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UGC 2005 Bordeaux Tasting (and dinner)
The Drake
Tasted January 21, 2008 by winefool with 1,272 views
Introduction
The much anticipated 2005 tasting. Overall the wines showed very high quality but as expected mostly pretty tight. Tough in some ways to really capture the character and quality at this young age. Also didn't have a lot of time to evaluate each wine as this year was limited to 2 hour windows.
Post tasting dinner at Primehouse was good fun with Chef Gresh...
Flight 1 - The Whites (4 notes)
White
2005 Château Carbonnieux Blanc
86 points
Pale reticent nose of white fruit. Angular tight and acidic on the palate. Tough. Perhaps an off bottle?
White
2005 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
91 points
Rich nose of lemon mineral oil. Big spicy tight white fruit palate with a long citrus finish. 91-92 pts.
White
2005 Château Latour-Martillac Blanc
92 points
Nice rich round ripe nose. White and yellow fruit on the palate with lots of stuffing. 92+ pts.
White
2005 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc
93 points
MEdium nose of chalky mineral and yellow fruit. Big rich prickly yellow fruit on the palate. Long concentrated finish.
Flight 2 - The Reds (25 notes)
Red
2005 Château Pape Clément
93 points
Full plush purple red color. Lovely rich plush plum red fruit nose. Big bold relatively tight chocolate black fruit on the palate with a firm tannic backbone. Young, but great stuffing. 93-94+ pts.
Red
2005 Château Smith Haut Lafitte
92 points
Full deep red/purple color. Big red fruit perfume nose. Medium bodied tight black fruit and coffee notes. Very tight right now, could be better with time.
Red
2005 Château Angélus
94 points
Full depp red/purple color. Huge forward cassis liaquer nose of ripe black fruit. nice big rich black fruit and coffee with a long graphite finish. Structured, but reasonably approachable. 94+ pts.
Red
2005 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot
93 points
Round soft purple color. Lovely lithe red/black fruit with a nice perfume note. Nice structure red and black fruit but a bit more round and fruit-forward than many others. Nice.
Red
2005 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière
94 points
Clean black red color. big very ripe red/black fruit nose with cassis hints. Mmmn, nice round rich black fruit with just a hint of green complexity. Very nice. 94+ pts.
Red
2005 Clos Fourtet
92 points
Full soft opaque purple color. Medium nose of smoky cassis. Tight blcak fruit with coffee notes. Tight but good stuffing.
Red
2005 Château Larcis Ducasse
95 points
For me this was the wine of the tasting (surprisingly a wine a don't know well at all). Full deep red color. Towering aroma of perfumed black/red fruit and spice. Mmmmn, lovely rich chocolate black fruit with some spice and lots of pencil lead on the long structured finish. Great stuffing, but actuall enjoyable now too... 95-96 pts.
Red
2005 Château Larmande
90 points
Soft medium red color. Medium forward nose of coffee and ared fruit. Medium bodied red fruit wiht a touch of green. Decent, but lacking the stuffing of others.
Red
2005 Château Pavie Macquin
94 points
Full soft purple red color. Lovely ripe round red fruit nose. Nice light medium bodied red friut with good balanced strcuture underneath. Lithe in 05??!
Red
2005 Château Clinet
93 points
Full soft red color. Tight clean nose of bright red fruit with chocolate hints. Nice medium bodied but good structure with graphite and pencil notes. 93-94 pts.
Red
2005 Château Gazin Pomerol
92 points
Medium opaque purple color. Nice red fruit on the palate with some sage herbal notes. Nice ripe fruit with firm but balanced structure. 92-93 pts.
Red
2005 Château La Conseillante
93 points
Medium bright red color. Bright lifted floral red fruit nose. Nice brigth acidic medium red fruit on the palate. Easy but nice.
Red
2005 Château Cantemerle
90 points
Bright medium red color. Medium nose of spicy red fruit. Nice enough round red fruit , but a bit simple. I was hoping to find a sleeper here in 05, but no luck...
