2018 Classified Bordeaux Tasting -- 39 Wines

A strolling wine tasting event where detailed notes were next to impossible to record, so there's not going to be any detail. These are simply my subjective impressions of these very young wines, and since everything in the world revolves around me, the detail is sufficient. lol

RATING SYSTEM
------------------
(++) Excellent
(+) Good
(..) Satisfactory
(-) Not Showing Well Tonight
(NR) No Rating Given

(NR) Chateau Cissac
(NR) Chateau Cantemerle
(-) Blason d'Issan
(+) Chateau Marquis d'Alesme
(..) Chateau d'Issan
(..) Chateau Durfort Vivens
(+) Chateau Rauzan Segla

(NR) Chateau Gloria
(+) Chateau Lagrange
(..) Chateau Leoville Barton
(..) Chateau Beychevelle
(++) Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou
(-) Chateau Leoville Las Cases

• 2018 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Full-bodied mouthcoating flavor bursts out of the glass at the attack, fills the palate from top to bottom, doesn't ever let go, and finishes long and strong. It does so with a purity of sweet (but not too sweet) dark fruit, structured yet smooth tannins, and buoyant freshness that all seems very ebullient and alive. It's powerful and accessible which makes it a blast to drink young.
  
  Of 39 vintage 2018 Bordeaux wines sampled, this was clearly the wine of the night. Click on the link above to see the 39 wine tasting story.

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(NR) Chateau Haut Bages Liberal
(..) Pichon Comtesse Reserve
(NR) Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste
(..) Chateau Pichon Baron
(..) Ch Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
(..) Les Pagodes de Cos
(+) Chateau Cos d'Estournel

(NR) Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc
(NR) Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
(++) Domaine de Chevalier Rouge
(-) Chateau Pape Clement
(-) Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte
(++) Chateau Haut Brion

(NR) Chateau Joanin Becot
(NR) Chateau Marsau
(NR) Chateau La Vieille Cure
(..) Chateau Bonalgue
(NR) Clos du Clocher
(..) Vieux Chateau Certan

(NR) Chateau Ripeau
(NR) Chateau Grand Mayne
(NR) Chateau Villemaurine
(..) Chateau La Gaffeliere
(..) Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere
(+) Chateau Troplong Mondot
(..) Chateau Valandraud

The 2018 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge had an excellent showing. That was not a surprise to me as I've thought highly of it for years as a excellent wine, but others seem to have been surprised by its quality given its relatively modest price.

The Ducru Beaucaillou stood tall among its peers as the wine of the night for me, a snapshot in time as these wines follow their arc of development.

My bias is obvious here; left bank over right bank, and I preferred the powerful wines of Pessac-Leognan and Saint Julien above all. It was fun to try all these wines, some of which I own, without opening any in my collection. But that'll change in the near future when I open a 2018 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge as it's drinking terrifically right now.