The 2000 Château Grand Puy Lacoste is an exceptional wine from Xavier Borie. It has a brilliant nose of blackberry, crushed stone, graphite and cedar.he palate is smooth and silky, cloaking the tannic frame of this GPL so that you barely notice it.
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Echo de Lynch Bages has plenty of black fruits on the nose with an earthy undercurrent. The medium-bodied palate is firm and a bit hard with an herbal lift on the finish.
It has a straightforward bouquet with scents of red plum, autumn leaves and a touch of rose petal that needs a little more vigor. The palate is better than the nose, a little more cohesive than the 1998, with more freshness.
D'Armailhac's 1992 is a charming, straightforward, richly fruity wine with moderate to dark ruby color, and a spicy nose of roasted nuts and jammy blackcurrants. The attack offers lush, velvety-textured fruit that fades quickly. Nevertheless, this is a pure, attractive, elegant wine
The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin. This bottle felt compact for this vintage, one of the few 2007s that merit decanting. However, there is undeniably plenty of freshness and a welcome touch of spice towards the finish.
The 2006 Sigalas Rabaud has a curious bouquet with peach skin and lanolin aromas, perhaps just a touch of volatile acidity here giving it lift. The palate is medium-bodied with fine balance
An absolutely sensational second wine from Haut-Brion, the 2005 Bahans Haut-Brion displays all the smoke, gravel and chocolate notes along with ripe black fruits. Broad, savory, rich and lush, this is a sensational wine (now called Le Clarence) with gorgeous texture and length.
Dense ruby/purple, with sweet, unsmoked cigar tobacco intermixed with graphite, black currants, cherries, and spice, it is medium to full-bodied, fleshy, beautifully textured, and long.
Both on the nose and the palate it reaches this happy medium: pure blackberry, graphite and roasted herbs on the nose, perhaps even more elegant than I have observed on previous bottles. The palate is medium-bodied rather than full bodied with sturdy tannins couched in layers of seamless blackberry and cassis fruit, offset by scents of tobacco and graphite.
Deep garnet in color, it has a sumptuous bouquet with blackberry, saddle leather, forest floor and even just a faint touch of juniper berries. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, lightly grained tannin. This is a very harmonious Giscours with cedar and a pinch of black pepper sprinkled over the black fruit.