Canon vs. Duffau-Lagarrosse 2009-2020 tasted blind (Fribourg): Pirate bottle. Dark garnet. Wonderful nose, wow, deep dark fruit, eucalyptus. Lots of ripe dry extract on the palate. Modern, but within the right borders. Will this age though? Let's keep the fingers crossed.
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Vertical of Canon vs Beasejour Duffau Lagarrosse (Fribourg): Vertical of Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse vs Canon vs selected pirates 2005-2020. Main takeaways : i/ Canon trumps Beausejour overall, especially in more recent ones. ii/ Canon tends to be lighter-footed, more delicate while Beausejour is typically more extracted and ripe. iii/ St Emillion clearly struggles with the hotter vintages a few years on with 2005 the low-light, already exhibiting beef juice elements. iv/ best wines were Canon 2015 (95), 2019 and 2020 (94 each). Summary of wines and scores included in the tasting story.
Tasting note: Red and dark cherry fruit, black coffee, mineral notes and an element of spice as well as fresh herbs. Unfortunately also minor notes of nail polish here and there, especially with increasing temperature. Still promising overall, but the palate is rustic with coarse tannin and wild acidity, lacking integration. Plenty of substance, but will need time to come around.
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Valandrau vertical (1991-2020) (Fribourg): Selected tasting notes from a complete Valandraud vertical (1991-2020) hosted by a collector with an estate representative. Main observation was that both the work the estate did during the transition phase 2000-2012 is clearly bearing fruit in more recent vintages, further helped by warmer growing seasons that are favorable for this cool site in St Emillon. Additional comments included in the tasting story.
Tasting note: This was decanted prior to serving. A fresh, ripe and sweet fruit, fine mineral lead notes and sweet oak. Mouthcoating, rustic and wild palate, but with great substance behind it and I’m hence not too concerned. Appears more an untamed beast that will eventually come around. But could take 10+ years easily.
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Valandraud, St. Emilion: I was able to try two separate bottles side by side at the estate. The first was a fresh PnP and the other had been open in bottle for 16 hours.
16 hours open: Significantly prune-ridden, which was a little concerning in terms of potential aging. What to think there? It wasn't totally blasted, but it was surely more than skirting the prune juice and raisin side of the spectrum.
PnP: The fresh bottle was consumed with coconut and alcohol on the nose. The palate was wood and bitter blackberry seed. Minerality to be had here, but more on the powdery side of the house. Overall, it was angular and pretty mad at just having been bothered.
Score withheld on both. Perhaps somewhere in the middle of these two wines is a sweet spot, but I'm just going to leave my bottles alone for a while and cross my fingers. Try again in 2030?
Hard to rate this at this stage. Wait 5+ years. Drank over two days. Day 2 big improvement. A bit closed now, but potential is excellent. Bad QPR @$120 now, but will improve greatly. Mint/licorice nose. Very dark color but no purple fringes. Medium tannins and finish. Ultimate smoothness. Complexity better than depth at this stage. Wine will reward greatly for those who wait. Lack of purple color tells me it will plateau 2025-2030 and stay at that level for several years.
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Day 1: Everything is separated; the structure, the tannins, the acidity, the fruit, everything is on its own, like an every man for himself attitude, and quite strong tannins. But wow, when all this is in place, behold. We opened this late into the evening, and to paraphrase a CT friend, as happens towards the end of any good evening of wine and food, there's always someone who goes and grabs a great bottle out of the cellar when there's no time to decant.! And so, this was me tonight. After the sheer shock of the structure, we decided to fridge slow ox the remaining 1/2 bottle for a few days before trying again.
Day 3: after a slow ox of 1/2 bottle in fridge. Gentle but powerful nose with a silky earthy musky radish chocolate aspect to it. The nose is almost worth the price of admission alone. Heavier than Mouton even if it was aged equally. The structure has come together, with a wonderful array of pure fruit, earthiness, mushroom, oak, silky tannins and anything else your palate might throw in there for good measure. This is simply a stunning wine that will be on full force 5-10 years from now. Can't wait to live that long to try it again. We've had several 2019 Bordeaux and this seems to be a trend; tightly wound wines with insane purity of fruit and tightly knit structure that portends great things to come for those hardened enough to wait.! 98 on potential.
