Open Cluster Cellars

Château Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2000

Medium ruby core , slightly wider garnet rim . Quite open on the nose , spice , tobacco , sous bois , truffle , cassis and blackberry , leather . On the palate quite round and rich , tannins present but more rounded , than the 2005. Cassis , blackberry, grafite , tobacco , slight smoky note . Good balanced acidity , cassis and juicy blackberry notes . Tobacco and mineral tinged finish of good to excellent length . This is showing well now but will continue to improve over the next 5-10 years and show well for a further 10-15. — 2 months ago

Tom, Bob and 10 others liked this

Château Cheval Blanc

St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2015

Needs a good couple of hours to open up to opulent dark fruit with great integration on the palate and velvety tannins. Cheers. — 4 months ago

Ericsson, Peter and 26 others liked this

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2010

It’s was fine. But underwhelming. Perhaps it was not quite ready to open. Decanted and long aeration helped but it’s still lacked the oomph I expect from a Latour. Fruit was mature but less focused than normal. Beautiful color though. — 4 months ago

Bob, Tom and 20 others liked this

Dom Pérignon

Brut Champagne Blend 2004

First night open: 20 year old vintage— chocolate on the nose with a stone fruit finish. Tasted clean and complex with an almost immediate light evaporation in your mouth leaving you with the feeling of bubbles dissolving. Delicious. — 14 days ago

Joel liked this

Chateau Grand Traverse

Whole Cluster Old Mission Peninsula Riesling

Whole clusters used instead of de stemming. Lemony tartness upfront then a mineral finish.- almost a hint of tannins. But not tannins. A different taste for a Riesling — 3 months ago

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1989

1989 vintage. Last tasted 3.28.24, 5.5.23, 4.4.23 and 12.9.22. Solid fill and cork. Recommended decanting but was denied. Mmkay. Eventually got clearance to decant after the bottle had been open for 1.25 hrs. Tasted after being open 5 mins, 45 mins and 2 hrs. Light-medium body throughout. Wine was funky and super tight initially. Had to talk a few of the “participants” down from their “this wine ain’t nothing” perch by telling them it needed at least an hour in the glass (since it hadn’t been decanted at that point). Wine threw expected sed on the decant. Started to loosen up at the 45 mins open stage and fairly exploded at the 2 hrs open (45 mins decanted) point. Dude that didn’t want to decant it gave me a wistful, regretful look at that point (since it blew the other 4 reds at the table away and was getting better) and it took waay too much willpower on my end not to say “Congrats on minimizing a fantastic wine experience, bro.” It wasn’t the best 1989 P-L specimen tasted semi-recently but feel this coulda delved into the 9.4 range without the unnecessary power trip from someone that didn’t even bring this wine to the shindig. Hopefully, this individual learned their lesson. 7.6.24. — 3 months ago

Shay, Ted and 9 others liked this
Norman Gennaro

Norman Gennaro Premium Badge

Can’t imagine declining a decant. Been too lazy to decant and generally regretted.

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2000

Wonderfully balanced wine; deep ruby in color, dark fruit and cedar notes on the palette and perfectly integrated tannins (after 1-2 hours to open!). Moderate acidity with a long fruit-centered finish. This wine is in its prime! — 2 months ago

jesus, Andrew and 9 others liked this

Pierre Gonon

Saint-Joseph Syrah 2016

Shay A
9.4

94-95

My first Gonon StJo…unfortunately, I loved it. Wish these were easier to find at good prices!

At 8yrs, this was so perfumed out of the glass. At 90% whole cluster, it shows typical green/stemmy aromatics but it’s not the dominant note, trending toward green peppercorns, violets/potpurri, olive, and black cherries. Mineral notes, pepper, mix of red and black fruits, mocha, and so much verve on the palate, absolutely buzzing both days. This wine is floral and herbal but with so much power and balanced fruit…kind of a wild-ness to it that I loved. What a beautiful expression of Syrah. Killer.

Day two showed the whole cluster aromatics fade a bit, but it also showed the palate bulk up. So good.
— 2 months ago

David, Jan and 31 others liked this
Shay A

Shay A Influencer Badge Premium Badge

@John Howard : Yes, I buy from all of those regions but the profile of this Gonon was so unique with its ripe fruit alongside the high percentage of whole clusters. Some of the Pax Sonoma Hillsides have shown a similar profile but have been inconsistent.
John Howard

John Howard Influencer Badge

@Shay A oh yeah ok. Got this if you can find it: https://delectable.com/capture/5bb7cefc0225688106000cc5
John Howard

John Howard Influencer Badge

@Shay A this too: https://delectable.com/capture/5b919f42747489a6f200126a

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1995

1995 vintage. Good fill. Excellent cork with minimal saturation. Decanted and throwing a tad extra sediment…a nice mix of chunky and powdery sed. Tasted after 30 minutes and 2 hours open and decanted. Light-medium body. Dark cherry and earth in the nose. These transferred over and slapped on a fudge chocolate note on the finish. In a good place now and not improving. Would seem to hold steady in this standing for another 3-4 years. 6.6.24. — 4 months ago

Lyle, Andrew and 28 others liked this