Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

My last of three.

The 05 vintage is basically perfect fruit etc…

This started a bit slow from an hour decant. It really pick up steam w/ the Waygu Ribcap.

The Bordeaux elegance & earth profound. The fruits are floral-laden. Dry blackberries, raspberries, both plum, with skin, dark cherries, dry strawberries, baked rhubarb, hints of raspberry, dark chocolate bar, light caramel, dark spice with a little heat, dry limestone. topsoil, dry riverstone, cigar box with ash, old used leather, dark forest floor with leaves, clove, touch of cinnamon, vanilla and a pinch of nutmeg sweet graphite, used charcoal, black tea, mid berry cola dark wuthering flowers, hence of lavender and old violets, perfect around acidity with a well-balanced structured, evenly tensioned finish that last minutes and lands on dry earth and spice with florals — 10 hours ago

Joe DAscoli

9.5

Really cool experience at Acker Autumn Harvest auction

This did not taste 50 years old. It was excellent — 6 days ago

ESF

9.3

last had 9April2023 - Dinner Party wine with ribeye - held up admirably — a day ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Very pretty, and delicate, and Lucid. Plum, dark cherry, hints of red flowers, and a soft glossy, supple mid palate. Very refined and balanced. — 14 days ago

with BOT, Matt and 1 other

Timothy Eustis

Wine Director, Red Lion Inn

9.5

2018. Absolutely gorgeous on nose. Cigar box, dark fruit, beautiful development. Bit of a tannic behemoth. But backed with ripe and fine tannins. In palate complexity and a long finish. Brilliant. — 13 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.5

Tasted blind. Medium ruby garnet , medium garnet rim . Quite classic and elegant, with cigar box , grafite and some dried earth , some slightly toasty notes also . On the palate this shows good balance , fresh acidity , classic blackcurrant , cigar box , earthy touch . Good depth and length , grafite tinged finish , quite correct and no extra sweetness or weight . Good length and a spicy , mineral , blackcurrant tinged finish . Lafite ? Still young , really well balanced. From now and over the next 10 to 15 years. This was actually the Mouton , which was a great surprise, but certainly a pleasant one ! — 23 days ago

Martijn

9.4

The ten years release of this 2015 vintage is drinking very nice now.
A bit overdone on the toasted wood perhaps. — 5 hours ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

This needed lots of air showing mostly black fruits, menthol, leather, graphite, earth, sweet spice & wet tobacco. Although enjoyable now this will continue to develop for many years — 19 days ago

Jay Kline

9.4

I always get excited when there’s a bottle of Calon-Ségur open. Classic Saint-Estèphe and, to my palate, these wines consistently deliver what I want from a Left Bank Bordeaux. I believe this bottle was double-decanted prior to service. The 1988 pours a garnet color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some fine sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with winsome notes of ripe, tart and dried fruits: cassis, mixed brambles, pencil shaving’s, tobacco, capsicum, a whiff of horse blanket, gravelly earth and a mix of herbs and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin (integrated) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is long. I absolutely love it. This is the picture of Bordeaux in the dictionary. Drink now through 2048+. — 7 days ago

Dave

9.4

Delectable seems to be having troubles again. This wine is so young, I let it breathe for an hour while I prepped dinner, and it was still pretty tight. After dinner it began to open up with bright red fruit and a hint of florals on the nose. Also some faint brett.
Flavors include tart strawberries, blueberries, cedar and pipe tobacco. Nice, long ending. Not very complex, but well structured and delicious. And a great value!
Listening to early Elvis. — 5 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Medium ruby garnet , medium garnet rim . This is quite aromatic with dusty summer fruits , tobacco , burnt embers , quite classic . On the palate this is quite strict with refreshing acidity , spicy mix fruits , slightly gritty tannins. Quite good length , with dusty , grafite tinged finish . Quite classic and lean in style , with good balance and length . Perfect now and over the next 10 years . — 12 days ago

Tom Garland

9.4

+1 hour decant(some sediment). A gorgeous dark garnet with bricking. On the nose: mesmerizing areomatic notes of dark red fruit, currants, forest floor, floral, cigar wrapper, pencil shavings. Taste: velvety, vibrant, fresh wine with brambly dried blackberry/cherry, earth, graphite, wet stones, and a cedar gamey raspberry long finish. YUM! What a treat to drink, and a success for 03...not too ripe, hot, or roasted. — 21 days ago