UGC 2019 Singapore (Singapore): Still with some oak on the nose, good structure and also good depth of fruit, fairly pronounced tannins at this point in time. Very good length. Best right bank that day. 93-94
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Power nose. Dark, creamy, ripe, toasty smoky and mineral. Full and a bit alcohol warmth. Good underlying minerals and freshness to back up its immense power.
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At a 2019 event, one of the tasters in the room pointed me to the Valandraud table. I think the price had her hypnotized.
This picks up where Napa starts. Clearly a Saint Emilioak style with a river of Napa valley running through it. Nor here nor there...Not a fan of this style. If I bought this, I would hold it for 15 years...HOLD
UGC Bordeaux (Union Station - Chicago IL): Walk around tasting. One of my favorites. Rich, forward and massive with so much concentration, but yet also easily balanced. One of the most densely packed of today's wines, with very impressive depth and length, 94-95 point potential.
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UGC NY; 6/28/2022-6/29/2022: I am confused by the high scores of this wine. This wine was over the top 15.5% alc with bigness and ripeness and needed to be served cooler than other wines to hide it. Great polished mouthfeel, but a big wine without hiding the 15%+. Personally for this style, I would would go for the 2019 Troplong Mondot which was rich and big (14.5%) but not this big.
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Tasted at the UGC event in NYC. I believe that the applation of St Emilion was at the top in 2019. Most consistanly great wines and on top of this applation was Valandraud. An incredible nose of flowers and fruit surrounded by smoke chocolate and some sweet top note. I would drink this every day of the week and twice on Saturday if I could. Can't imagine where this will be in 5-10 years. Wow
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Union de grand vin de Bordeaux 2019 This was THE surprise of the tasting. (brief review) (potential 100) Possible WOTT Very toasty, black fruits, bit reduced First sip blew me away, amazingly elegant and seductive red and purple fruits, dried herbs, silky tannins with a extremely long finish
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Scoring at the top of the range, this is a majestic vintage of Valandraud that is packed and stacked with waves of inky, purple colored, black cherries, plums, mint, espresso, cocoa, licorice, flowers and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, rich, intense, opulent, complex and with a fruit-filled, velvet-textured, non-stop finish, this is already a treat in your glass. Drink from 2026-2055.
UGCB 2019 tasting (Amsterdam): Red and dark berries, spiciness and vanilla in the bouquet and on the palate. Good acidity and sticky tannin. Full bodied wine. 94 – 96.
Amsterdam UGCB Tasting (Beurs van Berlage): Wonderfully sexy style, everything in the right place, perfect balance and harmony, hint of lemon verbena, perhaps not as concentrated as usual, very finely textured tannins, excellent amplitude on the finish.
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Deep dark red with purple accents in its hue, the wine provides a beautiful freshness to the ripe, sweet, juicy cherries, espresso and licorice. Not as powerful or as concentrated as some recent vintages, instead you discover more, energy, refinement, elegance and purity in the lingering fruits. 95-97 Pts
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3/26/2024 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
Canon vs. Duffau-Lagarrosse 2009-2020 tasted blind (Fribourg): Pirate bottle. Dark garnet. Wonderful nose, wow, deep dark fruit, eucalyptus. Lots of ripe dry extract on the palate. Modern, but within the right borders. Will this age though? Let's keep the fingers crossed.
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3/25/2024 - sirpat00 wrote: 92 Points
Vertical of Canon vs Beasejour Duffau Lagarrosse (Fribourg): Vertical of Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse vs Canon vs selected pirates 2005-2020. Main takeaways : i/ Canon trumps Beausejour overall, especially in more recent ones. ii/ Canon tends to be lighter-footed, more delicate while Beausejour is typically more extracted and ripe. iii/ St Emillion clearly struggles with the hotter vintages a few years on with 2005 the low-light, already exhibiting beef juice elements. iv/ best wines were Canon 2015 (95), 2019 and 2020 (94 each). Summary of wines and scores included in the tasting story.
