5/19/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Very jammy, thick, with lots of fruit. Harmonious and fully integrated, fully maturity and at its very peak. Will go on for more years but I dont expect this to get better. Just a bit "too much"on the palet when more than one or two glasses.

5/18/2024 - Ozen wrote:

Definitely very much Palmer, but with a more restrained fruit experience and a drier profile. It lacks the richness and abundance of the grand vin, like the amazing 1989. Maybe too early, although I am not sure time is the solution here.

5/12/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Without a doubt my favourite Meursault and potentially my favourite white wube, period. Pierre Yves is a master is composing a wine of great complexity, and Meursault richness, intens and addictive. You are looking forward to drink this wine. A true beauty of a wine at its peak but without losing any of its energy. Wonderful

5/5/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

PoP notes on day 1: Just a correct wine. But rather closed and low on emotional depth. Not the best Price performance.

Day 2: Something completely different. A very nice wine, beautiful fresh notes, good linearity and acidity. Yet again proof to open bottles well in advance. And definitly worth the money on day 2.

4/28/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Drinking J.L. Chave Blanc 2007, J.L. Chave rouge 2014 and Lynch Bages 1990.

Last but for sure not least. The superior wine, drinking after the J.L.Chave's.

This Lynch Bages is one of the great wines made at this address. Still voting for the 1989 the absolute number 1, which is very sophisticated, broad palet, rich in fruit with beautiful masculine backbon, wonderful red fruit, more so even than the 1982. The latter being typically 1982 smooth, rich and velvet. The 1989 however more powerful and more abundant.

The 1990 in between those two, a truly wonderful Pauillac. This can compete any day with a second growth like Pichon Baron.

This wine takes you places on a sunny summer afternoon, meadows, forgetting the world around you exists and you are young again, as in late teens.

4/28/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Drinking J.L. Chave Blanc 2007, J.L. Chave rouge 2014 and Lynch Bages 1990

Wonderful fraicheur in this beautiful red Hermitage. And although relatively young, it is in its drinking window. Not a very outspoken bouquet, but convincing on the palet: Rhone but its most subtle version. In general I'm not a huge Rhone fan due to the often rather overtly herbal profile but Chave is an enlightened version of all that. Quite dry for a red, but its fraicheur makes this a truly nice wine.

While this Chave is ready today it for sure has has plenty of years a head: easily another 5-7!

4/28/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Drinking J.L. Chave Blanc 2007, J.L. Chave rouge 2014 and Lynch Bages 1990

In great shape, at peak but sufficient energy for more years, although I would say this will not get better with more age. Very typical Chave, not a dry wine of course, consistent Chave profile in both Bouquet and Taste. Unique in its richness and personality. A truly deeply exciting and enticing wine. Very nice.

4/26/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Wonderful sumptuous and broad shouldered wine. Silky with great depth of red fruit, strawberries, jammy, deep blood orange.
Just a wonderful super mature and incredibly compelling wine. A true joy for the senses. A privilege to drink.

4/1/2024 - Ozen wrote:

For a saint Julien of this stature dissapointing. Drying tannins, lacking fruit to cover, low or no on complexity.

3/17/2024 - Ozen wrote:

I may be a dissonant here or this bottle was just not great, while in good condition, but found this rather unimpressive. Might just not be my kind of wine but against the great wines this seems rather unremarkable. For sure not a 250+ dollar wine. Lets see whether the 2018 is substantially better

3/16/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

I want to share my experience here primarily to help others avoid my initial one, to not dismiss it after the first many hours.

PoP and I can only say we were incredibly disappointed. There seemed to be no there there, except for the reputation larger than Napoleon. Even hours later, there was no change. So we left the wine alone, frankly not intending to try it again.

However, the next day, not even yet in the morning but only later in the afternoon (!), something magical had happened. A truly sensual wine emerged with beautiful tones of warm fruit, deeply integrated dark wood, and remarkably well-balanced flavors. The signature of the winemaker clearly written all over it and yes it turned out to be an unique wine worth its maker’s reputation.

No Doubt this will improve over time and needs several more years in bottle.

