Bordeaux Night - 10 years and Older

Theme this time round was Bordeaux, 10 years and older. BYO as usual. The whites were exempted, but the rest were on theme and served blind. Voting was done at the end of each round. The favourite white for the group was the DDC, favourite red was the Poyferre, which just shaded the SHL, and the Rieussec was probably the favourite wine of the entire night. Strangely enough, we did not have a single Pauillac, St Estephe or Pomerol, and that St Julien and Graves ended up being over-represented.

• 2006 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Excellent. Opened for a couple of hours before I got to it, this had certainly developed quite a bit from a few years back when I tasted it in its youth. It had a lovely nose of flinty mineral and seashell and plenty of chalky scents underlaid with sweet stone fruit aromas, think nectarines and peach, and then a whiff of flowers and a nice shading of sweet oak. Rather more unobstrusive than the last time, the oak was now more of a seasoning than a main component of the wine. The creamily textured palate was at a nicer place too. Again, there were lots of chalky notes on the attack, and then a beautiful fresh balance to its midpalate which showed more nectarines along with sweet pears and green apples in a rather powerful but still very poised and nicely focused package. I especially liked the finish, which had a little bittersweet lift of lemon rind and a final little layer of oak lingering away into the distance. Very nice indeed.

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• 2007 Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion Blanc 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Good. Perhaps a bit overshadowed by the superb Domaine de Chevalier blanc on the night, but this was nevertheless a nice wine. Of the three Bordeaux blancs on show, this probably had the clearest Sauvignon Blanc character, drawing comparisons with the Loire and Marlborough with its high-tone nose of green grass, gooseberries and flowers. The palate, to my taste, was more clearly old world though. It certainly was fresh and bright, almost zippy, but there was a weight and added creamy depth to its ripe flavours of gooseberries, lemons and green apples along with a smooth, effortless sense of balance that spoke of quality beyond a standard lightweight SB from say NZ or Australia. It had a good finish too, long and creamily textured with nice bits of spice at the very end. Overall, a nice wine, even if there was nothing to really shout about.

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• 1993 Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux

  I actually enjoyed this bottle quite a bit more than the other posters on CT have. It had been opened a couple of hours before I got to it, and it seemed to have benefitted from that. It had a nice nose, completely devoid of any of the oxidative properties that certain older vintages of Pavilion Blanc tend to show. Here, I got classic Bordeaux blanc notes of seashelly mineral, limes and lemons, earth and chalk and a touch of flowers. Surprisingly nice. The palate was a bit of a step down. Very soft, the acid seems to have dropped, but it left in its wake a mellow palate with lots of seashelly mineral and a bit of spice sprinkled over a white fruit core. It perhaps lacked the concentration of a better vintage, but there was still a pretty clean, fresh feel to it in spite of its mellow softness, at least all the way until the wine passed the midpalate and into the finish, which seemed a bit short and a bit floppy with a distinct lack of structure. That aside, I thought this was a pretty nice drink.

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• 2000 Château Monbousquet 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Decently good, but not one I would rush out to buy. This is the third bottle I have had over the years, and the wine has not really improved noticeably - it just became different, in some aspects even regressing slightly. Strange for a Bordeaux from a great vintage. Served blind, there was no hiding that this was a modernly styled right-bank. It showed a rich, grapey nose with ripe plum aromas, spice and tobacco and a little touch of wet earth. To be fair, the nose at least seems to have developed somewhat, throwing off the overt sweet oak cloak that it was buried under in the past. The palate was still rather stubborn though. Rich, ripe and big, it showed deep flavours of plums and dried hawthorn berries seasoned with some peppery notes. Past the midpalate, there was a lingering ring of dark fruited sweetness and mouthful of warm wood spice at the finish, which still showed a little layer of bittersweet, mouthcoatingly dry tannins. While there was certainly good length and presence, I could not shake the sense that the wine was a bit too extracted, a bit too "worked", so that there was an slight awkward angularity on it that I have seldom come across on a 2000. Overall, a pretty good wine, and it will hopefully improve with time. However, this is not one bottle I would rush out to buy just to find out if it does.

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• 1967 Château Léoville Las Cases 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  While certainly a bit tired and past its prime, this was the one wine that moved us most emotionally, if not quite intellectually. It was clear from the nose that the wine had already faded ever so slightly, showing as it did in a gentle drift dried earth and dusty notes, preserved plum and dark cherry fruit, some faint cassis lingers and touches of wet leaves, stewed tea and wilted flowers. Charming, but certainly not at the height of its powers. By now, the palate had also completely resolved into a silky, melt-in-your mouth robe. Really very mellow, and also noticeably past its prime, it was fused into a rather indistinct, but very warm and friendly mouthful with lingers of red cherries, sour plums and tobacco. This was wed to a little layer of earth and cocoa as the wine roused itself into a surprisingly long and persistent finish. With its silken tannins and soft, caressing acidity, this was every bit the Burgundy drinker's Boreaux - something I never thought I would say about a Las Cases! It would have been better 5 or even 10 years ago, but this was still a lovely drink. If anything, it was like an aged grandfather in his rocking chair, past his prime, but still warm and friendly with a lingering depth and nobility. A real joy.

