Wine Cellar

Wine:  St Emilion

A masterpiece in the making, proprietor Alain Vauthier’s 2009 Ausone boasts a dense purple color along with notes of powdered chalk, crushed rocks and wild blue, red and black fruits. Extravagantly rich with great minerality, precision and freshness as well as a voluptuous texture (unusual for a baby Ausone), this is an extraordinary wine. Sadly, there are fewer than 1,200 cases ... for the world. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060+

Wine:  St Emilion

A chalky component to the tannins is somewhat troubling, but otherwise, the 2004 Bellevue possesses impressive credentials. Its dense ruby/purple-hued color is followed by aromas of crushed rocks, sweet cherry and currant fruit, and background new oak. Medium to full-bodied with moderately sharp tannin, but terrific fruit purity, texture, and a real sense of its place of origin, this structured wine is meant for serious connoisseurs. It will need 4-5 years of cellaring, and should last for 15-20.

Wine:  St Julien

Somewhat soft for Branaire, with a medium-weight texture and relatively lush fruit, the 1983 is a moderately tannic, compact wine that is similar to the 1981 Branaire only less elegant and charming. Anticipated maturity: Now.

Wine:  Pauillac

A wine with good plum and raspberry aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, with silky tannins and a short finish. Good but not special. Best after 2008.

Wine:  St Julien 375ml

Mid-shoulder ullage, but no sign of leakage. Picture on request

Wine:  St Emilion

Revealing considerable amber in its dark plum/garnet color, this intensely fragrant 1982 is somewhat of a paradox in that the front end suggests full maturity, but the mid-palate, finish, and overall texture denote a closed wine. A gorgeously sweet entry displays flavors of caramel, roasted coffee, jammy red and black fruits, coconut, and smoke. It is fat and full-bodied, with considerable tannin, structure, and muscle in the finish. Flamboyantly rich and precocious early in life, it is going through an awkward stage where the tannin is present, but it is also sexy, juicy, and formidably-structured. When the 1982 Cheval Blanc's component parts become totally in sync, it will be capable of meriting a three-digit rating. Anticipated maturity: now (?)-2015.

Wine:  St Emilion

Wine:  St Emilion

Wine:  St Estephe

The 1986 is a highly extracted wine, with a black/ruby color and plenty of toasty, smoky notes in its bouquet that suggest ripe plums and licorice. Evolving at a glacial pace, it exhibits massive, huge, ripe, extremely concentrated flavors with impressive depth and richness. It possesses more power, weight, and tannin than the more opulent and currently more charming 1985. Anticipated maturity: 1996-2010.

Wine:  Sauternes Sec

100% Sauvignon sourced in equal measure from Cantegril and from Doisy-Daene.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

Domaine de Chevalier’s fabulous 2005 white offers terrific acidity, body, and texture as well as high acidity, which suggests this wine should enjoy an incredibly long life. I recently had the 1985 at a charity dinner, and it is still remarkably youthful. The 2005 may last just as long, if not longer. Hints of figs, licorice, honeysuckle, and lemon oil are accompanied by a concentrated, dry, nearly austere wine, but there is so much going on, that it should be prodigious with another decade of cellaring. It will last for 30-40+ years.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

Abundant notes of sandy, loamy soil, forest floor, black currants, cherries, and unsmoked high-class cigar tobacco jump from the glass of this complex, perfumed Pessac-Leognan. Medium-bodied and lighter than many 2000s, it has resolved all of its tannin, and appears to have reached full maturity. This wine has such superb balance that I suspect it will last another 8-10 years.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

One of the fabulous sleepers of the vintage and a wine for serious Bordeaux afficionados to consider buying, the 2008 is a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 9% Petit Verdot that achieved 13.5% natural alcohol. Surprisingly backward for a 2008, it is medium to full-bodied with moderate tannins, lots of purity and abundant charcoal, black currant and floral notes. The sweetness of the fruit, depth of flavor and textured, lush mouthfeel in this medium to full-bodied, ageworthy 2008 are impressive. Give it 3-4 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades. I would not be surprised if it turns out to be as impressive as the 2010.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

