Monthly Tuesday group #006: Bordeaux 2001 versus 2002

The theme was Bordeaux 2001 versus 2002. We did not know which wines were chosen and we tasted all wines fully blind. Great thanks to “the Judge” for this beautiful line-up!

• 2001 Domaine de Chevalier 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Beautiful and classical bouquet with dark forest fruits like cassis, cedar, vanilla, tobacco, and some green bell pepper. On the palate classical as well with cassis and other dark berry fruits, minerals like graphite, good acidity, beautiful and still firm tannin and good bitterness. Beautiful and juicy wine. Maturity stage now, but no problem to cellar it for another 2+ years or so.

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• 2002 Domaine de Chevalier 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  In the quite luxurious bouquet dark berry fruits, cedar, vanilla and tobacco. On the palate a firm wine with dark berries, some green bell pepper and other green impressions, a firm dose of red fruit acidity and tight tannin. A bit harsh and although the overall impression is quite luxurious it is not in great harmony. Nevertheless a beautiful wine and no real hurry. 89 - 90

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• 2001 Château Giscours Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Slightly corked

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• 2001 Château Giscours 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Beautiful and refined bouquet with dark forest fruits, some red berries as well, graphite, cedar, vanilla and beautifully mature. On the palate dark berries and graphite again, minerals and sweet spices, beautiful and firm acidity and mild, but also still slightly sticky tannin. Very well balanced wine. complex and refined and also still firm. Beautifully mature now and it can easily last for another 2+ years. 91 – 92

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• 2002 Château Giscours 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  The bouquet is not as refined as the 2001, but still beautiful with dark berries and vanilla. On the palate dark forest fruits as well, some graphite, a touch of sweetness and also some green bell pepper. Some chocolate and sweet licorice. Good acidity tannin and bitterness. Will probably never be really exquisite, but it can age for some more years and offers really nice drinking from now. 89 – 90

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• 2001 Château Haut-Bages Libéral 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  The bouquet showed dark forest fruits, chocolate, vanilla, coffee and some pepper. On the palate beautiful dark and red forest fruits, sweet licorice, sweet spices, some chocolate, coffee, leather and minerals. A touch of bell pepper as well. Mild acidity and tannin. Overall a beautifully mature and refined wine. No real hurry.

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• 2002 Château Haut-Bages Libéral

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Special and very mature bouquet with lovage, animals, leather, earth and a bit organic flavors. On the palate there is some licorice, black olives, some chocolate, a good stuffing, ok acidity and mild tannin, but for me personally the lovage dominates a bit too much. An off bottle, or simply a bit past its prime? Anyway, I do not score the wine.

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• 2001 Château Léoville Barton 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  The bouquet of this wine is extremely beautiful and classical; good dark fruits like cassis, cedar, beautifully toasted oak, graphite, vanilla, almonds and some pepper. On the palate dark forest fruits, cedar, vanilla, sweet spices, tobacco, coffee and chocolate. Beautifully fresh acidity and soft tannin with still a lovely bite. This is Bordeaux as it should be. Classical and yet elegant and refined and still firm. With some air time in a beautiful drinking stage now, but it can easily last until 2020. Exquisite and for me this evening without any doubt 94.

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• 2001 Château Léoville Poyferré 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Beautiful bouquet with dark forest fruits, sweet spices, chocolate, coffee and ink. On the palate dark berries, licorice, minerals, firm acidity and bitterness. The tannin is still slightly sticky. There certainly is refinement, complexity and length, but in this vintage Léoville Barton is so much better. Nevertheless a beautiful wine with still a few years of future. 91 - 92 for this evening.

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• 2002 Château Léoville Poyferré 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  The bouquet is not extremely expressive at first, but there are dark forest fruits, a firm amount of vanilla, sweet spices and some iodine. On the palate a firm wine with dark berries, graphite, chocolate, some licorice and green bell pepper. Beautiful acidity, round tannin, firm bitterness and a good length. Overall a beautiful wine which lacks a bit in refinement to be really great. (The great years of Poyferré still had to come…) Can easily last until the end of the decade.

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• 2002 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  The bouquet is at first not extremely expressive, but it shows creamy dark forest fruits, cedar, beautiful of and a touch of red berries. On the palate dark forest fruits, sweet spices, graphite, some not unpleasant bell pepper, a touch of sweetness nicely balanced by good acidity, pleasant tannin with a soft bite and some bitterness in the finish. Good length. Overall a really refined wine and an example of how an off vintage can taste really great. Beautiful wine between now and 2020.

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• 2001 Château Montrose 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  Exclusive and beautiful bouquet with a lot of refinement; dark forest fruits, sweet spices, cedar, minerals, some leather, smoke and luxurious oak as well as a pleasant bit of barnyard. On the palate powerful and ripe dark berries, salty and sweet licorice, graphite, chocolate, smoke, some pleasant bell pepper and well integrated vanilla from the oak. Beautiful acidity and tannin. Everything is perfectly integrated. Overall a complex, refined and luxurious wine which is in its maturity stage now and will stay on this level until 2020 at least. Great wine!

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• 2002 Château Montrose 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  Beautiful bouquet with concentrated dark forest fruits, sweet and salty licorice and beautiful oak. On the palate dark berry fruits, licorice, graphite, tobacco, chocolate and leather. Good acidity and tannin with still a good bite. Not as refined as the 2001, but still a very beautiful and exclusive, classical wine with still a future until the end of this decade. 92 – 93

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• 2001 Château Pontet-Canet 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  In the bouquet creamy dark forest fruits, licorice, leather, chocolate and luxurious oak. On the palate dark forest fruits, sweet licorice, a bit creamy, some coffee, beautiful acidity, creamy and soft, round tannin and soft bitterness. Good length. Beautiful wine for now and the next 3+ years.

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• 2002 Château Pontet-Canet 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Beautiful, expressive and luxurious bouquet with creamy dark forest fruits, some smoke, cedar and sweet licorice. On the palate dark berries like cassis, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, some (bell) pepper. Good acidity and soft tannin with still a good bite. Very good length. Overall a beautiful and creamy wine which is about halfway its maturity stage and might still improve a bit. Tasting the 2001 and 2002 blind beside each other I am not sure which one I prefer. The 2002 is definitely a great success for the vintage. I scored both wines 91.

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• 2000 Château Pontet-Canet 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  We tasted 2001, 2002 and 2000 Pontet Canet in this order; not knowing it was Pontet Canet or even the same wine. This 2000 seems to come from another planet because it is so different in style. In the bouquet the first thing to notice is a lot of toasted oak and smoke. Then good cassis, minerals like graphite, cedar and chocolate. On the palate a lot of toast as well, ripe dark berries, graphite and salty licorice, mocha and espresso. Good acidity and round, still very firm tannin. Great length. This is a concentrated and luxurious wine which needs several more years, so everything can integrate nicely. I have 2 bottles and I hope I manage to wait until at least 2023 before uncorking the first one. 93 - 95+ for this evening and really looking forward to a next try not before 2020.

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