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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 85.2 pts. and median of 87 pts. in 19 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Drcarl on 5/24/2014 & rated 87 points: A nice wine but not an excellent wine ... falls short in the odor department. (3294 views) | | | Tasted by mr21cbs on 11/15/2012 & rated 87 points: Nice dark ruby color. Subdued nose of manure, wild flowers, and dark fruit. Cherry compote, pepper, plum, mild tannins. (4346 views) | | | Tasted by ME128 on 9/28/2012 & rated 88 points: Tobacco and pepper taste comes through clearly. Reasonably dry and nice balance of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. (4423 views) | | | Tasted by mr21cbs on 1/27/2012 & rated 86 points: Unfortunately I was unable to try this wine when it was open, and now it has been a couple of days so it fizzled a bit. But all major characteristics still present. As Phredd and WineKnurd, whose opinion I respect, indicated this wine over delivers for the price. Nice earthy Bordeaux. Excellent structure, mouth feel that Cab Franc adds to the soft merlot. Very enjoyable. (5256 views) | | | Tasted by WineKnurd on 10/23/2011 & rated 87 points: Got this off WTSO for $10.99 delivered with low expectations but wow this wine was much better than anticipated. Nice fruit and earth, currants and tobacco leaves with hints of pepper. Good weight and mouthfeel, not harsh at all. Really delivers for the WTSO price; a stretch at the $25 Wine Searcher price. Style & Quality- B. Value- A-. Overall- B+. (5954 views) | | | Tasted by Phredd on 10/22/2011 & rated 88 points: NC Cindy Tasting, Sans NCWino (WineKnurd's House): A blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet franc, this wine was dark in the glass, but not completely opaque. On the nose, there was good cherry fruit, but also a lot of dark, earthy notes, and a fair amount of dustiness, as well. It did not display much barnyard, which I think is a good thing. On the palate, very earthy and herbal, without a lot of fruit. There was some dark cherry, but this was more about tobacco leaf and iron than fruit. It was somewhat astringent and not completely smooth, but overall a quite respectable bottle of wine. WineKnurd's reported purchase price of $10/bottle makes this a major QPR. At the current Searcher price of $25, it is probably not a buy. (3753 views) | | | Tasted by TexasBob on 6/6/2011 & rated 72 points: Mulberry nose. Mulberry notes as well. Kind of funky. Thin bodied - not very good. In fact, really off in every way. Wow bad for a wine that claims any sort of French appellation.
Caveat: tried on a Korean air flight from Singapore to Seoul, but I can't imagine it affected the taste this much for the worse. And no, it was not corked. Just bad. (2625 views) | | | Tasted by akeenan on 5/8/2010 & rated 87 points: Thought this was a great $20 bordeaux. Good fruit, opened up right away. Not something I think will age very long, but a very pleasant, if a little on the lighter side red wine. (2896 views) | | | Tasted by David J Cooper on 10/23/2009: To sum it up in one word CRAP. I want to say the S word but won't in respect to others on this site and it's creator. (3030 views) |
| Château Les Trois Croix Producer WebsiteRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBordeaux Bordeaux Wine Guide
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)
History of Bordeaux
History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification
"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson
"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson
"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson
"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon RimmermanLibournais Libournais (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) - Read more about St. Emilion and its wines - Read more about Pomerol and its wines
Saint Emilion Grat Classified Growth, Classified Growths, Grands Crus Classes, GCC
In 1954, while the "Graves" growths had just published their own classification, the wine syndicate of Saint-Emilion, composed by wine growers, brokers and wine traders with the approval of the INAO - Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (A.O.C), decided to work on a classification for the wines of Saint Emilion. Initially, four grades were defined. These were reduced to two - First Great Classified Growth (A and B) and Great Classified Growth - in 1984.
As of Medoc's 1855 historical grading, the Saint-Emilion Great Classified Growth classification is not only based on qualitative criteria by tasting the wines on a ten years period previous to the assessment, but also on commercial considerations such as:
- sales price levels
- national and international commercial distribution
- the estate's reputation on the market
Properties who don't manage to join the club of about sixty Classified Growths are given the denomination of Great Growth ("Grand Cru"), while the remaining wineries of the A.O.C are simply reported as "Saint-Emilion". It is to be noted that the owners must officially apply to appear in the official classification. Thus for example the famous Chateau Tertre-Roteboeuf, whose quality and reputation would easily justify to be listed among the First Great Classified Growths, does not appear here by the will of its owner, François Mitjaville.
The Saint-Emilion Great Growth classification was revised in 1969, 1985, 1996 and 2006. The only two guaranteed vintage (A.O.C) who can apply to the classification are the "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and "Saint-Emilion" areas.
By grading 61 properties, the 2006 revision confirmed many growths from the former classification, but also caused a number of surprises and a few inevitable disappointments. Many observers thought that the impressive progression of Perse's Chateau Pavie since 1998 would be rewarded by an upgrade into the First Great Classified Growths (A) category, but finally such was not the case.
Among the estates promoted to the First Great Classified Growths B category are Chateau Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin, whose efforts made since the Nineties fully justify their new grade. It should be noted that no First Great Classified Growth was relegated to the lower Great Classified Growth class.
Promoted growths from the status of Great Growth ("Grand Cru") to Great Classified Growth ("Grand Cru Classe") are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.
The demoted growths from the status of Great Classified Growth to Great Growth are: Chateaux Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet Saint-Julien, La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Belivier), La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Moueix), Lamarzelle, Petite Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay, Villemaurine and Yon-Figeac. If the recent samples of some of the above mentioned properties may justify their current downgrade, there are great chances that estates like Bellevue, Tertre Daugay or Yon-Figeac will be upgraded to their previous rankings by the next revision in 2016 as the progresses noted after 2000, but not entering in the range of vintages (1993 - 2002) appointed for the criteria of selection for the 2006 classification, are noticable.
The two following estates have completely disappeared from the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classification: Curé-Bon-la-Madeleine (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Canon) and La Clusière (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Pavie).
Finally, no estate considered as "garagiste" has integrated the classification. Valandraud, Mondotte, Le Dome, Bellevue-Mondotte or Magrez-Fombrauge have, for the least, the potential to be ranked as Great Classified Growths. In sight of the very fine quality reached by the above mentioned estates in recent vintages as well as all the innovative wine making methods used by the "garagistes", it remains to be seen whether the authorities will dare to cross the line in 2016..?Fronsac Vins Fronsac (Conseil des Vins de Fronsac)
Read more about Fronsac
Fronsac AOC Wikipedia Article |
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