In late 2011, I had the last bottle in my cellar of the 1970 Domaine de Chevalier. Much to my surprise, it was still holding on to life and remained gorgeously complex in that ethereal Graves style. The 2009, one of the finest Domaine de Chevaliers yet produced, reveals a striking bouquet of burning embers, sweet cherry, black and red currant fruit, spice box, cedar and lead pencil shavings. The tannins are sweet in this fleshy, full-bodied offering. It is built on the notion of extraordinary harmony, elegance and complexity. While not the most concentrated or flamboyant 2009, its intense aromas are already reasonably evolved and its lusciousness and balance are terrific. Made from an interesting blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot, its yields of 45 hectoliters per hectare were slightly higher than many of its neighbors achieved. Drink it over the next 25 years.

Wine:  Sauternes

Wine:  Pomerol

Wine:  Pauillac

As usual, the 2009 Haut-Batailley is a delicate, finesse-styled wine exhibiting a dense ruby/purple color as well as plenty of sweet black cherry, mulberry and wild mountain berry fruit intermixed with notes of foresty underbrush. Medium-bodied with good purity, sweet tannin and a forward, almost St.-Julien-like personality, it can be enjoyed over the next 15+ years.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

Medium to deep garnet colour. The nose is still a little mute giving a moderate intensity of youthful aromas: ripe plums, cassis, Chinese five spice, moss and a fair amount of cedar. Oak tannins seem to dominate the structure contributing to the taut astringency of the palate yet there is a good amount of ripe berry and earthy fruit plus medium acidity to balance. Long earthy finish. Drink 2012 to 2034. Tasted February 2009.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

The 2006 Haut-Brion performed even better from bottle than it did from barrel. Sixty-four percent of the production went into this wine, and while it displays the vintage’s powerful tannins and structure, it possesses superb concentration, and the minerality/scorched earth notes of a great Haut-Brion. Medium to full-bodied, with perhaps not quite the fleshiness of the 2005 or 2000, it is built more along the lines of the 1998 and 1996. It is a brilliant effort displaying sensational purity, texture, and length that should be exceptionally long-lived. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2035 .

Wine:  Pauillac

Since I gave this wine a perfect score, I suppose some could see this as a downgrade. I found everything still there for a perfect rating, but I was just struck by how tight and backward the wine was. A blend of 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, the wine still has a dark ruby/purple color and an extraordinarily youthful nose of graphite, black currants, sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco, and flowers. The wine is rich, medium to full-bodied, but has that ethereal elegance and purity that is always Lafite. I originally predicted that it would first reach maturity in 2011, but I would push that back by 5-7 years now, although it has 50-60 years of life in front of it. Owners of this beauty are probably best advised to forget it for 5 years. Tasted next to a 1996 several days after the 2000 tasting, the 1996, which is a perfect wine, was far closer to full maturity than the 2000.

Wine:  Pauillac

One of the fabulous surprises, although I had suggested last year that it could jump in quality, of my tastings, the 2006 Lafite Rothschild is a great, great wine made from a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot. When I tasted it from barrel, it reminded me of their successful 1988, but it is dramatically superior to that vintage. Frankly, it may turn out to be as good as the 2005, which in all of Bordeaux is a far greater vintage than 2006. Lafite’s severe selection process (42% made it into the grand vin) resulted in a full-bodied wine boasting an extraordinary perfume of charcoal, truffles, lead pencil shavings, and sensationally sweet, ripe black currant and cedar notes. A wine of extraordinary intensity, texture, and depth with silky tannins as well as awesome concentration, this has turned out to be a remarkable Lafite Rothschild that should be drinkable much earlier than the 2005, but age for three decades. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2035

Wine:  St Estephe

A big time sleeper of the vintage, the noteworthy 2004 Lafon-Rochet boasts an inky/blue/purple color, sweet aromas of creme de cassis intermixed with smoke, licorice, and toasty new oak, a ripe, medium to full-bodied style, sweet tannin, and loads of flavor as well as depth. This beauty can be consumed now and over the next 14-15 years.

