Community Tasting Note

• Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 91 points

  August 21, 2018 - A true old-style Bordeaux in a strict, even austere fashion, not just on account of its brawny tannic muscle but also unafraid to show a bitter edge to the fruit - this reminds me very much of how the 1996s tasted on release. This appears to make zero concessions to accessibility at this stage in its life, but it's not hiding anything, it's all there behind the tight structure, and when you're drinking it with food those drying tannins actually relax enough to turn the wine into something you could almost describe as smooth. The fruit is in a deep pitch, all blackberry and black cherry on the acute edge of ripeness, no sign of the oak at all. At its best with a block of cheddar. I don't know if this has all the ingredients to reach the level of the great Talbots from decades ago, but I also suspect that most people tasting it now will underrate it on account of a style that's almost jarringly atypical in the current year but used to be pretty standard.

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4 Comments

• khmark7 commented:

  8/21/18, 3:42 PM - We need more wines like this.

• racerchris commented:

  8/21/18, 5:17 PM - I've found all the recent vintages of Talbot from 2009 on to be delightfully subtle and understated, with poise and balance. It doesn't try to be a blockbuster, just great old school claret.

• Ed in Inverness commented:

  8/30/18, 6:36 PM - Talbot and other Cordier wines (Gruaud-Larose, Meyney, Lafaurie-Peyraguey) have been my go-to Bordeaux wines due to their value and quality since 1982. While never achieving the heights of other (much more pricey wines), they are very dependable.

• Keith Levenberg commented:

  8/31/18, 8:01 AM - In the past, however, both Talbot and Gruaud not only met but exceeded the quality level of their priciest peers. 1986 or 1990 are probably the last vintages where that's true. If you go even further back they are at a stellar quality level I don't think the wines today are reaching no matter how solid they are.

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