Dense ruby/purple, it tips the scales at 15% natural alcohol and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Full-bodied in texture, it offers up loads of blueberry, blackberry and raspberry fruit intermixed with some cedar, vanilla and a touch of spring flowers. Impressively built, with good acidity and light tannin.
A simple, straightforward bouquet of almond cookies intermixed with a hint of pineapple is followed by a medium-bodied, moderately sweet Sauternes without a great deal of distinction or complexity.
The 2006 Il Carbonaione is a big, dark wine. Imposing at first, it flows from the glass with tons of super-ripe blueberries, grilled herbs, new leather, spices, minerals and flowers.
Dense ruby/purple, with sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco intermixed with graphite, black currants, cherries, and spice, it is medium to full-bodied, fleshy, beautifully textured, and long.
A sleeper of the vintage, Lanessan's 1996 boasts an impressively saturated dark ruby/purple color, and knock-out aromatics of melted chocolate, asphalt, and cassis. Deep, rich, and medium-bodied, with excellent concentration and purity, this impressively-endowed, flavorful, well-structured wine.
This blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot displays classic tobacco leaf and smoky barbecue notes along with rich black currants and crushed rocks in a medium to full-bodied, seductive, attractively up-front style. Some Asian plum sauce is also noticeable in this complex, evolved and delicious wine.
A sensational wine from this Pessac-Leognan estate, the 2009 possesses notes of charcoal, graphite, roasted herbs, truffles, spice box, and luxurious quantities of black currant and black cherry fruit. Full-bodied, impressively endowed.
The aromatics have evolved well, now offering quite plush redcurrant, strawberry and ferrous scents that are nicely defined. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, savory in the mouth with dried blood, rosemary and sage notes towards the finish.
Copious amounts of creme de cassis, graphite, spice box and a whiff of new saddle leather result in a classic, authoritative, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with no hard edges.
The 1999 is an elegant, finesse-styled, medium-bodied effort revealing lovely strawberry and currant fruit with a hint of sour cherries, a judicious touch of oak, medium body, and excellent purity. It creeps up on the taster in subtle increments.
The 2009 Flaccianello della Pieve is now hitting that very specific point in a wine's evolution in which you still identity some of the fruit, but you also get a supporting chorus of evolved aromas that enhance the overall finesse and depth of the bouquet.
ts deep ruby/purple color is accompanied by sweet black cherry, scorched earth, and camphor notes, a sweet, rich mid-palate, medium to full body, and excellent purity as well as depth.
It has an attractive, Aszu-like bouquet with touches of fresh apricot, almond and hints of marmalade that unfold in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fresh quince on the entry. This demonstrates much better balance and focus than its peers with a delightful citrus freshness on the marmalade-tinged finish.
It has an inky purple color and a stunning nose of spring flowers, blueberry and blackberry fruit as well as touches of incense and graphite. Medium to full-bodied and stunningly concentrated.
This wine exhibits a sensational smorgasbord of aromas ranging from red and black fruits to toasty oak to licorice, high quality cigar tobacco, and spice box. Flavorful and full-bodied, with rich fruit, moderate but sweet tannin, and a long, pure finish.
The 2009 Barolo Arborina demonstrates a pretty floral quality with pressed rose and spots of lavender oil. Expressive and beautifully intense, the wine is crafted to show the delicate and more feminine side to the Altare portfolio. Silky and fine, the mouthfeel is streamlined and crisp.
Galardi’s 2008 Terra di Lavoro is a legend in the making. It is a fabulously ripe, rich and seductive wine endowed with beautifully articulated dark plums, ash, leather, licorice, all of which meld together in an explosive, utterly thrilling display of class and elegance. Clean, mineral notes frame the eternal finish.
Deep garnet colored, the 2005 Ducru-Beaucaillou needs a little coaxing before slipping sensuously out of the glass with the most alluring perfume of red roses, kirsch, star anise, cardamom and fragrant earth over a core of blackcurrant pastilles, blackberry preserves and warm plums plus a touch of tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a wonderfully taut, tightly knit frame of fine-grained tannins and bold freshness supporting the densely packed fruit, finishing long and perfumed.
Deep garnet colored, the 2010 Carruades de Lafite charges out of the gate with bold scents of baked plums and boysenberries followed by hints of menthol, tobacco leaf, cloves and smoked meats. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers a well-poised frame of ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness supporting the savory flavors, finishing with a spicy kick.
A soft, easygoing wine, the 2003 La Lagune displays lots of balsam wood, black cherry and earthy notes. Dark ruby-colored with a pink rim, it is a lively, fresh Haut-Medoc with some acidity in the background.
The wines possess plenty of botrytis, but neither the impressive definition nor supreme elegance of the 2001s. This is a sweet, full-bodied, fat, concentrated, intense effort.
A superb second wine, opulent and substantively textured, it shares more in common with a flamboyant, exuberant year such as 2009 than most 2010s. Dense purple, its oodles of fruit, luxurious mouthfeel and terrific finish make it a sleeper of the vintage.
Deep garnet-purple in color, it has notes of crushed black currants, fresh black berries and black raspberries with hints of tar, dried herbs and garrigue. The palate is medium-bodied, energetic and refreshing in the mouth with firm, grainy tannins and an uplifting finish.
The wine boasts an opaque purple color along with sweet aromas of mulberries, creme de cassis, blackberries, espresso roast, chocolate and toast. Sweet tannin, an opulent mouthfeel and a flamboyant personality make for a prodigious/compelling wine that can be drunk now or cellared for two decades or more.
Its deep plum/ruby color is accompanied by a big, rich bouquet of resiny pine forest scents interwoven with kirsch liqueur, blackberries, pepper, and spice. Full-bodied, pure, heady, complex, and nuanced
It has an effervescent bouquet with vibrant red berry fruit and superb mineralité. This is extremely well focused, with hints of rose petal emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with finer tannin.