Bordeaux Night

I had a chance to go down to the Grand store to taste through a bunch of bordeaux. I didn't get to the right bank table, but got to the ticket table and the two left bank tables

• 2003 Château Lagrange (St. Julien) 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  nose: real well balanced and red fruited nose of red currants, leather, red fruits, bits of berries, a whole lot of red cherries and a touch of red florals. Attractive, but also has a brighter quality to the fruit while still being a st julien
  
  taste: rich medium/full feel with good chewy tannins and well balanced tones of red fruits, red cherries, cedar, red currants, and some bits of blackberries
  
  overall: certainly shows off the vintage, but is far from over ripe. It has a ripe quality to it, but it works and with a few more years this should really come together and be a rather pretty lagrange

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• 2006 Château Saint-Pierre 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  nose: tight, but well balanced nose of cedar, dark red cherries, cranberries, sour berry tones, tobacco, and bits of spice box. Good depth and showing as well as possible for how young it is right now
  
  taste: extremely well balanced with a real sense of class, but also very young with hard tannins right now and tones of cedar, dark red cherries, craberries, and spice box tones
  
  overall: Showing off lots of promise, but it is fairly tight and tannic. There is a good amount of class and elegance to this, but its gonna need some time to really get it out

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• 2004 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  nose: very perfumed and pretty nose of red cherries, cranberries, red fruits, floral tones, cedar and a good bit of crushed berries. The nose is very heady right now and is very open
  
  taste: extremely silky and elegant medium/full tones with good firm tannins and polished tones of cranberries, red fruits, floral tones, cedar and crushed berry tones. Extremely well balanced and has a more feminine touch to it
  
  overall: this should have a wide open drinking window. Its very enjoyable right now, but has some real nice backend tannins and medium acidity that should allow this to age very well for a while. Not a powerful Ducru, but more one of femininity

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• 2006 Château Branaire-Ducru 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  nose: very tight and almost unforgiving nose. Some very good tones of cedar, tobacco, cranberries, dark red cherries, dark red fruits, and bits of florals balance well together, though it takes various coaxing over a good while
  
  taste: extremely heavy tannins with a full bodied feel and tones of cedar, cranberries, dark red cherries, crushed berries, and bits of floral tones. The tannins mute the tones a bit right now on the palate
  
  overall: needs a good amount of time to really show itself. Hard to say where it will go, but there does seem to be come good complexity, so if the tannins can pull back and have this add more depth, this could really be something

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• 2005 Château du Tertre 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  nose: very nice and well balanced nose of leather, black currants, cedar, red cherries and bits of fresh picked berries. Good depth and shows off the margaux quality to it very well right now at this young age
  
  taste: shows off the youth with big and ripping tannins. Very nice material underneath with a really good medium/full feel and tones of leather, black currants, cedar, and red cherries
  
  overall: This can turn into a real elegant wine with a good 15 years on its side. This will be accessible before then most likely, and there is really good underlying material on this for it to really improve over a good amount of time

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• 2005 Château Giscours 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  nose: very perfumed and heady nose of red florals, red fruits, red currants, leather, and some cedar and spice box tones. Lovely depth also gives this nose a fair amount of regalness to it
  
  taste: extremely young with big tannins. Through the tannins, there is a elegant medium feel and tones of tobacco, red currants, red florals, bits of red fruits and a touch of leather. Excellent depth too, but the tannins are very big right now
  
  overall: this will take years to sort out, but there is a whole lot to like right now. The underlying material is great as there is a wonderful perfumed quality to it and a whole lot of elegance

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• 2004 Château Latour Grand Vin 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  nose: while young and fairly tight, there is a real deep sense of balance on this along with great tones of crushed berries, dark red cherries, hints of floral tones, various perfumes, black currants, and cedar tones. Very polished and very deep
  
  taste: Good and robust tannins show off the youth of the wine, but they don't cover up the extremely polished and rounded tones of cedar, crushed berries, dark red cherries, bits of florals. Great full feel that just has a real sense of both power and refinement behind it
  
  overall: this should develop nicely and turn into a real beauty. This shows off its pedigree already at such a young age, but also shows that it needs a good amount of time as the tannins are a bit hard right now and the nose was fairly tight. This would be fun to have when it starts to hit 15 and on

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• 2003 Château Léoville Las Cases 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  nose: big, rich, and bold nose of black fruits, black currants, graphite, black cherries, melted licorice, and cedar tones. This is a really roided up Las Cases. There is some of what one would expect from las cases, but its hidden behind the bigger fruit right now
  
  taste: Full bodied, with ripe, rich, and bold tones of black currant jam, black fruits, melted licorice, black cherries, cedar and a touch of graphite. Has a more plush feel to it, but there is good tannin behind it too
  
  overall: not fully sure what to make of this. It has a bit of the LLC graphite and darker fruits, but there is a real ripe quality to it that needs to be toned back a bit with age to let it come together more and have it balance out

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• 2006 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  nose: robust and rich nose of incense, dark red fruits, black currants, dark cherries and some real nice floral tones. Very expressive with a bigger style to it then Lalande normally brings, but has great depth and a real presence about it
  
  taste: Full bodied with rich and dense tannins. Bigger tones of cedar, cranberries, incense, framboise, dark cherries, and black currants. A real bruiser on the palate that is extremely young and has a real largeness about it
  
  overall: a brutally young Lalande. On the bigger side that acts more like a Heavyweight Boxer. Will need a lot of down time to let the expressive side of it emerge, but it certainly is lurking in there

