Tour de Bordeaux; Next stop: Margaux @ David's

Casual tasting with Roel and David.
All wines served blind, except where noted.

• 2001 Château Notton 87 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Served non-blind as a 'calibration wine'. Reticent but charming bouquet of cigarillos, forest fruit, grilled bell pepper and clay. On the palate this wine is presenting ripe and seductive, showing tea leaf, chocolate and smoke. Medium bodied, very correct, though not very long nor complex. An affable glass of wine. 16/20

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

• 1988 Château Monbrison 86 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Nose made me close my eyes and start dreaming about libraries, grandma's cupboard, logs of wood in the fireplace, a forest in autumn... Nice! When taking a sip the entry is sweet, round and ripe but..... it's getting dry at the end. Hints of mushrooms, cooked ham, blood. The fruit is lost, slightly past its prime. 15,5/20

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

• 2004 Château Lascombes 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Bouquet is pretentiously perfumed and dominated by cola, black cherries, freshly ground coffee and hot chocolate milk or pudding. In the mouth the nuances are very pure and well delineated, but absolutely not in the area that I prefer (fruit??). Low acidity, lots of new oak, over-extracted. Could be from anywhere; Bordeaux 2003? Some new Spanish Star? A lofty Languedoc? Feels like a wine made by a designer/engineer, not by a vintner. Lacking tension, emotion and excitement. Obviously very well designed/composed, but definately not my cup of tea. Hence the indiscriminate score 16.5/20

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

• 2002 Château Giscours 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Whimsical nose revealing notes of chocolatemilk alternating with notes of red berry liqueur. Slightly sweet and jammy. On the palate there are bright impressions of toast, oak, caramel and vanilla, but these are not fully melted into the wine. Furthermore it's rather lean and young now, but the tannines are nice and soft and ripe. Too bad it shows somewhat disjointed at the moment. Nevertheless I got the feeling that this will straighten out with a few years of cellar time. For now 15/20

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

• 1994 Château Rauzan-Ségla 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Opened with some funky notes (cardboard, glue) that blew off quickly. Aeration revealed more classic notes of forestfruit, licorice, cinnamon, coffee and cherry-coke. On the palate I got some cherries and blackberries, sweet pipe-tobacco and barnyard-impressions. Fresh, elegant and with a long finish. Very satisfying. 17,5/20

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

• 1999 Château du Tertre 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Again some browning in the colour. In the bouquet I perceive the luxurious odors of a stud farm and saddle leather. Honorable, stylish and masculine. Complex hints of fresh compost, ground coffee and black cherries. Tannines are perfectly integrated, soft as silk and in complete harmony. Authentic and honest, a wonderful wine, drinking at its prime. 18/20

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

• 2003 Château Siran 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  This wine has two faces... It has some loveable features, but also a few nasty ones. It all depends whether you think a glass "half full" or "half empty". The pessimist part of our society would notice the penetrant, slightly chemical bouquet. Probably they would also name the metallic rusty touch, just like the dominating acidity which seems not very interwoven in the wine (acidification?). Luckily we were not from that part of society and most of the times we think of the glass as "half full". For instance we also picked up lovely notes of mossy wood, juice concentrate and old-fashioned Dutch licorice ('katjes-drop'). A wine which definately grows in the glass. It's round and fresh, the tannines have a nice bite and in the aftertaste currants, cherries and cranberries dominate. So, in the end I scored 16.5/20

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

• 1999 Château Ferrière 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Fresh cut, green kitchenherbs. New oak and a touch of volatility. Very floral (camphor), notes of walnut, blueberries and earth. This has a nice freshness to it, although it's has a small alcoholic sting in the back of the mouth. Pure, quite modern and charming. Needs a year or two in the cellar to settle. 17/20

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

Personal WOTN: du Tertre 1999
No other wines to look out for.