Wines (48 View)

This estate has finally changed hands so hopefully the new owners will be able to build more charm into this ruggedly constructed, rustic Margaux that rarely lives up to its potential. The dark ruby/purple-tinged 2005 is an angular, hard effort possessing serious weight, but also a boatload of tannin. I doubt if any finesse will ever emerge from this monolithic wine. Give it 5-6 years of cellaring, keep your fingers crossed, and drink it over the following 15 years. - WA(87-88)

This Bordeaux blanc is definitely past its prime but wine drinkers with an interest and enthusiasm for whites with age may find it enjoyable. The wine has turned golden in color and has a mild nose of burnt caramel. The palate coats and is textural with nuttiness and more caramel. It finishes like a dry sherry. It might be good with aged Gouda. With this forewarning we will only sell the bottle on a no return basis.

Clos Puy Arnaud is nearly always a seriously made as well as potentially long-lived offering, as evidenced by the 2005. This blend of 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Carmenere boasts a saturated blue/purple color in addition to a sweet nose of black raspberries, cranberries, crushed rocks, and background wood. Displaying terrific old vine intensity, it hits the palate with a rush of fruit, glycerin, and tannin. With good structure, purity, and potential, it will require 2-3 years to settle down, and should last for 15 or more years. - WA(90-92)

93 points Wine Enthusiast
Barrel sample. A big, firm and hard wine, with solid fruits, layers of dry tannin and great power. There's an intensity to this wine with acidity adding to the complexity and structure.

94 points Decanter
Classically 'old-fashioned' Rioja that has stuck to its 1877 roots. Fine natural warmth and smooth, slightly nutty flavours, lots of controlled energy and a firm finish. A really lovely wine. (12/2018)

94 points Vinous
Vibrant, spice-tinged red currant and cherry aromas are complemented by suggestions of pipe tobacco, vanilla and incense, and a spicy nuance gains volume with air. Sweet and seamless on the palate, offering energetic red fruit and spicecake flavors that pick up a hint of smokiness on the back half. Concentrated yet lively, showing impressive delineation and a sexy floral quality on the extremely long, seamless finish. While this wine is quite seductive right now, I've little doubt that it will cruise along nicely for at least another decade or more, and probably quite a bit longer. (2/2019)

100% Single Vineyard Tempranillo; 21 months in barrel & 24 months in bottle

"Very deep colour; clean and bright. Intense cherry and purple glints. Very complex and elegant nose, red and black ripe fruits (cherry, mulberry) between complex tertiary aging aromas like liquorice, coffee, vanilla, roasted, leather and tobacco, with a characteristic mineral touch. Very elegant and velvety. With the same aromas founded in nose, complex. Ripe fruit, coffee, liquorice, leather, wood and roasted." Winemaker Notes

The 2005 is bottled and made in a rich yet elegant style, with loamy currant, spice and dried berry with a touch of cedary oak and a hint of graphite. It?????s very tight and young now, but well-balanced and fairly typical of the 2005 vintage for Napa Cabernet. - WS