9/17/2023 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Great wine. A 2005 worth opening now. Still has rich red fruit full bodied and silky tannins. Little bit of age showing through.

8/3/2022 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Needed a long decant. Still just not quite ready.

11/28/2021 - SonnyChiba wrote:

This was incredibly good. Gorgeous nose. Impeccably balanced on the palate with no rough spots - smooth as can be. One of the best wines I have had this year, a perfect time to drink it in my opinion.

6/5/2021 - Elpaninaro Likes this wine:

bright lemon color, very sweet primary nose, candied nuts, citrus, on the palate as large scale a Dom as you will ever see aside from the 2008 with fruit still in a very primary state, there is a bit of cream showing around the edges- but still much more to come in time, fine long finish, with time in glass roasted walnuts the dominant feature, a big and glorious Dom Perignon- but for my personal tastes still too sweet, this needs at least another decade to fully come together and start opening up.

(*****), 2030++

4/23/2020 - robburgundy Likes this wine:

Served this LEEEEEEEEEEROOOOYYYYYYYYYYY Jhenkinnnnnnssss during a blind tasting event.

Some calls in the group:
Barbera, Old World Syrah, Beaujolais, and lastly Italian Table Wine!!

Dark ruby in color, nice round elegant mouthfeel, tasted unfiltered.

Wow this wine has an interesting nose but somewhat dominated by bret. To loosely quote someone: "not quite poopy but probably strong fart." Bret the Hitman Fart.

Bourgogne level negoced pinot for Leroy but it was very divisive as some people hated the bret while others appreciated it and/or loved it.

6/26/2019 - SonnyChiba wrote:

93+, still improving but worth trying now as it drinks pretty well. Full bodied with rich dark fruit, backed by some smoky earthy notes, and black licorice. Lovely to drink now but will be excellent in time.

5/18/2019 - Barnaby33 wrote:

A hot mess of coconut and dill. Brought to Vintage for the, "wines you used to like but no longer do Friday theme." It fit the bill perfectly!

4/21/2019 - Highlander wrote:

I am confused....I purchased two lots of 6 bottles within one year from the same retailer. This last bottle is where I expected this wine to be....tannic, fruit restrained and a long life ahead of it. My comment 3 months ago was the exact opposite (wine fading, drink now). I am not sure if this is bottle variation or 6 improperly stored bottles, prior to reaching my cellar, but there is a massive difference here. Judging by some prior comments, I am led to believe that 6 of my bottles were not shipped/stored well....

4/26/2018 - blanquito wrote:

Quick hit: the is really good and is finally starting to live up to the promise it showed when younger.

I opened this yesterday and enjoyed half of the bottle. It showed a wildly herby, zesty, green bouquet. I loved it, but would give the pyrazine-phobic an instant aneurism. The palate was much less rewarding, showing quiet lean and bright. It needed food.

I froze the 2nd half of the bottle and thawed it for dinner tonight, and is this really good now. The nose has morphed from shrubbery to more classic tobacco, green peppercorns, and earthy notes, there’s even some sweeter whiffs of cherry and lavender. But the palate has really transformed, fleshing out substantially with good midpalate chew and a pleasing sweetness. There’s excellent brightness and plenty of character, this is in an early maturity phase for my palate. Not a blockbuster to be sure, but this is a very encouraging showing for both the Lagrange (which is probably a somewhat earlier maturing Grand Cru Left Bank, for the vintage) and where the 96s may end up in general.

That all said, I am increasingly convinced that while the 96 Left Banks will be glorious when fully mature, they will mostly be on the leaner, aromatic, old school end of the things compared to other top years, offering the best of their charms with aromatic expressiveness, freshness and complexity. The best of the best will have the palate power and depth to back up the aromatic fireworks and turn into legends, but this isn’t like your 82, 86, 89, 90, 05, 09 or 10 vintage in terms of concentration. I’m starting to wonder if something like the underrated 2001 vintage is a good comparison for the 96s?

6/28/2014 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Was very excited to try one of these and see what to expect. It was really good. Layers and layers of black fruits, licorice, nuts, currant, spices, with an excellent rich mid palate. Really great structure and balance. This is a beauty and better than expected. One for the long haul, and glad I have a couple of these. 96+ pts (drank bottle #142 of 228)

12/27/2017 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Badly corked.

10/26/2017 - SonnyChiba wrote:

No rating, found this to be closed down and unappealing at the moment.

10/30/2017 - Nat_DP wrote:

We decanted it for 4+ hrs however I think this bottle had a flaw so I don’t feel like I can really assess it.

12/1/2016 - SonnyChiba wrote:

97+ for now. Possibly one of the best nose I've ever experienced. Close to becoming a perfect wine in my opinion, doesn't get much better than this in a young Bordeaux. With time might even catch up to the 2000 Latour which is an all time favorite of mine.

9/8/2016 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Impressive wine. Still youthful, but has developed some nice cedar, graphite, with a core of ripe and rich black fruit. Good balance and complex finish. Better than expected and good to go for some time ahead.

12/10/2015 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Latour Dinner with Frederic from Chateau Latour. One of my favorite of the tasting. What a surprise this was up against many of the RP100 Latours. But a real winner. Frederic mentioned they worked extra overtime on this vintage to make it stand out and it certainly does. Classic notes, balanced with some fruit, mineral and smokiness. Really slides across the palate with very long finish. Drinks well now with long time ahead.

12/4/2015 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Dark chocolate and port like. Very rich wine, but there's some complexity and structure underneath. Not really my style but a solidly made wine. Correction: this is 55% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot and 20% cabernet franc

12/23/2014 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Same experience as poster below - cork soaked and wasn't sure what to expect, but it came through pretty nicely. A bit of a modern style burgundy, it was dense, rich, fruit forward, and finish nicely. Could have used a little more minerality. I enjoyed this, but it was a tad one dimensional, and was hoping for a little more complexity as well.

12/16/2014 - SonnyChiba wrote:

Pop and pour. Big, rich and full bodied - very modern style. At first the nose was extremely gamey, smelled like peppered beef jerky, but slow transitioned into a full bouquet of ripe black fruits with some nice spice. A lot of vanilla and chocolate liqueur flavors. Silky smooth and rich finish. Was impressed with this wine. Drinks great right now.

3/25/2014 - Sevencircles Likes this wine:

Tasted a very small sample of this wine but I would guess that it was a 10 year old 60$ Bordeaux from a very good year.

I expected more fresh acidity and tannins actually.

Oldschool style but from a very hot year. A lot of velvet and earth, some underlying fruit but not much. Great balanced mouthfeel and body but not very complex.

I don´t think it´s worth more then 92 points.

I think you can find similar wines for 60$ actually.

Too young I guess.

9/24/2013 - bestdamncab Likes this wine:

At the winery with Jed and Luiz, bottle opened in front of us, closed nose of black cherry fruit, currants, dust, and currants, more of the same on the palate, big body, well structured, shows promise for the future, needs four years to peak or decant for five hours, medium/long finish. Second place of four reds tasted