Wines with Age

wines

From magnum, a youthful colour, reflecting slow evolution. Aromas of cedar, lead pencil, roasted and primary fruit. Fine grained, noticeable tannin. Excellent balance of power and smooth texture. Noé Tesseron described it as ’older school Pauillac’, and I liked it a lot. Long finish. Aged 60% new oak. (Drink between 2021-2045)Decanter | 95 DECUpgraded in score over my original rating, which was several points lower, Alfred Tesseron has done a remarkable job since 1994 with Pontet-Canet, which has been hitting first-growth levels since 2003. But the 2000 also shows exceptionally well. In need of another decade of cellaring, this dense purple wine has a classic nose of incense, charcoal, creme de cassis, and subtle new oak. Full-bodied, powerful, still very tannic, and shockingly backward, this is a big, rich wine that has put on weight and seems to need more time than I originally predicted. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035+.Robert Parker | 94+ RPI drank this fabulous 2000 Pontet-Canet in Hong Kong last summer at home with family. It was a wonderfully complex wine that was really starting to show its best. On the nose it displayed tar and currants with hints of dried fruits and berries. It was full-bodied yet so refined and delicious at the same time.James Suckling | 94 JSDeep red-ruby. Explosive nose combines raspberry, roasted currant, grilled nuts and exotic spices. Rich, sexy, silky and full in the mouth, with expressive flavors of black raspberry, game, smoke and truffle. Finishes with strong but suave tannins and excellent length. St. JulienVinous Media | 93 VMA lovely lead-in of singed cedar and vanilla notes gives way to slightly taut, racy red and black currant fruit flavors that drive nicely through an iron-edged finish. Rather sleek and tightly focused, relying more on minerality than power.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023. 2,330 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThis is a very modern style of wine, with generous new wood and super-ripe fruit flavors, balancing with polished solid tannins. Very international in style, it is good, but could come from anywhere.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

The 1998 Pontet Canet was made at a time when the property practiced green harvesting that began in 1994 but is not done today. “The changes were in the mind at this stage,” commented Jean-Michel Comme wryly. Initially it felt a little muddled on the nose but it gains focus with time. Eventually it offers straightforward blackberry, briary and cedar scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity, plenty of cedar and mint-laced black fruit with a pleasant, quite lively and lightly spiced finish that lingers in the mouth. This is a commendable 1998 from the château before they really began to embrace biodynamics. Tasted at the château.Vinous Media | 90 VM

The 2002 Lynch-Bages is showing brilliantly, after a four-hour double decant, wafting from the glass with an utterly classic nose of cassis and loamy soil mingled with hints of cedar and oak vanillin. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and layered, with plenty of rich, powdery tannins and lively acids, as its structure begins to melt, the wine’s depth and length is becoming more and more apparent. Like the best examples of this vintage, the 2002 Lynch-Bages has proven a real sleeper.Robert Parker | 93 RPThis was not at the tasting, but it is outstanding. A blind tasting for the magazine late in 2004 resulted in this note and score: Aromas of currant bush, berries and sweet tobacco follow through to a full-bodied palate, with medium tannins and a long finish. Lovely texture to this wine.--Lynch-Bages non-blind vertical. Best after 2008. 35,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

The second bottle, from an estate I know like the back of my hand, was the 1996 Pontet Canet. One or two people had suggested that this might be past its best; after all, it predates the innovations and application of biodynamics overseen by Alfred Tesseron by several years. On the contrary, it has aged beautifully. Cedar, scorched earth and mint blossomed on a nose that is firmly into its secondary phase, yet laden with more fruit than expected considering both its age and the austere style of Left Bank 1996s. The palate might be nearing the end of its drinking plateau, so don’t hold back if you own a few bottles. But I admired its balance and density, its structure and classicism, and the typical Pauillac traits of cedar and a touch of mint toward the finish. I savored it down to the last drop.Vinous Media | 93 VMI was shocked by how backward the 1996 Pontet-Canet was on the three occasions I tasted it in January. This wine possesses superb potential, but it appears a decade's worth of patience will be necessary. The color is a saturated dark purple. With coaxing, the wine offers aromas of black currant jam intertwined with minerals, sweet oak, and spice. A full-bodied wine, it possesses layered, concentrated, sweet fruit, with an elevated level of ripe tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2035.Robert Parker | 92 RPAromas of black licorice, currant and toasted oak. Full-bodied, with silky, refined tannins and a medium finish. Holding back still.--'95/'96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2008.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

