| | A tannins laden tasting of the 05 and 06 bordeaux through mostly classed growths. 2005 Bordeaux A lot of really exceptional wines among the 05s with quite a number being extremely tannic for long term cellaring. Not easy to taste but I particularly enjoy tasting the Margaux which were mostly quite ready for business though might not have the same potential as its neighbours. Overall, I thought good to excellent wines were well spread out across all regional appellations and across whites, reds and sweets. What a vintage! Just pray that the prices come back down. - 2005 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/25/2009)
Custardy honey lemons atop fresh vanilla beans. Some wet wood and wet earth. Understated white stonefruits but very fresh and crisp. Excellent mouthwatering finish. 85-89pts. (87 pts.)
- 2005 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/23/2009)
Smoky pungence of rotten eggs mixed with hay. Lots of funky burg like mushroom meets cream meets butteriness. Almost smelling like a chard. Lightly toasted oak. Mostly white stonefruits with focused but singular expression. Finish suprisingly shorter than expected. This has developed not as nicely as I would have liked it to compared to previous tasting.Maybe its at an awkward stage at the moment and hopefully after a few years will reach greater heights again. 83-86pts. (84 pts.)
- 2005 Château La Louvière Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/23/2009)
Whiffs of smoky hay, sulphur shows. Very fresh white fruits, chalky acidity that finishes mineral and bitter lemon pith. 81-83pts. (82 pts.)
- 2005 Château La Tour Figeac - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (10/23/2009)
Very tight with lots of good black currant fruit showing weight and freshness. (82 pts.)
- 2005 Château Branaire-Ducru - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (10/23/2009)
Sandalwood lifted violets. Dark fruited , black currants.Has the depth and intensity to last. Not as open as the other St Julien or Margaux but still a pretty top vintage for this chateau.In fact, I think it closed up since the last tasting a year back. 83-87pts (85 pts.)
- 2005 Château Brane-Cantenac - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (10/23/2009)
The most beautifully floral with lifted bouquet of violets and bluebells, also showing hints of herbaceous character and milk coffee. Soft, ready and plush with silky nice plummish elegant fruits. 86-88pts. (87 pts.)
- 2005 Château Rauzan-Ségla - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (10/23/2009)
Inkish swirl of violets flowery perfume and talcum powder. Lightly oaked. Lifted palate with readily acessible red fruits, red currants and an earth hinted finish. Moderate to long finish. Shows breed. 85-88pts (86 pts.)
- 2005 Château Smith Haut Lafitte - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/23/2009)
Wow!-ly aromatic with lots of funky meaty leathery notes but backed by cigar smoke. Structured palate of lovely noble black and blue berry fruits. Some sweetness , long journey finishing with stony minerality. Top tier wine. This has evolved really nicely since the last time tasted. The stink bomb has morphed nicely into a butterfly. 89-91pts (90 pts.)
- 2005 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (10/23/2009)
Big and young. A calf waiting to burst out in time but right now still tightly locked up in its barnyard. Cedary oak. At the moment, tight but with good focused fresh fruits. 86-90pts (88 pts.)
- 2005 Château Lynch-Bages - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (10/23/2009)
Savory, woodspices, lifted purple flowers and purple fruits . A tad inkish alc. Black currant fruits. Quite a big , weighty effort showing lots of plums and some spices. Powdery tannins. Really doing fantastically well now. I re-tasted a few times over the few days and I really really do enjoy this though I was never much of a lynch bages fan. It shows the most marked improvement among the 05s that I had tasted at the last UGC. 90-93pts. (91 pts.)
- 2005 Château Giscours - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (10/25/2009)
Pretty sweet flowers dancing on smooth silky cool and soft fresh fruits. Touch of cedar and does have a tiny bit of alc heat . Somewhat spicy but lovely elegance. However, would have preferred more filing on the mid. Comparing with the first tasting at UGC last year, I think this wine is probably the hare in the tortoise and hare race...impressive at the onset but not enough stamina to be a winner. Definitely not a long haul wine as compared to its more illustrious neighbours. 84-87pts (85 pts.)
