I have not, but have quite a few mags of the '10, which I haven’t tried yet. Any tasting notes?
My '06 Mag had the same. I imagine they were stored upside down. Broke the seal and the wine was great with our new years dinner
Drinking a 2007 from a 375ml. After 60 min of air, this is nicely balanced and ready to drink despite a nearly completely disintegrated bottom half of the cork.
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Popped another 04 375 tonight. Not as good as the last one so far but still good enough. Did last bottle sell 375s of the 07s?
I got all my 375s during the original direct sale.
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Seen a lot of mixed reviews on 2013.
What’s general consensus?
Is it maybe just in an awkward phase right now?
Who knows. I opened my first in early December and was impressed. Impressed at $150? No.
At $30ish? Yes. Great wine.
Bunch of notes on CellarTracker which are mostly quite positive. If you have a few I wouldn’t hesitate to open one. No telling if it changes dramatically imo.
I’ll say that I enjoyed both the 2007 and 2016 more, but the 2013 is drinking fine.
IMO the 2013 is made in a less fruit forward style, which is why the response is so divided (it also has much less Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend than usual). Some who are looking for more fruit find it lacking compared to other vintages. Personally, I’m quite optimistic about the wine and think it will be great in 5-10 years when the tannins settle and there are more tertiary notes (but it probably won’t ever be a fruit bomb)
Interesting. I had a 375 of the '00 and it was OTH. Every '04 and '05 I’ve had was wonderful, but the '05 from 750 was possibly my favorite of the ten or so vintages I’ve tried. It was so fresh and full of fruit, with a long, complex finish.
The more notes I read and bottles I try, I’m convinced these have quite a bit of bottle variation.
I enjoy your notes on the wines. Very well done. I agree that the '11 seemed significantly different from the other vintages in that it definitely showed the cool climate influence of the vintage. I also enjoyed the '15, but thought it would be better in a few years. The '12 was vastly different between the two 750 I opened. The first was complex and loaded with lush fruit and complexity that included a mile long finish. The second bottle was way out of balance and one of the hottest wines I’ve had in years. It had a cayenne heat on the finish that I really didn’t enjoy.
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I do think the explanation here is likely bottle variation.
And I wouldn’t really know bc, while I have had a lot of different vintages, there have been very few vintages where I have had more than one bottle.
I certainly only had one ‘05 and I think I only have one left, but I am interested to see if it is different.
Others have commented that ‘00 was way over the hill. The bottle I had Thanksgiving weekend most certainly was not. It had a surprising amount of fruit left. I think that is probably bottle variation as well.
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Yes. I didn’t have the chance to get any 750 of the '07 from LB, but did buy 375 and 1.5.
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I agree with '05 being over the hill (375ml). Disappointing, but glad I was able to sample an old vintage.
Hope the '15 (750ml’s) I have will be better
Not with any of the Elivette bottles (so far), but I’ve encountered these impenetrable sediment plugs on other bottles of wine over the years. Always a weird discovery.
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I’m thinking the same thing. I have about a case of Elivette. I’ve bought a lot of dN & CamX over the years, but I suspect that I can get my fix for heavily discounted wines going forward with “name brands.”
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There is tremendous bottle/cork variation. Half the corks on the older bottles just disintegrated down the middle and half were just absolutely pristine. I go straight to the Durand at home, but sometimes I don’t have one on me.
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I got a Durand for Christmas and was very excited to use it for a 2009 Magnum. The previous 2008 (750ml) bottle I opened the cork just disintegrated and fell into the bottle. Which was just quite frustrating because I was plannimg on bringing that bottle to a restaurant later on that night.
Well, the 2009 magnum cork looked and came out literally like brand new. No Durand needed.
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Got one as well. That has been a game changer for anything 10+ in age.
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That is an apt description of 2011, and I’m glad I have two more bottles left.
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Just received an Elivette shipment in the heart of the polar vortex here in the northeast. One bottle had the cork pushed up a bit, but not all the way. The others showed no obvious signs of freezing but clearly were clearly subjected to the same conditions.
Can I assume the wines with intact corks will be fine? Is the pushed cork ok for near term consumption if I push it back in? These are 03s and 04s, so I expect to drink these sooner rather than later.
Thanks for your input!
If the cork is intact, the bottles and wine inside are fine. The wine in the bottle with the cork pushed out is fine- heat up that chicken & sausage gumbo, pull the cork the rest of the way and have at it.
Freezing does not compromise the wine itself the way heat does.
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