Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend

Impressed by the showing for the 03. Expected it to be high octane and lacking finesse. The aroma proved me wrong, as measured herbal notes came through. Attack is certainly ripe but oak seems to meet it quite well.

Surprise for a 80
Off-vintage. Sweet core without being raisin-y! Drink it :)

Showing extremely well right now. Plum and cherry liquor with cacao nibs and cigar box. Savory herbs. Generous, velvety palate with some significant structure still showing. A 3 hour double decant helped.

The 2005 Palmer has been absolutely magical both times I have tasted it recently. Still wonderfully deep to the core, the 2005 is dense, packed to the core and luxuriously opulent. Even with all of that intensity, the 2005 remains vibrant. Lush red/purplish berry fruit, rose petal, lavender and sweet spice build into the towering finish. The 2005 is an epic wine that will have no problem reaching its fiftieth birthday. It is a rich, dramatic Margaux that checks all the boxes, and then some. I rated a second bottle even higher. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, April 2021)

This was Cabernet No. 4 in the lineup of 9 tasted blind and my 3rd highest pointed wine of the 8 Cabernets. Dark red with ripe red and black fruits showing the warmth of the vintage Rich, succulent and delicious on the palate of profound intensity. Fluid persistent fine tannins. This will have a very long life. Next in 5 years if I can keep my hands off it. I have 4 left. Maybe one every 5 years for the next 20 years

The 2016 Palmer has a generous, slightly lactic bouquet of opulent red fruit infused with touches of dark chocolate, although it calms down and gains more grace with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and well-judged acidity. Very harmonious, revealing cedar and mint toward the extraordinarily persistent finish. This is another classy, persistent Margaux with a long future ahead. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, August 2020)

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny, almost opaque. Big shoulders in the nose. Complex. Notes of briary brush, raspberry, hickory, pepper and tobacco leaf. Mellow in the mouth, especially when compared to the big nose. Sweeter fruit finish. Took some deductive time with my guess... 82 Margaux which freaked out my friend who brought the bottle. This is in a good place, not sure if it will improve with more age. But it’s in no danger of declining anytime soon.

Very strong showing for 2001. Just the right amount of tertiary notes. Very beautiful cedar box and cigar leaves. Round and textured.

This is still gorgeous and fresh. A lovely savory nose and palate. A whiff of band aid and deep raspberry. Some iodine, leather, dried herbs and an animal depth and salinity. Really spectacular stuff. So nice to not have sweetness and oak but a gorgeous long wine.

Wednesday Wine Committee from this past week. A fantastic hosting by @joe leatherwood . 1 sparkler, 2 whites, 5 reds, 1 dessert wine. All tasted blind as usual.

Possibly in its prime drinking window, and it is gorgeous. Everything about this screams high quality left bank Bordeaux (which is what I called it). It was beautifully perfumed with a mix of potpourri, dried black cherries, blackberries, graphite, saddle leather and herbs de Provence. Perfectly balanced on the palate with dark fruits enveloped in cedar and sweet pipe tobacco. There is a line of ripe purple fruits down the middle accompanied by dust and mocha which is just delicious.