1999 Bordeaux Tasting
Cafe Caprice, Austin TX
Tasted July 27, 2005 by steffenpelz with 887 views
Introduction
Given the recent notes on the 1999 Bordeaux on the boards, I figured we should give them a try. So 8 of us assembled for a taste of these wines. Wines were tasted non-blind and in the order described below. The order was established from lightest to fullest and/or from readiest to least ready. Of course, some of the wines should have been tasted in slightly different sequence, but one can't get everything right...
Flight 1 - Rive Droite (4 notes)
Red
1999 Château Beauregard
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Really nice wine. Medium-bodied with an open-knit nose. Cedar, plum, tobacco, licorice and espresso. Ready to drink, no need to hold any further.
Red
1999 Château La Fleur Morange
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Nice flamboyant nose of exotic asian spice. Palate disappoints a little. Medium-bodied wine that seems diluted and almost CDP-like. Strangely high acidity. I don't think this will ever come together to be an excellent wine. Still nice to drink, but not outstanding. Weakest wine of the night.
Red
1999 Château Monbousquet
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
This is the good stuff. Dark color. Nose doesn't give much, but the palate just bursts with tobacco, espresso, and plump fruit. Smoke, BBQ flavors, a certain meaty quality. Full-bodied with amazing extraction without being over-the-top...this would be clearly identifiable as Bordeaux anytime. Awesome stuff. My Co-WOTN.
Red
1999 Château Pavie Decesse
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Full to medium-bodied. Not as much extraction as the Monbousquet. Pretty nose. Smokey, dark berry flavord and a hint of oak. Only thing that kept this from a higher score was what I perceived as unusually high acidity that did not subside over the course of the evening. Still very nice stuff.
Flight 2 - Rive Gauche (4 notes)
Red
1999 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Effusive nose. Pencil lead, cigar box, cassis galore, sandalwood, soy. Good depth, nice finish, very polished and elegant wine. Kept getting better throughout the evening. Better than RP's evaluation IMO. Many tasters liked this very much. For me one of the better wines of the night, but not on par with the Leoville Poyferre or Monbousquet.
Red
1999 Château Cos d'Estournel
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Just a ted less enjoyable than the Pichon Lalande. Rustic wine that has an exotic and flamboyant nose. Dense, focuseds fruit and some nice depth. I think this may have been closed a I seemed to sense layers that never truly unfolded despite many hours of aeration. Revisit in 5 years.
Red
1999 Château Léoville Poyferré
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
This was the good stuff. My Co-WOTN. Dark garnet color. Good extraction, laser focused fruit, effusive nose, and that gameyness that I just love. I need to find myself more of this.
Red
1999 Château Sociando-Mallet
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
This showed really well. Some commented that this was like the big bad brother of the Pichon Lalande. Cassis, pencil lead, leather, tobacco/cigar box, dark cherry, licorice, and blue/black fruit, as well as a hint of dried herbs. Lovely wine and the surprise of the evening. Still a puppy and bruiser, but will be very good when fully mature.
Flight 3 - Infanticide (1 note)
Red
2002 Château Léoville Barton
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
This was an experiment and it was just way too young. No nose to speak of, and the palate is nailed shut. It would really be unfair to score this wine.
Closing
To sum up the evening, I would say that all wines were very good and fun to drink. I think the 1999 represent good values for the most part and many wines seem to have a promising future, despite not being 2000s. The other thing I take away from this evening is that even if the wines were not from a classic vintage, many of the better wines are still stunningly good and can give me every bit as much pleasure as wines from classic vintages.
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