Nothing fancy tonight: Tesoro de Bullas, Monastrell, La mancha, 2015. Nice balanced wine, dark berries and liquorice, shows the character of the grape. Good enough length. I like this wine. Could potentially evolve for 2-3 years, might let one of them rest in the cellar just for fun. To me it is gen...

Nice vertical collection of Talbot Chris, I guess you will expand it with 17/18?
Talbot is on my list of wineries for my second trip to Bordeaux. Hopefully in the coming few years.

Chris, yes that was the opinion I had also about 2013, so I have been avoiding most of it. But since the price was low I bought a bottle of GPL from 2013, had wanted to try it for a long time. WOW, what a wine it just completely blew my mind. No doubt a different class of wine. Since then I already ...

Jim, yes it was a tasty straight forward wine. Most things get even better with cheese and a nice view. I remember having Fiefs back in 2006-2009 time frame with more fruit and complexity. Maybe it is a sign of the vintage (2013).

The tasting covered Les arums de Lagrange, Lagrange 2011, and Les fiefs Lagrange 2013. Arums was a very fresh white, tasty and fruity. Lagrange 2011, drinks very well already but will be better with a couple of years additional age. Les fiefs 2013 was a bit lighter and not as complex but certainly t...

Thank you David, yes it was a great trip.

At Lagrange we really appreciated the friendly and very relaxed atmosphere. Tour guide was informative and fun. Yet another beautiful chateau.
I really like the fact that Lagrange is still reasonable priced.

Happy Anniversary! Glad you enjoyed the Pichon Lalande 89.

Yes I have one of 2015 and 2016 resting but thinking I might buy some more.

Finally tasting the wines of Gruaud Larose. I nearly fainted when I saw what they poured for us. The 2001 of the Grand wine, and 2012 of the Sarget.
Fantastic wines!

The cellars of GL, The 2018 is resting and I can't wait to buy some of it!

Part of the vineyard, rows upon rows of gorgeous vines, to bring future greatness in Ch Gruaud Larose. Looking forward to drinking more of this wine.

The tower as I mentioned and a bit of the nicely kept gardens.

The visit to Gruaud Larose, was voted the best of all visits. The beauty of the gardens, the chateau, the very knowledgeable and friendly guide. So, many positives. Attention to detail in every way. The tower gave us a possibility to see St Julien from above.

AKR, The restaurants we went to for lunch was Bistrot Chez meme, very good! And in Pauillac, Le Saint Martin.

We rented a house in Macau (airbnb), did short morning runs out to Ch Dauzac. We ate lunch out during our drives, once in the town of Pauillac and once in St Julien, and cooked dinner with meats from the local butcher in our house. Don't remember the names of the restaurants now so I will have to lo...

I had to see Ch Lilian Ladouys on this trip. It was the first a bit more expensive wine I bought and what got me hooked on Bordeaux wines. It was closed for some renovations. But as we came and started to photograph the Chateau, one of the wine guides appeared. First I thought that they would start ...

Sadly I drank my two bottles of 2004 many years ago. Ended up living in a flat that was way to warm for wine storage with no money to invest in a wine fridge, so I drank them. Now the price of Pichon Baron has gone above what I am willing to pay for it .

Jim, I totally agree it is beautiful!

My wife and in-laws were fascinated by the long life that Pichon has and the tour guide was pushing the point that this is a wine for the cellar. So the only negative thing with the Pichon visit was the selection of wines. I was thrilled to taste the Pichon 2016, it is a truly great wine. But it is ...

Thank you Danny. Indeed we had a fantastic time. Some Chateaux are not very friendly, but so many are. As you mention I am now hooked, just need to find a balance between traveling and building my "cellar" and all the other nonsense stuff that cost money. We did as I mentioned visit and to...

Jim, Thank you, there will be more just need to crop all the pics so that it fits and actually give a good description of my visits, likely I will have some comments on those that we did not go to and why, but not sure I want that negative stuff in here, we will see...Hopefully tomorrow...

Claret
I could be wrong but Gamay is not generally the grape of Pommard, I could be wrong but would guess Pinot noir?

Best, Dan

Hey Nic, Beaujolais, is one thing, not my cup of tea. Anyway this is burgundy so in my book not the same. Seems like you really enjoyed this one. When you say priced like a Lagrange, are we talking $45 or $80? See prices are shifting crazy from where I get things. It is a region I should try more, b...

So, since I started drinking wine back in 94 with my dad, I had been dreaming of visiting Bordeaux. For a long time I believed it would be just a dream. However, last year I finally made the dream come true. Together with my wife and my in-laws we planned a trip to France. First to spend some time w...

Thank you Nic!

The highlight for me so far was the 2013 Grand Puy Lacoste. As I am just at the beginning of building my "cellar" I drink few Bordeaux wines at the moment. I generally end up drinking rather cheap wines from Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Best, Dan

Recent purchases: Alain Voge Les Cotes Saint Joseph 2016 Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert 2017 Jaboulet Les Grandes Terrasses Cornas 2015 Ch Lilian Ladouys 2015, 2016 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du pape 2017 Ch Grand Puy Lacoste 2014, 2016 Alain Voge Cornas VV 2016 Jaboulet Dom de Rou...