Wine:  St Emilion

From proprietor Jonathan Maltus, this blend of three terroirs, two on sand and one on gravel, is a blend of 92% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. About 2,000 cases are produced, and the prodigious 2009 is the finest vintage to date. Inky blue/purple, with notes of licorice, camphor, black truffle, blackberry and blueberry, this full-bodied wine has massive concentration yet at the same time displays elegance and harmony. The equilibrium and 60+-second length make for a huge, massive, but incredibly well-balanced wine, like a shadow of the proprietor himself. Drink it over the next 15 or more years.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

One of the vintage's top wines is the 2006 La Mission-Haut-Brion. From bottle, it reminds me of the 1998, given its structure and backward style. Dense ruby/purple-colored, it possesses a boatload of tannin, but with coaxing, tobacco leaf, sweet black currant, burning ember, and blue fruit characteristics emerge. While thick and full-bodied, the tannins seem more elevated than I remember from barrel. It is going to be a beauty, but like many of the top 2006s, considerable patience is required. Only 55% of the production made it into the grand vin as Jean-Philippe Delmas made a severe selection. The final blend was 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2006 has one of the highest natural alcohols ever achieved at La Mission, averaging around 14.3%, which is astonishingly high for a Graves. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2035.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

A sleeper of the vintage and better than its 2010 sibling, the plum/garnet-hued 2008 possesses a smoky barbecue, charcoal/burning ember character intermixed with ripe, sweet cherry and black currant fruit. Medium-bodied and beautifully concentrated with silky tannins as well as a long finish, it can be enjoyed over the next 10-15 years.

Wine:  Pauillac

Perfect ullage and label. Always somewhat atypical (which I suspect will be the case with the more modern day 2003), the 1982 Latour has been the most opulent, flamboyant, and precocious of the northern Medocs, especially the St.-Juliens, Pauillacs, and St.-Estephes. It hasn’t changed much over the last 10-15 years, revealing sweet tannins as well as extraordinarily decadent, even extravagant levels of fruit, glycerin, and body. It is an amazing wine, and on several occasions, I have actually picked it as a right bank Pomerol because of the lushness and succulence of the cedary, blackberry, black currant fruit. This vintage has always tasted great, even in its youth, and revealed a precociousness that one does not associate with this Chateau. However, the 1982 is still evolving at a glacial pace. The concentration remains remarkable, and the wine is a full-bodied, exuberant, rich, classic Pauillac in its aromatic and flavor profiles. It’s just juiced up (similar to an athlete on steroids) and is all the better for it. This remarkable effort will last as long as the 1982 Mouton, but it has always been more approachable and decadently fruity. Drink it now, in 20 years, and in 50 years! Don’t miss it if you are a wine lover. Release price: ($350.00/case)

Wine:  St Emilion

A Cheval Blanc look-alike, this cuvee (which includes a high percentage of Cabernet Franc) boasts an ethereal nose of raspberries, menthol, spring flowers, and hints of cedar as well as new oak. Full-bodied, exceptionally fresh, and noble, this is a complex, classic, distinctive wine that should drink well in 3-4 years, and last for two decades. It is the finest Le Dome yet made, but sadly, there are only 1,000 cases.

Wine:  St Julien

Not surprisingly, Leoville Las Cases has produced another classic, potentially long-lived wine in 2006. Among the St.-Juliens, it, Ducru Beaucaillou, and Leoville Barton possess the potential for the greatest longevity. Interestingly, when I visited this chateau in January, proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon offered me two samples, one where the cork had been pulled immediately prior to tasting, and another that had been decanted four hours earlier. Both were superb, but the wine that had had extended aeration was clearly the finer offering. The opaque purple-hued 2006- only 40% of the crop made it into the final blend- exhibits a personality that mimics the superb 1996. Classic aromas of sweet black raspberries, kirsch, cassis, and subtle toasty oak are followed by a full-bodied, concentrated wine displaying moderately high tannin. This cuvee can often resemble a Pauillac wrapped in the St.-Julien appellation, and the 2006 is no exception. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, it will require significant cellaring before consumption. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2035+.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

Second wine of the Smith Haut Lafitte that received 100/100 from Robert Parker. Younger vines, but made in the same style. Exceptional value. Inviting, with steeped red and black currant fruit woven with plum skin, fig sauce and smoldering dark tobacco notes. A nice fleshy feel on the finish makes this approachable now. Drink now through 2018.

