After The Clouds

Spottswoode

Family Estate Grown St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

2005 vintage. From magnum. Tasted after 3 hours open. Light-medium body. Drought earth. Coffee grounds. Espresso crema. Dark plum skins. Drinking excellent but like a Napa cab a decade older. And from a magnum!?!? Was expecting a bit more of a delicate fruit presence. Oh well. It was a full moon. 04.11.25. — 11 days ago

Ted, Austin and 8 others liked this

Château Montrose

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2014

We think something has changed at Montrose after the departure of Jean Bernard Delmas. Its not a bad wine by any means but the style is modern and extracted. At ten years this ie very drinkable and great quality but does not speak to its terroir as it used to. Hope its just one year… — 24 days ago

Jose Roberto Palazzoveronique paillardAdriana Pagliano
with Jose, veronique and 1 other
Adriana, Daniel and 10 others liked this
Jay Kline

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The most recent vintage of Montrose I’ve had was the 2000 vintage but I’ve have enough experience with the estate going back to vintages in the 1960’s. If it has changed, that’s borderline criminal.
Alexandre Pagliano

Alexandre Pagliano Premium Badge

We have same experience, pretty much all vintages from 1966 to 2009. This 2014 is a good wine but little resemblance to our experience in so many vintages. We hope its a one off, but we dont really know. To your point if they changed, well its criminal indeed...

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1985

All leather and cigars at first, and then the fruit showed up after an hour. Delicious. — a month ago

Produttori del Barbaresco

Barbaresco Nebbiolo 2015

Good after sitting for an hour or so, and with food — 2 months ago

Brian Broxson
with Brian
Bobbi Jo, Brian and 1 other liked this

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2009

Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (91.3%) and Merlot (8.7%). A bit tight and unexpressive right out of the bottle. After a 45 minute decant, this wine was awake and very alive. Dark ruby color. Aromas of graphite, forest floor, wet gravel and dark black fruit. Flavors of black currant/cherry/berry/plum, tobacco, baking spices, dark chocolate and minerals. Distinct notes of smoky oak and wet earth on the long and lingering finish. Tannins were a bit lighter than expected at first but developed with aeration. Quite savory, rich, full bodied and powerful. Beautiful texture. Exceptional (once it opened up) but not the bottle of near perfection that I had heard so much about. Thanks for sharing, Petey and Happy Birthday, Kase! — 10 days ago

Austin, DAD and 9 others liked this

Dunn Vineyards

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Cork fell apart but the wine lives! Bought after Tiva’s baby shower, drank with Mr. Eckstein and Dad, the wine is a DEEP dark red, pale brick color to the edges, which needed about an hour or 2 to open up. The nose slowly emerged with ripe red fruits, crunchy ripe plums and cherries, with hints of soil and a little balsamic so far. Full bodied but not HUGE in alcohol, with a loooong palate with great pepper notes, ripe dark fruits, rasberry coulee, dark chocolate and long finish, softened fruits but still good acidity, with tannins just starting to emerge towards the finish and hints of briar and green peppercorn, with slight menthol freshness. This is at its prime right now! — 10 days ago

Clos des Papes

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 2016

Ruby in color with a wide reddish rim.

Red fruits on the nose with light oak, spices, earth, garrigue and chocolates.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with sweet raspberries, black cherries, spices, tobacco leaf, dark chocolates, earth and black pepper.

Nice finish with soft tannins and tangy raspberries.

This 9 year old Grenache blend from Southern Rhone is drinking beautifully now. Powerful, yet elegant. Fruity, rich and smooth.

Still feels very young, and more fruit forward than I expected it to be. Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel. Complex and interesting.

Good right out of the bottle, and better after an hour of airtime. Spicy and entertaining.

This 2016 vintage in the Southern Rhône was exceptional. Will continue to age beautifully over the next 10 years.

A great sipping wine that will also pair nicely with food.

A blend of 60% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah.

14% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$140.
— a month ago

Ted, Tom and 23 others liked this
Tom Casagrande

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Such a good producer.

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 1983

Shay A
9.3

(Two previous 1983 wine reviews never made it on here, so copying from my CT).

Continuing a run of ‘83s over the last 3-6 months, this not only showed quite well, but it was at its best after almost two hours in the bottle. Whereas the ‘83 Pichon was clean and elegant, this was a bit more dense and powerful. Beautifully expressive aromatics of potpourri, espresso, fig and leather with a flavor profile mostly on the red/black fruit side of the spectrum. The mid-palate showed good weight and continued to bulk-up during the evening. Old cherry-tobacco note at the finish. Honestly, this drank like it was more early ‘90s than it was early ‘80s. Good.
— 2 months ago

Scott@Mister, Jan and 34 others liked this

Opus One

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2012

Medium deep ruby , quite thin garnet rim . Quite a lot of cassis, herbal grafite notes , touch of blackberry , scorched earth , a bit for floral after a while in the glass. On the palate this shows more sweet dark fruit, touch of spicy oak, blackcurrant , dark cherry and cacau . Balanced acidity and sweet slightly grippy tannins , just balanced alcohol . Spicy sweet blackcurrant, grafite tinged finish , decent length. This is still young and quite fruit driven but is enjoyable now with food . Better in 5 years or so and will last well a further 8-10. — 18 days ago

Somm, Rob and 11 others liked this
Somm David T

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This is not a knock on anyone or this producer. For 10 years a friend of mine was the Assistant Winemaker at Opus. He is now back in Bordeaux, rebuilt & raised the quality of Clerc Milon. Now is in charge of all Rothschild properties. This is just me thinking out loud. I have been to this property many times and bought a glass of their Cabernet to take to their top deck and take in a spectacular view of the Napa Valley. Enjoyed many of their vintages in those very nice moments. However, knowing the quality of 2012 vintage and their price point, I and I think most expect & want more than a 92 point wine. Which begs the question, how long can they push bottle price with this level of quality? At what point does the quality price ratio kick in? To a bigger picture, how sustainable is the high quality respected producer wine economic model going forward? To me, a fascinating question going forward.
Andrew Cullimore

Andrew Cullimore

Yes @Somm David T , this was actually served blind , the only wine at lunch ..and we had plenty of time to get to know it before the big reveal . I was trying to evaluate the quality in the glass without the distraction of the label, which is always an illuminating experience . It’s a good wine, and went very will with our steaks but it certainly doesn’t represent good value nor is it a stellar example of 2012 . I would be perfectly happy to have it again mind you , as long as I wasn’t paying .

R. López de Heredia

Viña Tondonia Reserva Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2012

Tasting notes during visit to the winery where absolutely everything is done in-house by hand; preserving centuries old winemaking traditions. In the Tondonia offering one can really appreciate the time and patience dedicated to crafting this wine. The wine evolves to a rustic yet graceful profile with strong notes of dark berries with slight oak and dark chocolate. On the palate the wine is bliss, medium bodied, fully integrated, with balanced acidity and a long finish.

The juice is fermented in old large wooden “tinas,” then transferred to American oak barrels (made in house to medium toast specifications), stored underground in their +100 year old cellars for at least a year. After that it is bottled and stored in the same underground cellars and finally released about ten years later. Learning about their curated winemaking process was inspiring.
— a month ago

Andrew, Ira and 15 others liked this
Peter van den Besselaar

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Sweet angel in the wine cabinet