The 2001 Grand Puy-Lacoste is a vintage that I have not tasted for a decade. It’s showing some signs of bricking on the rim. The bouquet does not quite have the intensity of the previous vintage, but it unfolds nicely to reveal a mélange of red and black fruit, tertiary aromas, gravel and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, grippy and much more youthful than the 2000, though it does not quite have the same complexity and terroir expression on the elegant finish.Vinous Media | 93 VM

A charming, lush, round, generous Lynch Bages, the 1999 offers plenty of sweet black currant fruit, damp earth, licorice, cedarwood and spicy herb-like characteristics. Medium-bodied, savory and broad in the mouth with no hard edges, this fully mature effort is a somewhat underrated vintage for this estate. Enjoy it over the next decade.Robert Parker | 90 RP

Another unbelievably rich, multidimensional, broad-shouldered wine, with slightly more elegance and less weight than the powerhouse 1996, this gorgeously proportioned, medium to full-bodied, fabulously ripe, rich, cassis-scented and flavored Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a beauty. It should be drinkable within 4-5 years, and keep for 25-30. This classic Pauillac is a worthy rival to the other-worldly 1996. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2025.Wow! What extraordinary wines Grand-Puy-Lacoste has produced in both 1995 and 1996. At present, I have a marginal preference for the blockbuster 1996, but I am not about to argue with anybody who prefers the 1995! Both are compelling wines.Robert Parker | 95 RPBeautiful aromas of currant, plum and spice. Full-bodied, with a wonderful concentration of fruit, yet silky, racy and beautiful. Hold back on this. Better than I remember.--’95/’96 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2008.Wine Spectator | 93 WSDark ruby-red. Ripe, expressive nose combines cassis, roasted plum and coconut. Supple, very concentrated and large-scaled; actually rather backward today even if the terrific ripeness is clear to see. Quintessential firm Pauillac backbone is covered by flesh. Will rely more on its tongue-dusting tannins than its acidity to age in bottle. This wine firmed up noticeably during its second year in barrel.Vinous Media | 91+ VM

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. Putting it to one side for ten to 15 minutes reveals subtle mint-like aromas that whisk you straight to Pauillac. The palate is smooth and silky, cloaking the tannic frame of this GPL so that you barely notice it. But that will stand it in good stead for the long-term, the cornerstone of all great wines from this estate. Then there is that hint of spice on the aftertaste—the show ain’t over yet. Served alongside a magnum of Pichon Baron 2000, I would say that at the moment, it does not quite possess the same level of precision. However, it remains a magnificent Pauillac to cherish long-term. Tasted January 2016.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 95 RP-NMThe 2000 Grand Puy-Lacoste is quintessential Pauillac on the nose, showing more secondary development compared to the last bottle tasted five years back. Blackberry, wild hedgerow, black tea and cloves appear first, followed later by subtle minty aromas, all well defined, intense and classic in style. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and a little more ferrous than I recall, offering moderate weight and a saline, structured finish. There is plenty of freshness and good length here. This still-vibrant GPL will appeal to those yearning for old-school claret.Vinous Media | 94 VMA lovely, elegant version, with sweet tobacco and lightly singed cedar notes now taking the lead, while dried currant and warmed blackberry preserve flavors still have their say. The lengthy finish has a gentle, supple edge, with the dried fruit showing a sweet hint. Textbook aged Pauillac.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2020. 15,830 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

The 1996 Clerc Milon was surprisingly closed on the nose, tightly wound at first but gently unfurling with scents of melted tar, desiccated orange peel and leather that are interwoven into the black fruit. I noticed a more pronounced tobacco scent developing with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a little more flesh than the 1996 d’Armailhac, spicy with cracked black pepper, Hoi Sin, bay leaf and Asian spice notes liberally sprinkled over the finish. Decant this for an hour before pouring folks.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 90 RP-NM

