Domaine Du Bel Air

Château Bel Air-Marquis d'Aligre

Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 1996

It’s been a couple years since I last enjoyed the 1996 and based off this experience, it’s continuing to age gracefully.

Double decanted the night before. The wine pours a garnet color with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of cassis, kirsch, purple flowers, tobacco, dried herbs, green pepper, old wood and gravelly earthy. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is long and sanguine. So much soul, it could make Marvin Gaye blush. Drink now with patience (and a long decant) through 2041. Thanks for the assist
@Lyle Fass
— 11 days ago

Pooneet, Shay and 17 others liked this
Andrew Schirmer

Andrew Schirmer

🔥🔥🔥
Lyle Fass

Lyle Fass Influencer Badge Premium Badge

Great wine. So savory.

Château Cos d'Estournel

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2008

Another great btl that improved with air showing mostly black fruits, full bodied with notes of currant, mocha, cedar, leather & tobacco — a month ago

Ira, Tom and 14 others liked this

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1989

1989 vintage. Last tasted 3 years ago (9.6). Nice fill. Durand used to open. Cork 95% saturated with extensive bottle rim cleaning involved before pouring. Not decanted. Tight, minty nose throughout along with a decided, lingering zinc note under the tongue at the finish line. Tasted 2 hours after opening. Power but without delineation. Just a consistent, forgettable push. Nothing wrong with the wine...it just needed more air/time and a decant but it wasn't my call. Feel like the zinc flavor would have dissipated/blown off with more time. Good but more memorable for what it wasn't vs what it was. Pity and an entire wasting of what could have been. 11.21.25. — 2 months ago

Tom, Paul and 16 others liked this
Pinotman /// Andreas

Pinotman /// Andreas

Very interesting and diplomatic note.
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego Premium Badge

@Pinotman /// Andreas Had to bite my tongue.

Domaine Leflaive

Les Pucelles Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Chardonnay

Took an hour of air in the glass before showing its stuff! — 14 days ago

Goedhart Family

Bel' Villa Syrah 2020

Inky in color with short purple rim.

Strong nose of black currants, plums, oak, tar, licorice, spices, charcoal and light blood notes.

Full-bodied and bold with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with black currants, black plums, dark chocolates, oak, spices, licorice, tobacco and peppercorn.

Long finish with round tannins and tangy cherries.

This is a delicious Syrah from Red Mountain in Washington State. Rich and extracted, yet not in your face kind of wine.

This Single Vineyard Syrah is well balanced with nice complexity. Fruit forward and spicy.

I had the 2022 not too long ago, and it definitely gets better with age. Will continue to age nicely in the next 7 years.

Good by itself as a sipping wine. A New world Syrah on the nose and palate.

100% Syrah grapes were aged for 18 months in 50% new oak barrels. 80% french and 20% American oak barrels. A small production of only 3,000 bottles. Unfiltered.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$40.
— 2 months ago

Andrew, Sagee and 6 others liked this

Damien Laureau

Le Bel Ouvrage Savennières Chenin Blanc 2001

JKT
9.2

Wow medium yellow and complex nutty earthy ripe orange spicy notes carrying through to bracing acidity and firm texture then long finish. No sign of oxidation from previous notes and giving it higher ratings. — a month ago

Ridge Vineyards

Monte Bello Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2014

Yes—exactly that kind of wine: timeless, composed, and quietly authoritative.

It smells so good on first pour. Damp pine forest floor and clean mountain air register immediately. Everything else unravels from there; but that initial pop-and-pour sniff is pure magic.

On the palate, blackcurrant, cedar, graphite, and dried herbs unfold with control, carried by freshness and finely etched tannins in a medium body.

So classic, so intellectual, and deeply mesmerizing. Drink now or age.
— a month ago

Ted, Sagee and 9 others liked this

Château Bel-Air Lagrave

Cru Bourgeois Moulis en Médoc Red Bordeaux Blend 1995

JKT
9.0

Balance and soft textures thirty years! Say ten years after acquiring from JR whose email says matriarch passing freed up this library holding back then. — 4 months ago