Out Of The Box

Château Cheval Blanc

St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 1981

I never would have anticipated drinking my birth year of Cheval Blanc out of a Solo cup yet, here we are. The ‘81 is ruddy still; deep garnet color with some browning towards the rim and loads of sediment. The nose shows some of the telltale green-ness of vintage but everything has found harmony: the fruit has blossomed and structure has integrated. Dark fruited with tobacco, dried purple flowers, mushrooms, herbs and soft eastern spices. Charming! No particular rush to drink these but lovely now. — 9 hours ago

Douglas, Andrew and 8 others liked this
Peter Sultan

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Are you following the script of Sideways?@Jay Kline
Jay Kline

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@Peter van den Besselaar lol, because it’s all we had with us!
Jay Kline

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@Peter Sultan definitely has to channel my inner Miles

Bodegas Faustino

Gran Reserva Faustino I Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2012

Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish rim.

Strong nose with blue and red fruits.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate and easy drinking.

Showing raspberries, blueberries, black plums, cooked cherries, spices, light oak, licorice, tobacco, herbs, light earth, dried tomatoes, chocolates and black pepper.

Medium plus in finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This Gran Reserva from Rioja is always a good choice. Showing nice complexity with a smooth mouthfeel.

Rich and elegant with good balance.

Drinks very young right now, and will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years.

Needs an hour to open up, but good right out of the bottle too.

I've had many different vintages of this wine, and it always delivers. My favorite so far was the 2004.

14% alcohol by volume.

90 points.

$30.
— 3 months ago

Douglas, Ted and 17 others liked this
Peter van den Besselaar

Peter van den Besselaar Influencer Badge

Nice. 2004 was excellent in Rioja.

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

1986 vintage, Above average fill. Excellent cork with bottom quarter fully saturated. Decanted with respectable sed. Dark cherry skins color. Tasted after 15 mins. Light-medium body. Nose the usual aged/faintly cigar box intro. Flavors melded together nicely but ever so slightly tart. Delicate, long finish. Thinking the tartness would buff out after 45 minutes open but no chance to prove that theorem. 6.1.24. — 4 months ago

Ted, Jan and 23 others liked this

Château Léoville-Las Cases

Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

Bright ruby garnet with quite narrow garnet rim . Quite closed at first with mineral , cassis , sous bois , cigar box , touch of smoke . On the palate very intense with lots of cigar box tinged cassis , blackberry , cedar , coffee. Gritty but integrated tannins , fresh acidity . Very long and complex on the finish . This is still young but is starting to show what it can do , perfectly balanced and enormously long . Precise and for Las Cases very elegant . Now and for the next 10-15 years . — 24 days ago

Jeroen, Tom and 16 others liked this

Caymus Vineyards

Special Selection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

One of my favorites! Opened one at home to celebrate the new job and love it. Definitely best out of the cellar but second and third glass were still better than my usual. — 3 months ago

"Odedi" and Jacqui liked this
Jacqui

Jacqui

Ohhhh! I like this one too!

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2004

2 hour decant(decent chunky sediment). A stunning dark crimson color with little bricking. On the nose: expressive perfumed notes of dark red fruit, creme de cassis, mushrooms, floral, touch of stewed meat and cigar box. Taste: velvety, classy, fresh wine with red fruit, minerals, herbal, earth, pencil lead and a nice peppery cedar/leather medium plus finish. Sure, maybe not the depth/concentration of a classic vintage, but I can sniff/sip this wine all night. YUM! Happy Father's day to me. — 3 months ago

Brenda Terzich-Garland
with Brenda
Brenda, Steve and 19 others liked this

Spottswoode

Family Estate Grown St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon 1997

What a treat opening this 27 year old Napa Valley Spottswoode Cabernet! A deep purple garnet color with some bricking. Nose - dark fruit and wet forest floor initially standout followed by subtle notes of blueberry dark chocolate, fennel and a touch of tobacco & spearmint. Taste - cherry and dark plum stand out giving it a luscious smooth feel. Well integrated with secondary notes of dark soil, crushed rock, espresso, cedar and a medium finish — 4 months ago

Leslie PiersonKarin BlazonaJill Young
with Leslie, Karin and 1 other
Tom, Shay and 11 others liked this

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend

Elegant and right in the window. Cigar box and a hint of chocolate. Well balanced and very pleasant. A tinge of dryness on the long finish. — 2 months ago

Michael AronoviciDavid Stein
with Michael and David
LM liked this

Château Lynch-Bages

Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2015

Hmm. 🤔 wasn’t able to connect with this, expectingly great wine. Actually first direct out of the bottle it was promising. Strong oak notes with vibrant dark red fruit underneath it. But over the next hour, the oak flavors started to be integrated more but the acidity became very prominent and made the wine rather single note, diluted, lacking depth, acidic tasting. So needless to say. Disappointing experience. Maybe it was not the right day 🤔. — 3 months ago

Tammy de Weerd
with Tammy
Ted, Ira and 6 others liked this
Andrew McIntyre

Andrew McIntyre

Having this tonight...hope I have a better experience!

Dunn Vineyards

Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1997

Takes the reins as best ever Dunn Cabernet for me…needed 45 mins out of Magnum, nose all Bordeaux of cedar and cigar box with a touch of cassis. Velvety palate, layers of red cherry and chocolate espresso bean, long, long finish. Find and drink now if you can. — 4 months ago

Jeroen, Ira and 26 others liked this
Norman Gennaro

Norman Gennaro Premium Badge

Best ever - nice to hear