The Curve

Château Léoville Barton

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1990

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. — a month ago

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Ron R

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Good notes, mate.
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

@Ron R Hey there! It's been a spell.

Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

Baron de Pichon-Longueville Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1995

1995 vintage. Great fill, foil and label. Perfect cork. From a top-notch cellar. Decanted and tasted over the course of two hours. Volcanic ash-styled sed vs chunky-style. Big funk on the nose that resolved after 7-8 minutes. Wine was showing decently (in the 69-72 degree range) but lacking any tannic structure. Placed the decanter atop an ice bucket bath to drop the temp down to 60 degrees or so. Took about 20 minutes but the tannins kicked in the door to say hello. Fruit components stayed constant. Pauillac tendencies were all there. As is the case often with older BDX, the decaying matter/leaves at the onset transitioned to graphite/lead pencil and espresso flavors. This was a superior bottle in great shape. Top of this wine’s specific bell curve. Comparable bottles would look to be drinking this well for the next 5-7 years without dropoff. Out of larger format…could possibly push this into 9.4 status. 2.5.24. — 9 months ago

Ron, Jan and 17 others liked this
Ron R

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Gonna do a “fly by” one of these days. Buckle up…
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

@Ron R Let me know if you’re headed to SD. E-mail me at: scott@asrestaurant.com
Ron R

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👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

Foppiano Vineyards

Sonoma County Petite Sirah

Matt Austin
9.0

Coming down the curve, but enjoyed by all. Still somewhat tannic, which will outlive the fruit — a year ago

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

2005 vintage. Almost tastes like it could have been released last week. Super youthful with dark berry and plum blasts. Decent structure but not oppressive. Catching this one just below the top of the bell curve. Hopefully, you’ve got more than one bottle kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown. Other-worldly now but methinx it’s about to get even better. Last tasted in mid-June and same score but this bottle was slightly better. Seek this out-now. — 2 years ago

Ericsson and Peter liked this

Pine Ridge Vineyards

Andrus Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

David T
9.3

I purchased this yesterday from an A+ wine storage facility that also sells its clients wine when requested. This has been stored there since its release. I bought this perfect bottle for $35 because it has sentimental value and for $35 bucks…come on!

In a former life, I only drank well made CA Chardonnay. I know it’s hard even for me to imagine, let alone remember & admit it. Now, I hardly drink CA Chardonnay.

My sisters were visiting and they like reds. So I stopped at the former “Wine Club” retail shop in Santa Clara. It was the 1999 Pine Ridge “Stag’s Leap Cabernet” (2x) I bought that started me down the red rabbit hole. The Andrus is as close to that as I’ll get to their Stag’s Leap bottling at this point. Close enough and one of their best. We enjoyed it with Chinese takeout! 😂

This 99 is just and I mean just the other side of its peak bell curve. Still has another 5 years of life left. It is its unbelievable storage that has kept this 99 fresh as it’s not from not an awful vintage, but certainly not a great one, not like 98. Yet, it still shines 25 years later.

The nose reveals dark currants & cassis. Hints of barrel toast. Brambly blackberries, black raspberries, stewy black plum, poached, dark cherries & strawberries, burnt cranberries, black tea, burnt brush, old tobacco w/ ash, old baking spices, baking soda and dark, red, withering florals.

The palate shows; ripe, juicy, brambly blackberries, black raspberries, stewy black plum, poached, dark cherries & strawberries, burnt cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, black tea, mid berry cola, burnt brush, touch of black pepper, softened, dark spice, old tobacco w/ ash, well used leather, baking spices-clove, cinnamon, nutmeg & vanillin, cooked caramel. Some dry sage, baking soda, limestone powder, dry top soil, grey volcanics and dark, red, slightly withering florals set in violets, rainfall acidity with an elegant, juicy, well balanced/structured & still showing nice tension on the finish that lasts two-minutes plus.

I had this corvined over two nights and at the halfway point threw some very chunky sediment.

What a great remembrance!
— 4 months ago

Severn, Andrew and 13 others liked this
Severn Goodwin

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I had the 1995 Andrus Reserve, but no other vintages. It was wonderful if I remember, but seemingly tricky to source, even from the winery. 🤦🏻‍♂️
David T

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I can’t believe I found this one. Truly special.

