De Fargues vertical + Nopa

Sense, Nopa
Tasted Saturday, June 4, 2016 by RajivAyyangar with 516 views

Introduction

A ridiculous evening. So many bottles of amazing Sauternes. Some real die-hard de Fargues fans as well. The chateau sent us glass barrel stoppers for reasons that escape me. Major props to Ashish and Gary and others for organizing!

Notes on Chateau de Fargues:

Vineyard is 80-20, Semillon, Sauvignon
Stylistically fargues seems middle-of-the-road. sweet yet generally modest in alcohol, not excessively ripe and powerful like Suduiraut. Not aggressively lean, less sweet (Coutet?). Saffron from botrytis varied, but was generally present. It really seems similar to the d’Yquem’s I’ve tried, stylistically. (d’yquem changed winemaking recently - less time in oak, but apparently Fargues stayed the same).

Flight 1 - Bubbles (1 Note)

Babs brought bubbles!

  • 1995 Louis Roederer Champagne Blanc de Blancs 87 Points

    France, Champagne

    Medium straw with hints of copper
    Slight burnt match reduction-flinty. Savory baguette, green apple. Browned lemon, lemon curd. Not much mineral impression. Slight savory umami. Slight mushroom.

    - medium body
    - moderate alcohol
    - high plus acid, strong tartaric and a bit of malic
    - no bitterness - very clean finish
    - explosive mousse.

    Very elegant, refined, but not super expressive (especially in contrast to the coquillette we had at the end of the night). Moderate length.

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Flight 2 - Pichon Lalande (4 Notes)

All had notable pyrazines, which develop into a bit of tobacco.

  • 1981 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Really nice! Green tobacco (pyrazines). Slight manure. Dog fur. Dried cassis. Also a tertiary umami sweet tobacco fruit. Medium tannins. Elevated acid.

    On the palate, slight well-integrated oak (baking spices).
    Medium plus tannins, super developed and rounded. Like satin. Long finish. Elevated alcohol.

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  • 1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Pyrazines, black fruit, slight manure. Blackcurrant. But the manure is a bit strong for me on the finish. Elevated acid elevated well-rounded tannins. Slightly mismanaged Brett - presenting too much like manure.

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  • 1999 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Strong pyrazines. Slight manure. Wet dog (Brett). Big palate. Elevated alcohol. Elevated acid. Elevated tannins. Chewy. Baking spices with Brett well integrated and damp earth.
    Missing a bit of blackcurrant.
    Corked? Slight cardboard.
    No score- might be slightly corked.

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  • 2000 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Similar to the 99. Distinct pyrazines (bell pepper and green tobacco), manure and dog fur (Brett). Blackcurrant. Powerful and muscular. I might guess Pauillac blind! Elevated acid and alcohol. High tannins. Bitter chocolate on the finish.
    There’s the classic bridginf of brett and new oak. Tart black cherry. Classic Pauillac. Powerful and primary.

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Flight 3 - Older de Fargues (3 Notes)

Starting to get really savory at this stage.

  • 1976 Château de Fargues 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Lovely peach florals. Cheese rind. Black tea. Slight cherry tomato (savory tertiary development).
    Quite sweet. High acid. Lovely and racy. Sour mushroom on the midpalate. Beautiful dried lemon finish. This has decades left!

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  • 1979 Château de Fargues Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Toasted almond and slate. Has a balsamic brightness. Slight herbaceousness. Slight wet cardboard (TCA).
    Savory. Still nice. High acid. A bit of malic too. Really lemony.
    Slightly corked.

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  • 1980 Château de Fargues 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Sweet tomato development (spaghetti-o’s?). Savory and bright, but a bit vegetal for me.

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Flight 4 - 89/90 De Fargues + a d'Yquem (3 Notes)

The following three showing distinct but modest development. Love these at this stage.

  • 1989 Château de Fargues 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Beautiful savory red bean. Bright saffron and toasted almond. High acid!

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  • 1990 Château de Fargues 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Savory red cherry candy (aromatically adjacent to almond, pistachio). Bright saffron-orange on the palate. Long medium plus acid.

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  • 1990 Château d'Yquem 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    A bit closed. Parmesan rind. Slight bruised tomato. Lighter than the de Fargues.
    On the palate, modest alcohol. Medium plus acid. Nice dried citrus almond (bitter almond). Grapefruit.

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Flight 5 - Late '90's (3 Notes)

  • 1995 Château de Fargues 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Cool slate and slight flint (noble reduction). Crisp sweet peas with mint (pyrazines with development)
    It’s starting to turn savory on the palate. Medium plus acid. Modestly elevated alcohol. Medium sweetness.

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  • 1996 Château de Fargues 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Riper than the ’95 - tart apricot, slight stewed tomato, canned tomato (metallic).
    Medium plus acid.
    Slight bitterness.

