From the first sip, anyone who is familiar with Pritchard Hill knows that this wine speaks loud and clear about its roots. Tension-driven and nervy; high on acid and higher-toned aromatics on the…
Cabernet Franc-heavy on the front end of the attack, with black and red cherry, embers, and violets kicking off the initial push. The mid and back seem to grab better hold of the Merlot component,…
Blackberry seed, obsidian, burnt embers, and chewy licorice, with mineral and scorched earth notes zipping around the concentrated core. More than a fair amount of power here, finishing youthfully…
Blackberry, spicebox, wet limestone, black cherry, black currant, black licorice stick, cedar, and the slightest hint of violets. Exquisitely balanced and smooth for such a young wine. Silky…
Fairly abrasive and angular, with an alcohol hit on the front end that all but kills a lot of the fruit trying to come forward. A bitter bite on the back end doesn't help matters. AIR!...helped a…
Black fruit core, with plum, ripe black raspberry, bitter chocolate, and hints of leather. A compelling mouthfeel and notable depth for such a base Bordeaux. Could use 3+ years to balance-out and…
Black fruit and spice with medium delivery and length overall. An interesting combination of fresh and brooding; the tail fell off fairly quickly, with a faint cedar note clipping the finish. A…
Red and black currant, cedar, cinnamon, earth, saturated black cherry, warm leather, and some higher-toned floral and bitter blackberry seed. An old world profile with a somewhat deeper pitched…
I gotta be honest...this iteration of Pontet-Canet does what every other 2014 Bordeaux I've had does...underwhelms. It's fine and all I guess with its smokey blackberry, black currant, cedar, and wet…
It's compacted. It's tight. It's grippy. But it possesses a compelling blackberry and licorice core that lets it be known its stuffing will deliver pleasure come 5-7+ years. Some limestone, black…
Plum, blackberry juice, clove, and some rocky earth. More lithe and lean than I'd personally prefer concentration and weight-wise, but the flavors were nice and agreeable overall. Not too much acidic…
Starting off with a kung-fu kick of plum skin and pomegranate, the Enclos Tourmaline brings a quick pucker factor to the front end of its attack, nearly skipping the mid-palate and racing straight…
It took about 2-3 hours in a decanter to show any real signs of life, and even then it was a Simple-Simon overall. Not bad by any stretch, but fairly pedestrian and not a whole lot of distinguishable…
Black currant, licorice, and earthy spice start out on the front end on the initial attack, with dark black cherry, cassis, espresso foam, pencil lead, tobacco, embers, and scorched earth emerging…
A gorgeous bottle of wine with a bangin' QPR to boot (which I'm probably letting influence me to some degree in terms of scoring - maybe even 95-96+? This punches WAY above its league). Totally…
Really, really ripe (almost to the point of funky) warm plum/prune, overly muddled and saturated blackberry and black raspberry, red and black currant, soil, cassis, and subtle wet cedar. Has enough…
Ripe black raspberry, juicy plum, and some subtle earth lead the medium-to-full-bodied delivery of this saturating and juicy specimen. It's fairly simple overall, finishing a little abrupt; still,…
Blackberry, deep black raspberry, black currant, black licorice, espresso, dark spice, scortched earth, and chewy dark chocolate. Hedonistic without ever being heavy or burdensome. A perfect…
Blackberry, black cherry, and some earthy rock. Medium bodied with a slightly saturated delivery. Decent weight here, layering-on some bitter chocolate notes with air. Finishes medium and somewhat…
Black currant, black and red cherry, leather, cedar, and some earth. Lighter weight, with a watery mouthfeel and an alcoholic-laced delivery that makes for a bit of an awkward execution. It's not a…
A pretty good value at $25-ish bucks, but slightly more juvenile and angular than some other Bordeaux in that bargain category. Served next to a 2016 Meyney and a 2016 Vieux Chateau Palon, both of…
Wild dark berry fruit, black soil, black rocky scortched earth, mocha, and some sappy cassis. Quite the mouthful on initial entry, but some nicely executed red and black cherry and dark raspberry…
Very similar to a Meyney served beside it, with ripe, dark berry fruit heading up the front end delivery. Deep and saturated by Bordeaux metrics and perhaps a bit of an abomination by purist…
Red and black currant, tobacco leaf, subtle spice, and some earth, this delivers some decent flavors but can't hit the target on weight and depth. Finishes with lingering alcohol that further stomps…
