One of the handful of candidates for wine of the vintage is the 2006 Ausone. In fact, while tasting it, I was thinking, is there any estate in Bordeaux that, since 1998, has made as many legendary wines as proprietor Alain Vauthier... Read More
Tasted three separate times, this 2006 underperformed from the bottle and was nearly impossible to penetrate. It exhibits high tannin, an austere personality, and seemingly insufficient depth or concentration to balance out the... Read More
One of the greatest wines of the vintage is, not surprisingly, from proprietor Denis Durantou. A remarkable effort in every sense, the 2006 l'Eglise Clinet is not far off the quality of the prodigious 2005. Its inky/ruby/purple... Read More
A somewhat under-the-radar La Mission, the 2006 was generally overlooked following the brilliance of the 2005. A young, dense purple-hued wine that is developing beautifully, it exhibits notes of Asian plum sauce, charcoal, barbecue... Read More
The 2006 Lafleur, which I had not tasted from bottle prior to this visit, merits 95 points. One of the vintate's most brilliant wines, this blend of 61% Merlot and 39% Cabernet Franc is neither as dense nor complete as the... Read More
A blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot, the 2006 Proprietary Red offers a dense plum/purple color along with a big, sweet kiss of cassis, licorice, and hints of smoke, tobacco... Read More
One of the more backward efforts is the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To-Kalon Schrader. It is dense and full-bodied, but holding more in reserve. As I wrote last year, this is a fascinating portfolio of 100% Cabernet Sauvignons... Read More
2006 In the Cross Hairs 11 Confessions Vineyard: This is Sine Qua Non's extended barrel-aged Grenache (meaning that in most vintages since 2003, Krankl has produced two cuvees of Grenache, one aged 18-22 months before bottling,... Read More
The soon-to-be-released 2006 A Shot in the Dark is composed of 96.5% Syrah and 3.5% Viognier from the 11 Confessions Vineyard in the cool Santa Rita Hills. Performing better from bottle than it did from barrel, this prodigious... Read More
This blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec is a broodingly burly, masculine wine with lots of intensity and richness, but not the finesse, charm or overall complexity... Read More
One of the top wines of the vintage is the exquisite 2006 Vieux Chateau Certan. A blend of 83% Merlot and 17% Cabernet Franc, it is a stunningly rich effort boasting an inky/blue/purple color as well as a gorgeous nose of forest... Read More