Andrea Watt

9.4

Cherry and oak with a touch of cocoa. Smooth and rich but surprisingly fruity for the age, but it did come out of the magnum. — 2 months ago

Anthony Cammarata Jr.

9.4

What a great refined wine. The 2018 Insignia opens with aromas of dark fruit, florals, and spice. On the palate, blackberry, mocha, and plum come through with a nice texture and tannins. The finish is long, savory, and elegant. Wow! — 10 months ago

with Daniel and Michael

Emanuel Rohss

8.9

Really pleasant — good amt of funk! — 4 years ago

Suneal Vishnupad

9.4

Fruit has started to fade but the leather and tobacco have not fully come in. Still wonderful wine. Probably even better in 5 years — 5 years ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.3

Citrus; finger lime, smoky minerals. Bright, a little bitter and with an interesting saline quality. On the palate this is weightless, flush with beautiful acid, and a texture that is subtle. Hint of marzipan. Not quite the aromatic complexity I was expecting, but maybe that will come with age. — 6 years ago

Kevin Løk

9.1

I’m a fan of this producer and the rosé delivers. Ethereal, nice minerality. Some oak and light vanilla notes come in to round it out. — 6 years ago

with Caroline

Manjiry Tamhane

9.0

This has aged beautifully. Still has the dark fruit flavours but intensified on spice. Great length. Very happy that we have another bottle! — 7 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.6

Slight younger looking , a little more ruby both in the core but still mostly garnet rim.
This is high toned slightly redder fruit , less dense than the preceding 3 . Cherry , red plum , cedar, seaspray . On the palate this is again quite elegant and refined , cherry , red plum some cassis , red plum , cigar box . Not overly weighty with perhaps a little less noticeable tannin than some of the others . Long vibrant , spicy grafite tinged finish . Very elegant , reserved and I suppose very Lafite , this grows during the experience but was actually voted in last place by the group , that somehow doesn’t surprise me, at the end of the day one wine did have to come last, and this was relatively discreet only showing its real breeding and class with time in the glass. Needs time , but is very promising , probably another 5-10 years (as with almost all the others ) , will last well a further 20 if not more . The elegance and style of this wine is fantastic , this really grows in the glass . Had to be Lafite for me . Bronze medal here . — 2 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Medium ruby , with garnet ruby rim . Quite cool spicy cassis , mineral grafite nose . Blackberry , seashell , mineral notes . On the palate good richness with ripe blackberry , cassis and grafite . Lovely ripe , fine tannins and really good freshness . Good grafite , cassis tinged length. Shows a lot of potential , young still , needs time .. come back in 10 years and will last well a further 10 . — 2 years ago

Tom Garland

9.1

2 hour decant (decent chunky/cloudy sediment). A purplish dark magenta color. On the nose: in your face aromas of plum, leather, cedar, currants, floral, mint and smoke. Taste: a smooth, dry, elegant, nicely balanced wine with black fruit, minerals, graphite, black pepper,, and a smokey herb long finish. Give it a few more years to come around, has potential. — 4 years ago

with Brenda

Tom Garland

9.2

3 hour decant(decent chunky/cloudy sediment). Checking in on the hyped 05 vintage! A phenomenal dark ruby garnet color with little signs of aging. On the nose: Nice nose of red fruit, graphite, floral, crushed rocks, cedar, menthol, and toasty vanilla. Taste: smooth, dry full body wine with black fruit, leather, cassis, anise, earth, and a bitter chocolate dry long finish. Still a little austere with some firm tannnis hanging on wanting a few more years to soften. A better score to come???Hopefully!! — 5 years ago

with Brenda

Paul J

9.5

1.5hr decant. Dark red color with brownish hues that shows the wines age. I would say this is just past prime drinking age. Nose contains violets and cedar as I’ve come to expect from Rauzan Segla. Wine has medium depth with nice cherry fruit, but more wood than I recall from prior bottles. Medium finish. One of my favorite producers! — 6 years ago

with Brooke

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

I’ve eyeballed this 05 over the last couple of years...thinking, I should drink this up. One thing about Heitz wines made by the Heitz family is they will age very well. We’ll see what happens to their wines now that they have been sold to corporate owners.

This 05 was pulled from my secondary cabinet storage; which means not EuroCave.

I spent three days sending 200 plus bottles to auction and rearranging my collection. So, this was standing free. Time to drink up, right? Nope. This still has another 5-7 years plus of good drinking ahead even if I laid it down in a dark closet with added humidity. I can, because I live in a cool climate. So, it would be just fine.

