UGC 2016

The tasting format at UGC is hardly conducive to writing long detailed notes. The following are my brief impressions tasting through these wines. Read the notes in the context in which the wines were tasted.

The dry wines are an easy pass. They are mostly ordinary wines with not much interesting to say, and many of the wines suffer from the lack of a midpalate. Yet the relatively high scores for these middling wines is representative of the fact that they're good to go now, rather than some fanciful perceived future value of the score.

The Sauternes on the other hand... wow.

Apparently there was some hype about these wines. All I can say is, meh. It's a long string of relatively anonymous wines, with heaps of acid and nothing else. Except for those who decided to "treat" their wines with some good ol' toasty oak. Yum.

• 2013 Château Carbonnieux Blanc 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  This had a distinct grassy and gooseberry nose. Very tart acids, but quite elegant. The oak is quite gentle here, and this is definitely a refreshing bottle of blanc, if a bit veering towards cat pee.

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• 2013 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 83 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Quite potent pineapple tones on the nose. There's lots to like on the palate, except for an awful astringency that comes from the heavy-handed oak use. Here's hoping it ages and mellows out.

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• 2013 Château de Fieuzal Blanc 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Restrained nose, with some high toned aromas. Pineapple on the palate, with lovely acidity, but besides that bracing acidity, there's really not much else going on. A decent high acidity white that doesn't do too much else.

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• 2013 Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion Blanc 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Weird funky nose with some clear furry notes. The palate has the same high acidity but hollow feel that so many of these 2013 blancs do. I guess, hope it puts on weight in the cellar?

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• 2013 Château Latour-Martillac Blanc 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Quite a textbook Bordeaux blanc nose, though the palate is slightly astringent and the finish just a touch hot. Again, this is suffering from the high acid/no stuffing problem.

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• 2013 Château La Louvière Blanc 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Another reasonably foursquare Bordeaux blanc, which has a touch of fur thrown into the nose for a touch of interest. Just a bunch of acid on the palate, and not much else.

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• 2013 Château Malartic-Lagravière Blanc 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Perhaps there's a touch of botrytis on the nose on this? This definitely seems a touch more ripe. The palate here does have a bit of a richer texture, as if this were a "sur lie" wine. On the other hand, texture doesn't do much if the wine just tastes like an anonymous cup of white wine acid.

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• 2013 Château Olivier Blanc 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Another reasonably well-made Bordeaux blanc that features high on the acid scale but not boasting much to taste on the palate. The texture here is slightly rounder, but that's pretty much it.

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• 2013 Château Pape Clément Blanc 83 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  This is another in a long string of anonymous high acid Bordeaux blancs from 2013. The only thing that makes this worse than the rest is the loud oak treatment, which is unfortunate, since this actually seems to have a bit more stuffing than most.

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• 2013 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 83 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Again this is one of those estates which could easily rise above the boringness of the 2013 Bordeaux blancs, decides to, but then drags everything back down to and below that base level by adding way too much oak. I'm betting that the second wine (which was not poured) is much, much better.

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Mostly a bunch of ordinary reds, with some real dogs.

• 2013 Château de Chantegrive Graves 83 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves

  A bit oaky on the nose. Not too rich, but there's a touch of red fruit. A bit too much oak on the palate in comparison to the stuffing available.

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• 2013 Château Carbonnieux 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  This is showing a surprising amount of fruitiness. A bit heavy-handed with the oak, which definitely doesn't work too well when you consider that the raw materials aren't quite fleshy, and that the palate is a bit hollow.

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• 2013 Domaine de Chevalier 83 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Very clear toast and char on the nose. Not a good sign. The same toastiness on the palate makes this quite unenjoyable for me. Some red fruits and bright acids, but just not good.

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• 2013 Château de Fieuzal 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  This is actually quite nice with a restrained hint of plums on the nose as well as some aromas of other fruits. A light touch on the palate make this an enjoyable easy-drinking wine.

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• 2013 Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Oooooo... a wine that shows a fair bit of earth on the nose. There seems to be a lovely sense of terroir here, with smoky earth balancing out the fresh acids and light fruit.

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• 2013 Château Malartic-Lagravière 70 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Very, very toasty on the nose and unpleasantly astringent on the palate. You'll be picking out splinters between your gums for days.

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• 2013 Château Olivier 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  There's an alluring touch of barnyard on the nose of this one, and the palate shows a simple elegance thanks to a smattering of muted fruit flavours. Nice acidity here; this ought to be a great simple drinking wine.

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• 2013 Château Pape Clément 70 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  More barrel than grape, one wonders if the grapes were an inadvertent addition.

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• 2013 Château Smith Haut Lafitte 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Surprisingly, this has a reasonable oak treatment. Certainly a bit more polished than I typically like, but the fruit and acidity gave this a nice freshness that made this quite enjoyable.

