70s GRs from the same house. Haunting, long palate true to nose— structured, crunchy fruit with no hard edges. Exceptionally long & evolving the whole time. All in all this has decades ahead and is evolving slowly and marvelously. No rush to drink up just to drink. — a year ago

George Spencer

9.2

No rush, but in a nice spot now. — 6 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

8.9

1966 vintage. Last tasted 9.20.23. That bottle was a little "chunkier." This one was more refined. Decanted and tasted nearly immediately and throughout a 2 hour window. Throwing the expected kitchen sink's worth of sed. Color initially seemed lighter, like 30+ year old red Burg but ended up being a tad darker than that. Light-medium body. Earth, summer dirt and Valrhona chocolate in the nose. All this plus dried cherries in the frontal palate finish. Not much to speak of on the back end. Rated that 9.20.23 bottle an 8.8 and this is slightly better. Still...a definite rush to crush this. 11.11.23. — 6 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.7

1982 vintage. Wow. Where to begin? Decanted with the cork holding up extremely well (used a Durand). Throwing an absolute ton of sed so took about 4 minutes to decant properly. Plenty of color. Tasted 2 hrs, 3 hrs and 4 hrs after decant. Nose a little reticent the first foray but plenty of damp earth, elderberry showing up later. Then the graphite came in huge along with lesser, second-hand smoke/tobacco aromas. An addition of a remarkable freshness of both watercress and dill in the last few tastes. Light-medium body. Have tasted a few tired, big-boy '82's. This ain't one of them. This remarkable bottle did nothing to alter my opinion that I'd rather have a bottle of La Mission Haut Brion than any-including (just barely) Château Haut-Brion-first growth in the same vintage. Doesn't get much better and this one has plenty of time remaining. No rush to crush. Thank you, Dermott! 3.12.23 — a year ago