2/11/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Mama Mia, what a wine, what an insanely 'I am in love again in summer' kind of wine. This is soooo good. This Unico lifts you up from mother earth and let you float like an eagle in high skies on a late hot summer afternoon.

Truly one of a kind! For sure one of the most appealing wines I have ever tasted. This unique wine embodies the essence of 'Blood Orange to perfection'. Its incredibly enticing flavor offers a rare concentration and perfection that no blood orange or any other fruit could. While this wine is orange as orange should be if we would want every human being to experience perfection in orange, if not everything fruit. It captures the essence of the book 'Fruit' by the chef of Chez Panisse. Nature provides a mere glimpse of what the perfect 'beyond the orange' elixer would taste like. The aftertaste is deep, intense and so long.

I highly recommend that anyone with a passion for wine (or even those who simply deeply appreciate the best of what fruit can produce), indulge in Vega Sicilia Unico at least once in your lifetime, preferably from a vintage like 1994. Absolutely stunning, if not downright magical. However steep this is worth the money.

2/10/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

This truly is a great Comte Lafon Perrieres. My experience across several vintages is that Quality is not 100% consistent but the 2008 vintage unquestionably stands out as a superb Meursault. It epitomizes the quality of Meursault, at the pinacle of meursault, rich, deep and broad while sophisticated and highly pleasing to the palet. This wine is a feast of sorts, a celebration with loved ones on a meadow in summer, sharing the very best life has to offer.

1/13/2024 - Ozen wrote:

The Clos des Ducs 2005 wine is bold, thick, almost reminiscent of Chateauneuf more so than Burgundy. Personally, I find it deviates too much from the Burgundy spectrum. It's thick and young, with abundance of cassis. This lacks the sophistication one would expect from the wine this famous. If anything, I would suggest keeping this bottle for at least another 5 years to allow it to mature, if that would help.

1/13/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

I have had the pleasure of comparing the LLC 1990 and 1996 quite a few times next to each other with consistent notes: The 1996 continues to be a truly grand wine, with somewhat remarkable contrast next to the 1990, which is more opulent and more hedonistic. Compared to the LLC 1990 a more correct LLC rather than an enthralling one. Somewhat too strict, rather formal. Sorry to make this a plee for the 1990 but this would be a straightjacket version of the incredible 1990 next to it (again).

1/2/2024 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Lafite Rothschild 1959, a privilege. A truly remarkably good bottle despite the ullage due to its age (it makes you wonder how it can still be perfect with that much air). Very promising: the cork is fully in tact while soaked, but clearly a champion league cork for fulfilling its duty for the full 65 years. Impressive.
Always concerned how long a wine of this age will hold after opening, I poured the first glass right after the cork extracting (no popping here). First impression: slight signs of age in the bouquet. So even more amazing to see that it actually took a few minutes for this legend to fully come to life. We are talking minutes here of course. But to have to have a 65 year old wine benefit from breathing is quite amazing. But then it did open up in a majestic way.

A deep sensational, utterly rich and beautiful elixer. One of the very best bottles so far. Super intense, super rich, wonderfully concentrated, deep orangey flavours, while deeply aristocratic, velvet, so vivid, full of life in its own royal way. It does make me realize its a privilege to experience Lafite 1959. This wine justifies the use of many superlatives. All these words are useless, as a description can't do justice to an experience like this, only the actual experience can. The aftertaste literally lingers for minutes... after the wine has left, its presence is soaring.... if not taking residence in your palet. It's aftertaste is that long.

Truly legendary

12/31/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Interesting but for me consistently this agrapart is more appealing that the Venus of the very same vintage. Maybe the latter needs more time in bottle. The Avizoise is very appealing really, clear bread and nice lingering aftertaste. Lovely Champagne

12/30/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Very satisfying wine of a great vintage. I would not say it has a deeper sense of emotion or anything wow, though well made and a satisfying experience of high quality pinot noir. A most reliable domaine in my experience and definitly a consistently good showing.
But then I should ask myself the question: Are the spoiled among us speaking? Because this definitely is a wine that would make your day most enjoyable!