The 1986 is finally emerging from the dormant stage that many of the wines from this vintage (especially the Medocs) have been going through. It is a full-bodied, still backward wine that will appeal to classicists and old line traditionalists given its firm structure and austere tannins. Nevertheless, the color is a healthy deep garnet and the wine exhibits wonderful freshness along with notes of underbrush, damp earth, black currants, cedar and new saddle leather. Well-balanced with good depth, medium to full body, and a tannic (although not excessively so) finish, this may not be the most finesse-styled, elegant Lynch Bages ever produced, but it is an interesting Pauillac that will benefit from another 3-4 years of cellaring. While it may never hit the peaks achieved by great Lynch Bages vintages, it will be one of those rare wines that will last 40+ years.Robert Parker | 94 RP5.3 g/l total acidity; 13.1% alcohol): Garnet-tinged dark ruby-red. Black fruits, candied red cherry, licorice, minerals, cedar and iron on the complex, still-reticent nose. Then more approachable on the palate, displaying a lovely restrained sweetness to the blackberry and blueberry fruit and excellent lift and clarity from lively acidity and solid underlying minerality. The finish features noble, fine-grained tannins and subtle persistence. An unusually accessible 1986 but very typical of the fleshy Lynch-Bages personality, this boasts lovely concentration and sneaky depth. Very well done.Vinous Media | 93 VMDark in color, with intense aromas of ripe black cherry, cedar and light herbs. Medium- to full-bodied, with firm tannins and a medium finish. A bit lean today, but there’s lots going on here.--Lynch-Bages non-blind vertical. Drink now.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

Opulent red. Intense aromas of currants, cigar tobacco and berries. Full-bodied, with a solid core of silky tannins and a long finish. Well-made. Best after 2008. 42,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WSA wine at its peak now, with tobacco, berry and spice character. Some oyster shell as well. Full and decadent. Soft and silky-textured. Drink now. Needs decanting.James Suckling | 90 JSMedium ruby. Blackberry, black cherry, toasty oak and musky espresso on the nose. Sweet, dense and pliant, with a layered texture and considerable early appeal. Lush but nicely delineated. Finishes with ripe tannins and lingering flavors of dark berries and espresso.Vinous Media | 87-90 VM

I absolutely love the nose on this wine, with amazing aromas of currant, tar, spices and berries that jump out of the glass. Loads of flowers, too. So complex. Delivers a full-bodied palate, with racy tannins and lots of flavor, from tar to spices to leather. A little tight, and so enjoyable now, but better in a few years still.—'89/'99 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2009). Drink now.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThe 1989 Grand Puy-Lacoste is a vintage that is not seen so often these days, long overshadowed by the 1990. Now at 30 years of age, it has a lovely, elegant but intense bouquet of blackberry, black olive, cedar and a touch of mint, all beautifully defined and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and gentle grip, masculine and a little austere in style but not astringent. There is a light seaweed note toward the finish. This is an archetypal classic Pauillac. Tasted from an ex-cellar bottle at the château.Vinous Media | 90 VM

Just starting to open now, with currant, tea leaf and berry character, along with a mineral undertone. Full body with firm tannins and a long finish. Another couple of years more of bottle age would be good, but why wait?James Suckling | 92 JSA beautiful wine and one of my favorites from this estate, this blend of nearly two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one-third Merlot is aging impressively. Dense ruby/purple in color, with creme de cassis, charcoal, and sweet leathery and chocolatey notes intermixed with the classic Pauillac cedar and spice box, the wine is medium to full-bodied, fleshy, with sweet tannin and a long finish. It seems to have inched into its window of full drinking maturity, and will stay there for 10-15+ years.Robert Parker | 92 RPThe 2000 Clerc Milon has a rustic, ferrous bouquet of sous-bois, cedar and tobacco scents and slightly faded fruit; touches of eucalyptus emerge with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a supple opening and pliant tannins, though there is a touch of coarseness toward the finish. Modest in weight, this is an open-knit, old-school Pauillac that is just beginning to show a little dryness toward the tobacco-dominated finish. Drink this over the next 6–8 years.Vinous Media | 90 VMThis shows a lightly rugged edge, with espresso and humus notes along the edges of the dark currant and blackberry fruit core. The finish keeps the rustic profile, with a charcoal shading, but there's ample fruit for balance. Solid, but for fans of the style.—Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2018. 11,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 90 WS

A spectacular nose of spring flowers, forest floor, raspberry and bluer fruits is followed by a medium-bodied wine displaying shocking elegance (a characteristic not generally associated with this big, rich vintage). This pretty 2003 has achieved full maturity and is unlikely to get any better, so drink it up.Robert Parker | 90 RP