Community Tasting Note

• Brmaso wrote: 94 points

  January 20, 2013 - I think the below note was from a bad bottle, as this juice has power, finesse, concentration, and weight while maintaining a harmonious balance. Light on its feet, it exhibits a fair amount of succulant dark fruits for a stacked wine at such an early stage of development, including cassis and blackberry, a fantastic limestone minerality for a wine of lower acid, sous bois, pepper and asian spices.
  
  The Merlot is quintessential 2005 (as I find all of the high pedigree 2005 wines' Merlot has a earthtoned ripeness that is very hard to find in other wines) and at roughly 30% Merlot, it is seeming to allow the wine to open up considering its vast phenolic concentration. Well dilineated on the palate, it has a balance that will only allow this wine to get better as it gets closer and closer to maturity, which seems a good 7-15 years off (and should have a long plateau after that).
  
  The tannin count is high, but they are so velvety and fine grained; the level of tannin integration is much higher than one would expect, although it is a tannic powerhouse (although not anywhere close to that of Troplong or Pontet, which in this vintage will redefine your definition of tannin). The tannins are sweet and round.
  
  It just isn't as good as the 2003, which is my only complaint on this wine. While I personally prefer the style of 2005 to 2003 from a sensory view, there is just something profound about the 2003 that this wine does not possess to the same extent (perhaps considering the longevity of this wine, this will change with more time in the bottle under ideal conditions).
  
  Great juice, and if you like classically styled ripe vintaged BDX, this wine wont dissappoint! Finesse and masculinity combined, and its better than the high residual sugar fruit bombs that seem to come from everyone in California that are just too smooth...I would highly recommend this for the price, although I would probably recommend 2005 Pontet more if you can find it for the same price..
  
  At the end of the half of the bottle I drank, about 2-3 hours in, some subtle cedar, gaminess and smoke emerged (very subtle for the game and smoke). GORGEOUS!

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7 Comments

• Champagneinhand commented:

  1/20/13, 10:02 PM - This is so young, passing judgement on a classified Bordeaux at this young age seems a bit premature. The Leoville wines really show better near the 10 year mark. Sometimes much later, and I think '05, '09 and '10. The '09 might be more akin to the '03, but we really need to view them over a longer time span.

• Brmaso commented:

  1/21/13, 9:45 AM - Very true, especially about the 09- especially since they are so close to the 1982's stylistically. Catching them now is like a snapshot; unless you are an idiot-savant possessing complete sensory recall, comparing different vintages is guesswork at best because you are comparing wines of different ages. Different storage conditions (52-53-54-55-56 degrees and so on, if they are moved around a lot, dry or reefer container shipping across the distribution channels etc) also make comparisons quite difficult. Although I am not sure that a better way (more objective way) to give estimates of quality exist, as we do not know with any degree of certainty what the future holds for these wines.. We can only say whether or not they're rockin' now (speaking of rocking, go grab a bottle of 09 d'aurilhac, haut medic, or 09 lilian ladouys, st estephe if you can find it!!)
  
  That being said, I thoroughly enjoy big, bold BDX with great aging potential quite young. And if they're going to be sold to the public (most of which will be drinking them long before full maturity), we might as well give them some opinions to make an educated purpose, right?
  
  I have half of that bottle in an almost airtight half bottle at 42 degrees for tonight, as well as an 05 Corton Grand Cru halver.. If you've never done that before to try these wines a day or two later, I highly recommend it. They open up beautifully without any whiff of oxidation - I'll post the follow up on this thread.
  
  Cheers!

• Champagneinhand commented:

  1/21/13, 10:22 AM - You are spot on with your assessment. I grabbed 3 of the Lillian Ladouys, but will probably grab another 3 this week. I like both modern and classicly styled Bordeaux so its a win, win situation.

• Brmaso commented:

  1/21/13, 10:30 AM - I was lucky enough to find some stock in half bottle, bottle, en mag and double mag at Total W. And surprisingly a very nominal mark-up as I didn't stock up en-primeur! I just hope I can wait 15 years before I pop open the double mag!
  
  Tried an 2010s from good producers yet? 10 Fleur Cardinal and Gloria both ROCK. Much more velvety than I would imagine than from barrel..although if you don't have a couple of people to share the bottle with the huge amount of tannin will essentially sand-paper your tongue raw.

• Champagneinhand commented:

  1/21/13, 10:41 AM - I bought no '10 futures as the prices were steep and I think all, but the top tiered or RP100s will be available at or below futures pricing. Gloria, Poyferre and a good few from Margaux are on the target list, especially La Tour De Mins. That bourgeois superiore from Margaux had impressive wine from '05 and '09. I also will grab Domaine de Chevalier and Haut Bergey. Will have to see what unfold for all others. Barton won't drink at peek until 2030+ I don't know if I will still be kicking then.

• Brmaso commented:

  3/28/13, 5:56 PM - The 2010s are just too expensive for the most part, and the fly-bys are all excited about burgundy due to their recent auction success..this mixed with the fact that 2012 burgundy crops are extremely miniscule will probably mean that the market will lift burg prices and leave BDX 2010 in the dust for a while imo (as money flows out of bdx and into burgs). So since the 10s are so expensive, it was probably super wise to stay out of the futures game, unless you bought some le dome (but we are still getting negoc offers low enough to sell it to my customers under $125 in the states..).
  
  The wines you're looking at are all pretty sick from what I've tasted. Please also consider Fleur Cardinale. It is really funky, the only way I can describe it is exotic, but in equal parts super rustic and new-world-hedonistic. Its a super value wine for what you pay that provides both sheer pleasure and also introspection. I put it at 94 when I tasted it in Jan and Parker has it at 95..but its just more fun than any other 94 pointers I can remember tasting recently.
  
  Popped a 2005 Goulee 20 mins ago, and on first sip it was so closed down i thought it was corked.. just took another sip and I would say its the most extracted 09 Pommard on the planet... Gotta be a weird bottle, but Im intrigued as to the direction it takes next. Cheers!

• Champagneinhand commented:

  3/28/13, 11:07 PM - I will try to grab a bottle or two of the Fleur Cardinal. I did grab a 4 pack of Cantemerle and will see what the prices look like as the rest of the 2010 stock starts arriving. On the '05 Burgundy, some are drinking well right now, and like you found out, some are just shut down stupid. I've had many cases of both, so trying to limit consumption of '05 Red Burgs to village or premier cru, unless the producer is known for making a lighter style of wines. The white are much of the same, but not shut down like the reds. I will hold most of the Meusault and Chassagne/Montrachet for another couple of years. I too enjoy Pommard, but have only had the '05 at village level so far. I really enjoy your notes and thoughts on the locales and vintages we have discussed.

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