12/30/2023 - Ozen wrote:

I consistently found this wine lacking depth and being quite short. It's an ok wine, but sort of the quitessence of the critic's ever promise of Lacoste being much better but never really is. The aftertaste particularly felt like a "dead end road", nice ripe fruit, but then with a sudden stop to it.
A great year but not a grand Lacoste once again. The only worthy Lacoste's so far in my experience have been 1990 (clearly) and to a somewhat lesser extend the 1982 followed by a dissapointing 2005. I am eagerly waiting for the "really great Lacoste" promised by several critics.

12/28/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

From Magnum. Initially somewhat harsh, muted, not much giving. But a completely different experience the 3rd (!) day: really lovely wine. Very smooth, even more so for a Hermitage. The overall impression the 3rd day is: very Rhone but in a velvet glove. Well integrated fruit. Mature with no sign of overdue. This should have several more years to go. It does benefit a lot from breathing, unless you appreciate a more herbal Rhone. Lovely.

12/16/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Day one: rather closed, not giving much,
Day two this Lafite is grand, Lafite as we know it: Deep, rich, sophisticated, tight and full of fruit in layer after layer. Slightly dry tannins. Intense and beautiful. Amazing core for a year that suposedly is somewhat off. Airing this wine is a must, and not just for a few hours. A truly wonderful wine the second day.

12/2/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

I have had 1998 La Mouline about 12 times now. But never as good as this bottle. Makes you wonder drinking too early? What a wine this is, and what a bottle, as at this age that is not a given. This wine is so well integrated and so enthralling. Easily the best bottle ever, even more so than the 1990 or 1999. It has acidity, intensity, orange rind, layered in thick ripe fruit. Actually bursting, smooth, velvet, while all with incredible harmony. This simply is rare. True Cote Rotie Guigal LaLa and this one truly is as good as it gets. I have had Guigal Lala quite a few times of heralded vinatges but I am very impressed here and I did not expect something this royally good at this stage.

12/2/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Very smooth but followed by a wondeful bottle of La Mouline 1998 the LLC has a hard time to live up to its reputation. Of course bottles vary and this may just be that, but the La Mouline 1998 blew the LLC away.

12/2/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

91 for potential. Very young, No surprise. Stinging acidity right out of the gate. But after some breathing more palpable. With exotic fruit core, litterally like a peach pit with the light bitternes that comes with it, also unripe green berries. With clear champenoise bread. No surprise this needs time.

10/11/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Fascinating to drink this after the Prieure-Lichine 2005. This helps define the difference in class between a Pichon and 5th Grand cru like Lichine in another way. Both wines have fruit, and enough of it, both wines have good tannins. But the Pichon has a most compelling sense of tension, that is lacking in the Lichine. Its best expressed as a sense of orange peel, kind of a teasing dimension across the palette. Of course in addition the Pichon clearly has complexity and is substantially more layered. A very compelling wine. Not so close to the class of the 1990, but definitely appealing. Many more years ahead here.

10/10/2023 - Ozen wrote:

Proof that great wines definitely benefit from strong growing seasons. This 1995 is not impressive by any stretch of imagination. Rather thin and relatively dull compared to what this Behemoth of a vineyard can produce in great vintages like 1990. This bottle displays a wine from an off year lacking its typical rich fruit, lacking compexity and sexappeal.

10/10/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

The 2009 has been put very well together at this domain. One of my favourites of the more affordable wines from the Grand Cru Bordeaux stables and truly pleasurable. Fully mature now, well balanced, good fruit and very smooth makes this a winner. Worth every penny. Enough staying power for a few more years at its peak.

10/7/2023 - Ozen wrote:

Vincent Dauvissat for sure is my all time favourite Chablis. The linearity and unequaled focus and precision of Vincent's wines are what Chablis in its essence of character is all about. To that point, the Chablis from Raveneau are fabulous but for my taste, quite often in a way, beyond what Chablis truly is about as teroir. This fabulous laser purity is what makes Dauvissat the number one Chablis for me. This shows in vintages like 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2010.
Now having said that, 2009 is not quite that. The vintage is too warm in a way, resulting in a somehwat blurry experience, lacks focus, lack of linearity. So its good but not great. 8 more bottles to go but losing faith it will get much better.......

