2012 Bordeaux Trip

We kicked off the trip with Gruaud Larose. Impressive location, they are doing many things to increase quality. Being my fruit stop on the left bank, I was very surprised how rocky the soil is. I've never been impressed with the wines I've tried from this estate, so I was very curious to taste the recent vintages.
The grand cru sees 18mos in barrel of which 40% are new, while the 2nd wine sees 14mos. I have no recollection of the use of optical sorting, but I may have just missed it. Second wine is typically 80% CS, 11% M, 6% PV and 3% CF.

• 2002 Château Gruaud Larose Sarget de Gruaud Larose 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  (4/2/2012)

  Fine nose showing plenty of pepper and spice along with flint and toast. Didn’t get much fruit from the nose. Palate is a little coarse and thin adding some leather and deied red fruits. Finish of mocha and leather. This was drinking nicely now, won’t improve futerh and appears to be mature. Tannins are rather coarse and lacking finesse and elegance. Still, not a bad 2nd wine in a tough year. 87-89

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2007 Château Gruaud Larose 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  (4/2/2012)

  ’07 GL – This bottle had just been opened. Toasty mocha nose with a touch of animal and red cherry. Palate is well polished, with fine tannins and moderate concentration. Tannins are rather soft. Shows sweet cedar notes along with black cherry and cassis. Finish is a little short and simple, but adds a stony element that is almost flint. Nice polished wine in a tough year, good for drinking now. 90-92

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Château Gruaud Larose

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  (4/2/2012)

  CS 59%, M 28%, CF 13%. 46% of harvest was selected for grand vin. My first bdx barrel sample and I was struck at how ripe and primary the fruit was. Reminded me of Napa(a little). Had plenty of plum and currants, finely polished tannins and plenty of acidity. Fruit was quite clean and pure. Seems like a strong effort. I’ll guess 91-94 potential.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

The next stop we drove up to St. Estephe. Initially I was a little disappointed we couldn’t get an appointment at Montrose, but the Phelon Segur visit ended up being the highlight of our left bank visit. I was very interested to see how consistent this estate was as my only experience has been the fantastic ’05. Our very gracious host Veronique Dausse took time out of her very busy schedule during EP to showcase a vertical of the recent vintages. Much has been made of the sale of some of their vineyards to Montrose, which was prior to the ’10 vintage, but I couldn’t detect a quality change at all. Optical sorting started in the 2011 vintage (I think, it may have been ’10), which they felt was invaluable in this difficult year. Malolactic fermentation is in barrel.

• 2007 Château Phélan Ségur 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  (4/2/2012)

  CS 60%, M 40%. – Much more open and expressive than the ’08. Quite expressive on the nose, with a hint of animal, along with bell pepper and tobacco leaf. Palate is a little thin, but nice black cherry, leafy herbal notes, and cedar spice are present and give it a moderate level of complexity. Soft tannins and mouthfeel. Medium finish with cedar spice and earth. Really quite surprising as it’s fully accessible and expressive. Doesn’t have much power, but plenty of finesse in this challenging vintage. Buy to drink now. 88-90

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Château Phélan Ségur 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  (4/2/2012)

  CS 60%, M 40% Shy was quite shy here, with plenty of bell pepper and toast. Understated fruit. Palate was a little austere and angular, with prominent acidity and showing a little black currant and black berry. Less concentrated than ‘09/’10 but focused and taught. This really needs some time to be enjoyable, but the quality is there. 89-91

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2009 Château Phélan Ségur 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  (4/2/2012)

  CS 58%, M 40% CF 2%. Nose had a little more bell pepper and toast than the ’10 and took a little more work to coax out of the glass. Fruit profile is noticeably darker, with more of a plum and black currant expression with less red fruits. Interesting as there’s actually less merlot here. Lush and concentrated coating the palate, but still has a big tannic backbone. This was plush, ripe and exuberant compared to the most stately ’10. A great bottle, but if I had to chose I’d go with ’10. 91-93

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2010 Château Phélan Ségur 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  (4/2/2012)

  CS 51%, M 49%. Ready for bottling in the next couple of months. Bright red fruit nose, just a hint of pepper, black berries, currants. Palate is wonderfully complex and fresh, with fantastic forward red fruits underneath. Lengthy finish, with sweet plush tannins and a touch of mocha. Wow. Impressive pure fruit and while very tannic, of such polish and quality you barely notice. Probably better than the ’05. 93-95

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Château Phélan Ségur

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  (4/2/2012)

  CS 55%, M 45%. 50% New oak. Nice fruit profile of black currants, cherry, and wild berries. Coarse tannins present. Nice concentration. Lively acidity. All the components seem to be there. Probably a little better than ’08. 89-92

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Very nice lunch with perfect weather outside.

