Saturday Afternoon Bordeaux

• 2020 Château Canon

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Dark ruby. Cedar and light plum. Big wine. Ripe, rich black fruit with some herb, citrus, and smoke. Wood base, penetrating acidity, huge but very fine grained tannins. Seamless feel. Embryonic but clearly outstanding. Needs 15+ years.

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• 2020 Château Rauzan-Ségla

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Almost black. Light pencil shavings on the nose. Medium to full body. Much more herbal than the Canon (more Cab Franc/Merlot I would assume). Less obvious oak, leaner and stricter than the previous wine with good acidity, herbaceous finish with dry tannins. Completely unready and closed. Difficult to read.

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• 2019 Château Rauzan-Ségla

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Deep ruby. Forward, fragrant perfume of green herbs. Ripe cassis entry with excellent acidity an herbal complexity. This is far ahead of the 2020 in terms of openness and complexity. Powerful but very elegant. I liked this a lot.

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• 2019 Château Lynch-Bages

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Again, almost black, completely saturated. Reticent but some blackberry aromas. Medium to full bodied, strapping, and mouth coating. Great feel of fruit with an herbaceous edge. Beautifully ripe tannins, seemingly lower acidity than the first 3 wines, long finish. Classic, dusty finish, an infant. I found this more balanced and convincing than I did when I tasted it in the spring.

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• 2020 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Incredible saturation and depth of color. Backward. Medium weight but powerful. Fluid blackberry and cedar. Surprisingly elegant and airy through the midpalate. Tremendous penetration and focus. Furry, dry, uncompromising finish. It opens up just enough to show its fantastic potential that won't be realized for decades. Stunning, classic Pauillac.

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• 2010 Château Pontet-Canet

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Very deep ruby with slightly lighter outer 10%. Fascinating perfume of dark red fruit and herbs. Much less dense than any of the 2020 or 2019 wines, almost shockingly so. Gorgeous combination of fruit, minerality, and green herbs (? more Merlot/Cabernet Franc than the younger Pauillacs). Unresolved tannins leave a gritty, dry finish. Outstanding now and should be great in 20 years once it sheds its structure.

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• 1993 Château Mouton Rothschild

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  This was generously poured as a blind mystery wine, and we were only told that it was a pre-2000 First Growth. I was nowhere close to vintage or appellation with my guess. Translucent light ruby with lighter outer third. Floral secondary fragrance with more light herbs than fruit and a sharper fennel component. Medium to light weight, elegant and old style compared to the young pups in the line up. Savory, still gentle sweetness, good acidity and minerality. It definitely seems faded but impressively alive from a less renowned 30 year old vintage.

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As someone who currently drinks very little Bordeaux, the most interesting thing to me about this set of wines was how profoundly different the young wines are in texture, concentration, and ripeness compared to ones from even 10 years earlier.