BWC - BDX - St Julien and Margaux
Scenic Loop Cafe
Tasted Sunday, April 29, 2012 by Nutty08 with 894 views
Introduction
Another Bordeaux tasting of the Boerne wine club. This week we focused on St Julian and Margaux appellations, specifically the ’99-04 vintages as most of us do not have many older wines. This was maybe the most selective we've been on tasting themes, but after some swapping around we had another excellent lineup.
Flight 1 (13 Notes)
Closing
Big thanks to CW for bringing a fantastic Palmer and to MW for the wonderfully mature but enchanting '83 PL. Overall a fantastic tasting but only because of the generosity of the participants. Very wide range in styles, especially in the Margaux wines. The ’04 Leoville Barton was the group’s WOTN and this wine continues to impress especially considering it’s release price. Next was ’02 Lascombs, a big surprise and finally ’00 Palmer was the group’s #3.
Also great to see some new faces, hopefully we will see all you guys again soon. 
1999 Château Lagrange (St. Julien) 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien
Nice wine to start with and always one of my favorite St Julian's. Flint leather and a bit of green pepper on the nose. Very aromatic. Cedar and black currants with cassis highlights on the palate, with sandalwood and mocha finish. Not especially concentrated, with a small amount of fine tannins in the background. Drinking very well and showing plenty of subtle complexities. This flavor profile is what I think of when I think of St Julian (right or wrong). Drink up, though not falling off a cliff anytime soon.
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2001 Château du Tertre 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Great exotic expressive nose showing it’s cab franc, along with some leather and currants. Ripe briary red fruited palate, quite ripe, with fine focused tannins in the background and a plush mouthfeel. Medium finish showing a little cedar and earth. A very nice wine and much better than the ’03 at the Chateaux. Doesn’t strike me as the quintessential “Marguax” though, but maybe I just don’t know what that is.
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2002 Château Léoville Poyferré 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien
Go to take this bottle home and spend some time with it. Nose of menthol (Tim I found it), black currants, and touch of bell pepper. Palate shows some very prominent hard tannins that hide some currants and cassis. Moderate finish, becoming a little hard and dry and a little simple. The more time I spent with this, the less I liked it as it showed more structure and less fruit through the evening. Suprised Lascombes did better in a tough year.
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2000 Château Durfort-Vivens 86 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Light green herbaceous nose. Little fruit on the palate, fine tannic background and more tired green and unripe notes. Angular, acidic and peculiar wine with a short finish. Seems past peak. Disappointing.
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2000 Château Palmer 95 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Decanted an hr ahead. Nose a little shy, but loaded with berries, currants and cassis and hints of vanilla. Polished lush palate, liquor-like red fruits but still has a great backbone. Impressive concentration and depth and very young as it came across as rather primary still. Long finish. Still showing it’s oak and a little hard to get a read on, but looks like it’s going to be fantastic. My WOTN.
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2000 Château Gruaud Larose 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien
Meaty animal nose with plenty of black currants and hints of an herbal edge. Palate is quite ripe and concentrated, with lots of red fruits, nice purity and focus. Finishes with a complex finish of leafy herbal notes, fine still prominent tannins that turn slightly dry. Needs time. Tied for my #3.
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2003 Château Gruaud Larose 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien
Smokey animal funky nose with very ripe dark fruits. Palate was showing roasted dried fruits, lacking a little definition. Finish showed very dry tannins. Hard to pin down, but after spending some time with it seemed like it shows of lot of the undesirable characteristics of the ’03 vintage.
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2004 Château Léoville Barton 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien
Lovely expressive nose of black currants, mint, and espresso. Mint nose repeats on the palate, but otherwise it seems to switch to a Merlot profile, with plenty of dark plums, and lush ripe palate with fine tannins. Lengthy finish of sweet cedar and mocha. Quite complex and drinking remarkably well for a young bdx. I’ve had this bottling a few times and I continue to be impressed with what LB accomplished in the ’04 vintage. my #2 WOTN
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2002 Château Lascombes 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Subtle nose, ripe red berries with a hint of leather. Palate was ripe and forward, but focused and balanced and fairly concentrated. Tannins present but not too bothersome. Moderate finish of ripe fruits, darker in profile than the palate with plenty of mocha. A very nice showing for the vintage, though hard to pin down as Margaux. Group #2.
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2003 Château Lascombes 86 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
This is a little overdone. Big blowsy black currants on the nose, with prominent mocha. Dry raisiny palate, with somewhat jammy dark fruit and plenty of toast and mocha. Dry tannins on a moderate finish showing mocha and black currants. Tons of oak and roasted fruit.
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2004 Château Lascombes 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Much more focused and refined compared to the ’03. Ripe black currants and plum nose. Oak is prominent on the palate, though there enough dark fruit here that it isn’t too obtrusive. Moderate finish of similar flavor profile. Not sure I get Margaux here, but a modern styled bdx that could be fun if in the right mood.
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1983 Château Prieuré-Lichine 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
This was a real treat and quite a surprise. Quite light in color with plenty of bricking. Aromatic nose, with plenty of subtle floral notes, caramel, and mature fruit. Palate is a little thin and not especially concentrated, but there mature fruit here and a lovely lush mouthfeel that just glides across the palate and coats the mouth. Tannins seem to be completely integrated. Moderate finish. This is a little tired, but a treat to have such an expressive mature wine. My #3 WOTN but not necessarily based on points alone.
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1999 Château Haut-Marbuzet 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe
By the time I got to this I was totally lost. Mature fruit on the nose, plums, with lots of cedar spice. Prominent oak on the palate, dry tannins, little fruit. Moderate finish, mostly oak notes. Not especially concentrated and seemed to be on the mature side. Guessed ’99, and was thinking probably merlot based on the fruit profile, but couldn’t place the texture of the tannins. A decent wine, but seems to be fading to me.
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