• 1989 Château Lynch-Bages 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  (4/2/2012)

  From a pneumatic at Café Lavinal (owned by Bages). Not sure how recent this the bottle was opened, and it did seem to have some mild oxidation but still fresh. Very aromatic nose with ripe berries, leather, tobacco leaf and touch of soy and mint. Palate was quite ripe And forward, with just a little tannin in the background. Much more exuberant than an ’88 earlier this year. Great depth to the palate, showing the ripeness of ’89 but impressively balanced and polished. Showing plenty of mint and leather along with dark fruit profile. Long finish, with pipe tobacco , menthol, and earth. Flamboyant wine with great depth and balance.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Graciously hosted by Henri Lurton who took the time to walk around with an unknown American couple just before EP. The property is beautiful, with a clear family focus, complete with a playground in the back area. Prominent use of oak vats (1/3) along with concrete(1/3) and steel (1/3). Planted to 55% CS, 40% M, 4.5% CF, and 0.5% Carmenere. Optical sorting was started in the 2010 vintage.

• 2010 Château Brane-Cantenac Le Baron de Brane 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  (4/2/2012)

  M 47%, CS 53% AND 40% of production. Just prior to bottling. Nose was rather shy, showing some darker red fruits with black cherry along with subtle mocha and toast. Fine prominent tannins that give this a slightly austere feel. There are plenty of red fruits with currants as the backbone. Very nice. 89-92

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2010 Château Brane-Cantenac 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  (4/2/2012)

  M 30%, CF 8%, CS 62% and 33% of production. A little hard to pin down, but overall a very impressive wine that I think will be fantastic in 10-20+ yrs. Big flamboyant nose of cassis and cherry. Concentrated palate with very fine polished tannins. Showing plenty of raspberry, cherry and cassis. Long finish adding stone to the pure polished fruit and tannins. A tremendous wine. Great purity and concentration while retaining subtle complexity. 91-95

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Château Brane-Cantenac Le Baron de Brane

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  (4/2/2012)

  M 50%, 50% CS. Violets and 38% of production. Raspberry, and blackberry on the nose. There’s a thinness to the palate, with chalky tannins. Fine acidity keeps it fresh. Rather short finish. Hard to gauge. 87-91

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Château Brane-Cantenac

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  (4/2/2012)

  EP tasting. M 37%, CF 6%, Carmenere 0.5%, CS 56.5% and 42% of production. Violets, cranberry, licorice nose with a fine soft palate showing chalky tannins that don’t show until the end of a long finish. Nice concentration. Seems strong but not a lot of depth here. I’ll guess 89-92

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Didn’t get to visit and tour, but very generous of Corrine Mentzelopoulos to allow usfall in with the JJ Buckley crew and have a taste of the current vintage. (Big thanks to my guide, Dewey Markam, for stopping by to say “hello.”)

• 2011 Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  (4/2/2012)

  28% of production, CS 65%, M 25%, PV 8%, CF 2%. Subtle vibrant nose with a definite floral component, violets, cherry and licorice. Palate is quite tannic, with a touch of hardness almost making it astringent and slightly hollow, but the finish comes roaring back with tons of red fruit. Overall impressive for a second wine, though my initial impression was worrisome given the hollowness in the mid-palate. Still has nicely concentrated, pure, vibrant fruit. 89-93

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  (4/2/2012)

  38% of production, CS 86%, M 10%, PV 2%, CF 2%. Much tighter than the Pavion Rouge as the nose was only giving the faintest hint of cherry and toast. The palate was massively concentrated and very tannic, with very fine polished tannins. Fruit is incredibly pure and focused, with a striking red component and showing impressive depth. Long finish already. This was very impressive and will likely last at least a couple decades given the immense tannins. Good enough my wife asked for a bottle and didn't seem to care about the cost. 92-96

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux

  France, Bordeaux

  (4/2/2012)

  This was hard for me to evaluate as I have little context to compared this to. Apricot and tropical fruit on the nose. Palate shows a little passion fruit as well. Bracingly acidity, but plenty of concentrated tropical fruit flavors and a long steely finish. Flashy. Seems quite well made, more concentrated and “riper” fruit profile than I expected. 92+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

The least exciting visit of the left bank wineries, possibly because we had just left Ch. Margaux or potentially because they were hosting a UGC tasting that night and were busy preparing(or we were just tired). Anyhow, I felt lucky to get to visit another classified growth. I was quite interested in the wines given the reputation for quality without the steep price.

