The Magnificent Wine Company
Château Léoville-Las Cases
Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2010
Even more fantastic than the previous bottle of 2010 I enjoyed a year ago. Decanted and enjoyed over 7 hours. This was good from first pour but became great and then magnificent over the next 3.5 and 7 hours. It was still full of verve on the last sip! Early only it was more dark fruit but over time the wines softened and became a bit sweeter and rounder. Tremendous length and complexity. — a year ago
Bond
Pluribus Napa Valley Red Wine 2008
Château Palmer
Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend 2009
Mother Mary of God! Just give me the bottle and a crazy straw. I want all my wine to taste this way.
The nose is; ruby and velvety elegance. Creamy, candied, ripe; dark currants, blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, black plum & poached strawberries. Red licorice, candied, bright, florals for days. Dry crushed rocks, limestone, light, round granite, black licorice, sweet tarriness, expresso roast, dry leather, cedar, dry stems, vanilla, dark chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, light clove & nutmeg, beautiful, soft, herbaceous notes with crazy beautiful fields of; red, purple and blue flowers.
The body is full, round and the definition of elegance. The dark, tarry tannins are well rounded and have baby teeth. The structure, tension, length and balance are perfectly knitted together. Magnificent! Creamy, candied, ripe; dark currants, blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, black plum & poached strawberries. Red licorice, candied, bright, florals for days. Dry crushed rocks, limestone, light, round granite, black licorice, sweet tarriness, expresso roast, dark, intense, spice with palate heat, dry leather, cedar, dry stems, vanilla, dark chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, light clove & nutmeg, saline, dry tobacco with ash, beautiful, soft, herbaceous notes with crazy fields of; red, purple and blue flowers. The acidity is round-elegant and like a warm shower. The finish is simply a forget about it experience. It is gorgeous & sexy and a wine I will never forget. This is a 100 point wine in short order. Don’t be foolish enough to open a bottle now unless you have at least 3-5 more. You’ll be robbing yourself of heaven.
Photos of; Chateau Palmer, their barrel room, a photo of their vineyard soil structure-if you didn’t know where all that earthiness comes from, a picture is worth a thousand words and their tasting room. — 7 years ago
Bond
Quella Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Dunn Vineyards
Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Magnificent, in the perfect dinking window. Cherry, chocolate, leather. One of the best wines of the year for me for sure. — 7 years ago
De Toren
Fusion V Stellenbosch Red Blend
De Toren Fusion V 2001 please!!!
4Aug2019 evening, with our AMS’dam gang.. A fabulous dinner with a magnificent wine to match it!! — 7 years ago
Screaming Eagle
Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
The 2016 Screaming Eagle is a positively stunning wine. An intense bouquet gives way to a wine of explosive energy and huge textural depth. Graphite, crushed rocks, menthol, sage and dark spice open up gradually in this reticent, brooding Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2016 is a towering, statuesque wine of the very highest level. That is the good news. The slightly less good news is that it will need a number of years in bottle to be at its very best. I wouldn't dream of touching a bottle anytime soon. The 2016 literally does scream, with tons of varietal Cabernet aromatics, flavors and structural drive. In a word: magnificent! (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, December 2018) — 7 years ago
La Ca' Nova
Montestefano Barbaresco Nebbiolo 2015
Another success for Marco Rocca. He doesn’t look back and while magnificent stuff is bottled here already, his best days lies ahead. This is seamless stuff. — 8 years ago
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC)
Échézeaux Pinot Noir 2005
The Legendary 1990 and 2005 Vintages, and the 'Rouge' Aroma They Revealed!
I was meeting friends for a tasting, and I said I would bring a wine with a "rouge aroma" (*Yānzhī xiāng*). My friend also promised to open one with the same scent. If it's a cool vintage, a DRC might not reveal that distinctive rouge scent, but it's more common in warmer vintages, especially older ones from hot years. Of course, 2005 is a legendary vintage—it was warm but with significant diurnal temperature variation, resulting in balanced acidity and concentration, which also creates a very strong structure.
Thankfully, the 1990 Clos de Tart, despite having a very low fill level, wasn't spoiled. Its condition wasn't as potent as a previous bottle I had opened. This one took about 1.5 hours to fully open up in the glass. When it did, it revealed that signature Jiangnan "rouge" scent—very soft, enchanting, and feminine—along with some notes of dried longan. The fruit was balanced, though the acidity was relatively weak.
Today, I'll mainly write about this DRC. Its structure is incredibly powerful. For the first two hours, it was very closed. I believe this wine needed at least four hours of decanting, primarily because the 2005s, despite being a warm year, aren't that easy to open up. The aromas only started to slowly emerge around the third hour, and we were using large decanters and glasses, waiting for a long time. Initially, for the first half-hour after opening, there was a reductive note that was a bit funky. Later, after it opened up, the nose was primarily an interplay of cypress pine, violets, and that rouge scent intertwined. Honestly, this wine felt androgynous to me—it evokes an image of a knight and a princess playing in a forest. It wasn't overly soft, and its layers were incredibly complex.
On the palate, it was abundant: primarily black fruit, sour plum, sandalwood, coffee beans, a hint of dark chocolate, and a touch of earthy notes. The tannins weren't very soft—but then again, I'm so accustomed to drinking old wines. I feel this wine will need another 10 years to truly reach its peak. Its structure is exceptionally strong, unfolding layer by layer, with beautifully balanced acidity.
Comparing these two wines, their styles are completely different. One could say it's a contrast between an iconic Eastern beauty and a Western princess. I personally adore the soft and elegant style, but the 2005 is a wine with immense structure—it possesses a feminine power that is very potent, almost like the vision of a woman holding authority in a man's world.
Drinking such magnificent wines brings me great joy! — 10 months ago
Château Simon
Cuvee Prestige Barsac 2015
Exotic fruits, pineapple, passion fruit. On the grassy side, hay, peach in syrup, apricot... superbly in place for this 2015 with a potential for evolution over the next 25 years, potential evolution towards notes of dried fruit and nuts. Sweet without saturated sugar. Digestible and light. A real wine in the refined sense of the term. Magnificent on a Roquefort cheese.
Notes fruits exotiques, ananas, fruits de la passion. Côté herbeux, foins, pêche en sirop, abricot… superbement en place pour ce 2015 avec un potentiel d’évolution sur les 25 prochaines années, évolution potentiels vers des notes de fruits secs. Doux sans sucre saturé. Digeste et léger. Un vrai vin au sens raffiné du terme. Magnifique sur un Roquefort. — 4 years ago
Bergström Wines
Sigrid Chardonnay 2012
Magnificent. Perfect balance. — 7 years ago
The Magnificent Wine Company
Washington State Pinot Gris 2018
Light and refreshing with grapefruit and honeydew notes — 7 years ago
Jean-Claude Lapalu
Eau Forte Vin de France Gamay
A generous wine, on the fruit, freshness, youthful, rich, soft tannins, red fruit fragrances, sour cherries. round, full, feminine, gourmet wine, and affordable. magnificent deployment in the mouth in the duration, wonderful ! to share with friends. the bottle goes enpty very quickly! GAMAY IS LIFE — 7 years ago
Vice Versa
The Magnificent 7 Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
David Hale Smith
Lucky to sit with a friend who bright two bottles of this beauty to share at Bordeaux Fest Near perfection from a magnificent special bottle. The year the wall came down with label art that looks to the future. Believe the hype. — 4 months ago