Jay Kline

9.6

Presented to me double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine pours a deep garnet/purple with an opaque core and some moderate rim variation; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with beautiful notes of ripe and slightly dried black and blue fruits: dark brambles, plum, fig, purple flowers, leather ball glove, something spicy and green that has me debating between rotundone or pyrazines (but which?), rocky earth and fine baking warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Alcohol is medium. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. What a beautifully made wine.

Initial conclusions: this could be Cabernet Sauvignon (or a blend with associated Bordeaux varieties), Cabernet Franc, Merlot (blended with associated Bordeaux varieties) or Syrah from France, the US or Australia. This is older; probably 20+ years of age based on the secondary characteristics or dried fruit and old leather. While the fruit plays a starring role here, the alcohol seems almost modest so I can’t place this in Australia or the US. The problem I’m having, are there pyrazines or rotundone? I don’t get a lot of black pepper or animale, or olive for that matter…so I’m leaning towards this being Bordeaux. Final conclusion: this is a Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine with a blend of Bordeaux varieties, from France, Bordeaux, Pulliac, from a classified growth, 2004. Whoa!!! 2005 Clape?! What a treat! I feel like I should have nailed this wine. Alas…I still have to get better at differentiating between pyrazines and rotundone with age. Drink now with a decant, through 2045+ — a day ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

Dark fruits with notes of meat, graphite, spice, licorice, mineral & violets — 2 months ago

Brian Hearty

9.6

2014. Enjoyed a small splash at the end of a great birthday meal at The Oven!
Such pure stone fruit and honeyed aromas and flavors with balanced sweetness and acidity. — a month ago

romo

9.4

Anti-roast, all tart cherry and white pepper, gentle tannin, faint horse hair. Wow. — 3 months ago

Harvey Raben

9.6

Still strong with bramble fruit herbal characteristics that flow into a long finish. For a 43 year old this is spectacular example of Syrah in the northern Rhône. Complexity without off flavors from aging. — 3 months ago

"Odedi"

9.2

Inky in color with a reddish rim.

Fruity nose of black currants, plums, licorice, light cedar, earth, cola, herbs, spices, tobacco leaf, dark coffee, black tea and light garigge notes.

Full-bodied with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with black plums, currants, oak, light licorice, spices, dark chocolates, earth, tobacco leaf, cola, herbs, peppercorn and light vegetables.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This young Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blend from Napa Valley is already drinking beautifully. Rich and fruit forward. Nicely balanced with a smooth mouthfeel. Elegant and complex, spicy and tangy.

Delicious now, and will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years.

The alcohol is nicely integrated already, although not as high as typically from this region.

Robert Parker 95 points. Wine Spectator 92 points.

I've had a few vintages of this wine and this is not my favorite, by far.

A great sipping wine that will also pair nicely with a big piece of steak.

A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot and 1% Malbec.

14% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$450. — 2 months ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Dark red cherry, berry fruit with notes of meat, savory spices, licorice, violets & tobacco — 13 days ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.0

vintage 2015 | spicy, pepper, morelcherries, strict, good acidity — a month ago

David Samples

10

Beyond beautiful! Immediately soft upon opening—had planned to decant for 4-6 hours but decided against. Open and had small taste with Maggie Harrison around noon. Decided to re-cork it and decanted at 4PM.
At noon I got (very unexpected) cranberry notes on the nose and the palate was considerably more gentle than expected.

After two hour decant: Soft (cat tongue), integrated tannins, pomegranate, black cherry begins to emerge. Herbs, smoky/meaty notes emerge


Tasted: 5.20.26
Attendees: Mark Cerimele, Maggie Harrison, Steve Pfancuff, Lorne McClelland, Andy McCray, Denise Casino, Randy Nelson — a month ago

Doug Powers

9.3

Much richer and thicker than the 1988, which is all about elegance, this 1989 CdP is about power, depth and richness, very long, lingering finish, great wine!! — 2 months ago

with Jim

John Micklethwaite

9.2

Great wine. Could have left it to age for another decade really — 2 months ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Broad and supple. Very fresh fruit still. Great character. Smooth and pure. Excellent — 2 months ago

with BOT, Matt and 1 other

Andrew Cullimore

9.8

Tasted blind. Medium deep garnet ruby and medium garnet ruby rim . Quite cool and restrained , again lots of grafite and mineral , dark fruits . This is quite deep and dark spicy cassis , blackberry and sea spray , saline . Quite dense and robust on the palate again , lots of fine but ripe tannins. Very long , dense , cassis , cedar grafite saline finish . This is a complete and great example of 2005 , great balance and enormous length , the longest of all on show here. Drinkable now , but surely it’s best days are in the future , wait another 5 -10 years , will last well a further 20 - 25 if not more . The apex of 2005 ? For me this had to be the Latour , and an archetypal example of Latour no less . 1st place and the gold medal . — 2 months ago

Maggie Harrison

9.7

2022, figgy, plum with undertones of bacon at first open. very elegant and soft on palate. beautiful. about 4 hrs later- decanted. change? more mineral, tannins are showing more now than at opening. dried fig, meaty. bolder fruit on back end of palate thru the finish. iron on finish. drinking great but more time would certainly be better. — a month ago

Shay A

9.5

94-95

This was one of the wines I served for my annual WWC hosting. All wines served blind.

93 syrah/ 7 viognier

The third syrah in my lineup was a wine I've enjoyed a few times over the last five years. Bangin' vintage and in a style I enjoy (syrah and vio). Purple-black in the glass, it offers up killer aromatics of rich, dark fruit, some baking spice, and smoked meat. Even with nearly four hours, this was a monster in structure with tannin that paired beautifully with an herb crusted lamb rack. Powerful on the palate with smoked berries, bacon, espresso, vanilla and a savory finish. Still on the upswing with lots of wonderful Cote-Rotie fireworks in store. Wish I had another! — a month ago

"Odedi"

9.2

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 day ago

Jake Hajer

9.2

Clean fruit. Mixed peppercorn. Tasty old world Syrah. — 2 months ago

Joe Flo

9.7

Great balance fantastic fruit hints of lemon peel. Just drinking fantastic. — 2 months ago

Adriana Fabbro

9.7

1985. 40 years young. Gave it an hour to open up before dinner (paired orange ginger glazed duck with pistachio apricot farro). Thankfully my partner is a master of the Durand. There’s very little for me to compare this too - most aged whites are preserved by acid; Chave relies on glycerol here. It gives the wine gravitas but also life and freshness. Pleasant wood veneer/wood shop notes, dried apricots at first (become fresher with time), yellow plum, truffled earth. Salty poached apricots and timelessness. In a perfect world, we’d be sharing this with my dad. Strange & sensational. — 3 months ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Opened prior to dinner and enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The wine pours a deep ruby/purple color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with significant staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of ripe and desiccated black and red fruits: mixed brambles, Flintstone vitamins, spiced meat, olives, purple flowers, black pepper, dried herbs, rocky earth, a mix of cool and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. Similar to the 1997 we tasted alongside, with all of the same notes except this brought back the familiar Flintstone vitamins that I have encountered in La Mouline from the past. The structure was also more substantial. I preferred this to the 1997 tonight…but I’m splitting hairs! — 3 months ago