• 2004 Du Terte Les Hauts du Tertre 87 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  (4/2/2012)

  End of the bottle opened earlier in the day, plenty of sediment. Dried red fruit on the nose, rather shy. Palate was round and soft, seemingly mature with some red fruits that were somewhat dried and tired. Moderate toasty finish, somewhat dull and simple. Fine, but nothing too exciting.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2003 Château du Tertre 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  (4/2/2012)

  Also the end of the bottle. This was quite disappointing but hopefully due to the vintage. I continue to be unimpressed with ’03 margaux’s. Actually had mild bricking on the edges. Big roasted nose, almost pruney, with lots of toast and espresso. Mature fruit on the palate, with big chunky tannins. Finishes with char and mocha. Tons of oak here, but doubt the fruit will be there to absorb it. Lacks freshness and shows the ‘03 vintage.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Day 2 was a visit to St. Emillion, where we started with Chateaux Canon. This is a beautiful site, truly a “clos” as it’s fully closed off by stone walls. Even if you are familiar with St. Emillion, the tour in the tunnels under the vineyard and winery are amazing and worth the time to visit.
Reportedly, they’ve had a large increase in quality over the past decade as they have started to reap the benefits of a massive replanting project. They are adding a little more cab franc getting the percentage closer to the original vineyard breakdown.
Great hosts. We had a wonderful visit.

• 2007 Château Canon 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  Another surprisingly good ’07. Vibrant ruby in color. Recently opened. 75%M, 25%CF. Wonderfully expressive nose that fills the glass with ripe red fruits—raspberry, cassis and stone, with hints of cedar. Soft palate, with rather fine tannins, showing a little darker fruit mixed with the bright red fruit noted on the nose. Not especially concentrated, but nuanced. Mocha and sandalwood come out on the palate that rather tame and square, but expected given the palate. Very good given the vintage. 91-92

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2010 Château Canon 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  M 75%, CF 25%, 60% new oak and 70% of total production. 25% of fermentation in barrel and 75% in steel. Pre-bottling. This was a wow wine. Concentrated but balanced and finessed. Nose of blackberries and cedar spice. Impressive concentrated palate, very tannic, but very fine polished quite quality tannins. Very long finish adding some stone. All the makings of a great bdx are there, with balance, concentration and purity of fruit. Massive structure, but has the fruit to match. Fresh. Was ’05 anything like this? 92-95

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Château Canon

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  M 70%, CF 30%, 70% new oak and 50% of total production. 30% of fermentation in barrel and 70% in steel. Very primary. Showing plenty of cassis and dark berry notes. Concentrated, though not as much as ’10. Chalky quality to the tannin. There’s a little bitterness on the backend and a little hollowness to the mid-palate, but probably worsened as it was compared to the ’10. Chalky stone on the finish. Good, will be interesting to see where it goes. 88-92

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Very hospitable hosts, as we were again in the middle of EP. Beautiful expansive property, and a favorite of mine and so I was very excited by the visit. This visit was a little underwhelming compared to some of the warmer hosts, as we got the basic tour and only 1 taste, but I would certainly go back given the quality of the wine. Notice the very rocky soil compared to Lanessan and Canon.

• 2003 Château Figeac 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  Disappointing compared to other vintages. Came across as rather mature and lacking a little freshness. From 375ml, 100% new oak. Shy nose, rather spicy with cedar and coffee. Palate showing some slightly roasted red fruits, plush mouthfeel, with prominent chunky non-elegant tannins. Moderate to long finish of espresso, cedar box, and earth. Plenty of red fruits, but lacks the exotic character I get from the Cab Franc and just shows a little too much '03 roasted/dried fruit character. I much prefer '01 and '06. Still, a good effort for '03.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2009 Cadet de Gombaude 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  (4/3/2012)

  Wonderful lush Pomerol. Showing plenty of plums and currants, with a little oak spice on the palate. Showing round fruit, but vibrant acidity and tannins that made this the perfect lunch wine. Short to medium finish. Shows the ripeness and approach-ability of the vintage, hard not to like.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

A property jointly owned by the late Jess Jackson and Pierre Seillan, along with Barbara Banke. We were enthusiastically hosted by Pierre Seillan himself, who was very excited about the progress made at Lassegue with improved quality over the past few years. After a few tastings, we moved on to the La Verite line from wines from Sonoma, which was quite a surprise and somewhat controversial to be showing during the Bordeaux EP. Excellent wines all around, though I had some trouble enjoying the styles of the bdx as they were massive, concentrated wines, but seemed to be well made with good balance. They were hard to put in place as I had no bottled wines to compare to. I felt like I had a context to place the sonoma wine, so those were easier to assess for me. The sweeter, slightly more ripe fruit of California was quite evident.

