Bdx. growths (1988 - 1999)

London Venue Club (Sheffield, UK)
Tasted Saturday, February 25, 2012 by grafstrb with 930 views

Flight 1 (1 Note)

Flight 2 (12 Notes)

  • 1999 Domaine de Chevalier

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 10 - 15 minutes --

    Rich and rather expressive Nose is dark-fruited and dominated by notes of coffee, earth, and underbrush. Medium bodied on the palate. Palate is dominated by purple fruits with hints of smoke and mushroom; an enjoyable note of vanilla-coated leather on the finish. 12.5% alc. not noticeable. Good acidity; integrated tannin; somewhat loosely structured. Open and giving today, but still has a little room to improve in the cellar. Not a blockbuster, but still very good.

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  • 1997 Château Cos d'Estournel

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over approx. 10 - 15 min. --

    Expressive, mineral-laden Nose with lots of roasted green chile and pencil lead, and slight floral note. Medium-full bodied on the palate. Open and drinking well today: purple berry; strong roasted green chile or bell pepper flavor; hints of spice and leather; good acidity; integrated tannins; 13% alc. not noticeable. Seems to be in its peak drinking window: I don't think this has much, if any, room for further improvement.

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  • 1996 Château Cantenac Brown

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 10 - 15 minutes --

    Nose is rich and grapey along with purple berry aromas: Nose is expressive and comes across as youthful. Medium-full bodied on the palate: some Bdx. funk, with blackberry fruit and pencil lead mineral; good concentration of fruit; 13% alc. not noticeable; decent acidity; integrated tannin. Probably the most "modern" tasting wine of the night for me. Drinking well now, but will almost certainly be better in a few years.

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  • 1983 Taltarni Cabernet Merlot

    Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees

    -- tasted a single pour blind over 10 - 15 minutes --

    Baked cherry, with hints of prune and BBQ pork ribs on the Nose. Medium bodied on the palate. Nice tertiary character here: tannin a bit drying; slightly sweet cherry; moderately rich; adequate acidity; this is starting to dry out, and should be consumed now. I was thinking Napa Cab. before its identity was revealed. Nice bottle.

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  • 1996 Château Haut-Bailly

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 15 - 20 minutes --

    Nose on this was complex and very engaging: chilli powder, plum, and pencil lead; expressive, but perhaps still holding back a little. Youthful color, and medium to medium-full bodied. Well-balanced with deep blackberry flavor; good acidity; fine, slightly drying tannins; comes across as youthful, and still in need of additional time in the cellar. 12.5% alc. not noticeable. One of my favorite wines of the evening. Excellent.

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  • 1995 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 15 - 20 minutes --

    Nose was tight and not showing much; what I did coax from the glass was slight notes of beef roast, nori wrapper, and mint. Medium-light to medium bodied on the palate. Light purple and red berry melange, with hints of leather and mint; 12.5% alc. pokes through a bit; open; integrated tannin; adequate acidity; gives an overall impression of roundness and "average." Decent - maybe even good - but not very good. Loosely structured; this will not improve in the cellar, and should be consumed now with tempered expectations. My least favorite wine of the evening.

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  • 1995 Château Calon-Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 20 - 25 minutes --

    Nose was clean, very complex and moderately expressive: at first, it came across as dark, with expressive black licorice and tight cassis flavors; with time in the glass, a deep pomegranate, passionfruit, and red currant melange developed; lots of depth here. Medium-full bodied on the palate: dark fruit flavors, with a hint of spearmint; 12.5% alc. not noticeable; still has some bitter drying tannin; adequate acidity; although not closed, this still seemed to be rather tightly wound. Shows great potential, but is still in need of additional cellar time.

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  • 1995 Château Léoville Barton Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 20 - 25 minutes --

    Nose was tight, with leather and purple berry tones. Medium-full bodied. First sip revealed pleasurable sweet blackberry flavor; second and third sips came across as a tad musty, with some spice, leather, and mineral. Good acidity; fine tannin; needs time to come together -- has the goods to do this. As this sat in my glass, I became convinced this was every-so-slightly corked: I didn't notice it on the Nose, but rather on the palate entry. Nonetheless, it was still a very nice bottle to drink, and it's obvious that un-tainted bottles of this wine have a bright future before them. Still a couple years out from its drink window.

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  • 1994 Château Pontet-Canet

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 35 - 40 minutes --

    Expressive Nose was beefy with a pleasant raspberry tone. Medium-full bodied on the palate. Very tannic; lots of fruit; hint of leather; good acidity; good concentration of fruit; alc. not noticeable; very tannic; requires additional cellar time to melt those fierce tannins. Did I remember to mention this was tannic?

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  • 1990 Château Rausan-Ségla Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 15 - 20 minutes --

    The Nose on this wine made it readily apparent that this wine has some age on it: quite leafy, with some light raisin and prune aromas, and a notion of light black tea. Medium-light bodied. On the palate: chocolate powder, prune; and light raisin; somewhat lightly-flavored; 12.8% alc. not noticeable; this is drying out and is on its way down. This bottle was slightly oxidized, but still an interesting one to taste. {same bottle as CT user Ardross}

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  • 1989 Château Lagrange (St. Julien)

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 15 - 20 minutes --

    Deep, complex Nose: kirsch fruit off-set by a note of wet sand were the most noticeable elements on the bouquet. Medium-full bodied. Nice tertiary development on the palate, but not over the hill: dark; spicy; fruity - blackberry; black dirt; slight hint of mint; 13% alc. not noticeable; tannins are integrated; acidity is adequate; a tad sweet; actually showing young for its age. I'd say this is in its prime time, and should be consumed right now. My second-favorite red wine of the evening. Excellent.

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  • 1988 Château Léoville Poyferré

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 10 - 15 minutes --

    Nose was actually tight, but showed mint and raspberry tones. Medium-full bodied. Tight on the palate, but nonetheless showed beautiful juicy acidity, and flavors of purple berry and earthy; still young; fine tannin; 12.5% alc. not noticeable; excellent wine that is not yet at its peak. Continue to hold. My WOTN.

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 1990 Château Doisy-Védrines

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 15 - 20 minutes --

    Nose was moderately expressive to expressive: squash; roasted carrot; medium-strong botrytis spice. Medium amber color (no brown); full bodied. Rich, sticky, and juicy - but not much acid - on the palate; sweeter than the '89 Coutet that was served alongside. In it's prime drinking window, but I suspect it will stay there for a good few years, so drink or hold.

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  • 1989 Château Coutet Barsac

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

    -- tasted a single pour non-blind over 15 - 20 minutes --

    Wonderfully expressive Nose of bitter orange peel, clove, and medium-low botrytis spice. Medium amber color (no brown) was slightly darker than the '90 Doisy-Vedrines, which was served alongside. Full bodied. Wonderfully poised on the palate, with great acidity, and strong flavors of orange marmalade, candied orange peel, and honey; moderate botrytis; has plenty of life left in it. Absolutely gorgeous. My second-favorite wine of the night, and perhaps not my WOTN only as a result of my conscious effort to not be seduced by the overtly charming nature of a good sweet wine. Drink now or continue to hold.

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Closing

My overall ranking of the wines for the evening:
'88 Poyferre
'89 Coutet
'89 Lagrange
'96 Haut Bailly
'95 Calon Segur
'95 Leoville Barton (if not tainted)
'90 Doisy Vedrines
'99 Chevalier
'97 Cos
'96 Cantenac
'83 Taltarni
'90 Rausan-Segla
'95 Grand Puy Ducasse

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