Château Léoville Barton

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1988

9.2

Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.

Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 9 days ago

Pinotman, Tom and 18 others liked this

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 1998

romo

9.2

Though I’m not enthusiastic on this producer, 1998 CdP consistently delivers magic. — a day ago

Shay, Ira and 3 others liked this

Château Pontet-Canet

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2003

Ron Siegel

9.3

This had lots of rich dark berry fruit with notes of graphite, sweet, savory spice, cedar, leather & tobacco — 10 days ago

Shay, Scott@Mister and 7 others liked this

Shay A

Love this ‘03!

Château Montrose

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1989

Doug Powers

9.5

Shows a little bit of funky, faint Brett aromas, flavors are rich, dark-fruited, and more youthful than the ‘86 Mouton which we also opened, long, lingering finish, very fine!! — 3 days ago

with Jim

Tom, Ron and 12 others liked this

Neil Valenzuela

❤️

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1986

Doug Powers

9.5

Initially this was incredibly closed, but after 2 hours in the decanter it’s starting to open, tannic, very structured, very 1986 in its leanness, but incredible depth and length, not perfect, but still outstanding!! — 3 days ago

with Jim

Tom, Ron and 11 others liked this

Bob McDonald

Lean doesn’t sound so good.

Doug Powers

@Bob McDonald, I personally have mostly felt that 1986 Bordeaux reds have always shown super tight and structured, but without the riper, rounder fruit of other vintages like 1982, 1985, 1989 and 1990) — so, my use of “lean” is really intended to convey that the fruit never completely overcomes the harsh tannins and structure. I would say that after a few hours in the decanter, I’d be pretty confident that it will easily last another 10-20 years, or more. Ultimately I like my Bordeaux to show a little more elegance and charm. Hope that helps.

Bob McDonald

@Doug Powers Thanks for your thoughts Doug. I recall Jancis commenting on this wine “wondering if the tannins would ever resolve”. Obviously built for the ultra long haul. I might try my first one in the next year or so.

Château Margaux

Premier Grand Cru Classé Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 1993

Andrew McIntyre

9.4

Elegance, finesse and restraint. Always a pleasure to drink! — 2 days ago

Paul, Dick and 19 others liked this

Jan de Weerd

Wow!

Château Latour

Premier Grand Cru Classé Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1983

Andrew McIntyre

9.5

Birth year Latour for our 700th wine on Delectable! Very mature but still with lots of life. Leather, graphite and earthy notes and still so much power. A great pleasure to drink! — 3 days ago

Paul, Ted and 6 others liked this

Château Gruaud Larose

Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend

Peter van den Besselaar

9.4

Vintage 1995 | Vanilla, forrest wood, true to type, well balanced but also tannins - very good effort — 20 hours ago

Doctor, Jan and 15 others liked this

Tom Casagrande

Yum!

Timothy Lynch

Oh, my! 👍👍👍👍

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 1989

Jeroen Koenen

9.3

Wonderful nose! On the palate… it’s elegant, light, fresh and sinewy, — 6 days ago

Martijn, Peter and 4 others liked this

Château Musar

Bekaa Valley Red Blend

brando cox

9.3

2001 Musar is a great way to start to an amazing week. A delicate blend of Cabernet Savignon, Cinsault and Carignan aged in oak for over a year. At its peak from my cellar - 23 years later it's showing notes of dried cherries, cassis, prunes, some leathery vanilla oakyness. The complexity is off the charts and I'm getting aromas of smokey Tennessee tobacco barn and cherry bramble which is a combo I never imagined I would want so bad. The structure is light and balanced. Silky smooth acidity and fine tannins which is a hallmark of this exquisite wine. — 8 days ago