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

Plump and lively, with dried pineapple, tangerine, white peach and yellow apple fruit flavors mixed together, lined with melon rind and jicama on the honest finish. Drink now through 2014

Wine:  Pessac Leognan

Fresh red currant, raspberry and cherry notes are laced with violet and blood orange. Brighter and higher-toned than most of its 2009 Pessac peers. Drink now through 2018. –JM

Wine:  Medoc

Wine:  Margaux

Rarely tasted since bottling, this wine has exhibited a soft, fruity personality, with pleasant but undistinguished levels of fruit concentration. Drink this round, supple, fully mature wine over the next 4-5 years.

Wine:  Margaux Magnum

Rarely tasted since bottling, this wine has exhibited a soft, fruity personality, with pleasant but undistinguished levels of fruit concentration. Drink this round, supple, fully mature wine over the next 4-5 years.

Wine:  Margaux

Ullage mid-shoulder

Wine:  Margaux

Another celestial effort from Paul Pontallier and Corinne Mentzelopoulus, the 2005 Margaux, a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot, boasts a dense opaque blue/purple color as well as an extraordinary bouquet of spring flowers, blueberries, black raspberries, creme de cassis, licorice, and, despite its having spent two years in 100% new wood, only a subtle touch of toasty oak. Although full-bodied, the wine seems light on its feet because of the silky tannins as well as the great gravel terroir from which it comes. Beautiful purity, length, and nobility define this modern day classic. Is it better than the 2000, 1996, 1990, or some of the vintages from the decade of the eighties? Who knows, but it is unquestionably one of the all-time great wines made at Chateau Margaux. This estate has produced only exceptional wines over the last three decades. The seamlessness of the 2005 suggests it will perform well early, but it should last for a half century or more. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2050+.

Wine:  Margaux

Wine:  Bordeaux AOC

Wine:  Pauillac

Perfect Label and ullage. This is the name of the previous d'Armailhac from the Rothschild family that changed its name in 1974

Wine:  Pauillac

Perfect label and ullage

Wine:  Pauillac

Ullage bottom neck

Wine:  Pauillac

ullage top-shoulder

Wine:  Margaux

perfect Ullage. A somewhat diffuse, open-knit, easygoing Palmer, with plenty of amber to its dark garnet color, the 1985 Palmer has reached full maturity. Low acidity, sweet cherry, plum and currant fruit intermixed with some licorice, mushroom, and damp earth jumps from the glass of this medium-weight, very fragrant, fruity wine. It lacks the concentration as well as length to be great, but it is a very seductive wine, as are so many 1985s. Anticipated maturity: Now-2008

Wine:  St Emilion

I tasted this wine twice during the 2000 horizontals, then I actually popped the cork and drank a half-bottle of it. This wine remains, for me, one of the compelling success stories for proprietor Gerard Perse. An extraordinary effort made from a blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from the limestone soils that dominate this very distinctive terroir, the 2000 Pavie has moved out of the closed, dormant, broodingly backward stage into an adolescent period where one can see its extraordinary vibrancy, and great complexity as well as potential. It boasts an unctuous display of rich, cedar box-infused cassis fruit and liquid minerality. The tannins have sweetened, yet the wine has thirty years of longevity and potential evolution. A beautiful wine of great mass as well as elegance, it is good to see the extraordinary efforts that Gerard Perse and his team have made confirmed in this prodigious wine. A legend now ... a legend for the future. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2060.

Wine:  Margaux

Wine:  Pomerol

An attractive, supple, dark plum/garnet/purple-tinged Pomerol, the 2008 exhibits notes of licorice, olives, mocha and jammy black and red fruits. It is an elegant, medium-bodied, silky red to consume over the next 6-8 years.

