Chicago, IL
Tasted Wednesday, January 28, 2015 by acyso with 944 views
These are very short notes, and mostly reflect first impressions of tasting these wines. Due to the obvious palate fatigue that results from tasting so many young Bordeaux, I've left out most of the discussion of the tannic structure of the wines, and focussed more on the quality of fruit and oak treatment. It's very obvious how fruit bombs do well at tastings like these -- I've tried to be cognizant of that fact in my notes. I've also tried very hard to keep the scoring consistent with my rubric, though it's very likely that I would score these wines very differently in, say, a dinner setting.
Perhaps the gravest (pun fully intended) crimes against terroir are occurring in Pessac-Leognan these days. Seriously, dial down the oak.
A bunch of emaciated disappointments from the right bank. The Pomerols were all thin and lacking in muscle, which would have been fine if they weren't all trying to win Mr. Universe this year.
They may be classified under miscellaneous, but two of my winners (the Phelan Segur and Cantemerle) belong to this group.
Botrytis? What botrytis?
The red wines were, for the most part, very light and approachable young Bordeaux. They certainly do not have the midpalate depth for them to last as 30-year wines. That said, these are drinking very well now, and I could see use for the 2012 reds as bistro-style wines, so long as the prices are right.
The Sauternes were un-botrytised and definitely served on the cold side, which gave them a lot more zing that they would normally have. There is a strange prevalence of sulphur in these wines. However, these are also great to drink now, in the juiciness of their youth.
2012 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
White and tropical; floral with a lot of fruit flavours. Quite ripe but the oak definitely comes through a bit.
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2012 Domaine de Chevalier 80 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Oof. So much oak. Make it stop. If I wanted a vanilla milkshake, I'd go to an ice cream store.
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2012 Château Haut-Bailly 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Whiff of brett. Restrained and showing good mineral character. Red-fruited and pretty, so long as you get past the bit of funk on the nose.
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2012 Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion Blanc 85 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Relatively light-bodied and racier. However, there's still some clear oak influence. Lacking in gravitas.
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2012 Château Pape Clément Blanc 85 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Oaky, buttery, big and tropically ripe. Not particularly interesting, probably because of the oak. Waxy texture.
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2012 Château Pape Clément 70 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Would you like some wine with your oak?
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2012 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Much better acid, with gentler oak use here. Good steely cut, but also lacking depth.
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2012 Château Smith Haut Lafitte 83 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Quite austere. Stemmy and earthy but hot at the same time. Clearly discernible and distracting oak, though I suppose it could be worse.
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