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I feel that merlot did quite well, as it lent an extra bit of plushness to wines that were otherwise profoundly lacking any midpalate intensity. That said, in the context of the wide world of wine, I would not be keen to spend money and hold these wines in my cellar.

• 2013 Château Canon 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Plummy, red-fruited nose. The palate is very light and elegant, and this would have had all the makings of a fantastic bottle if there were just more stuffing on the midpalate. Lots of acid here... will it ever round out?

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• 2013 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  There's more than a fair dose of oak on the nose and palate, as well as some darker fruit. It's reasonably rich and dense, but the oak juts out just a bit uncomfortably at this stage.

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• 2013 Château La Couspaude 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  A somewhat foursquare and ordinary bottle, this had a very nice perfumed nose, but the palate was simply hollow and uninspiring. Reasonably high acids here.

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• 2013 Château La Dominique 80 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Way too much oak char on this wine. Dark fruited and funky, and despite the darker fruit, there wasn't any ripeness. Which means it didn't hold its oak very well.

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• 2013 Château Troplong Mondot 83 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Quite heavily extracted, with lots of dark fruit here. The oak sticks out way too prominently, even though this definitely had a bit more stuffing to handle it. The tannins came across here as surprisingly harsh, and this in the context of tasting so many high-tannin wines, really says something about the level of extract here.

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• 2013 Château Villemaurine 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  This is an extremely light, fleet-footed, and elegant bottle of St. Emilion, that is perfect as the traditional luncheon claret. No fuss, just a simple and honest bottle.

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• 2013 Château Beauregard 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  A very lovely perfumed nose, with an elegant and light palate, as well as moderate (but discernible) oak use. Approachable and pleasant to drink now.

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• 2013 Château Le Bon Pasteur 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  This had a very pronounced perfume, with some sweet fruit and florals that was just captivating. The palate here is rounded out nicely, with a relatively unobtrusive oak treatment. Perhaps picked slightly riper, as this does seem to show a bit more heft?

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• 2013 Château La Cabanne 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  This is a bottle with a good balance of everything. Red fruited character, light refreshing acids, and moderate tannins. Likely not one for the ages, but as an easy drinker now? Yes, please!

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• 2013 Château Clinet 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  One of the best Pomerols yet. Blacker fruit, with a little bit of harshness in the tannins. This isn't too dense or potent, but has a pleasant freshness to it. Just a gentle touch of judiciously used oak here. Quite a light wine, but good nonetheless.

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• 2013 Château Gazin Pomerol 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Probably my favourite right bank of the tasting. This is one of the few wines that actually seemed to have any density at all. A plush wine in a field of bony skeletons. There were some stone fruit flavours, along with a fair bit of acidity and tannins that weren't too bracing.

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• 2013 Château La Pointe 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Light and red-fruited, with a somewhat pronounced rustic character -- some barnyard and some very chewy tannins. A bit simple and hollow on the midpalate.

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The same problem of a lack of midpalate density manifests itself on the Left Bank as well. There were some decent wines, but by and large, this is a vintage to skip.

• 2013 Château Cantemerle 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  This is a little darker than I would have expected from Cantemerle, but that's not to say that this is a particularly different style. This is on the light and airy side of things, but with a focus on black fruit, and makes for an excellent easy drinker (and likely at a very agreeable price point too). This has just enough plumpness to keep it from becoming one of those hollow husks. Cantemerle always does so well on these tougher years...

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• 2013 Château Brane-Cantenac 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Very deep red fruit aromas; this is actually quite perfumed. Sweet fruit, with a palate that actually has some stuffing! A triumph in a difficult vintage.

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• 2013 Château Cantenac Brown 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  This doesn't have the cleanest of noses, with a touch of barnyard showing up here. There were some well-defined fruit notes on the palate that helped round things out.

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• 2013 Château Beychevelle 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Slight plum on the nose, and a good blend of red and black fruit here. Given the nose, I thought this surprisingly dark on the palate, but the midpalate is a little too weak to match that darker fruit.

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• 2013 Château Branaire-Ducru 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Cherries on the nose, with a well-defined pepperiness on both the nose and palate. A slightly austere palate somehow works well with the lighter density to provide a reasonably easy-drinking wine.

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• 2013 Château Gruaud Larose 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Dirt! This is one of the most rustic wines of the tasting, with earthy and barnyard notes, as well as very coarse tannins. Lovely acids here, but the wine does come across a touch light.

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• 2013 Château Lagrange (St. Julien) 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Quite dark and brooding, but the acid pokes through a little sharply here. Large scaled, but not enough flesh to keep it together.

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• 2013 Château Langoa Barton 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Relatively darker on the palate. Shows some oak on the nose, but the palate does have reasonable density -- perhaps this feels a little more integrated in that the acidity here is a little toned down.

