Bordeaux + Napa pirates

Tøyen, Oslo
Tasted Monday, January 1, 2024 by Hugo Hilde with 83 views

Introduction

Cheval and Montrose showed why I love bordeaux, incredible, regal wines that will last a lifetime in the cellar.
Also so much fun to finally try Cos 09, though I must admit I was slightly let down, was expecting something totally extreme, which it, in my view, was not.
Served blind, I wanted to see if that Bordeaux magic could be found in high end Napa Cab. Tonight, the Spottswoode was like a Duoro red and the Continuum totally lacked balance.

Flight 1 (2 Notes)

  • 2005 Château Cheval Blanc 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Slow oxed 5 hours

    The nose featured increasingly bright red fruits, going towards juicy cherries, raspberry, a cool streak of premium vanilla, slight VA, sweet soil and green pepper. So classical, fantastic complexity without being a show off.

    Dark palate, at first a bit pointy, lacks perhaps some mid palate volume. Here I found blueberry, coffee, leather and a touch of VA as well with a very long finish.

    High class stuff
    96+

    Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2010 Château Pontet-Canet 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Slow oxed 7 hours

    An out there nose, so to speak, very extroverted. Generous with waves of blackcurrant, graphite, pencil shavings and hawthorn.

    Extremely satisfying mouthfeel, so round and pleasing. Blackberry, jammy strawberry, still a good amount of tannins to keep things slightly serious towards the long oak-infused finish.

    94/95

    Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 2 (2 Notes)

  • 1953 Château Montrose 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    The nose gave away its age, dominated by volatile acidity, though with time an appealing saffron note grew.

    Completely transparent in colour, fully resolved tannins, very high acidity which makes it a bit thin. With air, however, it puts on weight with hip, raspberry and a growing intensity through the long finish.
    After a few hours in the glass, this showed really well, what an experience!

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2005 Château Montrose 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Slow oxed 7 hours, followed 5 hours

    Noble, understated nose with dark berries, bacon fat, baked tomato and a bevy of peppery spices.

    Uniform palate, archetypical Medoc, cherry pits, so much minerality. Dark and serious, though never heavy, with a very long finish. So much class.

    Surpise, surpise, this needs more cellar time, Montrose is truly a long term proposition.

    95 for now, should be even better in fullness of time.

    Post a Comment / 7 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 3 (3 Notes)

  • 2009 Château Cos d'Estournel 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Slow oxed 3 hours, followed 5 hours

    I have been looking very much forward to trying this immensely controversial wine, seemed like a representation of the Parker era at its peak. Critics fault it for being Napa-esque, and the fans hail its concentration.

    Wow, what a nose! So much going on, great energy and no sur maturé in sight, this spoke clearly of Bordeaux. Actually one of those noses that is impossible to describe due to its complexity.

    The palate, for me at least, had some issues. There was a disturbing bitter note which kept me from enjoying that incredibly lush mouthfeel and waves of cherry and blackberry. Towards the finish, that bitter note grew with slightly coarse tannins.

    Not a crazy amount of oak, just slightly too much for me tonight.

    Not at all as controversial as I had anticipated, a glorious nose followed by a slightly too oaky palate, but still very recognizable as Bordeaux.

    97 points nose, palate somewhere around 90

    = 93/94

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2018 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 80 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

    Slow oxed 7 hours

    Served next to Cos d'estournel 09, was keen to see if the lines between Bordeaux and Napa would be blurred by the modern Cos and this, which by reports is one of the less modern styled producers of Napa Cab.

    This was, however, comically sweet. The nose was exactly like smelling cola candy.

    The palate was also extremely sweet, candied red berries and more cola.

    Perhaps if served on its own, this would be a nice drink, but in the company of classic Bordeaux, this completely imploded. I am not sure if the age was an issue, the tannins were integrated, and the wine itself bore no mark of deficiencies, the lone problem was the level of sweetness.

    No idea what score would be right, it's drinkable, just not something I want to drink.

    Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2016 Continuum Proprietary Red 83 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Slow oxed 3 hours, followed 5 hours

    My god, this is high alcohol, and it shows.. (15.5%)
    Dark and hot nose.

    Palate has so much coffee and chocolate, harsh tannins. With time, something resembling fruit grew in the background, but too little, too late for me. Not a fun drink tonight

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

×
×