- 2005 Château Petit Village - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (10/25/2009)
Dark florals, brambly wild fruits. Dense and a tad bit reductive with salty caramel and lots of oakiness. Has stuffing but not something up my alley. 82 - 84pts (83 pts.)
- 2005 Domaine de Chevalier - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/25/2009)
Stemmy green cabbage, struck matchstick. Seductive black beauty with dark fruits though still quite velvety soft. Very enjoyable. 85-89pts (87 pts.)
- 2005 Château Malartic-Lagravière - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/25/2009)
Aromatic violets, currants and wild berries. Very enjoyable soothing palate with a sense of ageability. 84-87pts (86 pts.)
- 2005 Château du Tertre - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (10/25/2009)
Violets powdered with preserved fruits that subsequently gained meatiness and gunsmoke. A bit reductive. Gobs of sweet ripe raspberries and pink cough syrup on the palate. A delicious wine that is open for business but unchallenging. However, I think many would love to quaff down this wine. 82-84pts (83 pts.)
- 2005 Château Beaumont - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (10/25/2009)
Standardish bordeaux nose but this has gotta be the most all-rounded palate tasted among the 05s. This is suprisingly complete on the palate with nice firm tannins , lots of fruits (blueberries in particular), fresh stony acidity, some secondary savory undertones and unintruding structure. 83-85pts (84 pts.)
- 2005 Clos Fourtet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (10/23/2009)
Exotic indian woodscents with excellent cool fruits. Silky, deep dark mysterious black fruits awaits to explode on the sense. A very sensous wine and somehow just gives off a middle / far eastern aura of mysticism that sets it apart for the rest. 87-91pts (89 pts.)
- 2005 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (10/23/2009)
Very open. Perfumey flowery and elegant nose. Getting past the flowers, I get sweet cassis, hinted by roasted ethopian coffeee, some dessicated coconuts. A very layered nose. Smooth rounded plums , dark berry fruits with a exotic spiced finish. A wine of class and avant garde fashion. Compared to previously, I think this has developed very nicely into an extremely classy effort of a legendary vintage. 88-92pts (90 pts.)
- 2005 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (10/26/2009)
Very medicinal nose. Musky, very distinct reminding me of wild jungle leaves smoldering over a small fire. Interesting limey aspects on the nose as well! Very hard and tannic to drink at the moment but firm tannins and very well structured palate with good extraction . Only time will tell if this develops beautifully. At the moment, feels like a huge and prodigous wine. 85-90pts. (88 pts.)
- 2005 Château Phélan Ségur - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (10/26/2009)
Very oaked with coffee, toasty notes framing green roasted capsicums. Dark fruits but I detect rubberiness and almost melted plasticky . Slightly awkward. (81 pts.)
- 2005 Château Sénéjac - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (10/26/2009)
I got loads of low quality oak overrun with cockroach / beetle notes. Light red fruits. A drinkable but not quaffable wine. The weakest of the 05s tasted. (78 pts.)
- 2005 Château Laroze - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (10/26/2009)
Good dark fruited. Modernly styled with weighty forward fruits. Dense. Framed by coffee oak and mocha notes. (82 pts.)
- 2005 Château Guiraud - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (10/26/2009)
Fresh apricots, nuttyness and dessicated coconuts. A bit cloying but generally still quite fresh and intense. Honey, ripe and sweet summer mangoes from india. 83-86+pts (85 pts.)
- 2005 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (10/26/2009)
Low toned aromatic with just the slightest lick of rubber but quite an elegant nose though not as rich as its counterparts. Nice acidity with more balance on the palate. Sweet golden sultanas with a few squeezes of lime. 84-87pts (85 pts.)
- 2005 Château Doisy-Védrines - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (10/26/2009)
Sweet oakiness, sweet woods with lychee cocktail syrup and sweet preserved plums and mandarins. 82-86pts. (84 pts.)
2006 bordeaux Just a notch below the 2005 vintage in general but still a very consistently well performing vintage. Again, the good wines were well spread out over various regional appellations and varietals. - 2006 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/25/2009)
Vanillin oak with very aromatic nose of sweet yellow fruits, jackfruits, a bit of "D21 durian" and even some burg like muskyiness. Unexpectedly, the palate was extremely fresh with mouth-refreshening lemon grapefruit acidit and preserved chinese sour plums. Touch of minerality but really suprising acidity. Drinking well but will keep well too. 85-88pts (86 pts.)
