Park Hyatt Hotel, Washington D.C.
Tasted Friday, January 17, 2014 by PanosKakaviatos with 2,063 views
With some trepidation I tasted 2011 Bordeaux from bottle. It came after two "vintages of the century" in 2009-2010 and inaugurated three non vintages of the century in 2011-2012-2013. So I was not expecting much, and did not get much. To be fair, some wines were better than expected. Interesting that some of the more so called modern styled wines excelled in 2011. Perhaps they could not go that far and the lengths they went to brought up succulence and flavor that was needed in this vintage, too often marked by attenuated and/or drying finishes. Estates that "played it safe" either came up with some decent wine for short term drinking (La Louviere, Maucaillou, Tour de By) or ended up being rather boring (Cantenac Brown, La Tour Carnet, Grand Puy Ducasse). The key here is pricing. Many estates lowered prices but not enough to excite the trade, especially in more traditional markets, which had already felt very annoyed by the price peaks realized in 2010... So not many merchants bought any 2011 en primeur. Certainly the importer/retailer that helped organize the tasting - Calvert Woodley - did not buy much at the time of release. But for those who say that Bordeaux is passé, I can only indicate a packed house for this 3 to 6 pm tasting on a weekday in Washington D.C. Not the easiest time to come. Many people I spoke to said that they took a half day off work to come, so for an off vintage, Bordeaux has popularity. A positive sales indication is that Calvert Woodley included a price sheet for most bottles tasted - some 53 chateaux members of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux were represented. And important nation wide merchants like Total Wine certainly bought 2011s. "I like the pricing discounts on some of these wines," proclaimed Total Wines representative Cyrus Hazzard at the tasting. And there was much discussion among tasters - from the trade or not - about the merits and demerits of the vintage.
For the most part, many of my impressions from barrel back in 2012 were reflected in this from bottle tasting. Underrepresented, Pomerol did well. The whites from Graves were perhaps the best, and indeed my highest scoring wine was Domaine de Chevalier white.
Interesting to note that Olivier Bernard, president of the UGCB, organised travels this year so that not all members travel to the same places at once. So instead of all members being in Washington D.C. on 17 January, others were doing a tasting at St John in the Virgin Islands, which explains the absence of some estates such as Leoville Barton or Grand Puy Lacoste. I will try to taste these "missing estates" in Duesseldorf, Germany in March this year.
One added note, thanks to Chris Kissack, The Wine Doctor, I was reminded that UGCB tastings do indeed offer "a very blunted view of any vintage" because appellations are not thoroughly represented. This was particularly the case in Washington D.C. because far fewer members were showing their wines.
Finally, I use scores somewhat begrudgingly. It is not easy to assign a number to a wine, taking into consideration so many factors for Bordeaux: stylistic differences, price/quality ratios, under (or over) performance and my subjective tastes. So please pay more attention to the notes than to the numbers :-).
Likely the most consistent appellation in Bordeaux in 2011.
We are starting to get a bit patchy, but a candidate for most consistent dry red appellation from Bordeaux in 2011.
Some of the more modern styled wines actually excelled in 2011, bringing an extra bit of flavor and succulence in the mix.
Under represented by the UGCB, but overall pretty good and illustrates why some consider Pomerol the best dry red appellation in Bordeaux from 2011.
Did not get a chance to taste but three from the choices here. By the time I got to these wines, La Lagune was gone, for example... Anyway, nothing to exciting here, but some fine price/quality ratios.
A mixed bag appellation and the best were missing (no Rauzan Segla, for example, or Brane Cantenac or Giscours)...
All are good here, and Saint Julien is known for being consistent even in off vintages. I thought so from barrel - http://www.connectionstowine.com/bordeaux-2011/choose-carefully/#Saintjulien and think again, too, after tasting these five examples.
Perhaps not as consistent as Saint Julien, but a great performance from Lynch Bages.
An under representative sample.
I think that Sauternes was patchier in 2011 than some people have said...
To conclude, I would say that you cannot go wrong with certain dry whites from Bordeaux in 2011.
