The case of 2004 Smith Haut Lafitte has been cracked open.

[JimHow]

Well, I finally broke down, and cracked open my case.
I'm heading off to Paris this week and I was thinking about that magical visit we had at SHL with the Cathiards, now two springs ago. (Crazy.)
This wine is indeed a beauty, Bobby G, will report back.

[JimHow]

A very nice effort Bobby G.
Nice finish. Very representative of the 2004 vintage.
Cool, crisp, slightly unripe tannins. still youthful but doubtful that it will improve significantly.
very nice, lengthy finish.
On the classic side of the spectrum.
The color is deep and rich.
Very nice, certainly not "charming," which can often be a plus in my book.
Is this better than the 2002? It's close.
I'll score this beauty a solid 92+ points.
I'll drink one bottle per year over the next eleven years and see how it develops.

[Comte Flaneur]

I'm really jealous because I don't have ant of this - nor indeed the 2002 and 2006 - keep missing out and destined never to own any.

[robert goulet]

yes my man!!

luv it...makes me want to pop one

...I luv this wine

[jckba]

I have a couple of mags of this that I bought @ Zachys about 10 years ago and would be more than happy to bring one to a future BWE gathering

[Tom In DC]

...
I'll drink one bottle per year over the next eleven years and see how it develops.

Thanks for the report, Jim - sounds like a BWE kind of wine.

Your willpower must be improving. I'd have expected "I'll drink one bottle per week over the next few months and see how it develops."

[JimHow]

I have developed a new plan, Tom. I have a section of my cellar where there are individual bins that hold ten bottles each. When I crack open a case I drink one bottle, I place one bottle in the "classic" rack to the left that holds individual bottles of special wines, and I place the remaining ten in the bins. That way I will be able to hold off on drinking them. I have done that now with the 2000 and 2003 Sociando Mallets. Same with some top growth half bottles. I was drinking up too much of my classic half bottles. Then I placed them all in a couple bins, filling them perfectly. Problem solved. It is basically the same principle as not opening the original wood cases in the first place.

[Tom In DC]

Nice!

I'm actually planning the new cellar to be organized by when I want to drink the wine. So if I get a case for which I will hold three years and then drink one every two years, I'll put the bottles in the 2020, 2022, 2024, etc sections. Wines that don't get consumed in the intended window will get redistributed among the subsequent years as I see fit. This will probably require more Blanquito-like attention to my perceived drinking windows for any individual wine, but if Patrick can do it, so can I!

Of course, this plan will probably designate 1,000+ bottles for tasting in 2017-2018, which might be a challenge, Needless, I'm expecting our resident mathematician to come up with a perfectly sensible plan to overcome said challenge.

[Racer Chris]

I have developed a new plan,

I use Cellartracker tools to pace my consumption. The drinking windows are all updated to what I want, not the community values.
I typically only drink bottles near the top of the Ready to Drink listing, down to about half a bottle negative value.

Sometimes when I'm enamored of a particular wine I'll get ahead by a couple bottles.
When that happens the wine falls to the bottom of my listing so I stop drinking it until it comes back to the top of the list.
My other option is to buy more bottles to get it back to the top.

I also use a Saved Search called Drinking Window that sorts by starting date, then by ending date.
That allows me to adjust drinking windows by comparing similar wines directly.