- 2006 Château La Louvière Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/23/2009)
A bit toasty but besides that mostly odourless. Grapefruit acidity , stonefruit minerality , sharp and chalky tannins. 78-81pts (79 pts.)
- 2006 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/25/2009)
Smoky hay. Low toned. Almost sweet pineapply lemonns. A little creamy and a little rounded. Not an intense wine. 81-83pts (82 pts.)
- 2006 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (10/25/2009)
Lifted violets with a streak of fresh green capsicums and tobacco leaves . Lovely serious dark fruits, toasty mocha and smooth half-silky tannins. 86-89pts (88 pts.)
- 2006 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (10/25/2009)
Not very expressive on the nose with some crushed berries. Some heat on the palate with quite acidic black currant fruits. A very difficult wine to enjoy at the moment but does show that it has the stuffing to go on for quite a while. 83-84pts. (83 pts.)
- 2006 Château Lynch-Bages - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (10/23/2009)
I thought the nose very awkward with weird pungence of smoke, sulphur and peppery hickory. Not particularly my favourite scents . Better on the palate with dense plummish blackcurrants. 82-83+pts (83 pts.)
- 2006 Château Brane-Cantenac - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (10/25/2009)
Roses and tulips with green stems and some green capsicums. Very attractive to me. Very seductive, very drinkable with a lovely friendly palate of juicy small round berries , nicely ripened and lingering blueberries till the finish. This is absolutely delicious for me. Fantastically unaggresive despite its youth. Very feminine and nice. Just what I like and expect about Margaux. 86-89pts. (88 pts.)
- 2006 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (10/25/2009)
Scented cedar oak. Tight. Inkish, hard and not very generous. Cool berry fruits, dry earth and smoky. 82-83pts (82 pts.)
- 2006 Château Canon - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (10/25/2009)
Closed and tight-nosed at the moment. Not a very expressive wine too. Very low-toned traces of cool blueberry fruits though the fruits were quite rounded and pretty elegant.82-84pts. (83 pts.)
- 2006 Château Smith Haut Lafitte - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/25/2009)
Good nose of sweet brambly fruits. Lovely ready fruit basket of blueberries, cherries and boysenberries. Delicious fruits with strenght and poise. There is toasty oak but well balanced off by the fruits. Got some mocha and some wispy pain grille as well. Tasted this a few times over the few days with consistent notes . Excellent wine. 86-89pts. (88 pts.)
- 2006 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (10/26/2009)
BBQ savory meats, dark toastty coffee beans with cigar undertones. Blackcurrant fruits that is very au naturel but ruggard in a nice way. Very fine powdery tannins. Will never be a classy wine for this vintage but will definitely be a good drinking one. 85-87pts. (86 pts.)
- 2006 Domaine de Chevalier - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/26/2009)
Lavender, black raspberries, dark mocha chocolate notes and dark purplish veggie carried by moist softwood. Rounded and open fruits. Very drinkable and quaffable blueberries dominates. Nice soft finish. 85-88pts (86 pts.)
- 2006 Château Beychevelle - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (10/26/2009)
Rusty shack, gunsmoke with blackish stone minerality. Quite ripe dense black fruits with a spicy finish. Suprised me . 84-86pts. (85 pts.)
- 2006 Château Branaire-Ducru - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (10/26/2009)
Inkish lifted nose with some oak. Rounde nicely dense currant fruits. Quite standardish expected quality from such a growth . 82-84pts (83 pts.)
- 2006 Clos Fourtet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (10/23/2009)
Light expresso coffee smells pasted with ink. Sweet cassis laden fruits of blueberries. A light film coating of tannins in the aftertaste. 82-84pts (84 pts.)
- 2006 Château La Lagune - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (10/26/2009)
Cardboardish, dry herbs. Quite hot fruits but focused and intense. Good finish with dry herbs showing up again. 81-83pts. (82 pts.)
