Saturday Bordeaux Tasting

SF Wine Trading Company
Tasted Saturday, January 5, 2013 by drwine2001 with 473 views

Flight 1 - An Unusual White (1 Note)

  • 2010 Château de Bellevue (André Chatenoud) Sauvignon Gris

    France, Bordeaux

    Medium yellow. Slightly aromatic with musky, bitter citrus. Light weight with a thin veneer of glycerine. Lime fruit, good acidity. Interesting but not that deep in flavor or that long. I've never tasted Sauvignon Gris; it's much less grassy and pungent than Sauvignon Blanc.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 2 - Reds (4 Notes)

  • 2010 Château du Prieur Bordeaux Cuvée Réserve

    France, Bordeaux

    Medium ruby center. Black olives and dried flowers. Middle weight, a little wood, nice feel. Olive flavors too and not much fruit. Supple with some charcoal, but otherwise fairly neutral impression and short finish. This is acceptable for a $10 generic Bordeaux.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Château Louvie

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

    Medium center, lighter edge. Herbal aromas. Lighter weight. Brisk, lean black olive and blackberry fruit that seem to lack generosity. Chewy, dry and very tannic finish. Questionable balance.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

  • 2009 Château Giscours

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Moderately deep ruby. All green olives on the nose. Medium to lighter weight. Redolent of olives and herbs, but where's the ripeness and fruit? Sinewy at the end with an aggressively acidic finish. I really don't care for this and am amazed to find that the price approaches $100. If it's just completely shut down and better than I think, it will take 20 years to prove this, but I just don't see the underlying stuffing being there.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Château Kirwan Charmes de Kirwan

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Deep ruby-the darkest of the bunch. Cedar and mint aromatics. Tobacco and earth palate along with a woody base. Very, very tight, not much texture. Pretty classic. As opposed to the Giscours, I could somehow see my way through the structure and appreciate a lot of underlying material here that reminded me more of Graves than anything else. To get there, this will need a ton of time. Impressive second wine.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Flight 3 - A Sauternes (1 Note)

  • 2005 Château Suduiraut

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Light golden color. Apricots and butterscotch without much botrytis signature. Unctuous, sweet palate with creme brulee, coconut, and some uplifting citrus in addition to the stone fruits. Average acidity, syrupy on the back end. Very clean and rich. For the mid-term, I would imagine.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Closing

The most salient message of this tasting was this is probably the worst possible time to be trying most 2009 red Bordeaux.

×
×