Recent Wine Tasting Notes

Ready to go,medium-bodied, soft, silky, plummy wine, finishing with sweet, black plums, wet earth, herbs, espresso, and mildly dusty tannins. No decanting is needed here, just pop, pour and enjoy. 90 Points

Youthful, fresh, medium-bodied, and just about ready to go, the wine is all about its fresh, sweet, dark pit fruits, licorice, espresso, and black cherry character, which shows well on the nose and palate. 91 Points

At its full peak of maturity, now you find a medium-bodied, soft, round wine loaded with sweet cherries, thyme, wet earth, truffle, and mocha. There is no reason to hold this any longer as I suspect the wine will slowly decline from here. 90 Points

A charming, early maturing, forward sweet wine that already expresses its honey-coated, candied citrus and floral character. Perfectly balanced between its honeyed sweetness and fresh, lively acidities, you can enjoy this now for its honeyed purity, or age it for secondary development. 92 Points

This continues filling out and softening and is really starting to show well. Popped and poured, the wine is floral, soft, and fragrant with accents of truffle, licorice, and cocoa that joins perfectly with all the sweet, fresh, round, ripe cherries. You can pop a cork today with pleasure. This should drink well for at least another 15-20 to 20 years. 95 Points

A bit reserved, this can use another 2-3 years in the cellar before all its richly textured, full-bodied, multi-layered black plum, espresso, truffle, violet, and cocoa charms are fully ready to imbibe. This is going to be worth the wait. 94 Points

Medium-bodied, with more fragrance than fruit, the wine is in a gentle state of fading, making it time to drink up, before the remainder of the soft textured, fresh, lifted red fruits and thyme go missing. 87 Points

Quite tight at the moment, and not showing much of its true potential, if you are sitting on any bottles, wait at least 6 -8 years. At that point, all the gorgeous, ripe, sweet, fresh cassis and floral character and lifted, red berry palate should be in top form. 95 Points

This is drinking beautifully today. Popped and poured, it took maybe 20 minutes before all the flowers, licorice, black cherry, cocoa and plums made their presence known. Rich, full-bodied, opulent and lush, the wine finishes with sweet black and red fruits, crushed rocks and licorice. This should drink well for at least another 12-15 years with ease. 95 Points

The wine coats your palate with unreal levels of perfectly ripe cherries, herbs and peppery spices. Even though the wine is incredibly concentrated, almost dense in its richness, everything is in balance and harmony. The finish sticks with you for at least 60 seconds. As good as this is now, give it a decade in the cellar and it should provide thrilling drinking for at least 15-20 years after that. 100 Points

Medium-bodied, soft, elegant, refined, and silky, what the wine doesn't offer in depth, it makes up for it in its aromatics that combine dried flowers, cedar, tobacco leaf, and sweet red plums and cherries. This is a very good wine, but there is no reason to hold it for further aging. 93 Points

Good provenance makes a difference because this wine rocked! Packed with smoke, forest leaf, cedar, cigar box and sweet, currants with a touch of spice and herbs, the wine provides a depth of flavor on the palate and in the long, generous, fresh finish. 95 Points

This is my second time with this wine, and both bottles have been disappointing. The nose, with its cedar, citrus, spice, coffee, and earthy cranberry notes was more interesting than the tart, crisp, overly bright, cranberry and peppery herb tinged finish. 82 Points

While this lacks the concentration of the 1961, the otherworldly, silky texture here is off the hook! At full maturity, this breath-taking wine offers a complex array of campfire scents, burning embers, Cuban cigar, tar, leaves, and currants. The palate is even better with its waves of tobacco-drenched red fruits and earth, all wrapped up in silk. Long and expansive, this is Haut Brion! 98 Points

This bottle was quite forward, which surprised me. With its nose of spearmint, cedar, tobacco, cigar box, and cassis, the full-bodied, concentrated, generous wine was balanced and easy to enjoy, even with its judicious tannic backbone. The bright, fresh, chewy, currant-filled finish kept on going. Another 3-5 years in the cellar and this should be fully ready to go. 96 Points