Tasting note:
Red and dark cherry fruit, black coffee, mineral notes and an element of spice as well as fresh herbs. Unfortunately also minor notes of nail polish here and there, especially with increasing temperature. Still promising overall, but the palate is rustic with coarse tannin and wild acidity, lacking integration. Plenty of substance, but will need time to come around.
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12/4/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 94 Points
Valandrau vertical (1991-2020) (Fribourg): Selected tasting notes from a complete Valandraud vertical (1991-2020) hosted by a collector with an estate representative. Main observation was that both the work the estate did during the transition phase 2000-2012 is clearly bearing fruit in more recent vintages, further helped by warmer growing seasons that are favorable for this cool site in St Emillon. Additional comments included in the tasting story.
Tasting note:
This was decanted prior to serving. A fresh, ripe and sweet fruit, fine mineral lead notes and sweet oak. Mouthcoating, rustic and wild palate, but with great substance behind it and I’m hence not too concerned. Appears more an untamed beast that will eventually come around. But could take 10+ years easily.
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11/24/2023 - csimm wrote:
Valandraud, St. Emilion: I was able to try two separate bottles side by side at the estate. The first was a fresh PnP and the other had been open in bottle for 16 hours.
16 hours open: Significantly prune-ridden, which was a little concerning in terms of potential aging. What to think there? It wasn't totally blasted, but it was surely more than skirting the prune juice and raisin side of the spectrum.
PnP: The fresh bottle was consumed with coconut and alcohol on the nose. The palate was wood and bitter blackberry seed. Minerality to be had here, but more on the powdery side of the house. Overall, it was angular and pretty mad at just having been bothered.
Score withheld on both. Perhaps somewhere in the middle of these two wines is a sweet spot, but I'm just going to leave my bottles alone for a while and cross my fingers. Try again in 2030?
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10/11/2023 - wcf1946 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Hard to rate this at this stage. Wait 5+ years. Drank over two days. Day 2 big improvement. A bit closed now, but potential is excellent. Bad QPR @$120 now, but will improve greatly. Mint/licorice nose. Very dark color but no purple fringes. Medium tannins and finish. Ultimate smoothness. Complexity better than depth at this stage. Wine will reward greatly for those who wait. Lack of purple color tells me it will plateau 2025-2030 and stay at that level for several years.
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2/20/2023 - stschutz Likes this wine: 98 Points
Two separate notes here:
Day 1: Everything is separated; the structure, the tannins, the acidity, the fruit, everything is on its own, like an every man for himself attitude, and quite strong tannins. But wow, when all this is in place, behold. We opened this late into the evening, and to paraphrase a CT friend, as happens towards the end of any good evening of wine and food, there's always someone who goes and grabs a great bottle out of the cellar when there's no time to decant.! And so, this was me tonight. After the sheer shock of the structure, we decided to fridge slow ox the remaining 1/2 bottle for a few days before trying again.
Day 3: after a slow ox of 1/2 bottle in fridge. Gentle but powerful nose with a silky earthy musky radish chocolate aspect to it. The nose is almost worth the price of admission alone. Heavier than Mouton even if it was aged equally. The structure has come together, with a wonderful array of pure fruit, earthiness, mushroom, oak, silky tannins and anything else your palate might throw in there for good measure. This is simply a stunning wine that will be on full force 5-10 years from now. Can't wait to live that long to try it again. We've had several 2019 Bordeaux and this seems to be a trend; tightly wound wines with insane purity of fruit and tightly knit structure that portends great things to come for those hardened enough to wait.! 98 on potential.