Wine:  Pomerol

Wine:  Bordeaux Superieur

An excellent effort from Jonathan Malthus, this value-priced, lower-level Bordeaux is normally a blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. The 2010 is exactly what one expects from an inexpensive but well-made Bordeaux. Soft tannins, deep berry fruit, a nice, medium-bodied, fleshy texture, and clean finish all make for a delicious wine to drink in its first 3-4 years of life.

Wine:  Medoc

This fairly priced Medoc from Jean-Hubert Delon (the proprietor of Leoville-Las-Cases) has hit almost 14% natural alcohol and looks to be the best wine made at this estate since 1982, which drank well for 15 years and cost about $4.00 a bottle in that era. Crisp, mineral notes intermixed with mulberry, black cherry and black currant fruit jump from the glass of this classic Bordeaux, which is both powerful and elegant. There is considerable substance to the wine, with its attractive texture and overall sense of precision and elegance. This is a sleeper of the vintage not to be missed. Anticipated maturity: now-2022.

Wine:  Pauillac

Made from a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, the second wine, the 2009 Reserve de la Comtesse, exhibits notes of forest floor, white chocolate, licorice, black currants and vanillin-infused black cherries. It possesses a sweet, round, generous style given its high glycerin. Both the Reserve de la Comtesse and Pichon Lalande have about 13% alcohol, slightly lower than most Pauillacs achieved in 2009. Drink it over the next 10 years.

Wine:  Bordeaux Double Magnum

Chateau Clinet's youngest sibling by estate's owner, Ronan Laborde. As the vineyards producing the Ronan are located just outside Pomerol, the wine is “only” AC Bordeaux, but undoubtedly delivers the quality we have come to associate with this great appellation, without the price tag. "Ronan By Clinet" is made in the same way, in the same style, at the same place, by the same people as the Grand Vin which scores (95-98) from Parker in this great vintage. 2010 really suited this younger brother, with the deep, rich fruit concentration and terrific freshness making one hell of a glugger! Drink now or hold for 5-8 years. "…magnificent 100% merlot... Awesome value… this is a must-buy wine, on account of its staggering value…" – Matthew Jukes

Wine:  Bordeaux Imperial

Chateau Clinet's youngest sibling by estate's owner, Ronan Laborde. As the vineyards producing the Ronan are located just outside Pomerol, the wine is “only” AC Bordeaux, but undoubtedly delivers the quality we have come to associate with this great appellation, without the price tag. "Ronan By Clinet" is made in the same way, in the same style, at the same place, by the same people as the Grand Vin which scores (95-98) from Parker in this great vintage. 2010 really suited this younger brother, with the deep, rich fruit concentration and terrific freshness making one hell of a glugger! Drink now or hold for 5-8 years. "…magnificent 100% merlot... Awesome value… this is a must-buy wine, on account of its staggering value…" – Matthew Jukes

Wine:  St Emilion

The flagship property of Jonathan Maltus (his residence as well), this is the best Teyssier I have ever tasted. A tribute to his efforts, this blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc over-achieves even in a great vintage like 2009. Opaque blue/purple, with notes of charcoal, blackberry, cassis and spring flowers as well as a hint of subtle background oak., the wine is opulent, sumptuously textured, dense, pure and multi-dimensional. It should drink well for at least a decade or more.

Wine:  Pomerol

Just starting to lighten at the rim but still dark garnet at the centre. The nose is classic Pomerol: spicy plums with just a hint of secondary aromas of prune and dried fig. The palate is very similar to the 2008 with perhaps just a little more tannin and weight and like the nose just starting to reveal some of the first complexities of age. Like the 2008 this is wonderfully complete and with the same cool purity. This will make superb drinking now but with upside potential over the next 10 or so years

Wine:  Pomerol

Undeniably impressive and glorious bouquet of violets, black cherry and chocolate. Rich, full-bodied and voluptuous with hefty but ripe tannins.Very, very long, concentrated and elegant – really has that X-factor." 18.6 Points - 5 Stars Decanter Magazine April 2011 NM 91/100