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1982 Bordeaux, 20 Years On (Jul 2002)

Full ruby-red. Slightly musty aromas of currant and cigar box. Fat and full, but with an intrusive dry edge suppressing the wine fruit and verve and repeating on the finish. I’ve had a couple of better bottles of this wine, but it apparent that the cellar pollution problems that plagued this chateau between 1985 and…

Where the Heart Is: Ducru-Beaucaillou 1934-2018 (Jul 2022)

The 1982 Ducru-Beaucaillou can be a stupendous wine…or it can leave you scratching your head. On the nose, this bottle shows a little more brettanomyces than others that I have tasted, though it dissipates with aeration to reveal blackberry, mint and light herbal notes. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, a little chewy…

Caught Somewhere in Time: Clos de Tart 1887-2016 (Feb 2019)

The 2005 Clos de Tart Grand Cru, tasted from magnum (for some reason, it always seems to turn up in this format), is one of Sylvain Pitiot’s greatest successes. It was picked September 21 to September 24 (at 11am, to be exact). The yield was 27hl/ha with 14° alcohol. The precocity of the growing season…

2006 and 2005 Red Burgundies (Mar 2008)

Deep red-ruby. Explosive nose offers superripe plum jam and chocolate notes complicated by smoked meat and lifted by minerality; some violet and black pepper nuances reminded me of Cote-Rotie. Large-scaled, broad and thick; less racy and delineated today than the young 2006 but then this very young wine’s minerality and fruit are currently hidden by…

Focus on California’s North Coast (May 2012)

Good bright red. Perfumed, rather cool aromas of cassis, menthol, fresh herbs, flowers, anise and fennel. Juicy, spicy and tight but not hard, with a pungent core of acidity and an impression of briary, earthy minerality giving the wine plenty of personality. This firmly tannic cabernet smells a bit raw in the way of a…

2007 and 2006 Red Burgundies (Mar 2009)

Full red-ruby. Reticent, soil-inflected aromas of sappy black raspberry, blueberry, violet, graphite and smoky underbrush; less expressive today than the young 2007. Then compellingly sweet and rich if quite primary, with distinctly purple flavors of dark berries and violet. This superconcentrated wine stains the palate on the extremely long finish, finishing with substantial dusty, fine-grained…