Tom Garland

9.2

+1 hour decant(decent chunky sediment). A striking dark ruby red color. On the nose: Enticing notes of dark red fruit, pencil shavings, floral, little barnyard funk, worn leather, tobacco leaf. Taste: Silky-smooth, creamy, rich(not your old school Bordeaux) wine with blackberry/dark cherry, currants, licorice, glycerin, dried herbs, dark chocolate and a peppery cedar long dry finish. YUM!! — 22 days ago

Tom Garland

9.1

+1 hour decant(decent chunky sediment). A splendid brooding magenta color. On the nose: Seductive perfumed notes of dark fruit, cassis, vanilla, pencil shavings, smokey cedar, tobacco leaf. Taste: creamy, structured wine with cherry/plum, graphite, tar, earth, espresso, and a dry medium plus leather finish. YUM! — 23 days ago

with Brenda

Jay Kline

9.3

Double-decanted prior to service. The 1988 pours a garnet color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some fine sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with beautiful notes of cassis, brambles, tobacco, capsicum, leather, inorganic earth and a mix of herbs and fine spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin (integrated) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is medium+. The label is beat to hell but the condition of the wine inside the bottle was perfect. Classic, old school Bordeaux from a classified growth. Drink now through 2043. — 7 days ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

This is well beyond critical reviews young.

Sofia & I became friends with Jean D’Anjoy (photo to right). Winemaker who now runs all the Rothschild properties. He was the Assistant Winemaker at Opus One for 10 yrs. He had many offers to be a Napa Winemaker but refused. Had he, he would have been demeeded a Napa Winemaker when he wanted to always go back to Bordeaux as a Winemaker. Opus was fine as it is 1/2 French owed. He later became the the Clerc Milon Winemaker in 09. What a first vintage. He simultaneously built the new facilities at Clerc Milon. He is also perhaps the best & kindest human being I’ve ever met.

He arranged for Sofia & I to pick the Mouton Merlot and work all phases of the 2012 Clark Milon vintage. So, you might wanna not buy the 2012 vintage of Mouton & Clerc. 😂 He also arranged for us to sit at the Baroness’s table for the harvest luncheon where they poured the last of the filtered bottom of the barrels of 82 Mouton. I asked Sofia to pinch me. The Baroness sadly died two years later.

The nose is sweet and a touch sour; blackberries & black raspberries. Floral & slightly candied; dark and light cherries, juicy strawberries, raspberries and some circling baked rhubarb. Understated new oak barrel powder, beautiful baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, dry leaves and twig, baking powder, fresh and dry herbs, lead pencil shavings, limestone, dark soils, dry pebbles, red, and dark florals set in liquid violets.

The palate shows medium plus well rounded, softened, resolved tannins. The fruit is ripe and juicy. Blackberries & black raspberries. Floral & slightly candied; dark and light cherries, juicy strawberries, raspberries and some circling baked rhubarb. Understated new oak barrel powder, beautiful baking spices-clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, dry leaves and twig, baking powder, mid, dark spices with a shade of heat, fresh and dry herbs, lead pencil shavings, moist to dry tobacco, used leather, limestone, dark soils, dry pebbles, red, and dark florals set in liquid violets, perfect acidity and a grand elegant, well balanced, integrated finish that lasts 90 seconds and lands on spice & earth.

An elegant beauty if I ever had one. Has another 5-7 yr ahead depending on storage.

Photos of; the new facilities at Clerc Milon, Jean D’Anjoy and their vineyards, barrel room and tasting/entertaining lounge.

Delectable & IOS 27 isn’t a good fit today. — 21 days ago

Conrad Green

9.3

Lush and rich. Pencil head and intense plum and tangy fruit. Long and balanced and pure. Great — 12 days ago

with Bex

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Tasted blind. Again medium deep ruby with medium wide garnet rim . Again slightly aloof , showing a touch of herbaceous blackcurrant , mineral and slate notes . Probably the most closed of all coming back . Quite deep and rich again , mineral , blackcurrant, wet stones . Muscular tannins and balanced acidity , deep with a slight herbaceous touch on the decent finish . Latour ? Compared with the rest this is slightly pedestrian, even though it is still an excellent wine it’s not as thrilling as its Pauillac stablemates Lafite or Mouton. Perhaps needs even more time , come back in 5 years and will last well a further 10 -15. — 23 days ago

Ruud Verhagen

9.7

80% new oak, more “Parker”, full throttle! Not there yet…, what a nose!👃🏼 — 3 days ago

John Pavlovich

9.2

Fully mature with resolved tannins, quite dry, easy going, medium length aftertaste. Very good wine from very good vintage. — 5 days ago