2005 Petit Bordeaux Tasting
Bell's Wine Shop
Tasted Saturday, February 7, 2009 by Faryan with 1,170 views
Introduction
9 of us sat down at Bell’s private tasting room to taste 11 right bank and 9 left bank wines from the stellar 2005 vintage. The theme was value wines, inspired by tasting notes of 1982 Bordeaux Superior wines that drink marvelously for decades. I firmly believe the strength of the 05 vintage is not in the top end, but rather in the bottom and medium brackets of Bordeaux, where the weather played as a great leveler to the Chateau which lacks the capital and funding to counteract the difficulties of less than optimal vintages.
The wines were all picked up for less than $30 retail. Wines were opened 30 minutes prior to the first flight. They were poured, no decanting. Some wines exhibited marked shifts in terms of evolution from pour to final sip. Wines were broken into 4 flights.
Flight 1 (20 Notes)
Closing
My top 5 of the night were (in order):
Du Tertre
Faizeau
La Fleur Morange de Mathilde
Bois Martin
Bolaire
The point grabbers for the group (out of those who voted):
Du Tertre (WOTN) 31
La Fleur Morange de Mathilde 28
Faizeau 16
Larrivet Haut Brion 12
Croix Mouton 8
Puygueraud 7
Bolaire 6
Ferrand Lartigue 6
Bois Martin 5
Cote de Baleau 4
Clos L'Eglise 2
2005 Clos l'Église (Côtes de Castillon) 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
Opened with a funky, almost asparagus green nose that quickly blew off. As it developed in glass, a beautiful nose of cinnamon and cloves came to the front. An abundant amount of reticent plum and cherry on the nose, that needs extensive swirling to coax. The palate is well structured with integrated tannins, something I find more prevalent in right bank 05s than the left bank, where the tannins are more monolithic. This is thick and heavy, almost new worldly. It should begin to drink to its peak in 2011 and drink well for another 3-5 years. 88FW++
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2005 Château Gigault Cuvée Viva 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux
A more direct wine than the Clos L’Eglise (CdC). Heavier notes of cherry, but more convoluted and less integrated. It has a nice plush texture. The Finish is clean and balanced, but it lacks real upside in terms of developing a lot of complexity. A solid wine with so so upside. Drink 2010-2015. 89FW-89.5FW
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2005 Château Bois Martin 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Brighter fruit with a real nice, earth nose. It has a very interesting balance of pain grille and truffles. A well balanced Left Bank with real wonderful qualities. A QPR indeed. 90FW
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2005 Château Richelieu La Favorite de Richelieu 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Fronsac
Nose is a bit shut down. The palate is big. This wine, although new world in style, is structured rather largely. There is a considerable amount of oak, but I think that the fruit is integrating it acceptably. A creamy vanilla oak finish, that could evolve with time, but there is a fear of it coming out of harmony. This wine could develop for quite some time. Perhaps one of the biggest Right Bank wines of the tasting. 88FW+-?
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2005 Château Côte de Baleau 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Meaty, earthy, shut down nose. Restrained red fruit of cherry and figs. The palate is bright on the fruit with stewed plums (as Justin noted). A well structured wine. This could be nice in the future. 89FW++
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2005 Château Haut Mazerat 88 Points
France, Bordeaux
Bright cherry on the nose, well structured. This shows very nicely crafted. A bit astringent on the finish, with a weird quality. This smoothed out nicely with some air. This wine should drink nicely for a few years. 87-89FW
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2005 Château Puygueraud 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux
Stewed plums on the nose, has the prevalent nose of cloves that we saw on the Clos L’Eglise, with perhaps some orange rind. A real nice mouthfeel with a structured finish. This wine has upside. I like it. 90.5FW+
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2005 Château Croix Mouton (Jean-Philippe Janoueix) 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur
A real meaty nose. Like putting your nose into a slab of seasoned, cooked porterhouse that’s resting on a leather saddle. By far, the most eclectic wine we’ve tried so far. The mouth has structure, but the wine already has a developed bricked color. There were signs of seepage on the bottle, which may be indicative of some premature development. A very interesting wine indeed. The oddball! 89FW. Possibly flawed.
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2005 Château Marjosse 90 Points
France, Bordeaux
Nice light notes of clove and plum on the nose. Less heavy than other comparable wines we tasted. The fruit is bright, but not to the extent of a punch or candied aspect. A nice wine! 90FW
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2005 Château La Fleur Morange Mathilde 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion
A wonderful spiced nose exhibiting real polish and class. Cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg. Utterly smooth, with a real polished and structured wine. By far the wine with the greatest pedigree.
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2005 Château Ferrand Lartigue 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
A polished nose that is clean and very hedonistic. The mouthfeel is simply explosive. I describe it as slutty, because it shows everything it has to you immediately. If you like this style of wine, I recommend it. Very hedonistic. 89-90FW
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2005 Château D'Escurac 86 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc
Well crafted, but nothing exceptional for me to note.
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2005 Château Bolaire 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur
Chalky, minearlity on the nose. Real nice, puckering mouth feel with solid structure. Delicate on the palate. A real treat. 88FW+
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2005 Château Caronne Ste. Gemme 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
If I thought the Croix Mouton was eclectic, this wine is off the charts in terms of oddball! It was best described by Justin as wet socks on the nose. Bright fruit is there, but in a strange place. Daryl called it a wine that was like a downtown summer Baltimore night. Again, a very eclectic wine. 88FW+
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2005 Château du Tertre 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Beautiful earthy nose. I stashed some off so I could return to it after the last flight. The most poised wine of the tasting for me. Glycerinesque levels of smoothness on the palate with classic Margaux traits. What a wine.
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2005 Château d'Aurilac 85 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
A bit astringent, not very fruit driven. Austere with an obtuse oak profile. Not my cup of tea. In a weird place?
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2005 Château Tour St Bonnet 86 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc
Not very balanced, with decent fruit but nothing exciting.
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2005 Château Mylord 84 Points
France, Bordeaux
Odd nose with serious astringency. Not a good string of wines.
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2005 Château Faizeau Sélection Vieilles Vignes 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Montagne-St. Émilion
A beautiful nose of earthy truffles. A smooth, fruit driven profile that is very harmonious. Just a step below the du Tertre in my book. Back up the truck (but wait for me to secure my 2 cases!)
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2005 Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
A polished wine with good structure. It rewards the patient taster. Expressive nose! It is a little thin on the palate for me, but a very nice wine! A cs purchase.
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