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• 1998 Château Smith Haut Lafitte 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Second time out with this wine, and I was every bit as impressed as with the last bottle - this was excellent. Given the high Merlot content and the quality of the wine, I thought it was a 1998 right-bank when blind. The nose certainly smelt like one. Like the Monbousquet that preceded it, this was slightly modern again, with warm, ripe aromas of berries and plums at the fore, but these were met by lovely wafts of damp earth, undergrowth and wet stones - almost like smelling the forest after a summer shower. A rich nose, but very lovely. The palate was at a very nice place too. Like the nose, it was quite rich, quite ripe, but it had a nice, nuanced cleanness and purity to its dark cherry and plum notes seasoned with a touch of cassis. The finish added a nice wafting lilt of spice to the whole melange. Really nice. This was a delicious wine for drinking now. However, given the great balance, the purity and depth of the fruit and the little layer of firm teeth-coating tannins that still persisted, I have no doubt that this still has its best days way ahead of it. It should be absolutely smashing in 5-6 years time. My red wine of the night.

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• 1999 Château Léoville Poyferré 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  A good wine, if a bit untypical. I picked it out as a 1999 left-bank, but guessed a Pauillac given its surprising power and rather thickset nature. It ceratinaly had a rich nose, perhaps more so than all the otehr reds on show, with a warm depth of dark cassis and black cherry aromas wed to notes of leather and earth, and bits of roasty, toasty, slightly prickly wood spice. A bit in your face, but it was complex and rather attractive nonetheless. The same could be said of the palate too. It had surprising power and depth for a 1999 St Julien, showing slightly bretty animale and leather notes on the attack, before a rush of dark fruit, led by authoritatively ripe cassis flavours, filled the mouth alongside pats of wet earth and a bit of spicy heat pulling into the midpalate. There was lots of warm depth here. Past that, there a hint of roasted capsicum emerged just before a long, powerful finish set in with earth and tobacco, exotic spice notes filling the back-palate. While somewhat mellow, there where still fine tannins giving the wine a sense of structure. Big, powerful, maybe lacking a little cut and focus due to slightly lower acidity, but this was certainly not rustic or clumsy. Indeed, there was even a sense of finesse behind all its size. I am not sure how much the wine will improve from here on, but it was a pretty good even as it is.

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• 1995 Château Talbot 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  I thought this was very decent. It got a bit lost in the midst of four other reds that were all rather better, but it was nevertheless a pretty nice drink. Of all the reds, this had perhaps the most classic nose, very left-bank, with ripe cassis and berries, some green notes of capsicum and vine stems, a bit of spice and a little linger of nutty oak. The least impressive, most backward nose of the night, but pleasant in its own way. The palate showed some cassis and black cherries with a touch of spice riding over a little layer of firmish, but fine tannins and clean acidity. I thought it lacked some cut and precision, and finish was a bit short as it exited with a linger of woody 1995 tannins, but apart from that it was actually quite nice without ever distinguishing itself. Not sure how much it will improve in the coming years, the wine seems quite at peak balance between fruit and structure at the moment. Of course, these Talbots are often surprisingly long-lived.

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• 1983 Château Rieussec 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  This was wonderful. Quite unanimously the wine of the night. It had a gorgeous nose which tumbled out of the glass with wafts of orange blossoms and red apples, marmalade, honey and caramel, and a hint of red tea chased by reams of mineral and spice. An exuberantly beautiful bouquet if there ever was one. The palate was completely en pointe. It had perhaps a bit less scale, less depth and breadth, than one of the truly great vintages, like 1989, 1990 or 2001, but there was certainly nice sense of full-bodied presence married to a lovely focus and balance that made this a joy to drink. Clean and fresh, it glided through the mouth in wonderfully delicious flavours of orange blossoms, marmalade, tangerines and lemons, all drizzled with dollops of golden syrup and honey. The finish was lovely too, gentlly unforlding in a long, lingering, beautiful show of typically Rieussec notes of spice, mineral and burnt sugar. A beautiful Sauternes.

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• 1975 Château Coutet Barsac 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  This was pretty nice. It was unfortunately placed alongside a brilliant 1983 Rieussec on the same flight which made for a hard fight, but otherwise, this would have been a pretty good wine in its own right. The nose was not all that expressive, showing subtle scents of honey amd caramel, earth and mineral and a bit of spice. I thought the palate was rather better. It showed the clean, fresh acidity that it very typical of Coutet running through bright flavours ranging from tangerines, to apricots and apples topped off with honeyed sweetness. The finish was not the most authoritative, but it did have nice length with fresh, lemony citrus lift and a streak of slightly metally mineral. Overall, a very nice if not overly impressive Barsac.

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