Red
2005 Château Brane-Cantenac
94 points
Full red purple color. Big bright red fruit and spice. Lovely rich ripe red fruit wiht some floral and spice notes. Lovely Margaux... 94+?
Red
2005 Château Cantenac Brown
92 points
Medium oqaque purple color. Forward black fruit nose with licorice hitns . Nice ripe black fruit on the palate.
Red
2005 Château Giscours
93 points
Full soft purple color. Big blakc fruit nose with just a hint of heat. Nice big sweet black/red fruit with plenty of tannins, but they don't show up until the finish. 93-94 pts.
Red
2005 Château Kirwan
91 points
Full deep soft red color. Odd nose of smoky black fruit with a hint of heat and the sense of acidity. Big round black fruit with firm tannin. Nice, but nothing really special.
Red
2005 Château Lascombes
93 points
Medium soft red color. Clean slightly sweet medium nose of red fruit. Nice sweet rich red fruit on the palate. Lighter but good friut and I though the oak was pretty well integrated. 93-94 pts.
Red
2005 Château Beychevelle
92 points
Medium red color. Nice round red/black fruit with some spice and a coffee hint. Big clean black fruit with a cassis note in the finish (and some sourness).
Red
2005 Château Branaire-Ducru
93 points
Full deep coffee red color. Big nose of spicy red/blak fruit. Nice slightly candied red fruit with good round structure. Nice. 93+ pts.
Red
2005 Château Gruaud Larose
91 points
Full deep red color. Medium spicy red friut nose with black spice, leather, and a green note. Good black fruit with coffee note and a green streak.
Red
2005 Château Lagrange (St. Julien)
93 points
Full soft red color. Medium bright black fruit nose with a hint of heat. Nice rich chocolate covered blackberry with stiff tannins. Long finish.
Red
2005 Château Léoville Barton
93 points
Bright ruby purple color. Medium nose of spicy black fruit. Big concentrated black fruit with some dusty black spice and briar. Very tight, but great potential. 93-94 pts.
Red
2005 Château Léoville Poyferré
93 points
Medium coffee red color. Slightly candied black fruit nose with some spice and perhaps just a hint of reduction. Big black friut palate with good stuffing and potential.
Red
2005 Château Haut-Bages Libéral
88 points
Full ruby purple color. Monolithic black fruit nose with some spice. Tight angular black fruit on the palate.
Flight 3 - The Sweeties (5 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
2005 Château Climens
95 points
Lovely nose. Rich ripe sweet fruit. Great balance acidity and complexity. Easy wine of the sweeties for me. 95-96 pts.
White - Sweet/Dessert
White - Sweet/Dessert
2005 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
94 points
Medium complex nose of sweet white yellow fruit. Lovey rich yellow fruit on the palate with a caramel note. 94-95 pts.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2005 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes
94 points
Nice medium botrytis nose with some toasty yellow fruit. Tight serious sweet yellow fruit with nice complexity. 94-95 pts.
Flight 4 - With Dinner (6 notes)
White - Sparkling
1989 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Reserve Speciale
94 points
Really lovely mature bubbly with great mineral and some toast, along with a nice caramel note. Drinking right in its prime now I think.
White
1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
92 points
From Mag. Nice enough, but I think this is in that tweener stage where some of the youthful ripe fruit has faded, but it hasn't yet reached a nice mature age that shows enough interesting secondary nuance.
Red
2005 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten
93 points
For its style, this was a really nice rich ripe fruit driven Cali pinot. Not quite in the Kistler special cuvee / Marcassin / Aubert leauge, but similar in style. May evolve nicely from here.
Red
1999 Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 5
93 points
Easily the best Kiwi pinot I've tried so far. On the nose, this is a dead ringer for a fine burg. On the palate, a bit more round ripeness comes through, but still a lovely beguilling wine. 93-94 pts.
Red
1999 Araujo Estate Syrah Eisele Vineyard
94 points
A really nice rich syrah that has good complexity, but not over the top ripeness of so many cali syrah. Sleek and sophisticated, and great with food.