Bottle variation imo. When I spoke with Parker about it last month he agreed that there must be bottle variation present (despite he personally not experiencing it through the lion's share of a case) given the significant internet feedback. I've had sub 90 point bottles of this wine and mid nineties bottles of this wine myself.

Dan, thanks for the post. I have see wildly divergent views on this wine, but yours is the first post that I have seen where a single poster has experienced bottle variation. I usually think of bottle variation as a convenient excuse to justify variances. I still haven't tried this one (my 375mls haven't arrived). There certainly doesn't seem to be much middle ground on this wine.

I ordered a total of 8 bottles from 2 different locations. I might try a bottle from the second place I ordered fairly soon and see how it compares to the first.

I agree it is often used as a convenient excuse. I tasted the wine from the local distributor a few month ago. The wine was nothing special. I tasted it again from the bottles at the Parker tasting which I believe came from the same distributor. Two different bottles were gorgeous. I bought a fair amount as a prearrival from Switzerland and am looking forward to trying it again when they arrive.

Tasted at the theApril BAWE CdP tasting:

Very nice nose, with bright fresh aromas of red raspberries herbs, and a touch of guarrigue – very classic CdP except for one thing, which was noticeable (and disturbing) VA, adding those nail polish/pruney aromas. On the paalte the wine possesses fine ripe tannins, excellent texture, and wonderful length, but the VA notes worry me. My #3 of the flight.

This was a pretty good showing for this wine, much better than my previous experience, but still didn’t live up to the high scores imo. Very ripe, the wine offers a full frontal attack of deep dense fruit. Lush and broad on the palate, smooth tannins, definitely a bit ‘hot’. If pressed, I’d offer a score in the 90-93 range.