France

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With 2/3 Pinot Noir and 1/3 Chardonnay, this is slowly opening up.  Pale golden in color, clear and bright.  Lots of tiny bubbles.  The nose is boisterous with pears and green apples along with a bit of chalk and slight black cherry.  Really a lot going on.  Full bodied.  Tart acidity.  On the palate, green apples, slight lemon, slight black cherry with nice chalky minerality.  Long, long finish.  Plenty of depth and layered complexity.  Still quite youthful but getting closer to peak.  Drink over ten to fifteen years.  This is very food friendly and went great with an assortment of cheeses

Always a pleasure to drink Rieussec.  It is one of the great wines from Sauternes.  This year it also comes in a spiffy  new bottles that is very different.  A blend of 89% Sémillon, 9% Sauvignon Blanc, 2% Muscadelle according to the winemaker's notes.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with apricot, orange zest, slight honey and a bit of lemon.  Full bodied.  Viscous.  Sweet, not cloying.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Orange zest, lemon and honey.  Long, long finish.  This should drink well for thirty years.  Great on its own, it will work with a le

One of the few St. Emilion wines tried that didn't seem shut down.  Ruby/purple in color.  The nose has char, black cherries, and slight cedar.  On the palate, light black cherries.  Moderate finish.  Light tannins.  This is drinking nicely now and should continue for the next five to seven years.  A nice match with Mushroom Barley soup.  

Mostly shut down at this point.  It is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc according to the winemaker's notes.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries and cedar.  Medium bodied.  Medium tannins.  Delicious on the palate if one dimensional.  Black cherries.  Moderate finish.  This should be held for five to seven years and then consumed over the next ten to twelve.  

The label lists this as 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.  Purple in color with some ruby swirls.  The nose is simple with fresh cherry fruit.  Medium bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, cherries and black cherries.  Moderate finish.  This is a pleasant wine that should be consumed in the next few years.  It would make a nice mid-week wine with burgers.  

Always a great value in Bordeaux.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is very tight.  Black cherry fruit, tobacco and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this is tight.  With air, cassis and coffee notes.  Moderate finish.  This seems tight and already shutting down.  If drinking soon, give it some air, but better to wait five years.  Drink over the next twelve to fifteen.  

Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  This is a blend of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon according to the winemaker's notes.  The nose is nice with black cherries, smoke, plums, chocolate and cedar.  Firm tannins.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this is very tight.  It unwinds a bit in the glass to show cherries, black cherries, and slight chocolate.  Some depth.  Nice finish.  Certainly, this seems at least a bit shut down at this point.  Best to hold this for five to eight more years, then drink for ten to twelve after that.  

Another of the better right banks that gave a disappointing performance.  This vintage seems to have shut down quickly.  Perhaps that's an excuse but it was pretty consistent in the better Merlot based wines.  Purple in color, mostly opaque if a bit flat.  The nose has cherries and spice along with a slight salinity.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, this has nice cherry fruit but seems mono-dimensional.  In a group of eleven tasters, this finished at or near the bottom of a tasting of right bank wines.  It is likely shut down.  Still, given the quality of the producer and the vi

This wine is shut down right now.  It needs time to develop and will no doubt be spectacular, but not on this evening.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is nice with black cherries and spice.  With air, a bit of chocolate and tobacco emerge.  Full bodied.  Wonderful texture.

This should have been much better.  No obvious faults, but shut down tight as a drum.  Reviews here are base on how the wine drank, not its potential.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is tight.  Perhaps the slightest note of cedar and cherries.  On the palate, this has a wonderful, lush texture which gives hope that at some point, this wakes up more.  More open  on the palate, with black cherries, cherries and underlying char.  Long finish.  Don't touch this for another five years at least.  Based on the vintage and house, this should drink well for twelve to fifteen years after