The nose reveals, ripe, still fresh fruits of; dark currants, blackberries & black raspberries. Black plum pudding, black cherries, baked strawberries and beautiful blue fruits that always come out nicely in older Heitz wines. Anise to black licorice, steeped dark fruit teas, purple & blue fruit liqueur/cola, limestone minerals, crushed rocks, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel, mocha, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, touch of nutmeg, dark spice, dry & fresh herbs, mint, some soft leather & dry tobacco, graphite notes, dark, rich, black, earth with fresh & withering; dark, red, purple flowers with violets and hints of lavender.

The body is; full, ripe, lush and has beautiful texture. Velvety, dark, tarry, tannins. The tension, structure, length and balance are where I love them...just over the top of the bell curve. This is still so fresh. Dark currants, blackberries & black raspberries. Black plum pudding, black cherries, baked strawberries & rhubarb shine on the long open & palate set with beautiful blue fruits. Anise to black licorice, steeped dark fruit teas, purple & blue fruit liqueur/cola, red licorice, limestone minerals, river stone, crushed rocks, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel, mocha, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, touch of nutmeg, dark spice with just the right amount of palate heat, dry & fresh herbs, mint, some soft leather & dry tobacco, graphite notes, dark, rich, black, earth with fresh & withering; brilliant, dark, red, purple flowers with violets and hints of lavender. The acidity is round and perfect. The long finish is; very well balanced fruit & earth, rich, lush, ripe, elegant, delicious and dances on the palate with long persistence.

It’s a steal today considering I paid $29 in 07/08. Delectable tracks it at $130. Beautiful wine tonight.

Photos of; their tasting bar on Hwy 29, sign and tasting room vines in Saint Helena, tasting room building and sitting area just outside their tasting room. — 7 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.6

2008 vintage. Yeah, some wackoid(s) gave this 100 points. Whatevs. Arrived at 70-72 degrees. Zero chill. Immediately plunged into an ice bath. Used a Durand to open but the über-dry cork just laughed at it and decided to pixelate into small, broken safety glass-styled fragments. Not the sign I was looking for. Here comes the funnel + screen + decanter to save the day. That screen needs a raise come review time. Put the decanter atop the ice bath with a protective serviette between and gave it another 5-6 mins in the chill. Color not quite yellow Chartreuse but pretty close. Tasted at approx 58-59 degrees. Like a trip to the confectionery + bakery. Whoa! Medium/medium-heavy body and this was popping. Splashes and suggestions of fruits, bread products and baking spices without an overriding, final boss. Phenomenal. Can’t give it a Wilt but it did not suck and should drink as such for at least another half-decade. Have had plenty of Marcassin whites and reds and this was the best of the lot. Transcendent. For all that…? 9.6. Soviet…er…Russian judge mode deployed. 3.6.25. — 4 months ago

Michael Aronovici

9.3

A legendary bottle that lived up to its hype. It drank beautifully and I believe can be enjoyed for many years to come. — 2 years ago

with Bruce

Cameron Parry

9.2

Ripe, lush, good balance. Just starting to come into itself. Still has plenty of time left. — 4 years ago

Brendan Baker

9.3

Needed a couple hours of air to come together and best the next day… red cherries and leather, dusty tannin, med + acid, long. A classic for a reason 😋 — 5 years ago

Paco Suro

9.2

Placeholder as just opened but it’s yummy! And it stayed yummy. Fruit upfront. Good on the mid pallet. Great finish. Sadly bottle went empty quickly. Young has decades on it. And probably will come together even more. — 6 years ago

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10

The 1945 Haut-Brion is poured against the legendary 1945 Mouton and might just have come out on top. It is difficult to put this wine into words. Showing modest bricking, it presents a sublime bouquet of vibrant red fruit, warm gravel, wilted rose petals and a hint of earthenware. It is crystalline in terms of definition. The palate follows suit with pitch-perfect acidity, a very slight, refreshing hint of balsamic, and finely chiseled tannins. Beguiling in every way, this is a profound Haut-Brion that is absolutely flawless. Tasted at Koala's 1945 dinner. (Neal Martin, Vinous, May 2020)
— 6 years ago

Victor Hwang

9.2

88 mouton with Keith harding art work. The nose upon opening was sublime. As it decanted and opened, it was a bit disjointed. Has a lot of potential but at this age I think it’s not going to come together. The nose weakened, and the body to finish is a bit jarred. — 7 years ago