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• 2013 Château Léoville Barton 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  An excellent showing for this wine in the context. Alongside a rather brooding character, there is a nice mix of red and black fruit. The palate's got what it needs here. Well-balanced and enjoyable.

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• 2013 Château Léoville Poyferré 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  The oak here really works quite well with the density of the wine. This sits on the darker end of the spectrum, and this is among the densest and richest of the reds on display today. An excellent effort.

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• 2013 Château Talbot 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  There's some sweet red fruit on the palate that is alluring now, but all in all, this is another in a long line of simplistic wines which show lovely bright acids and red fruit, but lack any density for the long haul. I also sort of expected just a tad more funk, but that's probably owing to my experiences with the Talbots from the 80s.

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• 2013 Château d'Armailhac 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  This is a particularly red-fruited wine, with a nose that promises an elegance that the palate does deliver. On the other hand, if only there were a bit more stuffing for it...

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• 2013 Château Clerc Milon 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  This is a bizarrely grapey wine, with an absurdly high amount of sweet fruit on the palate. Was this picked really ripe? This is a real oddball in a lineup of simplistic foursquare cabernets.

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• 2013 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  The nose on this is very nice, if a bit restrained at the moment. Again one of the wines with pleasant red fruit and tart acids, which doesn't quite have anything in the middle to round things out. Would be more elegant if the tannins didn't finish quite so astringently.

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• 2013 Château Lynch-Bages 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  A very nicely balanced Lynch Bages here, but only in the context of the vintage. This is definitely a weak wine by the high standards of this estate. Red fruited and light, with nothing sticking out at all. Sort of a "keep your head down" kind of wine, but it does its job well.

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• 2013 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  It's comforting to know that at least Pichon Baron can still churn out good wine, since the 2012 was a bit of a hot mess. The 2013, though, has a nice peppery nose, with good earth tones as well. But the palate is where this shines bright. Despite the lighter fruit and higher acids, this still manages to keep quite a bit of density.

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• 2013 Château Lafon-Rochet 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  The green pepper is strong with this one! A relatively austere bottle that has me thinking a little bit of Loire, but the lighter palate seems to work a bit more here since the other components don't pop out as much and this is more clearly cast in an austere mold.

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• 2013 Château Phélan Ségur 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  I love the cherry tones here, as well as the slight barnyard element. Simple and drinkable, with no pretension.

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The Sauternes were incredible. Deep, rich, and powerful, with lovely amounts of botrytis. I found these wines both impressive and approachable. Whether or not any of these get added to my cellar will certainly depend on the pricing, especially since so many of these wines are available with decades of cellar age, for the same price as a new release.

• 2013 Château Bastor-Lamontagne 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Very apple-y and fresh with an impressive litheness on the palate. Brimming with energy and tension, and a lovely almond-inflected finish.

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• 2013 Château Coutet Barsac 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  A fair bit of funk on the nose that I couldn't quite get past, but this shows its botrytis the most prominently of the sweet Bordeaux here today. Slightly pineapple-y on the palate, but very, very spicy. A touch of bitterness on the back end also detracts from this wine.

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• 2013 Château Doisy-Daëne 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  Lots of density on this, with an interesting hint of earthiness thrown in. There's some pineapple gummy candy notes (I'm thinking the Japanese Kasugai ones) on the palate. Good lift here, and very elegant.

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• 2013 Château de Fargues 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Pineapple-bomb, followed by a slight touch of earthy funk on the nose. Reduction, perhaps? Quite elegant and hefty, but I almost want to say that in the context of this wine, I wanted something a bit blowsier... my subconscious telling me that I want Yquem?

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• 2013 Château Guiraud 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Perhaps on the lighter end of things, this still had a nice glob of sweet fruit on it, but I felt this didn't quite have the same power that some of the other Sauternes had.

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• 2013 Château Clos Haut-Peyraguey 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Lychees and a hint of green on the nose. Good fruit and spice on the palate, but the moderate acidity and slightly hot finish definitely detract from the overall quality of the wine.

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• 2013 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Immensely floral and honeyed, with a very viscous texture. On the other hand, there's a certain freshness here that keeps this from becoming a plodding beast of a wine.

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• 2013 Château de Rayne-Vigneau 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  This shows a touch of pineapple and some kiwi green as well. The palate has a little bit of astringency that's distracting from an otherwise very powerful bottle of Sauternes.

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• 2013 Château Suduiraut 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Suduiraut has always been one of the fatter Sauternes to my palate, and this one is no exception. This is still showing a little bit of a bubble gum note on the nose, which I'll chalk up to being just put in bottle. Very rich on the palate, and the acidity is only moderate, but the immense stature and richness seem to be able to carry on without it. This stuff is already so delicious, why bother aging it?

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• 2013 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  This was probably my Sauternes of the tasting -- intensely elegant with lots of citrus peel character, tons of acidity to balance to super rich sweetness and massive amounts of candied tart fruits.

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