Westchester Wine School: Pessac Leognan Tasting

White Plains, NY
Tasted Tuesday, May 12, 2015 by cephomer with 362 views

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

2012 Château Carbonnieux Blanc 89 Points

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Drank at WWS Pessac tasting. Some melon on the nose, as well as a pleasant freshness. Very deep gold in color. Citrus notes on the palate, as well as fairly vibrant acidity. Developing a round, pleasant mouthfeel as it sat in glass--some creaminess there. Plenty of fruit here, some honey, but also a definite stony or slate element here. Nice wine, though not as enjoyable to me as were the other whites tasted.

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2010 Château La Louvière "L" de la Louviere Blanc 91 Points

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Drank blind at WWS Pessac tasting vs. 1998 vintage. The younger wine had a gold color, and not much on the nose. Over time, it developed some honeysuckle on the nose. The 1998 was very much the same color, though perhaps slightly more yellow. Looked like a young wine. Loads of melon, honey, and a definite floral quality to the 2010, while the 1998 seemed less balanced, displaying less fruit and more acidity--the fruit had definitely faded on the older wine, though not to the point of killing the wine. The 1998 also retained a pleasant freshness to it, while the 2010 was rounder with a more pleasant mouthfeel. I enjoyed each wine, though I probably preferred the 2010 a bit more for its better balance. Both enjoyable wines though

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1998 Château La Louvière Blanc 90 Points

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Drank blind at WWS Pessac tasting vs. 2010 vintage. The younger wine had a gold color, and not much on the nose. Over time, it developed some honeysuckle on the nose. The 1998 was very much the same color, though perhaps slightly more yellow. Looked like a young wine. Loads of melon, honey, and a definite floral quality to the 2010, while the 1998 seemed less balanced, displaying less fruit and more acidity--the fruit had definitely faded on the older wine, though not to the point of killing the wine. The 1998 also retained a pleasant freshness to it, while the 2010 was rounder with a more pleasant mouthfeel. I enjoyed each wine, though I probably preferred the 2010 a bit more for its better balance. Both enjoyable wines though

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

2008 Château Haut-Bergey 88 Points

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Drank at WWS Pessac tasting. Ruby red at core. Not much showing on the nose or palate. Still showing young, and quite tannic. Black fruit dominant, but not particular complex or well-balanced at this time. Also a bit on the thin side for a fairly young wine.

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1998 Château La Tour Haut-Brion 92 Points

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Drank at WWS Pessac tasting--the 3rd time I've had this wine in the past year. Though somewhat consistent with my last notes on this wine, the wine tonite showed better than ever. Medium to darker red color, some slight browning at the edges, but still looking good and not at all tired in appearance. Fragrant, perfumed, flowery nose with a generous aroma of sweet fruit & tobacco. Medium bodied, decent fruit level remaining--plenty of red fruit from the large % of cab franc in this blend, which also gave it a wonderful spicy quality. Tart strawberries along with cassis. Tannins mostly resolved. I again detected some tar and chocolate notes, along with a wonderful earthiness. A far more complex wine on this occasion, as well as more memorable. Do not decant

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2000 Château Picque Caillou 89 Points

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Drank at WWS Pessac tasting. Slight bricking at edges in glass. Nose is mostly of tertiary aromas: some leather, some black fruit, some mushroom. Still some fruit on the palate, but dominated by tertiary elements similar to the nose. A bit thin, fruit faded in glass, but still an interesting pour if you like mature inexpensive bordeaux--which I do

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

2007 Château Smith Haut Lafitte 90 Points

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Drank blind at WWS Pessac tasting vs a 1998 SHL that I provided. It was obvious on sight, nose and palate which wine was which. The 2007 had bright fruit, good spiciness, a slight savory quality. The juicy, fairly sweet fruit was dominant here which made it apparent that this was the younger of the 2 wines. Somewhat tannic, though not disturbingly so. Nice flavor of cloves on the finish. Drinking nicely now, but could do with further bottle age which will hopefully make it a more balanced wine.

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1998 Château Smith Haut Lafitte 93 Points

France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

Drank blind at WWS Pessac tasting vs a 2007 SHL. It was readily apparent which wine was which, though that's not to say I didn't like the younger wine: I did very much; I just liked this one more. No bricking that I could tell, a wonderful deep ruby core showing this bottle was aging quite well. Lots of tobacco, tar and earth on the nose. Similarly, I found the same elements on the palate, along with still very evident levels of black fruit, though with a very nice subtlety. Clearly, this wine had nowhere near the same fruit level as did the 2007, nor was it as sweet or juicy. This wine was very nicely balanced finely showing its earthiness, mushrooms and leather, along with very nice spiciness. This wine has already, and continues to develop wonderfully, still with a decent drinking window ahead. The WOTN by far.

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