Margaux

This bottle had been purchased at the Chateau on release and well stored.  Decanted for sediment right before serving.  The cork was perfect.  Purple in color, opaque and still mostly bright.  The nose is great with cassis, slight perfumed note, dust and char.  With air some leather and cigar box notes emerged.  Medium to full bodied.  Tannins mostly resolved but still some silky ones.  Good balance.  On the palate, this is still fresh.  Complex with layers of cassis, earth, tobacco and underlying char.  Good finish.  Overall, this bottle is at peak but seems right there.  At age 28, this w

A very nice showing for this wine.  Great vintage and the wine is in a great place.  Purple  in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, dark cherries, cigar box, spice and slight leather.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is fresh, complex and deep.  Flavors of cassis, tobacco, spice and char.  Good finish.  Just about at peak but still has another ten to fifteen years left of great drinking.  Lovely on its own but even better with food.  Lamb chops would work perfectly.  

Taken from a less than ideal cellar, but the fill was mid-shoulder and it looked ok.  Turned out, it was.  Brick red in color but clear and more importantly, bright.  The nose is slightly earthy but there are cherries and a slight perfume note.  Medium bodied with good acidity.  No tannins.  On the palate, this is of course, old and past prime, but there is still some fruit left.  Cherries, dried cherries and earth.  Clipped finish.  Worth drinking a glass.  Probably not worth serving with food, more of an intellectual curiosity.  

Purple in color with some ruby swirls, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, tobacco, cherries and dust.  Medium to full bodied.  Great lush texture.  On the palate this is bigger than on the nose.  Cassis with some char.  Firm tannins.  Medium depth.  Good finish.  i found this to be slow maturing like many 2000's but it is certainly accessible and drinking  well at this point.  it should go at least another ten years.  This would work nicely with Lamb chops.  

Purple in color, opaque if slightly flat.  It seems young for a wine to be flat, so this may not be a pristine bottle.  The nose is earthy with cassis and spice.  Also some char.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, this has a soft texture.  Light tannins.  Black cherry fruit with good acidity.  Moderate finish.  No obvious flaws and it drinks easily.  Drink over the next five to seven years.  A nice wine for a beef or lamb stew.  

A First Growth in a top vintage?  Yes, please.  This is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc.  Purple in color with some ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, leather, perfume, slight cigar box and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is tight and young but delicious.  Cassis, black cherries, spice and slight chocolate.  Great balance.  Long finish.  This is drinking well but will get better with further cellaring (or air).  Drink over the next twenty to thirty years.  For now, it will be a t

Don't get me wrong, vintages matter, but there is often some distinctions in sub-appellations.  Case in point, for me, 1983 Margaux is often better than the more heralded 1982 vintage.  If nothing else, this wine is a testament to the 1983 vintage in Margaux.  Ruby in color with some browning, mostly opaque and flat.  The nose is classic with cherries, black cherries, cigar box and a funk/earthiness.  Medium bodied.  Tart acidity.  On the palate, black cherries with some underlying funk.  Depth and complexity.  Moderate finish.  While certainly past prime, there was a lot to offer here.  Se

One never knows about older bottles until they are opened.  I would have thought this DOA but it had some life left and was a nice older wine.  Ruby/brown in color, clear and bright.  The nose has some Volatile Acidity when first poured but the blew off after about ten minutes leaving Cherries, and earthiness and slightly perfumed.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, cherry cough syrup notes with a bit of mint on the finish.  This kept improving in the glass for the 15 or so minutes that I had it.  Nice on it own, this worked great with a mushroom popover dish.  Certainly past prime, but that's