1989 Vintage. La Mission Haut Brion - Decanted 2 hours prior to pouring. From Jay. Consumed over the course of the following 2 hours. This wine requires a fair amount of time to open. Little on the nose to commence with but this soon turns to graphite shaving and saddle leather but these notes, unlike the last bottle, did not persist for more than about an hour or so before the fruit completely took over. Very rich notes of baked black cherries and raspberries dominate with hints of aged tobacco leaf and some stewed plums. Across the palate this is pure debauchery. The tannins on this bottle had softened to a much higher degree than the bottle I had last month. The balance was a little more awkward but this simply altered the experience rather than detracting from it. Finish was long, profound, and a true expression of fruit rich elegance extracted in a masterful fashion. 96/100. Drink now to 2035.
— 9 years ago
Tasted with Rich Hartenberger and @Brandon Schwitter of Midnight back in August. Took a bottle home to make sure I liked it under my own supreme focus and not under the spell of Midnight debauchery. ;). I'm still impressed. For 10 year old Pinot, and for Paso, this has aged beautifully. — 8 years ago
Great wine! Beautiful color! — 8 years ago
Thanksgiving debauchery kickoff. — 10 years ago
Mike Saviage
From a gorgeous bottle with 4cm of ullage. Slow-ox'd for 3 hours, then gave it 45 min in a decanter, then back in the bottle for consumption and debauchery over 5 more hours. Reddish tawny with amber rims, translucent. Gorgeous nose from the get go. Notes of raspberry jam, cola, cool slate rock, gravel and tan spice. Silky, velvet glove in the mouth. Has some solid structure that balances the ton of fruit this wine still has. The impact of this wine is both its elegance and the energy in the background that makes each sip memorable. This bottle was even better than the year-ago birthday bottle, and tonight it eclipsed my previous favorite 61 Bordeaux of all time (the 61 Palmer). (Bday 9 of 13) — 4 years ago