Category Archives: Tasting Notes

Chateau Leoville-Las Cases 2001

Ratings By Robert Parker 93 Tasting Notes Jean-Hubert Delon thinks the 2001 Leoville Las Cases could turn out to be as good as his 2000. I??m not sure I agree, but it may come close. A blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19.5% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, the 2001 (which represents only 40% of… Read More »

Chateau Brane-Cantenac 1995

Ratings By Robert Parker 86 Tasting Notes Close to full maturity, this wine is already showing some lightening at the edge. Notes of compost, mushrooms, and earthy red and black fruits. In the mouth, the wine is medium-bodied with some firm tannin, but a short, somewhat attenuated finish. It is a competent but unexciting effort… Read More »

Chateau Kirwan 2002

Ratings By Robert Parker 88 Tasting Notes A relatively masculine-styled effort, with some noticeably hard and elevated tannin, this deep ruby/purple-colored 2002 exhibits notes of forest floor, black currant, vanilla, and incense. Firmly structured, tannic, and muscular, it requires 3-4 years of cellaring, and should keep for up to two decades.(Wine Advocate #158 Apr 2005)… Read More »

Chateau Malescot St. Exupery 1996

Ratings By Robert Parker 90 Tasting Notes This impressively constructed wine offers a saturated deep ruby/purple color, followed by elegant aromas of berry fruit intermixed with tobacco, flowers, and vanillin scents. It is layered and medium to full-bodied, with outstanding purity and fruit extraction. Although deep, rich, and powerful for a wine from this estate,… Read More »

Chateau La Lagune 2004

Ratings By Robert Parker 90 Tasting Notes A sleeper of the vintage, this sexy, charming, Burgundian-styled wine offers fleshy black cherry notes intermixed with camphor, flowers, and pain grille. Supple tannin, velvety texture, and luscious aromatics as well as flavors result in an alluring claret to drink over the next 12-14 years.(Wine Advocate #171 Jun… Read More »

Chateau La Tour Carnet 2006

Ratings By Robert Parker 91 Tasting Notes A fabulous sleeper of the vintage, this estate, which has made a succession of brilliant wines under the administration of Bordeaux??s visionary Bernard Magrez, has turned out another terrific effort. A blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this wine… Read More »

Chateau Marquis de Terme 2000

Ratings By Robert Parker 87 Tasting Notes The only vintage after 1996 that merits attention from serious wine lovers, the 2000 Marquis de Terme has a dense, murky ruby/purple color and a sweet nose of berry fruit, earth, licorice, and new oak. Medium-weight with good concentration and purity, it is much more developed than most… Read More »

Chateau Lynch-Bages 2008

Ratings by Robert Parker 93 Tasting Notes A sensational effort for the vintage, this textured, opulent, superb Lynch Bages is already strutting its stuff and should easily last for 20 years. Medium to full-bodied with an opaque dense purple color, notes of flowers and cassis, a layered texture that builds incrementally in the mouth and… Read More »

Chateau d’Armailhac 2002

Ratings By Robert Parker 89 Tasting Notes A firm, dark ruby/purple-colored wine with notes of compost, black currants, espresso roast, and some soy, this medium to full-bodied, relatively powerful and concentrated wine shows elevated levels of tannin which have kept me from pulling the trigger and giving it a higher score. I thought everything seemed… Read More »