I drank a 750ML bottle of the 1995 d'Armailhac (Pauillac) last night with the wife. Here are my notes.

Conditions: We decanted immediately upon opening and started drinking it one hour after breathing. I used one of these very wide decanters that spread the wine out so that it's only about an inch deep...it seems to go faster

Appearance: most obviously- very long, lingering legs on the side of the glass. Almost clear at the rim, color of blackberries at center. No translucence - you could see light clear through the wine, but certainly no loss of color. About a teaspoon of sediment in the bottom of bottle after decanting.

Bouquet: it immediately wafted from the bottle upon opening, berry fruits tending toward the sweet end of spectrum, perhaps cherry. The bouquet did not seem to increase or change during the decanting.

Taste: very vivid berry flavors, again cherry I would say. I compared the d'Armailhac to some 2000 Greysac (Medoc) that I had opened because the latter is a very fruity wine also. In comparison, the Greysac's fruit tasted like cherry candy (i.e. a bit too sweet and one-dimensional), whereas the d'Armailhac was complex and lingering on the palette. There were hints of oxblood and carbonized meat at the finish, also slight wood. I'd say the tannins are fully integrated, but you might want to wait a couple years. If you had to criticize this wine at all, it would be for lack of earth tones and savory flavors I would expect in a full bodied Pauillac, but overall it was very balanced.

I bought it last month for EUR 35.

Great note. I have enjoyed this wine in the past and your note reminded me that it can be a real value.

-- london02

Thanks. And upon thinking about it, I'd say it was more blackcurrant than cherry.