NobleRottersSydney - Bordeaux night

Bordeaux night. New Year, new venue, same old crowd, more-or-less! All the Bordeaux in this country seems to be either under $50 and pretty unremarkable, or over $500 and sometimes remarkable. Such a big hole in the mid-palate! Not sure I ever quite worked out the logic behind the pouring sequence, except it seem to try to keep wines geographically together, while otherwise ascending by weight (rather than age). All reds were decanted at ~6.30pm and drunk over the following 3 hours.

• 2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne

  France, Champagne

  {cork} [Gordon] Seductively developing nose of yeast and bakery aromas. Perfectly pitched. The palate is fairly developed, gentle with tiny delicate but persistent bubbles supporting a spectrum of flavours across mead, cheese biscuits and yellow fruits. Medium weight, with an even subtle palate and a medium/long finish. Very impressive without blowing your socks off. I thought this might be around peak development to be honest; the contrast with the more overtly aged following 2003 was instructive.

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• 2003 Dom Pérignon Champagne

  France, Champagne

  {cork} [Andrew] Appreciably darker in colour than the 08. Less autolysis on the nose and indeed palate; this was more about nuts with a fino-sherry hint than yeast. Squash flavours, yellowing flowers, even a bit of tinned corn. Not that it was oxidised in any way, but maybe just showing the extra years and the effect of a very hot vintage compared to the preceding 2008. Seemed fuller-bodied also, with more obvious and aggressive bubbles, but finished only medium length. Certainly at – or even beyond – peak drinking, assuming a typical bottle.

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• 2018 Château Grand Village Blanc

  France, Bordeaux

  {cork, 13.5%} [Aaron] A 75/25 blend of SB and semillon. Vivid nose of taut asparagus, celery, shallots, minerals and sand. Never seemed to suggest unripeness despite the green-tinged aromas. And the palate proved it so; much juicier, with gooseberry (some asparagus) no oak, and an increasing grassiness as it sat in the glass. Light/medium in weight only, the finish was quite even and short/medium in length. Straightforward, enjoyable wine ready to drink.

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• 2015 Château Lilian Ladouys

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  {cork, 13.5%} [DavidH] Usually a chateau making decent, drinkable Bdx at an affordable price, this was right in that spot. Nicely cedary nose, with subtle curranty aromas and subtle oak. Good. Smoky sort of palate, with some tobacco and earth more than the nose suggested. There is red fruit, not too concentrated, but it all hangs together convincingly enough. Medium weight, friendly low level dusty tannins, medium length and low-key finish. The perfect luncheon claret at the club, old boy.

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• 2016 Château Sénéjac

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  {cork, 13.5%} [Sian] In this country, probably among the best value Bdx you can get. Authentic blackcurrants and spice, with a bit of chocolate thrown in on the nose. Oak seems a condiment in a new-world kind of way. But the palate is true to the region too, with soft red fruit, elements of cigar box, even if the tannins are soft and chalky. Medium acid, medium weight, medium length finish. Tidy wine, quite ready now.

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• 2016 Château Belle Coline

  France, Bordeaux, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux

  {cork} [Glenn] Developing nose of white pepper and spice. Fairly dilute palate though, light/medium in weight. Not a lot of depth to any vague red fruit; it’s more about gentle medium dusty tannins, medium acidity, the barest hint of oak and then a thinly astringent finish. Is OK with food, but it isn’t a cocktail wine!

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• 2003 Château Cantenac Brown

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  {cork, 13%} [Paul] All about black-grape perfume, well developing. Super-ripe medium/full weighted palate of the usual maturing cassis flavours, still with medium chalky tannins, cedary oak and medium acidity. I didn’t write much on this, but it’s straight from Bordeaux central casting, and a joy to drink right at its peak now. And seems to have managed the hot vintage very well. Tick!

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• 2019 Château L'Etoile de Clotte

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  {cork, 14%} [Stephen] Softly plummy nose, with gentle oak. Medium weight, with medium powdery tannins. Fairly easy drinking palate generally – more ripe plummy flavours – although the tannins do come through a bit at the end. Almost all merlot, surely? A bit soft from the mid----palate back. Short/medium finish. Tidy drinking, but otherwise unremarkable. Bit wishy-washy for Grand Cru, surely?

