BWE does Manhattan: a 1996 & 2003 Bordeaux Retrospective
Tasted Sunday, July 12, 2009 by blanquito with 591 views
Introduction
Six wine aficionados gathered last night in Manhattan to check in on some BWE standards and to put the 2003 Pontet-Canet to the test. A truly convivial affair, with high spirits, great wine, and even better company, this was a true BWE event. The restaurant Allegretti was really great, with fantastic service, a classy ambiance and excellent food.
Flight 1 - Starters (2 Notes)
Flight 2 - 1996 Left Bankers (4 Notes)
Next was the flight of four 1996 Left Bankers. Initially, there was little to choose between these 1996ers, as the style was nearly identical in all four wines. With extended air, some qualitative differences emerged, but overall these were dry, somewhat austere, classic clarets with fairly bright acids and tannins which are still evident but getting silky and integrated. All four wines showed the characteristically excellent 1996 aromatics, big and engaging on the nose. These are really good now, but the question for me is, will they show more bottle sweetness with further cellaring? If they do sweeten up just a little, they will be epic someday as my only quibble is they are very, very dry in the mouth. We voted for 1st place (3 pts), 2nd place (2 pts), or 3rd place (1 pt) for each wine.
Flight 3 - The Blind 2003 Flight (3 Notes)
Next we had a single-blind flight of three Left Bank 2003 wines, two of which have a long history on BWE: Pontet-Canet, Sociando-Mallet, and Duhart Milon. We had one table talk rule: we could describe the wines generally but only without saying what we thought the wines were. All guesses and preferences were written down and handed in to me before the wines were revealed. All wines were double-decanted at least two hours in advance.
The voting for preference:
Wine 1: 2 1st place, 1 2nd place and 2 3rd place votes = 10 pts
Wine 2: 1 1st place, 3 2nd place and 3 3rd place votes = 12 pts
Wine 3: 3 1st place, 2 2nd place and 1 3rd place votes = 14 pts
For the record, we all thought all of these 2003s were really outstanding and best of all, none of them displayed any freakish praline or roasted character. The Sociando can be enjoyed now given its great fleshy mid-palate, but it needs decades. After the dry 1996s, the riper sweeter nature of these 2003s was really engaging.
2004 Henri Prudhon & Fils Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly Blanc 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru
A really lovely Chardonnay, this has a classic burgundian nose of honey, vanilla, gentle oak, and distant funky hints. The palate is even better with a great balance between creamy richness and minerally crispness. Starts out a tad sour, but sweetness up with air. Nice length.
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2000 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile 92 Points
France, Alsace
Wonderful bouquet of slate, smoke and white grapes. Bone dry with sneaky sweetness in the attack which vanishes through the mouth into a long, dry, classically-styled Alsatian white.
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