Dark ruby/ inky in color with a short purple rim.
Red and black fruits on the nose with cedar, chocolates, spices, tobacco, coffee and black pepper.
Full-bodied and elegant with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry on the palate with sweet raspberries, cherries, black currants, black plums, cedar, licorice, chocolates, herbs, coffee, light earth, spices, tobacco leaf and light pencil lead.
Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.
This young Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Napa Valley is starting to drink beautifully now. Rich and easy drinking.
Fruit forward and complex, soft and smooth. Spicy and entertaining, powerful yet refined. Showing good balance albeit a little hot at the back of the throat, at this point.
Will continue to age nicely in the next 15 to 20 years and shows good potential to become a 94+ point wine.
A great sipping wine that will also pair nicely with food.
A blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot.
15% alcohol by volume.
92 points.
$250. — 11 days ago



Surprisingly good for a waek vintage — 2 days ago



It is time for my #FridayCabernetfix.
Dark ruby in color with a purple rim.
Beautiful nose and medium plus in body with medium plus acidity.
Dry on the palate with nice complexity.
Showing red and black fruits with cedar, licorice, chocolates, herbs, light earth, spices, tobacco leaf, dark coffee and light green vegetables.
Spicy finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.
This iconic Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Santa Cruz Mountains in California is still very young, but already delicious, even by itself.
Needs a few hours to open up properly, and will continue to age nicely in the next 30 years. Showing good potential to become a 95+ point wine.
A great sipping wine that paired beautifully with my Lamb chops.
A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Aged in American oak barrels for 20 months.
13.8% alcohol by volume.
92 points.
$300. — a month ago
Medium deep ruby garnet with a quite wide medium garnet rim . This has quite an open personality with cigar box , earth , grafite and cedar and some spicy cassis underneath. Showing maturity and quite classic in style. On the palate suave and polished , with resolved fine tannins . There is good depth with some sous bois , but mostly mixed summer fruits , earthy dark cherry and grafite. Good length , perfectly balanced alcohol, and lovely salivating freshness . This grows in the glass , showing more facets , at a great moment , without the need for an extended decant . After a while this become a touches more smoky , hints of soy sauce , violet and sea spray. Grafite tinged saline finish . Perfect now , though no rush , best over the next 5-8 years . At Hawksmoor , Liverpool , 26th July . — 10 days ago
A perfect wine. Balanced and complex. A gorgeous first hit of plum with a hint of cherry. So broad fruit at first but then settles on the tongue with a noise terror of tannin. No bitterness just smooth and lovely. Girgeous wine. 2010 vintage gift bottle from Donna and Anders — 4 days ago
Served this 2005 Leoville Barton and a 2000 Lagrange for a group dinner. Both fantastic, very similar. — 14 hours ago
Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2018 “S” pours a slightly hazy garnet/purple color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of pomegranate, cranberry, strawberry, licorice, purple flowers, green herbs and crushed rock. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is medium+. I love me some Lapierre. Drink now through 2038. — 20 days ago


21 years in the making. — 13 days ago
Delicious @caymus with wife m. The bartender Steve let me know that this is what 90% of people come in for and it’s incredible. Super smooth. — 18 days ago
At Tutto Sag Harbor — 23 days ago
1/2 hour decant(decent fine sediment). A striking dark ruby red with bricking. On the nose: Captivating notes of dark fruit, forest floor, worn leather, mushroom, cigar, smoked meat, some bandaid(brett). Taste: silky, classic, elegant wine with dried red berries, currants, tobacco, saline, minerals and a cedar graphite long dry finish. YUM! What a thrill to drink tonight! — 4 days ago

I recently had a conversation with a few Joseph Phelps Ambassador’s at Pebble Beach Food & Wine in April. I said, I had every vintage of Insignia back to 2006 in storage. They said, “you should really drink up the 2006.” So, I coravined an 06 last weekend, a taste. I agreed then. But tonight not the case, it shows it still has a fair amount of life. Another 5-8 yrs and perhaps plus.
My Ribcap, a definition of Medium Rare Plus.
The nose reveals floral; blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, poached strawberries, dark cherries and blue fruit notes. Melted dark chocolate, mocha, caramel, softly layered baking spices, very underrated graphite, steeped tea, mid berry cola, red licorice, limestone powder, dry top soil, dry twig, red, dark candied to slightly withering florals w/ liquid violet cola.
The palate shows well resolved, rounded, velvety M+ tannins. Nicely ripe fruits that are floral; blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, poached strawberries, dark cherries and blue fruit notes. Melted dark chocolate, mocha, caramel river, softly layered baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick & vanillin, warm caramel, dark Asian spices with palate burrowing heat, dry tobacco/ leather, cedar, grilled meats, very underrated graphite, sweet tarriness, black licorice, steeped tea, mid berry cola, red licorice, limestone powder, dry top soil, dry twig, red, dark candied to slightly withering florals w/ liquid violet cola, candied to withering; dark, red, blue florals wrapped in liquid violets, epic rainfall acidity, well balanced-structured-toned, elegant finish that lasts minutes and falls on earth & heated spice.
95-96 peaking. — 4 days ago
Upon opening, this seemed a bit disjointed, with muted fruit flavors and strong herbal notes. Decanting didn’t seem to help much, but day 2 it finally opened up nicely, with nice complexity and intensity on the palate. Cherry, raspberry, cassis, bay leaf, dried Italian herbs, anise, cloves, vanilla, cedar, earth, and balsamic notes all come through. Really tasty, but maybe a bit too intense. I can see this improving with a few more years of aging so the flavors coalesce and soften a bit more. — 18 days ago
This is far too young but when I have a chance to look in on Cheval Blanc I do.
Nose shows; ripe blackberries, strawberries, dark cherries, plum, moist clays, coffee, moist herbs, roasted chestnuts, amazing florals that are red flowers, red roses, lilacs & violets.
The palate shows some nice evolution but still too young to drink. Ripe and slightly candied; blackberries, strawberries, dark cherries, raspberries & plum. Moist clays, coffee, moist herbs, roasted chestnuts, espresso, mid berry cola, caramel, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, crazy, round, bold spice, moist tobacco, used leather, graphite, dark, rich earth, dry stone, limestone, soft oak powder notes, amazing florals that are red flowers, red roses, lilacs & violets, round, rainfall acidity, balance, mid structure/tension, grand length and a two-minute long polished finish.
94-97 — a month ago
Andrew Cullimore
Medium deep garnet ruby with a narrow garnet rim . Dusty grafite , cedar and cassis , currants , oyster shell , quite deep and classic . On the palate this is quite dense and tannic still , deep dark cassis , herbal tinged cedar and very grafite tinged on the finish . Fresh acidity , but still good mid palate richness and even though the tannins are quite dry and grippy , this is well balanced and relatively generous . Good length on the classic grafite , oyster shell tinged finish. This didn’t need a lot of decanting time to show well , though it certainly changes and improves with time in the glass . Classic in style , but still quite generous for Latour , this is just reaching its drinking window , will continue at this level for another 5-10 years at least and probably more. — 15 hours ago