Some great wines to help Public Television

Yesterday, I attended a seminar entitled "Museum quality Bordeaux". This was part of a weeklong wine festival in Cleveland that is a fundraiser for WVIZ Public Television. The main events are mass tastings of supermarket wines that are better suited to younger people having a fun time. But, on Saturday afternoons, there are small seminars that are quite serious. Like I try to do every year, I signed up for Dan Greathouse's Bordeaux seminar. This is always informative, fun and more and more, a chance to try some wines that I can no longer afford. Yesterday was no exception. The seminar costs $100, and last about 1.5 hours. Each taster gets about 1.5 ounces of wine, but there is always more at the end plus leftovers.

The last two wines were extras after the seminar was concluded.

• NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Dan G. must be in the house. Might as well be his calling card. Light golden in color. Lots of medium and small bubbles. Toasty nose. Nice bite. Slight lemon/lime on the palate. Hint of seltzer. Long finish. Pretty wine.

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• 2008 Gracia 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Wow. Right off the bat, this is stunning. Ruby/purple in color. Raspberries, cherries, slightly candied on the nose. A bit of cigar tobacco. dark cherries on the palate. really long finish. Complex and starting to show some development. Drinking really well right now. My WOTD (although some might get better than this over time).

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• 2009 Château Pavie 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  An RP 100 pointer. I love public TV! Purple in color. Ruby at the rim. This is very tight. Deep, but hard to tell what's going on. Cassis and blueberries and some cigar. A wall of tannins on drinking. Great acidity though. Mouth filing. Lots of fruit, mostly black currants and dark cherries. Slightly warming but not hot. This is so primary. It may be a 100 pointer some day. Today, its work to analyze, but there is so much there here. Hope I am lucky enough to try this again sometime, but at $600, I am not holding my breath.

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• 2009 Château Rauzan-Ségla 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  So, I got see the Lagerfeld label up close. Meh. The wine is much better. Ruby/purple in color. Perfumed nose of floral, cinnamon, and cherry life-savers. Great attack. Layered complexity. Very smooth. Better on the palate. Dark cherries and menthol on the finish. Medium tannins. Long finish. Drinking really well right now, but will obviously develop.

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• 2010 Château d'Angludet 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Apparently owned by one of the partners of Palmer. Ruby/purple in color. The nose is tight. Some candied cherries. Very smooth to drink. Slightly hollow on the mid-palate. Dark cherries. The finish is a bit clipped. Never had this before, so I don't know if it shut down. Not in the class of the others, but then neither is the price. Still at $60 Ohio, there are lots of 09 and 10 Bordeaux that blow this away for under $20 IMO.

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• 2010 Alter Ego 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  This seemed to be the most divisive among the people I spoke with. Purple, ruby at the rim. There is some slight VA here which is not bad. In fact, it does help raise the aromatics as this had the most pronounced nose on the table. Cherries and some red currants. Juicy. Easy to drink. Very smooth with medium tannins. Nice finish. Really improved in the glass, more than any other wine on the table did.

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• 2010 Château Palmer 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Another RP 100 pointer and IMO, the best wine on the table (if not the best drinking this day). I no longer buy this wine due to price, but I have always love their wines. Purple, ruby at the rim. Tight on the nose. cherries, dust and smoke. Great texture. Firm tannins. Tight but layered. Complex and intense. Very focused, especially the finish. Not quite heat, but warming. Long, long, finish. Hope I can try this in 20 years.

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• 2010 Pezat 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur

  Very nice Bordeaux Superior and affordable at that. A nice nose of dark cherries, leather, and cigar tobacco. Easy to drink and open. Nice fruit. Long finish.

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• 2011 Cockburn Porto Vintage 94 Points

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  Sometimes I forget how good a young port can taste. While I am no longer laying down much port, its probably worth buying a bottle or two to drink this over the next year or two. A nose of candied raspberries and pie filling with some blueberries too. But before it gets too sweet there is an underlying raisin and fig quality that balances it. Nice texture. Smooth and easy to drink and little heat. Good raspberry, chocolate and raisin flavor of the palate. Delicious wine.

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Its great to support a good cause, and I kind of feel guilty as I got more than my money's worth here.