La Commanderie de Bordeaux: Les Cinq

Five Sails - Vancouver, BC
Tasted Monday, June 3, 2013 by MattTM with 716 views

Flight 1 - Pan seared weathervane scallops (1 Note)

  • 2010 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Outstanding expressive nose showing tons of ripe papaya and fresh lime, along with some oily notes and smokey crushed gravel. On the palate this shows a core of focused lime citrus, along with some papaya, charred oak, guava, and smokey crushed gravel mixed with minerals with a touch of saline. This carries over the oily texture notes on the nose as well. Laser like acidity with a tart citrus core. Excellent already but this will reward time in the cellar. Power delivered with a touch of finesse. Fantastic

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

Flight 2 - Honey glazed Fraser Valley squab, caramelized fruits in season, warm brussel sprout salad (3 Notes)

  • 2006 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

    Quite tight on the nose at first but once this got some air revealed aromas of burnt rich black cherry, charred oak, a hint of dark dried fruits, cassis, smokey gravel, crushed rocks, cigar leaf and a touch of coffee bean. Ripe and rich with a slightly sweet core on the palate exhibiting black cherries, cassis, white pepper, and a touch of lead pencil. This showed surprisingly well once it got some air showcasing rich dark fruits with a smokey cigar undertone. Drinking well already but needs plenty of time to show its true potential. Very good+

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

  • 2003 Château Gazin Pomerol

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    This showed a bit roasted on the nose with graphite and cedar aromas coming through, along with some dark black fruits, sour raspberry and a touch of mint. More towards the red fruit end of the spectrum on the nose compared to the others in this flight. Tons of graphite and cedar on the palate, with rich black cherries and menthol. Lots of lead pencil profile across the board and managed to refrain from showing excessive ripe or roasted notes commonly associated with the vintage. Drinking well already with nice balance but certainly no rush on these. Very good

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

  • 2004 Château Branaire-Ducru

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    This was wound up pretty tight on the nose showing bright purple and blue fruits, a bit of funky cheese, candied red cherries, along with some spice and a bit of heat. Quite a clean and pure expression of slightly ripe fruits. Mostly bright tart red cherries on the palate, as well as some graphite, cedar, tart cranberries, and spicy black pepper. Quite tart especially on the end of the palate with some numbing menthol coming through, and ending with a tough drying finish. This softened up with some air but at the end of the day was a bit disappointing and rather boring. Good+

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

Flight 3 - Olive crusted roasted rack & loin of lamb, Mediterranean vegetable pavé, almonds & capers, pommes Dauphine & natural jus (3 Notes)

  • 2000 Château Smith Haut Lafitte

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Excellent nose showing tons of black pepper and baking spice aromas upfront, followed by plenty of graphite, cedar, gravel, ground coffee beans, and tart black cherries. Nice nose showing the typical SHL smokiness. More black pepper spice comes through on the palate along with some black cherry, graphite, cedar, coffee beans, and plenty of menthol. There's tons of lead pencil all the way through here with lots of spice at its core. Still young and fresh and in need of time but showed surprisingly well already. There's lots of gravel terroir evident here but could use some time to balance the oak. Delicious. Very good+

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

  • 2000 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

    Great nose showing tons of lead pencil shavings on the nose, along with some rich black cherries, cassis, plenty of spice, and bright red currants hiding in the background. Shows a lot more spice on the palate in the form of clove and black pepper, along with plenty of cedar, graphite, and fresh mint. Nice richness with slightly sweet dark fruits yet not extracted in the least, finishing with a hint of menthol. Great lead pencil profile all the way through here showing nice restraint yet holding plenty of power in the background. Very young and tightly wound at the moment but clearly there is plenty of potential here and this should be put away for at least 5 years. Fantastic

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

  • 2000 Château Branaire (Duluc-Ducru)

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    Once again a very pure expression of fruit on the nose showing plenty of ripe red cherry, coffee beans, and some vitamin C notes. This leans more towards the red fruit side of the spectrum with some lead pencil hiding in the background along with rich black currants. Plenty more lead pencil on the palate with lots of red cherries, black currants, as well as some spice and more vitamin notes. Tightly wound with drying tannins and in need of plenty of time in the cellar, although I'm not convinced of a great future by this showing. Very fresh and pure, but not much too it and not really my style at all. This fleshed out and gained some interest as it sat in the glass, but never fully came around to show much excitement. Very good-

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

Flight 4 - Chef’s selection of cheeses with fruit & nut crisps, red wine poached pear (3 Notes)

  • 1999 Château Gazin Pomerol

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Tons of spice and menthol aromas on the nose, along with some black currants, a bit of ground coffee beans, lead pencil, and tons of cedar. This showed a bit soft on the palate yet with tons of spice coming through, as well as some black currants, fresh mint leaves, and more graphite and cedar. Crisp acidity and slightly drying with plenty of structure and time to go. Lacks focus on the nose but overall an enjoyable bottle especially if you enjoy the spice and dark fruit undertone. Very good

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

  • 1998 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

    Great nose showcasing plenty of rich dark fruit aromas, along with some earthy funk, tons of spice, lead pencil, leather, rich red cherry, rhubarb, and tart red currants. Quite a bit more black pepper and clove spice on the palate, along with some rich dark fruits, cigar, saddle leather, lead pencil and menthol, with bright red cherries at the end. Some underlying sweetness on the palate yet not overly so. Great balance already between the bright tart red fruits and rich sweet dark fruits, with plenty of spice to round this out. Still showing very young with tons of potential. Fantastic

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

  • 1998 Château Smith Haut Lafitte

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Quite tight on the nose at first but with some time to breathe showed some nice rich sweet dark fruits and berries with tons of clove spice, along with smokey gravel, minerals, and some tart red currants at the end. Bit stinky with some earthy funk on the nose as well. Quite a bit lighter on the palate with plenty of bright red cherries, along with fresh red plums, minerals, lead pencil, and menthol. Great nose once it opened up with some good funk but a touch dilute and watery on the palate. Good+

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

Flight 5 - Luxe lemon mille feuilles, delicate layers of crisp phyllo pastry, chilled lemon cream & lemon parfait, fresh strawberries (1 Note)

  • 1999 Château Suduiraut

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Tons of honey and caramel aromas on the nose along with plenty of floral notes, ripe green apple, some ginger spice, and melon. Fresh and bright on the palate showing ripe green apples, honey, and plenty of spice on the finish. Youthful and balanced with tons of fresh green apple. Really rich and honeyed on the nose yet showing restraint in terms of sweetness to keep great freshness on the palate along with a spicy backbone. Give this time and you will be rewarded. Very good+

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

×
×