Jay Kline

9.4

Presented double-blind. The wine pours a light straw color with medium viscosity and no signs of particles or gas. On the nose, the wine is developing with tart and ripe notes of apple, pear, underripe pineapple, lemon curd, nuts and minerals. I felt like there was some deft use of oak. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+, bordering on high acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and chocked full of minerals. My immediate impression was Bourgogne Blanc and I was having a hard time getting away from it. So I called Chardonnay, from France, Burgundy, Chassagne-Montrachet with 3-5 years of age. Gosh dammit! Margaret River strikes again!!! Blind, I always seem to call these Chablis or some other high quality white Burg. And I adore the Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnays. They always impress me. Drink now through 2036. — 12 days ago

Beth Petros

8.9

Very good blend for a good cause! Delicious fruit bomb 😊 — 4 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

2011 vintage. Decanted with some sed and tasted after 1 hour. Bigg structure with plenty of tobacco, underbrush and dark fruit. A complex kid. Lots of moving parts but really unified currently and moving towards a common goal. Total BDX ringer in a pricey blind. This has miles to go. 8.2.24. — 6 months ago

Shay A

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 9 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.2

No formal notes . medium deep ruby , medium bright ruby rim. Quite spicy a little oak noticeable at first . Mixed dark fruits . A bit more round and juicy on the palate , good acidity , slightly grippy but polished tannins . This becomes a bit more restrained and reserved after a while. Served blind , I actually put this as Haut Brion , due to its generous personality, and polished tannins. Overall showed well in the flight was my top wine (though the Cheval Blanc may well be better in absolute terms) . Can be enjoyed now , though has the substance to last a further decade or so, a good showing for the Mouton. — 16 hours ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Served to me double-blind. The wine appears a deep garnet color, moving to a slight orange rim and a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of ripe and desiccated black and red fruits: cassis, mixed bramble fruit, tobacco, earth, graphite, the smell of an old Library with rich wood and leather-bound books. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. I called Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend from France, Bordeaux, Left Bank, Pauillac, 2000. Wow! This is about as classy as they come. Beautiful showing. Loads of structure. Impressively youthful. Drink now through 2040. — a month ago

Ludovic Anacleto

9.3

I love this vintage now. Cedar, camphor and pine as well as dry roses and pot pourri. Long finish full of elegance. The marker of Pauillac for me is blood sausage/iron/cured meat and here it was just exploding. Great bottle, classic, perfect for a blind tasting. — 8 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.4

No formal notes . Pretty deep Amber , copper colour . Intense marmalade , saffron , creme caramel . Rich on the palate with rich marmalade , saffron notes . Good acidity , but rich. Good length . This is drinkable now and shows quite an advanced colour , though due to its richness will probably carry on delivering for another 20 years , perhaps longer .

This was a rather fascinating evening put together by our incredibly generous host. All 2007 reds were served blind in two flights: 1st Mouton, Haut Brion, Cheval Blanc , La Mission Haut Brion then Latour , Lafite , Petrus and Margaux . Overall the wines showed well , and were mostly enjoyable to drink now , though there is no rush . This somewhat maligned vintage can give a lot of enjoyment in the right environment, I certainly wouldn’t hold back from opening or purchasing any of these wines . They mostly show good density of fruit , personality and elegance , with good freshness. These are not powerful wines , and at times perhaps the fruit can be a little cooler or greener but I was pleasantly surprised by the way they performed , just goes to show you should never write off a vintage without trying the wines ! — 16 hours ago

Joe Weinberger

9.5

Tasted blind. Everyone was at least 5-10 years off. Hard to believe a 1986 could taste so fresh. Library release. — 9 months ago

Tyler Felous

9.5

Slight bricking. Nose is somewhat muted. So much rose and dark cherry. Really brooding. A classic Barolo. BYOB blind Italy theme — 6 months ago