Bordeaux Class at Red Slate Wine Co.

I attended another class at Red Slate, this time on Bordeaux and for the very reasonable price of $20. I was interested to see what David's picks were at this price point. While there was no blockbuster wines (which is hard to do at this price point in Bordeaux) most wines were very good and it was really great to get to taste through the various communes and vintages side-by-side.

• 2008 Château Graville-Lacoste Blanc 87 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves

  The nose was super funky, like my dirty laundry basket with a week's worth of dirty running clothes in it. Along with that there were nice lemon citrus notes, and hints of something meaty, chicken? It was a strange wine to smell, but wasn't off-putting despite it's strange disposition. The palate is very delicious, pineapples and lemon citrus again with steely undertones. Lots of good spicy acidity holds everything together. Medium length with the acids holding the whole way. This is a very enjoyable wine despite the strange nose.

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• 2006 Château Trois Moulins 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  Nice simple nose of blackberry, dark cherry, stems and pepper. The palate has nice fruit early on with a lighter structure throughout. Light to medium bodied. Black fruit, stems, dirt road, leather and pepper notes. Lighter acidity with medium strength tannin. I can't say it's in balance but it isn't so far out of balance that I find it bad. A nice weekday quaffer, easily drinkable.

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• 2000 Château Canuet 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Heavily cab influenced nose, blackberries, rotting leaves, gravel and tobacco. Nice intensity, smells absolutely delicious. Really nice on the palate as well, beautiful balance of intensity to structure with the fruit holding just above it. Black fruit, tobacco linger for a nice medium length finish with dusty tannins that come in late. Not overly complex but very delicious at this point in the game, could do with another 5 years of age to really get those secondary flavors in frame. Tasty stuff, if I see it around town I'll buy a bottle or two.

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• 2003 Les Tourelles de Longueville 87 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Powerful nose, black fruit, cedar, pipe tobacco, rotten leaves. Smells delicious. The palate starts off strong but dies off a little quickly leaving a firm structure that overtakes the fruit quickly past the mid-palate. Brighter black fruit, even tending toward cherries. Medium bodied. It's nice wine no doubt, but it's not in balance currently and I don't think it ever will be. Still, the components are nice and that is undeniable, the wine is just not equal to the sum of it's parts.

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• 2006 Château Gruaud Larose Larose de Gruaud 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Mmm, I like this nose. Start off with some savory notes, reminding me of tomato soup with pepper and truffle salt. I have to pull hard to find the black fruit hidden underneath along with figs and chocolate. The palate has a bright acidity and medium tannin with a bright intensity and fresher fruit character. Medium bodied. There are some minor flavor complexities on the transition from the mid-palate to finish, and that bright acidity carries the fruit along for a medium-length finish. Coming together nicely, I really like this wine a lot. 89+ and I'll likely buy a bottle or two to sit on for another 5+ years. Tasty stuff!

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• 2005 Château St. Georges St. Georges-St. Émilion 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Georges-St. Émilion

  The nose is rather rich smelling, chocolate, red grape, cherries, leaves. The palate is thick and dark, full of black cherry, blackberry, milk chocolate and clay. Long finish with the dusty tannins coming in late. I would hope for a bit more acidity but I wouldn't go so far as to say this is grossly out of balance, it's drinking really well now and will likely improve with more time in bottle. I really liked this. 88+

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• 2006 Château Les Tuileries Sauternes 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  A delicious nose of angel food cake, pineapple, dried tangerine. Smells very Sauternes. The palate has a bright acidity that sings throughout the entire palate. Nice fruit and botrytis flavors, medium body, medium length finish. The fruit is on the fresher side, due to the acidity this wine dances lightly on the tongue and then leaves with no cloying or off-putting sugars left over. This is a very nice Sauternes that is drinking pretty damn good right now.

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This was easily my favorite class I have attended at Red Slate. David did a great job of laying out what information he could, there is a lot to talk about with Bordeaux and he did a good job of hitting the key points he needed too. Hopefully he can pull off Left-bank and Right-bank classes separately, that would be awesome!