I'm also a huge fan of Fleur Cardinale. The '10 was particularly stunning and I managed to get more at about $40 at the time, but I don't think you can get that price any more. On a slightly related note, I sourced some '11 Secret de Cardinale at $30. I believe it is a new property with no relations...

I don't know if anyone noticed in the American Greed show that Maureen Downey described Petrus as "Chateau Petrus". I confess I got a little chuckle out of that. It's an easy mistake to make but surely it's just "Petrus" and not "Chateau Petrus" as there is no chateau :...

I don't post here so often, but this is a matter close to my heart (or wallet, at least ;-)). At the risk of sharing too much information, I'm owed about $65k in wine by PC at this time - 529 bottles, about 70% of which are Bordeaux. I started buying in July, 2012 jumping in on some '10 Bordeaux dea...

I wonder though if the test of whether Pavie and Angelus deserve the A ranking is more about it's current wines, from 2010 (or thereabouts) onwards. It's surely the wines latest/current performance on which the new ranking was judged. Quality has improved tremendously across the board in Bordeaux in...

I understand that right bank Bordeaux technically doesn't qualify as a 'super second' per se, but assuming the interest is in looking at favorite Bordeaux at less-than-first-growth-prices, my vote would go to Ch. Trotanoy. Though, it sometimes can look like it's priced closer to first-growth levels ...

Last month I attended the Union Grand Cru Bordeaux tasting in San Francisco for the 2012 Bordeaux vintage. It was my third attendance and it was a stellar tasting, as always. It was just a two hour tasting window this time, but that was probably a good thing as I had more than my fair share before t...

Montrose
Malescot St. Exupery
d'Issan
Rauzan Segla
Angelus

Ch. Margaux

Jim, you could be right; I had just the one bottle so far and while I wasn't taken with it, a friend of mine whose taste I trust loved it. The bottle I drank had been travelling too, so maybe it needed to settle. Incidentally, I had the '11 Caymus last night with a couple of friends and I was pretty...

I confess I bought a motherlode of this wine too (8 bottles, 6 liters and 3 3-liters ;-)). My rationale is that I have been a fan of Caymus for a number of vintages, the pricing came down for 2012 and it seemed to be much-heralded as a particularly great Caymus. Well, I popped open one a month or tw...

I'm waiting on 371 bottles from PremierCru ;-) though they have 11 in stock which I may swing by to pick up soon. Recent purchases I've made, in Bordeaux, include: Six bottles of '10 Fleur Cardinale at $39 from some online store that's now out of stock of it, so the cheapest online is now $49. It is...

I confess that like some here, I struggle with drinking more than I should. It's easier for me to have 'dry' nights vs. consuming in moderation, so on any given evening I typically either have no wine or drink a bottle ;-) One good habit I have, which others have not mentioned, is to pursue not just...

I drank '81 Trotanoy on two occasions recently and found both bottles to be utterly mesmerizing. Unbelievably I got them for $65 each. It feels like a vintage like '81 lives in the shadow of '82 and so can sometimes be under-rated. Another case in point may be '88, of which I've enjoyed a fair few b...

Hi DavidG, it feels like the crowd level may vary by vintage and city. This '11 event seemed to have about 60% of the number of attendees as the '10 event - both of the events I attended were in San Francisco. The tasting window last year was two hours (if I remember correctly) whereas this one was ...

I attended the San Francisco UGC and am just getting around to adding a few notes now. I had a really fun time. As others have said, this wasn't any great vintage, but what a thrilling event all the same for any Bordeaux lover - I can't think of many better ways to spend an afternoon than drinking d...

It feels like there should be a WOTY from one of the most recent available vintages (2010 or 2009) and perhaps another worthy mention from an older ready-to-drink vintage. A recent vintage means not only that it's available for sale but that others have (or can) try it pretty readily. While I've tas...

I had a few bottles of the '96 GPL almost a decade ago and thought it was stunning, but haven't had any since - I think I managed to buy it at the time at the WIne Club for less than $70, but no more of course..One other '96 Pauillac that really stood out for me was the Pichon Baron, and I've also h...

I had the '96 a few years ago, a magnum of the '95 about 1.5 years ago and about four bottles of the 2000 over the last three to five years. Overall, I was underwhelmed by them all and none struck me as good buys (even though I got the '96 a BevMo for about $60, if you can believe it). The only Pont...

It feels like a WOTY should be a recent, relatively available wine vs. something old (even though an older wine is the more ready to drink).

Some candidates for me would be '10 Lafon Rochet, '10 d'Issan and '09 Malartic Lagraviere (Rouge)

I had my first '05 Fleur Cardinale a few months ago and found it to be excellent. However, I've also had four of the'09 Fleur Cardinale and on balance I prefer the '09. The '05 is even more structured now vs. the '09 but somehow I found the '09 more inviting, stylish and flamboyant (not to mention c...

I sold five or six bottles of the '05 Lascombes recently, having drank about six or seven over the last few years. While I've enjoyed it, it didn't feel quite worth the going rate for the bottle vs. some other stuff I can get at the same price. On the other hand, I had the '03 Lascombes about ten da...

I found the '09 Monbousquet to be lovely too. I've opened just a handful of Bordeaux from '10 so far (d'Issan and Haut Bergey) and find them difficult to assess at this point in their evolution as they are so big and tannic.

My understanding is that HWSRN will be publishing an updated scoring for '10 Bordeaux this month. I actually subscribed to eRobertParker for three months just to get the scoop on the updated reviews, but the site is such a mess to navigate. Does anyone know when this report is expected to get publis...

I fell in love with the '05 Phelan Segur, as it was so decadent and expressive. I'm sure I've drank a half a dozen bottles or more already. Yet now, on mature reflection, I do find it to be a bit overdone and obvious. I was lucky enough to attend the SF UGC tasting, and tried the '10 there, and foun...

'88 La Mission Haut Brion, Thanksgiving, 2001
I drank it with an avid Bordeaux enthusiast. After the first sip my friend burst out laughing - it was so good it was almost ridiculous. The same day I had '90 Trotanoy, which wasn't far off.

I attended the San Francisco UGC event last night - my first attendance at UGC. Let me start by saying that it was an AMAZING event, certainly for any Bordeaux lover. It's just a two hour window and one has to navigate about 80 producers, some of which are showing their whites too, so it's a lot of ...

'06 d'Issan is good; I've had it several times, but I've also had it alongside the '05 in the same night (and recently, and I've had both several times) and they are very far apart. The '05 is monumental compared to what seems like the lively good showing of the '06 IMHO. $40 is definitely a good pr...

I'm off to the San Francisco UGC tomorrow; am so looking forward to it. I confess I have picked up my fair share of '10 pre-arrivals\futures already. I haven't tasted anything fo '10 yet, but am a little daunted by the suggested maturity window. Will see how things go tomorrow. So far, I've gone lon...