- 2006 Château Malartic-Lagravière - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/26/2009)
Still quite closed nose . Lightly herbaceous. Very pretty feminine red and blue fruits with a rounded finish but short. 81-83pts. (82 pts.)
- 2006 Château Giscours - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (10/26/2009)
Cool nose.Spices, herbs and stony minerality. Mostly cool berries with bitter berry pith on the finish. 84-85pts. (84 pts.)
- 2006 Château Doisy-Védrines - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (10/26/2009)
Nail varnish alc, gluey-rubbery nose. Very sweet honey and cloying. Does "burn" the throat with its sugars. Needs a dose of acidity. (80 pts.)
- 2006 Château Guiraud - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (10/26/2009)
Rubbery and low toned nose. Quyite rich sweet apricots but nice orangey acidity to balance out. Not too shabby. 83-85pts (84 pts.)
- 2006 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (10/23/2009)
Lifted alc nose of honeyed oranges, apricots , nectarines and sweet preserved sour plums. Throat watering acidity provided nice balance and feels very quaffable for a sweet. (85 pts.)
Aged Wines @ Borobudur Auction Booth A smattering of aged wines that was very enjoyable to taste through. - 1982 Château Lagrange (St. Julien) - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (10/26/2009)
Completely secondary notes. Beef blood, smoky cigarette but also reductive aging shows. I tasted dried squished up plums, more cigarettes ash and a honeyed finish. Although a great vintage, this is probably past its prime. (83 pts.)
- 1982 Clos des Moines (Lalande de Pomerol) - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lalande de Pomerol (10/26/2009)
Even more reductive than the 82 lagrange. This has dried but unsweet raisins. Feels like a leather saddle kept in a woodedn chest for ages. Very dried up and showing only traces of dried fruit. That said it does have a certain character about it. (80 pts.)
- 2000 Viña Almaviva S.A. Almaviva - Chile, Maipo Valley, Puente Alto (10/26/2009)
Excellent wine! Undeniably smelling of a pauillac with tobacco leaves, leather, pencil shavings and funky earthy undertones. Strong fruit body of blackberries, spices plum. Juicy and with intensity. Honestly, this will wow crowds in a fair blind tasting. (89 pts.)
- 1992 Château La Fleur-Pétrus - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (10/26/2009)
A beautiful aged claret showing breed and wisdom. Cigar, tobacco, smoked meats dominate the nose but dainty sweet and still very much pristine juicy fruits of plummish character. (87 pts.)
- 1991 Château Cos d'Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (10/26/2009)
A typical shining example of aged claret despite a weaker vintage. Very pauillac nose with leather, meats cigar smoke. Complexly-layered ethereal palate with lots of nice round plums, blackberries, currants and secondary spices. A complete wine that is drinking at its peak now. (89 pts.)
- 2002 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (10/23/2009)
Pungent beefy notes intermixed with some herbaceous characteristics. Dark fruited. Rounded and quite big and juicy. In all textbook standards, this shows good pauillac typicity. (84 pts.)
- 2003 Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz Riesling Spätlese R - Germany, Pfalz (10/26/2009)
Honeysuckle notes with uhu glue textural stickiness in the throat. Nice fresh and finishes with rambutan fruits including the rambutan seed's skin. (84 pts.)
- 2002 Louis Jadot Chassagne-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet (10/26/2009)
Musky mushy mushrooms with good burg typicity. Lightly oaked. Lots of lemon citrus, stonefruits and fresh minerality. Lightly grassy . Sharp acidity but not yet cutting. Clean and crisp wine.I especially was quite impressed by the loads of wet stone minerality in a very basic village appellation. (85 pts.)
- 2005 Château Cos Labory - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (10/23/2009)
Inkish, dark good quality coffee roast.Dense dark fruits, lots of currants. Has deep rooted tannins to last . A wine of depth. 83-85pts. (84 pts.)
- 2005 Château Belgrave - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (10/26/2009)
Not sure if there was something wrong about the bottle but the wine just smelt really old with lots of reductive dark soy sauce notes and savory plummish fruits. The palate felt cooked with prunish characteristics. (FLAWED)
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