9/21/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

The Lynch Bages 1990 is one of the truly great wines of this great vintage. Its wondefully rich, complex and extremely well integrated. It has been a ongoing match between 1989 and 1990 for which one to claim the best as they truly are close. The 1990 still has staying power although there is no reason to wait as it is at its very grand peak right now. Absolute top class and an incredible joy to drink.

9/21/2023 - Ozen Does not like this wine:

Surprising showing (although I will admit it is my first bottle) but had expected way more from this Cab. Very rich and lots of fruit but lacks harmony and balance, and most dissapointingly is overly sweet. I hope this will mature and get its stuff in order.

9/3/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Drank this next to the LLC 1990. The 1996 is a grand vin for sure. Fully mature but enough stamina for many more years. Slightly more masculine than the enthralling beauty they made in 1990. And only very sligthly, more herbal than the 1990, but for sure another incredibly beautiful Saint Julien. LLC for me represents the very best this subregion can produce.

9/3/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Drank LLC 1990 next to the 1996. Both wonderful wines, where the 1990 is just a tad more sophisticated and harmonious. The 1990 is an incredibly captivating hedonistic wine. One of the most appealing wines i have ever had, and by now enjoyed more than 12 times. I would definitly vote for this to be a premier Cru up there with the great 5 and for sure more utter class than Chateau Margaux. This wine has it all.

8/30/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

This Palmer 1989 is nothing short of monumental. It has consistently been a winner everytime I had the pleasure if not privilege to experience this wonderful Palmer. All time favourite!

Incredibly compelling, utterly attractive and utterly dissapointing when you face the final sip. Impecably balanced, singing. Long after taste. This has gotten to full maturity but I hve said that for a few years now and it keeps going at full strength.

1989 is a truly compelling vintage for Palmer, likewise also for Montrose (close to 1990), Haut Brion, Mission Haut Brion and Lynch Bages.

8/30/2023 - Ozen wrote:

Remarkably great wine for this not star vintage! Equally remarkable the Haut Brion kept improving and only showed its true quality to the fullest the 3rd (!) day, displaying a wonderfully complex, full bodied (althoug next to the Grange 98, feminine) grand vin. The 3 day evolution (with cork in the bottle of course) probably speaks more to its youth but the final glass clearly hints we are talking about a truly wonderful wine in the making here. A must buy and relatively affordable given its quality.

8/30/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

We drank this next to Haut Brion 2008. The Grange being is at its very peak: Rich with lots of dark ripe midsummer fruit, well balanced, at the same time quite sweet, very shiraz at its very best, smooth full bodied, quite jammy but never heavy. And as said earlier very ripe fruit. It can not really compete with the HB next to it though, being just less complex, less sophisticated but still very enjoyable in its truly shiraz greatness. It does have years of life ahead.

8/11/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

What a wonderful surprise experience, not just another tasting of yet another great wine. Unique celebration of the Italian wine lovers country. Intense, sumptuous and so smooth, deeply comforting, wonderfully beautifully integrated cherry, coulis of black fruit with a slight touch of prune. All in superb harmony. What a feast this wine is. At peak but with lots of life left.

Looking at earlier tasting notes here maybe I have the only great bottle but what a great bottle it is. I wish I had more of this. Highly recommended!

8/4/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Truly wonderful wine, at its peak and so giving. Definition of "lovely". Remarkably smooth for a 2008 given its relative young age. incredibly well integrated, harmonious, rich fruit with a beautiful deep subtle raisin acidity as undercurrent. You have to experience this to understand Italian greatness in wine.

7/16/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Somehow it feels this wine needs a bit more time still to develop. But most enjoyable now and from a great vintage.

7/16/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

very dauvissat. super pure, wonderful focus and minerality.