For the Sauternes/Barsac, I still think it is a patchier vintage than some believe, so choose carefully - although this was hardly a representative sample, and Yquem was brilliant as were the two Doisys for example (all missing from this tasting).
For most reds, it is a short to medium term drinking vintage. Some performed better than others, and some may surprise us down the road. No surprise that 2011 is not a super vintage, but some reds can find their places in your cellar.
2011 Château de Chantegrive Graves Cuvée Caroline 87 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves
An illustration of why whites in 2011 were generally successful, this wine combined a rather brisk entry with a richer mid palate that lead to a clean if somewhat jagged finish. But the price is very right and I would buy it for fish or chicken, to take two general examples.
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2011 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 95 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
My en primeur tastings (
http://www.connectionstowine.com/bordeaux-2011/choose-carefully/#PessacLeognan) confirmed here. Yet again Domaine de Chevalier proves itself as being among the top tier whites produced in all of Bordeaux. Medium to full bodied, with energy. Very focused, mineral, citrus and ripe yet not thick. Pristine comes to mind, with rounded richness around the linear line of flavor that results in a long and pleasing finish. Potential for a higher score, if you follow the numbers. These wines are built to last, as I had experienced in an all white vertical reaching back to the 1970s in November 2013 in Merano Italy with owner Olivier Bernard.
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2011 Château Latour-Martillac Blanc 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Very brisk and high toned, with notes of pear and lime. But was it over steely? Look, I love mineral driven wines that do not depend of ripeness and fat to impress - well, I do sympathize with the Anti Flavor Elite :-). But this one is almost for ascetics. Tasting along with me was none other than famous Virginia winemaker Rutger de Vink - http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/wine-first-growth-virginia-a-fledgling-vintner-wants-to-prove-its-possible/2011/03/07/ABonkTY_story.html - who agreed, dubbing it "edgy." I really like what owner Tristan Kressmann - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hmqhCqpoBo - has been doing at this estate and generally love his whites - I bought a six pack of his 2010 for example. But I wonder if the 2011 is too steely for its own good? Will it stand the test of time? The prices are good, so worth a try.
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2011 Château Carbonnieux Blanc 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Here we have a rather strong buy recommendation, as this estate is not an "investment wine" and proposes regular pricing, en primeur for about 16 euros release price, and that was for 2010 as well as for 2011... This combined both richness and briskness nicely, with a medium plus body and a medium long finish.
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2011 Château La Louvière Blanc 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Once again, La Louviere delivers the good - in white and in red. For this white, muted citrus flavors and red apple on the attack precede a rather succulent mid palate, which leads to a short but pleasant finish. A good wine, indeed when taking (low) price into account.
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2011 Château Pape Clément Blanc 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
As you can read -
http://www.connectionstowine.com/bordeaux-2011/choose-carefully/#PessacLeognan - this wine is better from bottle than from barrel. Cyrus Hazzard of Total Wine, also at the tasting, loved the opulence. I did, too. The wine seems to have "come together" becoming more cohesive, combining adequate acidity to balance the ripe apricot and somewhat exotic fruit richness. A special bottle, although I do not believe that it will last as long as the Domaine de Chevalier Blanc - another style altogether. Still, for lovers of opulent whites, this is your ticket to be sure!
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2011 Château Olivier Blanc 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
A bit of a let down from what I had experienced from barrel, expecting more from Olivier in blanc in 2011 -
http://www.connectionstowine.com/bordeaux-2011/choose-carefully/#PessacLeognan. Not bad, mind you. There was an intriguing mint freshness from this wine, but also a slightly metallic finish that detracted.
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2011 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Fine evolution in bottle and echoing more or less the feeling I got from the wine from barrel in 2012 (http://www.connectionstowine.com/bordeaux-2011/choose-carefully/#PessacLeognan). Although it was a bit too cold when served, I could sense the balance between richness of fruit and acidity. It was clean, a touch plump (lacking the streamlined precision of Domaine de Chevalier) but just very elegant overall on the finish. A success.
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