This bottle was much better than the one tasted a few months ago. With the texture of pure silk, from the moment the wine left the glass, it was where it needed to be with its perfume seemingly created in a tobacco shop with flowers on every counter. Full-bodied, elegant, fresh and refined, the silky tannins and layers of sweet, ripe, soft red fruits on your palate sealed the deal. You can enjoy this for another 2 decades with ease. 96 Points

2 decades of age has been kind to this wine, adding weight, complexity, and richness. Now you find a medium-bodied, soft, fresh, energetic, earthy wine filled with sweet, red fruits and dried floral notes. Elegant, balanced, and fresh, the wine expresses purity in a reserved manner, finishing with earth and herb overtones with a touch of thyme and hint of cocoa to go along with the sweet cherries in the finish. This is drinking beautifully today. The wine is a blend of 55% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc. Note to self... Drink more old vintages of Brane Cantenac! 93 Points

This continues improving with each tasting. The tannins have softened and now you find an elegant, soft, refined, and silky wine with all the cassis, red currant, tobacco leaf, mocha, and cedar you could ask for. The finish is bright, fresh, and lifted, with ample sweet, mildly spicy, ripe, red fruits. Give this beauty 60-90 minutes of air before service. 94 Points

Cigar box, mint, lead pencil, cedar, forest floor, leafy herbs, Asian spice, and currants are all over the place. Full, rich, opulent, spicy and long, the wine finishes with lingering, elegant, soft layers of tobacco and red pit fruits. 99 Points

I am not sure how I have been this lucky to have tasted this wine more than any other 1959, but I am not complaining. Especially after this bottle. Balancing power and grace, the wine is bright, spicy, full, and deep, with layers of tobacco, cedar, cigar box, smoke, spice, ash, oceanic scents, and red fruits. Long, intense, and expansive, this is an incredible tasting experience. 98 Points

If any bottle deserved 101 Pts, this is it! What a wine tasting experience. Unforgettable in every sense of the word, perhaps majestic captures the essence of this wine. The nose, with its non-stop bouquet of cedar, tobacco leaf, Cuban cigar box, spice, graphite, leaf, herbs, dried flowers, and currants created an incredible perfume. But the star of the show was the powerful, elegant, refined, intense display of red fruits, spice, earth, and tobacco on your palate. Absolutely seamless, the elegant character was as mindblowing as was the over 60 seconds of resonating fruits that had you wondering how a wine could be this good! This was from a magnum, so standard bottles might not be quite at this level. 100 Points

There is a lot going on here with this full, concentrated, youthful, tannic wine. There is weight, intensity, freshness, and waves of spicy, fresh, energetic, lifted, chewy red fruits, blackberries, and crunchy currants that have serious staying power in the finish. Give it 2-3 hours in the decanter, or allow it to age another 5 years or so. This should drink great for another 2-3 decades. 96 Points

2 decades of age has added a lot to this wine. Now, you find an elegant, earthy, medium-bodied, refined wine with the smell of a high-end cigar store lined with cedar shelves along with fresh, ripe blackberry and plum aromas. Layers of soft-edged, red fruits, smoke, and cigar wrapper notes on the palate, this is drinking at a great place today. I'd opt for drinking this over the next decade to obtain maximum pleasure. 93 Points

Rich, lushly textured, full-bodied wine packed with dark red fruits, smoke, tobacco, thyme, espresso, and cigar box notes on the nose and palate. The wine has body and depth, with a long, polished finish loaded with smoky, dark red fruits and leafy herbs. This is drinking quite well and should remain at this level for 15-20 years with ease, and good storage. 94 Points

Almost there, the past few years have added a lot of softness and roundness to the texture, allowing all the sweet ripe, dark red currants and blackberries, accompanied by tobacco, cedar, espresso, forest floor, and smokey nuances to shine through. Full-bodied, with the right touch of polish to the tannins giving the wine an elegant finish. 96 Points