Blankiet Estate

Paradise Hills Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

2002 vintage. Decanted and tasted over the course of two hours. Great fill. Excellent cork. Heavy body. Initially, just oodles of richness (still!) but after 30 minutes, began to fill in structural details on the back end dossier. First impressions, a 9.3 so things definitely improved. Tasted more like a 2016 or newer vintage-very fresh. Nicely made and seems to be effortlessly gliding along currently. Feel it needs another 4-5 years to kick in the door to "the zone" but in the adjacent zip code currently. Still on the ascent to the top of the bell curve. Be patient. 12.8.23. — a year ago

Ted, Severn and 15 others liked this
Norman Gennaro

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Great to hear. I mixed my Merlots with my Cabs accidentally and those Merlots were shot. Need to try the ones left but not confident. Glad to hear the Cabs are solid

Château Kirwan

Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2010

Outstanding wine. Beautiful aging curve. One of the bargains in BDX. — 2 years ago

Daniel P., Tom and 1 other liked this

Château Latour

Les Forts de Latour Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1982

David T
9.5

HBTM! 🥳 🎉🎂 🎈

WOTN!

Still fresh & youthful. Perfect. Great fill. Still peaking.

Bramble, nicely, fresh fruits of; blackberries, creamy, black raspberries, black plum, plum, dark cherries, hints of blueberries, poached to dry strawberries. Lead pencil for days, dry tobacco, used leather, liquid herbaceous notes, volcanic & limestone marl & grey clay, eucalyptus/pine tar, black licorice, dark spice, touch of black pepper, mushroom, light baking spices, dry top soil, dry river stone, dry stem, well done toast, dry & withering; dark, red, some blue florals framed in lavender & violets, perfect acidity and extremely well; balanced, structured, tensioned, balanced, smarty polished finish that last several minutes finish.

Photos of; Latour and their vine close to the D2, entrance to Chatesu Latour and their barrel room. The cleanest cellar I’ve seen and I have seen most of the wine world.

It’s just the left side of the bell curve. Stored correctly it has another 10 plus years of good drinking.

Robert Parker launched his career calling this vintage correctly upon release when others were not.
— 8 months ago

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Shay A

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Whoa. Nice.

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

1986 vintage. Ripped through six bottles (one corked) for a 1986 BDX dinner @ Mister A's-San Diego. All bottles appropriately aged fill and decent+ corks. Double decanted and tasted over the course of 5 hours. Mix of powdery and stubborn (non-chunky) sed amongst the 6 bottles. Light-medium body throughout. Somewhat muted experience overall. None of the bottles (with variation) shone/sung. Wine is firmly on the downside of the bell curve with best days behind it (based on the 5 + corked bottle examples). There was none of the usual P-L flavor markers but the body hung in there. Pains me to say this but drink up now unless you've got a larger format bottle. Maggie (+) would probably yield a higher score. 3.14.24. — 8 months ago

Paul, Lyle and 8 others liked this
Pinotman /// Andreas

Pinotman /// Andreas

Oh 😥. Sounds like a bust.
David T

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While I respect, own many vintage from them, as well as, one of my favorite non 1st growth producers and love the style of 80’s Bordeaux (82, 86, 89) I don’t believe this vintage from them ever lived up to expectation or critics reviews.
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

@David T To be fair, had a few examples of this particular wine and vintage that ticked off the 9.6 mark for me. Don’t rate anything above a 9.7. When it was at the top of the bell curve and just on either side of that summit, it didn’t suck. Life rolls on.

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2012

2012 vintage. Decanted and tasted after 2 hours and after 3 hours. Seemingly simple nose. Light-medium body. Come together-right now-from start to finish. Cocoa powder, cedar, blueberries, tobacco and graphite all figure prominently throughout. Well-knit and pretty damned close to the top of the bell curve along with the backstage pass in the optimal drinking "zone." Not the biggest Pauillac or vintage but firing on all cylinders. Seems like it'll hold tight in this spot with the wheels crimped to curb and the parking brake on for 7-10 years. Grab you some before it decides to drive away. — 2 years ago

Ray, Ira and 15 others liked this
Ericsson

Ericsson

Love a good GPL.