Tom Garland

9.3

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. — a month ago

with Brenda

Jay Kline

9.4

Opened around 8pm the evening prior, double decanted and left in room temperature until service on Friday evening. In total, this was opened 24hours before service. The 1995 pours a beautiful garnet with transparent core; medium viscosity with moderate stating of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with surprisingly boozy dark fruit. Brambles, cassis, bell pepper, licorice, spearmint and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long with great acidity. Overall, remarkably youthful. While it’s certainly ready to go, it will likely continue some positive evolution over the next couple of decades. Drink now with a long decant through 2045. — 22 days ago

"Odedi"

9.0

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. — a month ago

Jay Kline

9.1

It has been a little over a year since my last note on the 2018 vintage. Popped and poured, enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2018 pours a pale garnet with transparent core; medium+ viscosity and no staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with delicate notes of funky cherry, rose water, tar and dry earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with high tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. A touch thinner than some of the “bigger” vintages but no less charming. I’m sort of a sucker for the 2018 vintage in how enjoyable these are to drink in their youth. Drink now through 2038 — 3 days ago

Jay Kline

9.5

Opened the evening prior at 7pm and double-decanted; the bottle was left at room temp with the cork pressed lightly back into the neck until service. The 2000 pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core and a slightly water rim; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous and showing some real power with a compelling combination of ripe and desiccated fruit: dark brambles, cassis, leather, dill, olives, spiced meat, tobacco and soft baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and whoa is it ever delicious. This has to be one of the wines of the vintage. Drink now through 2040. — 23 days ago

Jeremiah Diaz

9.3

Deep garnet in color; cassis, black cherries, and green peppercorns on the nose; medium plus acidity; high tannins; tastes like eucalyptus, prunes, and crushed gravel with a long finish. — 20 days ago

Jay Kline

9.1

Popped and poured; enjoyed as an aperitif prior to dinner. The NV Brut Rosé pours a very pretty pink color with a persistent mousse. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of raspberry, strawberry, spring flowers, some brioche, lemon citrus and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ acid. The fruit is round in a good way. Balanced. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and chalky. This is a classy NV Rosé that’s easy for the wine nerd and the crowd to appreciate. Drink now. No disgorgement data. — 24 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

2000 vintage. Never a fave L-B vintage as it has always seemed a little too much sizzle and not enuff steak. FF two decades and said wine is drinking more like a Napa cab vs a BDX. Chunky and in a state of transition (discombobulated) but still medium-heavy body after two+ decades. The 2005 is more affordable and drinking better, imho, currently. Will this effort will ever round into form for dedicated L-B fans going back to the 1985 vintage? Not tasting it. Storybook fill and cork. Decanted and tasted immediately, after 30 mins and after two hours. Aggressive sed. 7.3.24. — 12 days ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.2

Light ruby red color. Ripe red berry and cherry fruit on the nose with additional notes of cola and sweet baking spices. Bright red cherry fruit leads the palate with hints of tobacco, pine and those sweet baking spices. Nice mineral component on the medium-long finish. Fine grained tannins. Fresh and earthy. — 7 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.2

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. — 11 days ago