Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured. The 2012 pours a deep ruby, with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of blackberries, desiccated cherries, prune, pipe tobacco, new leather, purple flowers, wet rocks, and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+ and quite satisfying. The texture is luxurious. This drinking well now and should continue to do so for a least a few more years but why wait? — 8 months ago

Robertocheese

9.7

Tanning central! a special experiance this is not to be missed the flavour that perculated after 2 sips was spellbounding. Then i was smitten — 2 years ago

Ian Hamel

9.4

A really gorgeous bouquet, with tertiary development but still “on point” with dark and red fruit, meatiness, flowers, etc. It smells like only Northern Rhone syrahs with some age can. The palate went through some phases - it started with lots of black olive, but more fruit and a balancing acidity re-emerged. Not huge and with a certain polish and restraint also. You always wonder what five more years would do, but really, it could be different but hardly better. Had with roast rack of venison with an allspice, clove and wild pepper wine sauce 2020/1/6. — 5 years ago

romo

9.1

When Kermit Lynch tells you to re-visit the islands, you do it. #vermentino #corsicanwine — 6 years ago

David Kline

9.8

Incredible depth of color rim to rim without variation. Inky. Showing slight brick under strong light. Nose of rye toast, tobacco, turned earth, black cherry, oak bark, crumbly roses, dried lavender, and sage. Descriptors do not do justice to the seamless whole of the smells, which are sewn together with espresso and bay leaf, allspice and forest notes. Smooth and silky tannins slip over medium mouthfeel of dried mushroom and graphite, re-emerge as round textural tapestries, filled with candle smoke, dark, rich cherry and ripe black currants. A stunner that needed days of exposure to fully emerge. Enticing and exquisite.




#chateauhautbrion #hautbrion #premiergrandcruclassé #2009 #pessacléognan #graves #bordeaux #leftbankbordeaux #leftbank #grandcruclasséde1855 — a year ago

with Courtney

Paula Strebig

9.0

Bright, bing cherry color, copious legs on the swirl, subtle notes of chocolate covered cherries on the nose. Easy sipping, dry, cherry pits with hints of plum, smooth tannins on the finish. Pleasant wine with Mexican re-do dinner on the lanai with Tim and Kendra — 2 years ago

with Tim

JeremyC

9.3

Loved so much had to re buy which I nvr do. Got over the anger of seeing it at kl after bringing it back from FR. Accidentally prev gave a crappy rating but the wine is stellar, balanced complex and delicious. Actually just bought 3 more btls as KL is fire saling. — 5 years ago

Wulf Losee

9.6

I’m going to leave my original review up, but if you want my final review of the this wine, scroll down to the bottom.

My original rating was 9.1– Pine and a hint of leather on the nose. Currents on the front of the palate. Medium tannic structure—but not much going on on the mid palate. Ends with a lot of tart high notes on the finish. There is a pleasant mineral astringency that lingers after one swallows. I rather like that. I’m going to let this sit for a half an hour to see if the tartness of the finish mellows out a bit. There’s not much here to open up though. this is a perfectly fine wine, but it’s not QC’s best. Slightly disappointed.

Update: after being left in a decanter for an hour and a half (I got distracted) the fruit on the front and the mineral finish faded, leaving the astringency at the back of the palate with tannins that were unable to balance the bitterness. This is a wine that’s best guzzled quickly [at least if you intend to drink the wine today— see my further comments below].

Updated rating, two days later: 9.6!
Oh my! Because this wine didn’t seem very exceptional, I put the remainder in an empty plastic water bottle. I squeezed out most of the air and I capped it and left it for two days. I certainly wasn’t expecting much when I drank it tonight, But it went from OK to fantastic! Bouquet was 100 percent leather. The fruit had faded on the front, but the tannins from front to back are now intriguingly complex. Lots of earth, and mineral notes all along the palate, and the finish is longer. Yummy!

The moral is don’t bother to decant this sucker. Open the bottle, at least 24 hours before you intend to drink it, and do the French thing of pouring off half a glass and then re-corking the bottle. Truly an amazing transformation!
— 2 years ago

Benjamin Hickey

9.3

Grippy, good balance of texture and savoury — 3 years ago

Fernando Figueroa Sánchez

9.4

Frutos negros en sabor y olor. Regusto sabor higo y arándanos. Delicioso, solo eso sí, si no te agradan los vinos salados, este no es tu vino. Los vinos de la Ribera del Guadiana me recuerdan mi visita a Cáceres, la patria de Hernán Cortés, muy ácidos, ideal en un corte como Sirlon o Arrachera. Los vinos europeos no suelen ser tan salados, como los de México o Sudamérica pero éste es riquísimo.


Black fruits in flavor and smell. Incredible taste flavor figs and blueberries. Delicious, only that if you do not like salty wines, this is not your wine. The Ribera del Guadiana wines remind me of my visit to Cáceres, the homeland of Hernán Cortés, very acid, ideal in a cut like Sirlon or Arrachera. European wines are not usually as salty, like those in Mexico or South America but this one is delicious. — 6 years ago