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• 2006 Château Haut-Bailly 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  nose: real rich and smokey backdrop with great tones of scorched earth, creme de cassis, black cherries and a good amount of black currants and dark red fruits. Good depth that can really bring you in even at this young stage
  
  taste: Silky mediium/full feel with rich tannins and polished tones of smoke, cedar, scorched earth, creme de cassis, black cherries and some dark red fruits. Great depth being shown off already at this young stage
  
  overall: This really could be something with more age to it. Comes off as possibly being accessible sooner, but it could decieve as the tannins are certainly there. It really shows off the Graves quality extremely well, and that makes it really enoyable

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• 1995 Château d'Yquem 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  nose: very well layered nose that just oozes class with succulent tones of nectarines, apricots, green apples, which fruits, honey and some bits of pears. Great depth that is really expressive and enchanting
  
  taste: like satin on the palate with great depth, polish, and layering along with well balanced tones of apricots, white fruits, honey, pears, and some bits of citrus tones. Refreshing medium+ acidity gives this a nice spine
  
  overall: This is really drinking great and should have a long life ahead of it. A wonderful wine that is just pure satin on the palate and has a really regal sense to it.

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• 2003 Château Angélus 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  nose: very pungent and rich nose of dark red fruits, crushed red and black fruits, leather, creme de cassis, and dark berry tones. Has a slightly amped up quality, but seems to hold the vintage real well on the nose
  
  taste: full bodied with big chewy tannins that really show off the youth of the wine and tones of dark red fruits, crushed black fruits, leather, creme de cassis, and bits of herbal tones to compliment it
  
  overall: This is very young right now and needs about 8-10 years to fully sort itself out. Seems to handle the vintage well, but its a rough sketch right now. This probably won't be a blow away angelus, but it can certainly improve and be a very interesting and unique wine

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• 2006 Dominus Estate 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  nose: real pungent and expressive nose of cedar, red currants, black currants, dark red cherries and some sour berries with a touch of cranberries. Great depth and showing off the skeleton of the wine right now
  
  taste: tasty medium/full feel with big tannins and deep tones of cedar, anise, red currants, dark red cherries, and cranberries. Has a real polish to the tones underneath the tannins
  
  overall: a real good young dominus. Very young, but the outline is there for something really good, but patience will be required. Has really good depth on both the nose and palate with a real sense of class to it

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• 2003 Château Calon-Ségur 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  nose: very red based on the nose with lots of red fruits, red currants, black currants, dark red cherries, sour cranberries, cedar and a touch of herbs and spice box. Very expressive with a more new world touch to it, but still showing its bordeaux qualities
  
  taste: rich and elegant full bodied feel with chewy tannins and well balanced tones of red fruits, red currants, dark red cherries, cedar, and spice box tones. There's a very attractive quality to this that should really be nice once the tannins shed a bit
  
  overall: A very pretty and elegant wine. This really shows off the vintage, but it isn't over done at all. This is pretty attractive already, but it needs to sort itself some more before it really blooms

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• 2004 Château Pontet-Canet 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  nose: real dark and mysterious nose that has a lot of power behind it with robust tones of dark red fruits, cedar, pencil lead, tobacco, and spice box tones. Giving off more then a little more then a year ago, but still fairly brooding at this time
  
  taste: big tannins and full bodied with big and brooding tones of dark red fruits, cedar, pencil lead, and tobacco tones. Quintessential pauillac with a real robust and powerful feel. Good depth, but the tannins make it a bit rough right now
  
  overall: A very young wine. This could be a real fun one in another ten years as it really needs to calm down. this is a heavyweight boxer and would really need a steak to go with it at this time

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• 2005 Château Lynch-Bages 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  nose: extremely tight and I had to fight to get tones of cedar, dark red cherries, dark red fruits, and pencil lead. Good depth and has a presence to it, but is extremely tight right now
  
  taste: big and chewy tannins with a classy medium/full feel and well balanced tones of cedar, dark red cherries, cranberries and some bits of pencil lead. Great length on the tones, but they are hiding under some considerable tannins
  
  overall: As would be expected, this is a baby. This is a marathon runner of a lynch and will need some considerable rest to fully express itself. Its a wolf in sheep's clothing right now and comes off as having the ability to be a top notch lynch

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• 2003 Château d'Armailhac 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  nose: pungent nose filled with dark red fruits, dark red cherries, cedar, red currants, and some bits of cigar wrappers. Good depth with a more red fruit base
  
  taste: Well balanced with good firm tannins and a medium/full feel of spice box, dark red fruits, dark red cherries, cedar, and some cigar wrapper tones. The tannins are firm, but not overbearing right now
  
  overall: This is relatively approachable with a good decant, but it seems like it could benefit from some more aging. Shows off the vintage with the red fruits and them having a pumped up feel to them. This has real good balance and should improve a bit more

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• 2006 Château Clerc Milon 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  nose: robust nose, but on the tight side right now. Some barnyard tones strike a bit right off the bat, but blow off and give into tones of cedar, leather, pencil lead, black currants and a good bit of dark red cherries
  
  taste: very young with big and chewy tannins along with tones of cedar, leather, incense, dark red cherries and black currants. Full bodied with a real brawny style to it right now
  
  overall: A good amount of promise on this. Will need some time to let the tannins calm down and sort itself out, but can really emerge into a great wine

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A lot of quality bordeaux was being poured. There wasn't really a bad one in the bunch of what I tasted and the latour and d'yquem showed very well. It was nice to get a small peek at some of the 03s. They seem to be on a weird track, but are certainly still very young and showing that. It was a great tasting and it was fun to have the dominus get thrown in there as a blind wine