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12/3/2022 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 94 Points
UGC 2019 Singapore (Singapore): Still with some oak on the nose, good structure and also good depth of fruit, fairly pronounced tannins at this point in time. Very good length. Best right bank that day. 93-94
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12/1/2022 - remyworldpeace Likes this wine:
Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux 2019 Vintage Tasting, Singapore: Tasted at UGC Bordeaux 2019 tasting in Singapore.
Big, extracted and oaky with lots of red fruit, cream and vanilla. It knows what it wants to be and does it well. Not the most complex wine.
Too young to score but anticipated range 91-94.
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12/1/2022 - wineappellation Likes this wine: 94 Points
Power nose. Dark, creamy, ripe, toasty smoky and mineral. Full and a bit alcohol warmth. Good underlying minerals and freshness to back up its immense power.
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7/1/2022 - Purple Tooth wrote: 92 Points
At a 2019 event, one of the tasters in the room pointed me to the Valandraud table. I think the price had her hypnotized.
This picks up where Napa starts. Clearly a Saint Emilioak style with a river of Napa valley running through it. Nor here nor there...Not a fan of this style. If I bought this, I would hold it for 15 years...HOLD
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6/30/2022 - Roger Patterson wrote: 92 Points
Ripe, paste, chocolate, bramble, perfumed. Full bodied, balanced acidity, medium drying tannins; okay now but better later. At LA UGC.
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6/28/2022 - Burgundy Al wrote: 95 Points
UGC Bordeaux (Union Station - Chicago IL): Walk around tasting. One of my favorites. Rich, forward and massive with so much concentration, but yet also easily balanced. One of the most densely packed of today's wines, with very impressive depth and length, 94-95 point potential.
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6/28/2022 - SARED wrote:
UGC NY; 6/28/2022-6/29/2022: I am confused by the high scores of this wine. This wine was over the top 15.5% alc with bigness and ripeness and needed to be served cooler than other wines to hide it. Great polished mouthfeel, but a big wine without hiding the 15%+. Personally for this style, I would would go for the 2019 Troplong Mondot which was rich and big (14.5%) but not this big.
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6/27/2022 - repoper wrote: 98 Points
Tasted at the UGC event in NYC. I believe that the applation of St Emilion was at the top in 2019. Most consistanly great wines and on top of this applation was Valandraud. An incredible nose of flowers and fruit surrounded by smoke chocolate and some sweet top note. I would drink this every day of the week and twice on Saturday if I could. Can't imagine where this will be in 5-10 years. Wow
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4/11/2022 - WorldWinex Likes this wine: 98 Points
Union de grand vin de Bordeaux 2019
This was THE surprise of the tasting. (brief review)
(potential 100) Possible WOTT Very toasty, black fruits, bit reduced First sip blew me away, amazingly elegant and seductive red and purple fruits, dried herbs, silky tannins with a extremely long finish
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3/29/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Scoring at the top of the range, this is a majestic vintage of Valandraud that is packed and stacked with waves of inky, purple colored, black cherries, plums, mint, espresso, cocoa, licorice, flowers and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, rich, intense, opulent, complex and with a fruit-filled, velvet-textured, non-stop finish, this is already a treat in your glass. Drink from 2026-2055.
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3/15/2022 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
UGCB 2019 tasting (Amsterdam): Red and dark berries, spiciness and vanilla in the bouquet and on the palate. Good acidity and sticky tannin. Full bodied wine. 94 – 96.
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3/15/2022 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 94 Points
Amsterdam UGCB Tasting (Beurs van Berlage): Wonderfully sexy style, everything in the right place, perfect balance and harmony, hint of lemon verbena, perhaps not as concentrated as usual, very finely textured tannins, excellent amplitude on the finish.
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8/22/2021 - watcheslover Likes this wine: 98 Points
For me the best Valandraud ever made
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6/8/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Deep dark red with purple accents in its hue, the wine provides a beautiful freshness to the ripe, sweet, juicy cherries, espresso and licorice. Not as powerful or as concentrated as some recent vintages, instead you discover more, energy, refinement, elegance and purity in the lingering fruits. 95-97 Pts
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