The Annual Lyon 10 Year Retrospective

Chateau Lyon
Tasted Saturday, November 2, 2019 by Grinner with 268 views

Introduction

We have to love the first weekend of November! Once again we delved into our cellars for 10 year old wines and found mostly Bordeaux. Some good Chateauneufs also! Ok fine. We'll do 2 flights of CdP's with a ringer in there. Then 3 flights of Bordeaux with some add'l ringers. Everything got a 4 hour plus double decant, then brown bagged for the shell game. My notes are short and get shorter...gotta grab another bottle and keep pouring!
There was a mix of glasses out there including Riedel, Schott Zwiesel, and Spiegelau. A couple of Riedel Syrah glasses made it fun to compare later.
My friends know you have to add a point or two to my Italian notes, but you might want to subtract a point or two from my BDX notes, I love them!

Flight 1 - The Sparklers (2 Notes)

with some smoked salmon and minted goat cheese

Flight 2 - CdP #1 (5 Notes)

Flight 3 - CdP #2 (5 Notes)

Flight 4 - Bordeaux #1 (6 Notes)

  • 2009 Château Prieuré-Lichine 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Sexy nose gave it away as Margaux in this blind tasting and I'm not at all surprised this was substantially better than my last bottle in 7/12. Deep, lovely blackberry, plum, currant, pencil, and florals. 93 on a day 2. Now-2030.

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  • 2009 Château Ormes de Pez Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Corked, replaced by the Bellegrave in this tasting. One out of 32 bottles, not too bad!

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  • 2009 Château Bellegrave (Pauillac) 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Better now blinded than 1/19:

    We'll try this again at our 10 year retro tasting in November. Now it's got hallmark notes of its origin and that's good enough for me. Some cigar box and graphite over cassis and black cherries. Not too tannic and reasonable acidity. Fun! Now-2024.

    Throw in some graphite and that would apply now. Fruit fell off on day 2 = 89. Now-2022.

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  • 2009 Château Rol Valentin 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Same score as 7/12 for me! This bottle was open for business and nicely structured. Black plum, mocha, earth and spice. 93 on day 2.

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  • 2009 Château Clerc Milon 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Same as my 5/16 score:
    The crème de cassis, sweet tobacco, and cedar just pop! Then it adds cocoa, spice, and a floral note. Best 2017-2029. (3992 views)

    A little more cherry and I didn't pick up a floral note blind this time, o/w accurate. 92 on day 2.

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  • 2009 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate 95 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga

    This wine keeps getting better and better for me. This time blind, it was easy to pick out at the end of the flight of BDX. Deep black fruit, stone, mint, spice / oak. My last in 5 years. Could be 10! 94 on day 2.

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Flight 5 - Bordeaux #2 (5 Notes)

  • 2009 Château Lucia 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Certainly better than my last bottle (light TCA). Bordeaux on the nose, plum, currant, cocoa, cigar box but not deep or long. I'll wait a year, 89 on day 2.

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  • 2009 Château La Fleur de Boüard 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lalande de Pomerol

    Better than 7/12 and possibly the best nose of the night. Floral, sweet tobacco, and earth notes with a nice mix of red and black fruit. Nose and mid-palate better than the finish. Now-2024.

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  • 2009 Clos St. Julien 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion

    The depth of black fruit and cigar box made me guess wrong ("Left Bank?" in my blind notes). Long tannic finish, just great Bordeaux for $36. 93 on day 2. 2020-2029.

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  • 2009 Château Lilian Ladouys 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Crazy QPR wine and so much better than in its youth! Still big, with cassis, plum, tar, vanilla, and spice. 93 on day 2. Now-2029.

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  • 2009 Figgins Estate Red Wine Flawed

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

    Jammy black fruit and.....VA weirdness.

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Flight 6 - Bordeaux #3 (5 Notes)

  • 2009 Château Lyonnat Lussac-St. Émilion Cuvée Emotion 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lussac-St. Émilion

    I have to serve a wine that has my name buried in it! Some classic BDX notes, currant, stone, and minerality stand out. Great QPR. 92 on day 2. Now-2022.

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  • 2009 Château d'Issan 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Same score as 2/17.
    Blind this time, I got the black fruit, stone and cigar, but it's all about texture and balance. This night I wrote, "Great weight / height / BMI". 94 on day 2, now-2029.

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  • 2009 Château Gloria 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    This is a deep dark wine with a very smooth palate presence. Crème de Cassis, red plum and cherry with spice, earth / stone, and graphite. 93 on day 2. Now-2029.

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  • 2009 Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley

    This bottle was outstanding (literally too, not fitting with the rest of the flight)! A purple and blue fruited bruiser with layers to explore. Mocha, stone, and tar show up even after the upper cut from the tannins. 93 on day 2, 2021-2029.

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  • 2009 Château Gruaud Larose 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    My WOTN and a notch better than a 5/17 bottle. This bottle had a wide open nose with currant, cigar box, stone/iron, and flowers. Long and balanced. 95+ blind and settled to "just" 95 on day 2.

    My 5/17 note:
    ...the pencil and cigar box, the cassis, the stone, the flowers, and...ok you get it... It's complex, deep, balanced, and long. It will be amazing at our 10 year Retro in 11/19 and for 10 years after that! (6137 views)
    Yep!

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Flight 7 - Dessert (1 Note)

  • 1989 J.W. Burmester Porto Colheita 94 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    At this point of the event I'm not writing much, suffice to say it's like our last bottle:
    It looks like a Madeira and has lots of overlap, just better! Roasted nuts, caramel, butterscotch, dried orange rind, and a hint of florals. Long and glorious! has 20 years. (888 views)

    This was MORE expensive on-site at the winery last year...come on, really?!

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Flight 8 - Bonus round cuz 28 isn't enough... (3 Notes)

Closing

Some of our best friends keep moving away, so it was great to see everyone! Same bat time, same bat channel next year!

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