Wine Crawl 10: Bordeaux blends

San Francisco
Tasted Saturday, February 16, 2008 by 5laton with 785 views

Flight 1 - Bordeaux (3 Notes)

  • 2003 Château Les Bertrands Nectar des Bertrands

    France, Bordeaux, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux

    Nose of tobacco, campfire smoke, grilled bell pepper, dark berry liqueur. Flavors of savory cured tobacco, cassis, with subtle wood accents. Lightly structured; shows a little alcohol on the finish. Young and a little tight but really tasty and complex in an old school style. My 1/3, group's 3/3. Tasted blind.

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  • 2005 Château Beaulieu Comtes de Tastes

    France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur

    Lifted nose, although it attenuates quickly. Nose of sweet cassis, marshmallow. Cassis and black cherry flavors on the palate, with a lush mouthfeel and full midpalate. Clearly a younger and more structured wine than A [2003 Nectar des Bertrands]. Good length, finishes with flavors of cherry and black fruits, and dense, wooly tannins; shows a little alcohol. My 2/3, group's 2/3. Tasted blind.

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  • 2004 Château Malescot St. Exupéry

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Nose of cherries, dark berries, marshmallow, some toasty oak. Juicy cherry and cassis on the palate, with aftertaste of sweet oak and some charred wood. Well made, but the most lushly international in style in this flight. My 3/3, group's 1/3. Tasted blind.

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Flight 2 - Bordeaux-style blends from Italy (3 Notes)

  • 2003 Tommaso Bussola L'Errante Veronese IGT

    Italy, Veneto, Veronese IGT

    Very fruity, estery nose, almost like a fruity barrel sample, with a dill or pickle barrel note. Sweet palate impression, probably some RS present. Very concentrated with lots of lushly sweet, almost raisiny fruit, a crowd pleaser in this group but for me this lacking freshness and focus. Plenty of quite astringent tannin. Yecch, not a fan. My 3/3, group's 1/3. Tasted blind.

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  • 2001 Rocca di Montegrossi Geremia Toscana IGT

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    Nose dominated by intensely cedar-y, expensive smelling oak, menthol. Lots of juicy cherry and raspberry flavors in the mouth, but really structured with lots of dry, astringent wood tannins. I like the juicy fruit and the resiny oak here although i wish there was less of the latter. This has potential but isn't really friendly to drink currently. My 1/3, group's 3/3. Tasted blind.

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  • 2001 La Palazzola Umbria Rubino

    Italy, Umbria

    Nose of dark roasted coffee grounds, raisins, figs, and some green underripe stuff, with sharp alcohol. Very dense on the palate, tasting of burnt chocolate and concentrated tarry fruit; seems overripe and overextracted, yet also a little herbaceous. There is a curiously savory/umami note on the full midpalate as well. This is rather extreme, overextracted to the point of bitterness, totally not my bag. From the other notes I suspect this was damaged (bottle was severely ullaged). My 2/3, group's 2/3. Tasted blind.

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Flight 3 - Other wines, not tasted blind (6 Notes)

  • 2004 Clos Lapeyre Jurançon Sec

    France, Southwest France, Jurançon Sec

    Curious nose of orange zest with a complex, herb garden type of aroma. Almost medicinal, but very unique. Rich, creamy palate, with flavors of orange oil, lemon-lime, good acidity. Impressive length, with a slightly bitter component lingering on the palate. I suppose i liked it, and it's certainly quite unlike anything i've tasted. Tasted best on 3rd day after opening.

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  • 2003 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Riesling halbtrocken 84 Points

    Germany, Nahe

    Rich nose of orange marmalade, passionfruit, a little alcohol. Medium(-) acidity on the palate, with only slight sweetness. The acidity here is sort of an unintegrated prickle rather than a nicely focused cut. Aftertaste of clover honey, with very slight sweetness. Nothing to get excited about, but this is not bad at all for the vintage, and for the $6 i paid for it.

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  • 2002 COS Cerasuolo di Vittoria

    Italy, Sicily, Cerasuolo di Vittoria

    Brett bomb. Horsey saddle leather and light red cherry. Not bad, but you really have to be down with the horse.

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  • 1999 Cesari Ripasso della Valpolicella Superiore Mara

    Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Ripasso della Valpolicella Superiore

    Ruby, turning garnet at the rim. Nose of cedar, pine resin, black cherry. Initially some nice secondary aromas suggesting rose petal and tobacco, but unfortunately these went away with time. Flavors of sweet cherries, brown tobacco, rust, with a nice full midpalate. Plenty of ripe and sweet fruit here, but unlike many other ripasso wines this finishes pleasantly dry. Relatively youthful for its age; drink now - 2012.

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  • 2005 Château Bel-Air Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux La Chapelle

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

    Didn't taste this the night it was opened, but some leftovers the following day were surprisingly tasty. Fruit forward, but juicy and not overripe or syrupy, with good balance between fruit, structure and acid. Dry, with just enough tobacco and vegetal notes to keep things interesting. Easy to drink, although it grew more tannic toward the end of the night.

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  • 2004 Antinori Chianti Classico Pèppoli 82 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

    Slightly roasted nose of black cherry, vanilla, boysenberry pie. Definitely a bitter, toasted note in there. Slightly bitter, extracted cherry and dark fruits, prune, fairly generic and anonymous. Medium acidity. Finish is a smack in the face with bitter, astringent tannin, not unlike chewing on dark roasted coffee grounds. Not recommended; there is so much better from Chianti and Montalcino in this price range. Felsina, Pian del Ciampolo, Farnetella, Rocca di Montegrossi, Poggiarellino, Monsanto, etc.

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