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  • 1997 Château de Fargues 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Ripe tangerine, slight balsamic tingle. Slight ethyl acetate (VA). Well integrated. Really nice! Higher acidity than the ’95 and ‘96. Toasted almond and high toned tangerine (dried). Some savory secondaries.

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Flight 6 - 2001 - two bottles. (2 Notes)

  • 2001 Château de Fargues 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    The lighter-colored half-bottle, tasted alongside the darker.
    Beautiful nose - Integrated saffron, ethyl acetate, almond, and some savory notes. I kept coming back to this and was increasingly captivated - still young, primary, but with fascinating complexity and symmetry of botrytis, almond, tea, stones, and citrus.

    High acid. Beautiful. Clean long finish. Alcohol is well contained. Just slightly elevated.
    Aromatic. Light on its feet. Stony.

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  • 2001 Château de Fargues 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    The darker-colored half-bottle, tasted alongside the lighter.
    Compared to the lighter half-bottle, this has an additional bergamot note. Lovely! Sour tea. Expansive darker aromatics. Dried orange citrus.

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Flight 7 - Warm vintages ('03, '05) (2 Notes)

Acidity was lacking for me.

  • 2003 Château de Fargues 86 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Medium amber - darker in color than 01 or 05.
    On the nose, tired bruised apple fig notes. Stewed tomato.
    Rich, viscous, and raisinated on the palate.
    Still, it has medium-plus acid - better than I’d expected knowing the heat of ’03.

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  • 2005 Château de Fargues 86 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Sour bruised apple notes. Parmesan rind.
    Heftier than 2001. Medium plus acid. Slight bitter almond. Sluggish and slightly syrupy.

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Flight 8 - 2011 - two decanting methods (Slow Ox is the way to go!) (2 Notes)

  • 2011 Château de Fargues 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    From a half-bottle that Ashish slow ox'ed 3 days ago. (drink a few ounces to increase the surface area, re-cork, leave at room temp).

    Very open nose of apricot, ethyl acetate, bristling with saffron. Savory baguette tones.
    The palate is classic
    - Medium plus acid (about average for Sauternes, though I want more)
    - Elevated alcohol
    - Very slight almond bitterness.
    Fresh peach. Primary fruit. Ripe peach. Ripe grapefruit. Very slight bitter almond.
    This is classic Sauternes.

    From what I remember of the 2011 d’Yquem, the ’11 fargues has slightly more acid but less extraction than the d’Yquem.

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  • 2011 Château de Fargues

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    From a 750 - just opened (no decant).
    Slightly closed in comparison to the 3-day slow-ox’ed 375. Mushroomy reduction. Curry. Less fruit.
    Slight grapefruit pith.
    Slow ox for a couple days is definitely the way to go for this wine, at this stage.

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Flight 9 - Nopa afterparty! (3 Notes)

And a blind.

  • NV Stéphane Coquillette Champagne Grand Cru Carte d'Or Brut 85 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Pale straw in the glass
    Explosive fresh sourdough baguette on the nose, with fresh green and yellow apples (crisp Fuji, freshly cut and slightly browned).
    Acid is a bit low for Champagne - on the high end of medium plus.
    Explosive mousse.
    More expressive nose than the ’95 Roederer but the acid is a bit lacking for me. Dosage is extremely well contained - only evident as a faint creamy pillow on the tip of the tongue - maybe close to zero dosage?

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  • 1982 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Clos de l'Echo 93 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon

    Medium minus garnet in the glass to a bricked rim.
    Developed and complex nose of dried flowers, green tobacco with savory dried bell peppers, bright tart raspberry, slight tart blackberry, and sweet tamari development.
    On the palate:
    - medium body
    - moderate alcohol (felt 13%, but bottle says 12.5%)
    - medium tannins, still grippy but very developed
    - elevated acid, crystalline and persistent.
    A long finish that sails along with acidity, dried fruit, and persistent savory pyrazinic dried flowers. Developed and wise. I love this style!

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  • 2011 Pago de los Capellanes Ribera del Duero Crianza 86 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    (blind)
    Medium plus concentration ruby-purple, vibrant.
    Nebbiolo structure slight black pepper. Dark tart blackberry. Earthy.
    Elevated acid. Grippy high tannins, chewy . 14.5%
    No new oak.
    Youthful.

    Carignane?
    Syrah?
    I’m very confused here.
    With the elevated alcohol and high tannins, and elevated acid, cabernet and nebbiolo are a possibility. but there’s no cassis or pyrazinic cabernet fruit character, no signs of new oak, and the color is completely wrong for nebbiolo (also doesn’t have the development of a barolo, barbaresco). Other tannic grapes: acid is too high for madiran, tannat, and other southern french tannic grapes. Could be new world syrah with intense extraction but the tannic structure is like nothing I’ve gotten on syrah before. there’s a hint of black pepper but the dark fruit isn’t really there in an intense enough way for a new world syrah.
    No final call - I don’t have a box to put this in.

    actually: 2011 pago de los capellanes, ribera del duero crianza (tempranillo)

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