UGC Bordeaux

Drake Hotel - Chicago IL
Tasted Wednesday, January 22, 2020 by Burgundy Al with 340 views

Introduction

Tasting 2017 Bordeaux. I was disappointed from the beginning, and so just tasted wines from the Châteaux I already know and tend to like. Certainly some good wines, but many are light, others seem over-extracted, and rugged tannins very common. I do not understand the positive critical review the vintage and wines have received.

Flight 1 (33 Notes)

  • 2017 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Walk around tasting. Rich and nicely balanced with good weight. 90-93 point potential with good polish. A highlight of the generally disappointing vintage tasting. Cab Franc centric, which I assess seems to help in this vintage.

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  • 2017 Domaine de Chevalier

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Walk around tasting. Good nose shows ripe fruit, but more firm/ rugged palate has much less balance or elegance. Firm and tannic. 87-88 points.

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  • 2017 Château Haut-Bailly

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Walk around tasting. Fat black fruit with good weight. Too much rugged tannins for the level of fruit, this doesn't quite come together. Will it? 86-89 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Malartic-Lagravière

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Walk around tasting. Plenty of black fruit with cedar and spice. Good weight, good length, but a drying finish that detracted from the overall experience.

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  • 2017 Château Pape Clément

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Walk around tasting. Rich black fruit, both sweet and savory spice with very good concentration, especially for the vintage. Also goo balance and depth. Another one of my few highlights from an otherwise underwhelming vintage tasting. 91-93 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Walk around tasting. Plenty of black fruit with anise and mint as highlights. Rugged throughout with an especially tough finish for now. Good potential when it integrates and softens, provided the fruit stays bright enough.

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  • 2017 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Walk around tasting. Ripe black and red plum aromas with anise and green pepper. Ripe and tart flavors with good+ weight and length. Like many 207, there is a rugged sense on the finish, but here there is above average balance. 89-91 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Canon

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Walk around tasting. Lighter style for with good balance. Upside based on how much weight this puts on. 89-91 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Walk around tasting. Black plum, cassis, anise and roasted meat. Very good nose, good+ palate. Structure is slightly more dominant than I’d prefer, but this has very good substance, so I think there is also very good overall potential.

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  • 2017 Château Pavie Macquin

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Walk around tasting. Intriguing combination of ripe and tart black cherries and plum. Lots here, but more rugged than fun in the near- and medium-term. Another wine that others liked more than I did today.

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  • 2017 Château Valandraud

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Walk around tasting. Rich and nearly sweet start, but then quickly and brightly savory from middle forward. Not a powerhouse, but supremely balanced in context of the many 2017s tasted today. 91-92 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Clinet

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Walk around tasting. Black fruit with spice nuances that bring a greater level of complexity vs many others tasted today, even if slightly wanting for ripeness. Good+ weight with out any bitterness, but still slightly rugged. Intriguing 89-91 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Brane-Cantenac

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Walk around tasting. Intriguing combination of sweet and tart black fruit with spice hints and overall medium weight. Good medium-term potential, 87-88 points.

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  • 2017 Château Cantenac Brown

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Walk around tasting. A small step up over Brane-Cantenac just tasted. More weight and density, even if also more structure. Needs time, 88-89 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Dauzac

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Walk around tasting. Good weight and fruit richness, but too structured and tannic for the level of fruit, at least for any time in the near-future, and unclear where this will resolve and emerge. 86-87 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Giscours

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Walk around tasting. Bright fruit for the good vintage with good weight and noteworthy balance (again, for the vintage). Expanding finish. Good 89-91 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Lascombes

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Walk around tasting. Wonderful aromatic start with rich fruit, spice hints. Tannins just dominate on the palate, resulting in a bitter finish for now and little sense of balance. Where will this go?

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  • 2017 Château Malescot St. Exupéry

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Walk around tasting. Enchanting aromas with black plum, spice and earth. Good weight and good balance (better than most 2017 today) so this should soften and drink well medium term. 88-89 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Rauzan-Ségla

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Walk around tasting. Pleasant with soft textures, bright fruit and good balance. But frankly, this is simple for Bordeaux at this level, and do not understand most of the other reviews for this wine, or for the vintage in general.

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  • 2017 Château Beychevelle

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Walk around tasting. Persistent black fruit start-to-finish with some roasted meat notes. Retains better balance and elegance than most today, while also coming across as full and firm. Very good 90-92 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Branaire-Ducru

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Walk around tasting. spiced nose with black and red cherry. Lighter styled, so avoiding any over-extraction. Good for medium-term 88-90 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Gruaud Larose

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Walk around tasting. Also on the lighter, more elegant side but with good length and an expanding finish. Good+ potential if this puts on enough weight, 88-91 points.

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  • 2017 Château Lagrange (St. Julien)

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Walk around tasting. Dense black fruit with good weight, but just too firm for the level and quality of fruit, with a nearly coarse finish.

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  • 2017 Château Langoa Barton

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Walk around tasting. A success in this vintage. Enticing aromas show ripe and robust black cherry and plum. Firm but showing a clear path to balance, most notably on its finish. I think this will come together nicely, but am not certain. 87-90 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Léoville Barton

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Walk around tasting. Very good aromatic start with black cherry and berry and savory spice and tobacco. Similar flavors, just not as rich as the nose seems to have implied, but maybe it's the very firm tannins taking charge. Good+ potential, 89-91 points.

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  • 2017 Château Léoville Poyferré

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Walk around tasting. Big, dense and chewy, this easily manages to showcase ripeness with background spice. This also manages to retain more balance than most, but seems a bit oaky today. Also very good 89-91 point potential

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  • 2017 Château Talbot

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Walk around tasting. Good spice aromatics with elegantly styled black fruit, clearly on the lighter side. Medium concentration on palate as well, but overall good balance helps. Good medium-term drinker, with 88-90 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Clerc Milon

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Walk around tasting. Good black fruit with reasonable weight, but not for the level of tannins start-to-finish. Little pleasure now. Will need plenty of time.

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  • 2017 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Walk around tasting. Slightly lean black fruit with good weight, spice hints, and nicely persistent. Good length as well. 89-90 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Walk around tasting. Good black cherry and plum, clearly firm, yets retains balance with good length. 89-90 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Lynch-Bages

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Walk around tasting. Big, powerful and very dense. Not particularly accessible or balanced for now, but that's Lynch Bages, but clearly good 90-92 point potential.

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  • 2017 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Walk around tasting. Also with reasonably good weight and better balance than most 2017s. Spice hints of nuance. 90-93 point potential, base don how much weight and nuance evolves here.

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  • 2017 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Walk around tasting. Also medium/good weight, with fairly firm structure that is more pronounced than I would prefer for the level of fruit. One of the better wines of the day, but I hope for more from Pichon Lalande. 90-91 point potential. Others liked this more.

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