7/16/2023 - Ozen wrote:

Rather common. Lacks the excitement one would expect from a wine of this vineyard. not worth the money

7/6/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

wonderful characterisc Napa Chardonnay. Better than 2016, more pronounced, richer and longer aftertaste. Great

6/25/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Again an overwhelmingly knock out, but ethereal, wine here. So unique in its style and personality, with exceptional purity of fruit that spans like a dome in your palate and is extremely rare (as in: I have never tasted anything like this before). The slightly raisiny tones are in absolutely perfect harmony. Pomegranate, sweet apple, blackberries, maybe even some cassis. Clos Erasmus uniqueness stems from the fact it has precious if not surreal fruit character while one could not having the depth and complexity of the very greatest burgundy kings and queens. But the etheral character and heavenly focus in red fruit is enthralling and captivating.
The only reason I would not yet rate this as a perfect 100 points wine is the fact the greatest burgundy's have the complexity that adds the heaven dimension, while not displaying the perfect purity of fruit of this erasmus. In that sense this wine would be mother earth in its utter beauty, and the greatest burgs being heaven. Stunning experience.

6/4/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Wonderful showing of this Brunello Riserva next to Leoville Las Cases 1990 and dominus 2014. Interestingly the LLC being the more sweet one while the Dominus the slightly more bitter, but all three great wines without a doubt.
I opened this bottle because of the earlier taster's tasting note being somewhat critical. Must have been an off bottle as this wine is in great shape and incredible appealing, Very typical Brunello and typically riserva, if there is something like that. Rich, if not intense, broad in the intense fruit. truly lovely wine and at its peak with years to go.

5/29/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Insanely good. This is like celebrating life at one of those summer night parties at the mediteranean, with a bunch of unspoiled beautiful souls.
In all its abundance and sumptuousness it has a deep, but subtlest core of bloodorange, incredibly rich, smooth and harmonious, feast of summer fruit, a true love fest. Tantalizing. The aftertaste lasts more than a few minutes really, and rolls ashore like waves of sumptuous fruit. If my last moment in life could just be like this.

At its very high and long peak and still lots of life to celebrate here.

5/12/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

A great wine in this vintage. lots of Cassis, pomegranate, less but still some beet, red apple. In attempting to describe this wine: it is like visiting a cathedral, for sure impressive, classy, not necessarily the most emotional wine, very appealing yet improbable to fall in love with. Serene, but still incredibly good and a truly great experience of sheer class. It is pomegranate without the acidity, it is cassis without the warm fruit, but no matter what it is truly nice. This is the 4th bottle from a case and this time it is right in the drinking window.

5/7/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Such an incredibly satisfying wine. But you need to take time to taste this, preferably just the wine, just with a very few friends, maybe even just one, and let the wine get into its own. To its magical peak, so intensely beautifully complete and mature. Sumptuous as the definition of ripened beauty. A nose of ripe subtle fully intergrated fruit, slight raisin, vanille, complex. With its magical combination of fruit coulis and minerality if not a kind of acidity that gives this wine its tantalizing aftertaste. This wine makes you live a late warm soothing summer afternoon, on the brink of an early warm autumn with yellow and orange leaves, and all the magic of the season. It tells you how good life is at times. Vega Sicilia Unico 1994 is the definition of such a day in the year. Everything is whole. This grand vin is a phenomena, it's that good! And it makes you long for one more sip.......after the last.

5/6/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Contrary to the redigaffi earlier this week the Notri is in a perfect drinking window. Very smooth, sumptuous wine, harmonious, raisins, strawberry.

5/6/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

2nd bottle and once again a fabulous wine. Truly some of the very best I have ever tasted. It’s impeccable balance and harmony stands out, rich but sophisticated, all morphed into one sumptuous delight. Legendary.

5/5/2023 - Ozen Does not like this wine:

This clearly is over the hill. Oxidative and that is not the first one, same for the 3004 several times, if anything it is an overdosis of raisiny flavours, very unpleasant. Makes me wonder how the 2013-2016 will hold themselves.

4/27/2023 - Ozen Likes this wine:

Very typical Corton, not too overbearing, body, masculine, herbs with a remarkably strong tone of tyme. Overall just a nice wine without too much complexity.