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• 2018 Château Belair-Monange Annonce de Bélair-Monange

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  {cork, 15%} [Geoffrey] Sharp nose, bright red fruit, and mild oak. Lifted fruit on the palate, almost volatile. Medium weight, with low/medium dusty tannins, medium/high acidity and a medium length finish. Seemed fumey and hot; when I grabbed the bottle and found the 15% on the label it all made sense. Not the thick raisiny character we get from over-ripe grapes here in Oz, but more of a hot brandy character. I guess this is new wave St E. Not convincing for me.

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• 2009 Château Le Prieuré St. Émilion Grand Cru

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  {cork, 15%} [Greg] I accused the previous wine of being modern St Emilion, but this is a decade older and is much the same kind of wine! Essence of blackberry on the nose, with assertive underpinning oak. Big nose! Palate is of roasted, very ripe fruit, big and bold and a bit raisiny. Iodine too. Medium/full body, with low/medium chalky tannins. Medium/long finish, but this seems almost a form of port, so fumey and hot is it. I get why the style is popular, but it’s not quite me. That all said, I think this is about ready to drink, and the rest of the wine is falling behind the alcohol a bit.

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• 2005 Château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  {cork} [Greg]Beautifully aged St Emilion. Cedar nose, soft curreant, blackberries. Hint of malt & chocolate, just a twist. Poised palate, supported by medium/high acidity and medium chalky tannins. Wonderfully aged flavours, in line with the nose. Polished texture, even palate. Nicely ripe, but not too much. Medium length finish. Very good.

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• 2005 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  {cork, 14%} [DavidM] Mainstream Paulliac here, ripe black fruit, hint of brett, or maybe liquorice. Pretty nice. Round sort of palate, even across the tongue, Maturing soft powdery tannins, medium acidity. Dusty sort of flavours and texture. Very good. Seemed very young when we had it last in 2012; now it seems a fraction old, perhaps (ignoring bottle variation).

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• 2018 Château Mouton Rothschild

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  {cork, 14%} [Andrew] First time with a 1er this young. And it’s very young, although quite drinkable. Beautiful nose of currants, dark chocolate and polished oak. And an exotic spice twist somehow. Less obviously Bordeaux than the older wines, that’s for sure. Intensely packed palate, medium/full in weight, with fine medium chalky tannin, medium acid, with a long, black-edged, even finish. Even at this age, it’s a ‘wow’ wine. Current retail seems to hover around A$2000 so value-for-money isn’t much of a consideration in recommending this, sadly. But, well, ‘wow’ again!

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• 1983 Château d'Yquem

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  {cork} [Gordon] This is also a decade from our last tasting in 2013. Nose of vanilla bean, hint of caramel, old carpet. Aging but not too old. The palate – which is about medium weight – kaleidoscopes through honey, marzipan, apricot, vanilla, almonds and a butterscotch base. Goodness. It’s morphed into a sort of medium-dry palate; it doesn’t seem so much sweet as just decadent somehow. Permeated with a gently beguiling hint of decay, it finishes medium/long and is an absolute privilege to drink.

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• NV Seppeltsfield Tokay DP57

  Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen

  {500ml, screwcap, 17.5%} [DavidM] Distinct tawny. Treacly honey, toffee, caramel, with a sweet pastry base. The toffee really comes through among the flavours, and there’s powerful acidity present, which balances out the fully-sweet palate. It’s pretty full-throttle and not subtle; volume overwhelms nuance a bit, but it’s hard to resist. I do wonder how Seppelt’s ‘Rare’ bottling (coded DP59) differs from this?

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• 1999 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX

  Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles

  {cork, 17%} [Andrew] From a 750ml bottle. Colour and texture of old motor oil. Quite coats the glass. Aromas of black grapes, apricot, dark chocolate and tar. The syrupy palate adds dates, raisins, figs. Massive concentration of flavour on the medium-sweet, full-bodied palate. Lifted by a semi-volatile note, but all in balance and such intensity and length.

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Hugely impressive start to 2024. Too many candidates for WotN. Mouton and Yquem, obviously, yes. I also thought the Cantenac and the Grand Barrail very good, along with the 08 Dom and the PX. And no dud wines at all. Let’s keep up the standard, and I might even bring a bottle along myself at some stage.