STG Does 2001 Bordeaux

Can we really have a tasting without LeVine? Yes. We missed him, but we had a wonderfull time. LeVine is off gallivanting with Parker and friends, so I am the chosen nose taker.

Susan was a terrific hostess. Her roast was terrific and the perfect match. Thank you

I had mixed feelings going into this tasting. I feared that we would encounter closed, tannic beasts. I was wrong. What we found were fairly accessible, lush, sweet wines. Unfortunately, many of the wines showed green tannins, but some wineries seemed to acheive the proper levels of ripeness at all levels.

See pictures of the event

Susan told us that each of these wines had something in common. None of us had any clue that they all came from appellations with Saint in title.

• 2001 Château La Confession 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  What an amazing wine to start a tasting with!. The nose was awesome with iodine, smoke, sweet minerality, campfire coals, and very ripe fruit. The palate was as good and surprisingly open. It showed sweet lush fruit, and plenty of spices. Though this wine had strong tannins, they mostly were lurking beneath the lovely fruit. 94+

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• 2001 Château Gruaud Larose 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  The nose was fairly restrained, but I was able to coax out some crushed blackberries, minerality, and roasted meat. The palate was thick and lush with smoke and ripe fruit. Unfortunately, this wine was marred with green tannins. I am not sure if this will subside with age. 88?

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• 2001 Château Cos d'Estournel 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  The nose shows charcoal, sweet blackberry milkshake, and coffee bean. The palate is fairly simple but does show plenty of fruit, smoke and excellent structure. As this sat in my glass it seemed to close down. This wine was far better when I decanted it 6 hours earlier. I was blown away by the bacon elements on the palate.

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• 2001 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse) 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  The nose was fairly faint but it did offer some dark fruit. The palate was more open with sweet, smoky fruit, great balance, and structure. This wine showed a strange soapy, medicinal element on the finish. It wasn't my glass, as Roy found it as well. This wine would have earned a far better score without that finish. 91??+?

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• 2000 Château d'Armailhac 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Susan pulled the right wine but wrong vintage from her cellar. I have a case of these resting, so it was good to check in on it. The color was very dark and far less red than the other wines in the flight. The nose was closed with only some minerality poking through. The palate was lush and very sweet, but it lacked much complexity. The tannins also seemed a bit clunky.

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• 2001 Château Lynch-Bages 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  This wine was far better and more open than I would have expected. The nose showed very ripe dark fruit with great minerality. The palate showed exquisite balance and length. While it is not as powerful or complex as the 00, it is ready to drink now.

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• 2001 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  The nose showed soy and some hints of green. The palate was sweet and lush (seems to be a hallmark of the vintage) with good balance. I especially liked the dry rub BBQ spice element on the palate. The slight greenness on the nose pops up again on the finish.

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• 2001 Château Palmer 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  The nose showed green tobacco and smoke. The palate bordered on being overly sweet. I also found smoke, spices, and a tannic kick at the end. Unlike some of the other wines at this tasting, this wine never enveloped my palate; it stayed entirely on the front of my mouth.

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• 2001 Château Pape Clément 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Last year my wife called me from Costco and said that she had 6 bottles of this in her cart. I told her that we had bought enough 01 Bordeaux, so she should put them back. Why? This was the wine of the tasting. The nose showed wonderful campfire and black fruit elements. The palate had strong minerals with roasted fruits. Like many of the other wines it was long and sweet. What separated it from the other wines were the silky tannins. Yum.

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• 2001 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

  USA, Washington

  This was obviously not Bordeaux. The nose had some touchs of VA and a bit of heat. I also found bacon and mocha. The palate also had some heat on the finish. I also got baking spices and sweet dark fruit. Each time I have had this wine since launch I have liked it less. I hope it is completely closed down. I would not open another one of these for a decade.

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• 2001 Chapelle d'Ausone 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  After 2 years of tastings Roy finally had to go buy a bottle for an event. He picked up a nice one. The nose showed charcoal and more minerality. The palate showcased explosive fruit at first but as quickly as it appeared it disappeared. This wine had the shortest finish of the night. Nevertheless all of the parts are there. Check back in 5-7 years.

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• 2000 Red Rooster Winery Canadian Vin Santo 75 Points

  Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley

  Yuck. The label read "Canadian Vin Santo." Why? The nose showed roasted fruit. The palate did have butterscotch, but it seemed very oxidized and extremely simple. I did get some Thompson seedless grape elements.

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• 1998 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Eiswein 85 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  The nose showed shower curtain and citrus, which immediately led me to guess Sauternes. Wrong. The palate had loads of acidity. While it had plenty of fruit, it lacked the purity that great Riesling exudes.

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• 1994 Niepoort Porto Broadbent Vintage 90 Points

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  We started and ended with this wine. Interestingly, this wine was far darker the second time we poured it. The nose showed raisons and baking spices. The palate was also spicy with intense cinammon. Overall I found it to be fairly simple and enjoyable.

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See everyone next month at our place for Rhone Rangers.