• 2011 Château Vignot St. Émilion Grand Cru

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  M 70%, CF 30% in sand, clay and gravel soil (no limestone). Massively concentrated with an expressive nose of dark fruit. Came across as extracted with very prominent tannins, but I was corrected as the extraction is quite gentle but the structure comes from concentration. Very fine quality tannins with a medium finish showing cedar. A very forward ripe concentrated style, which I had trouble placing and putting in context of place.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Les Cadrans de Lassegue

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  M 75% CF 20% CS 5%. Plummy, tannins with a little balsamic? Nice depth, very concentrated, and more accessible than the first wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Château Lassègue

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  M 62% CF 30% CS 8%. Nose was expressive, but more subtle, with a floral component over dark fruits. Massively concentrated and tannic, but loaded with layers of dark fruits that was quite pure and clean. Had some bitterness on the tannins as it moved into the finish. 85% new oak. Not very accessible and hard to read at this stage. Not a style I typically seek.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Vérité La Muse

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  (4/3/2012)

  Barrel sample. M 86%, CF 9%, Malbec 5%. Very dark, nose was closed. Concentrated palate that was difficult to penetrate, and while the tannins were prominent, very polished and fine quality. Touches of mint and eucalyptus coat the palate with deep dark fruit and a little mocha. This is Merlot? It’s a masculine in your face merlot. I can’t say this is a typical style for me, but the balance and structure are all there. We’ll see where this goes after completing barrel aging. My guess, 94+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Vérité La Joie

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  (4/3/2012)

  Barrel sample. CS 83%, Malbec 4%, M 11%- Less flamboyant than the La Muse, and quite linear. Nose again was rather shy. Fruit profile on the palate added a red fruit tinge with cassis. Massive tannins that will likely need 10+yrs to integrate, but again, very polished and high quality with a little chalky quality. Eucalyptus on a long finish, hint of vanilla and mocha mixed in, but mostly fruit at this stage. This will need some serious time, could be very impressive. My guess, 93+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Vérité Le Désir

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  (4/3/2012)

  Barrel sample. My favorite of the 3, with a predominance of CF, but I missed the final blend. Spicy dark fruit, polished vibrant tannins with biting acidity. Again very concentrated and polished, but the CF added this extra exotic fruit dimension—though the tannins were a little less polished than the other 2. More subtle and nuanced, slightly more feminine (though none of these are “feminine”) with a floral quality. Some espresso on the finish. My guess, 95+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Random notes from Max Bordeaux, an interesting wine store in Bordeaux. Very nice selection of high end bdx in enomatic dispensers. Pricey though. http://www.maxbordeaux.com/

• 2003 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  (4/3/2012)

  From an enomatic machine and in 2oz samples. Unknown when bottles were opened. No detailed notes. This was rocking! Big expressive nose of flint cedar and pipe tobacco on the nose. Big fruit on the palate, with sweet currants on the palate and a lengthy fruit and cedar finish. Big tannins but they seemed ripe unlike some ‘03’s. Flashy but balanced. Might open my bottle soon as this is drinking much better than I expected. 92-94

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2008 Château Cheval Blanc

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  From an enomatic machine and in 2oz samples. Unknown when bottles were opened. No detailed notes. My first taste of Cheval Blanc. Great exotic cab franc dominated nose . Very acidic palate, bright red fruits with polished fine tannins. Slightly austere, but fleshy enough as it coats the mouth though the finish was shorter than expected. Clearly, very young and difficult to assess. Needs 10+yrs.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2004 Château Léoville Las Cases

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  (4/3/2012)

  From an enomatic machine and in 2oz samples. Unknown when bottles were opened. No detailed notes. The most closed of all the wines tried, but had a nice core of cherry and cassis, very fine polished tannins and medium concentration. Rather closed though. Needs another 10yrs.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 Château Figeac 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  From an enomatic machine and in 2oz samples. Unknown when bottles were opened. No detailed notes. Ah, much fresher and more of what I expected compared to the ’03 at the winery. Exotic herbal nose with sandalwood and spice. Palate was quite tannic with a chunky mouthfeel and showing lots of oak. Fresher fruit compared to ’03 91-93

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 Château de Fonbel 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  (4/3/2012)

  From an enomatic machine and in 2oz samples. Unknown when bottles were opened. No detailed notes. Much less complexity compared to the others. Showing plum and cedar spice notes with a little barrel funk and mocha. Slightly bitter tannic finish. 89-91

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue