Community Tasting Note

Sunday, July 10, 2022 - A lot of high scores here, so I of course had to open one of these to see what all the fuss was about. Upon the first pull of the cork, you might as well have just poured this down the drain and called it a night. This was giving nothing at all except an uber linear red berry note and fruit-stifling booze and acid. No mid-palate; no texture; no concentration; barely any flavor. Superficial and pretty ticked off (that wine, that is, not me - though I suppose that could apply to me as well).

After a few hours of air, the hints of what this wine might become in the future start to unfold. The flavors become blacker and darker. Unripe red and black raspberry, cassis, red and black currant, black licorice, spice, dried flowers?, and (unfortunately) that lingering vanilla alcohol flavor that all but kills it for me most of the time when it elbows its way into any wine's profile. Alas, there is promise here, but it'll take some time. Purity of fruit is on-point, as is freshness and persistence. Texture and polish improved some with air, but the reigns remained pretty tight and kept the bit slammed to the back of the jaw most of the time. Opening another one of these inside of 7+ years just seems foolish really. I am fairly confident it'll come around, but this bottle doesn't have me racing to Wine-Searcher to empty the wallet on more.

A 92-95+? point spread here; maybe more, maybe less depending on which path it decides to take. It'll have to dig deep to get into the upper end of my scale (but I'll rate it at the higher 95 mark here in CT just to give it the benefit of the doubt - and I'm hoping Day 2 gives me more confidence in its proper evolutionary path). Hopefully, like many of its peers, this Belair-Monange will make a complete transformation and call me a liar to my face at some point. And yes, I understand I opened this too early, etc, etc, etc, but there is often academic value in seeing where a wine can go at this early stage as well. For now, it is in a crossed-arms 'whatever' teenager locked in his room kind of mode.

I much prefer the 2015 and 2016 versions and where I suspect they are headed. Hopefully this 2018 gets his stuff together and becomes a better mentee to his older brothers.

DAY 2: 1/3 of the bottle remaining; repurposed into a smaller bottle and gassed for the second day. Let's see if it gives up any of the goods. If so, I'll let ya'll know...

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15 comments have been posted

Comment posted by LiteItOnFire:

7/10/2022 1:45:00 PM - Ooohhhh do tell do tell- was the leftover a winner or a waste of your time so you threw it into the fireplace only to remember you don’t have a fireplace and realize you are high on Meth and … ops that was just three times in college mom. Honest!
Comment posted by WineBurrowingWombat:

7/10/2022 2:52:00 PM - Thank you for saying that it can be an academic value for opening wines a bit early at times to see where its trajectory is headed towards. If I had $5 bucks for every time I've heard I've opened something too early, I'd still be broke, but I'd be able to grab something for ~$300 :P

Great notes as always and curious to see what happens!
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

7/10/2022 3:30:00 PM - CSIMM….This of course will be subjective but when I read reviews of more expensive wines (especially when not tasted blind) how that impacts the score us amateurs give? Rarely do you see $150-$200 bottles getting 90-91 points. Especially after the Professional tasters have given it high scores. I’ve been drinking St Emilion since 1982 and I’m not sure I could tell the difference between a 94-95-96 or 97 point Wine. They are all great. The other thing is I was never able to tell what young wines might be like once the approach maturity. It would be fun to have a mixed tasting of Premier Grand Cru Classe and Grand Cru Classe wines at say 12 years of age, tasted blind, to see if people would still rate their more expensive bottles significantly higher than their less expensive bottles.
Comment posted by csimm:

7/11/2022 8:39:00 AM - Looks like we are going to try this through Day 3 (tonight). Day 2 was certainly more resolved and better in the sense that the alcohol had blown off and the core fruit started to show an extra layer. I was going to throw it into my pretend fireplace on Day 1, but I'm glad I waited. I will have an Excel spreadsheet, Gantt charts, and scatter plot graphs drawn up after I revisit it tonight for the final verdict - "You are NOT the father...!"

WineGuyDelMar - Certainly your experience usurps anything I could come close to, so I do appreciate your insight here. I 100% agree that anything over 95 points really is just an indicator as to how much the reviewer liked the wine personally. As far as being a high quality wine, a 95+ is always a high mark in my book. I know nowadays if you don't get a pro score of 100 points, no one seems to care anymore (2nd place is the first loser kind of thing), so like anything, I take pro scores (or anyone's scores for that matter) as just another piece of information. Putting a numeric on an experience like wine consumption is actually kinda silly, but I do find value in it at least in that it gives me a sense of where the consumer landed on his or her assessment. It forces someone to commit. I am a fan of both the numeric and the written summary. One without the other is lacking to me.

I think with BDX, it also depends on how you like your wine. Many people I know who love BDX love older wines in general. I'm not one of those people. I appreciate old wine, but I generally don't love it on any emotional level. I get more excited about mid-range wines that have a youthful and fresh hit to them still. I like intensity. Again, that's just personal preference. This wine may "last" 25+ years, but I'll have little interest in it at that point. Lastly, though I do try to avoid allowing cost to influence a score, I think that price matters. I think it's more how one interprets a score. 93 points on a $600 bottle of wine is likely a misfire. 93 points on a $100 bottle of wine may not be too shabby. If those two wines perform equally, I'd still give both 93 (so, my numeric wouldn't be influenced), but I'd be personally disappointed in the $600 bottle.
Comment posted by LiteItOnFire:

7/11/2022 9:07:00 AM - MP in the house! Cool. I am not very good (stay interested) in multi day tastings as I find most wines lose freshness/fruit/complexity and/or become more astringent or combo there of… some exceptions of course but I also have FOMO and rather consume in current state vs hope for a better one and get disappointed. Good luck May the Schwartz be with you.
Comment posted by WineGuyDelMar:

7/11/2022 9:13:00 AM - CSIMM You hit the nail on the head saying the score is worthless without the written part. Style is HUGE for me. I abhor these new CA, blue fruit fruit bombs like Caymus, Lewelling, Outpost etc. You could give them all 100 points and sell them for $50 and I wouldn’t buy any of them. Give me a dry, black fruit Bordeaux and I’m all in. I also don’t care for 25 plus year old wines. I like Bordeaux in the 10-20 year window depending on vintage. I am loving the 09 & 10 Right Banks right now. None of these will make it 20 years. 😜
Comment posted by LiteItOnFire:

7/11/2022 9:19:00 AM - Don’t forget about Austin Hope! It’s marvelous, especially when you add one of those 4” scotch ice cubes!
Comment posted by csimm:

7/11/2022 9:27:00 AM - Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill. The 2009 is spectacular... :/
Comment posted by LiteItOnFire:

7/11/2022 10:08:00 AM - Wow I have will have to seek it out. Thanks for the referral.
Comment posted by csimm:

7/12/2022 3:07:00 PM - Day 3 - Best this wine has been. Deeper and darker. Beautiful purity with a density that is fresh as well as deep. The fruit is singing right now. The alcohol is balanced. Usually by now the tannins and/or booze can start to overcome the fruit as it fades and collapses over time with extended O2. Now it’s in that 94+ point realm. At least this is an indication it’s headed in the right direction. My confidence in this label, if it was ever wavering, is restored on this Day 3 showing. I even have a little bit for tonight (Day 4) to play with. Nice!
Comment posted by WineBurrowingWombat:

7/12/2022 3:16:00 PM - This is just from putting the cork back in? No gas or anything, right?
Comment posted by csimm:

7/12/2022 3:21:00 PM - I put it in a smaller glass bottle (approx 300ml) to limit the amount of O2 a little bit (as opposed to leaving it in a 2/3 empty 750). No gas.
Comment posted by WineBurrowingWombat:

7/12/2022 3:24:00 PM - Got it. Thanks for sharing the academic experience!
Comment posted by jmoon:

4/25/2023 4:23:00 PM - It’s so interesting reading of how this has hardened up since I had mine in 2021. I’ve found over and over that with warm years like this there is a brief lift the kimono moment about the 3 year mark ghat is exciting and plush and then the kimono transforms into a coat of armour more reminiscent of a renaissance soldier. That’s nature for you. I have 10 More bottles so I won’t bother opening again for 5 years, unless it’s a 2 day slow ox. Cheers
Comment posted by csimm:

4/25/2023 4:43:00 PM - jmoon. It is indeed always interesting the transitions these wines seem to make. As soon as I think I can call it, they take a hard left and I wonder what happened to that amazing wine I had years before. "It all depends," right? On what, I'm never too sure of. Best advice is to hold here though I think.