Black Lion Wine Club - 2000, 2005, 2008 Margaux Tasting

Second tasting event of the Black Lion Wine Club. Tasting of 3 pairs of Margaux wines from 2000, 2005 and 2008 with Charles, Jon, Tony, David and Rob. Wines were a mixture of GCC and AOC wines, three from my cellar, two from Tony, one from Jon. Excellent opportunity to compare wines at various stages of development, and also different quality levels. All wines were opened and decanted in the morning for the tasting in the evening.

• 2008 Tesco Finest Margaux Chateau d´Angludet 87 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Appearance: Clear, deep intensity, ruby, little variation at the rim
  Nose: Clean, medium(+) intensity, plum, dark fruits, hint of spice, developing
  Palate: Off-dry, medium acidity, medium ripe tannins, medium(+) body, medium intensity, dark fruits, menthol, mint, medium finish
  Conclusions: Good wine - nicely balanced, fruit forward, not very complex as yet. Can drink now but suitable for further ageing

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

• 2008 Château Desmirail 87 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Appearance: Clear, medium intensity, ruby core with no change at the rim
  Nose: Clean, medium intensity, dark fruit, pepper, cedar, developing
  Palate: Dry, medium(+) acidity, soft, fine, medium tannins, medium alcohol, medium body and intensity, dark fruits, cedar, herbs, medium finish
  Conclusions: Good wine but ideally needs more time; can drink now but suitable for further ageing.
  This definitely improved over the course of the evening, coming together more and developing greater depth

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

• 2005 Château Saint-Marc Margaux 85 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Appearance: Clear, medium core, garnet
  Nose: Clean, medium(-) intensity, red fruits, dusty, developing
  Palate: Off-dry, medium acidity, medium(-) tannins, medium(-) body and intensity, dark fruits, cedar, mint, medium(-) finish
  Conclusions: Acceptable quality wine, drink now
  Overall not particularly interesting, a bit thin, unlikely to develop further

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

• 2005 Château Marquis de Terme 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Appearance: Clear, medium intensity, ruby, garnet on the rim
  Nose: Clean, medium intensity, dark fruits, vanilla, developing
  Palate: Off-dry, medium acidity, medium ripe, fine tannins, medium(+) body and intensity, blackcurrant fruit and spice, toast, medium(+) finish
  Conclusions: Very good wine, nicely balanced, quite fine and well integrated, can drink now but has the potential for further ageing

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

• 2000 Château Labégorce-Zédé 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Appearance: Clear, medium intensity, garnet core and tawny rim
  Nose: Clean, medium(+) intensity, dark berries, cedar, mint, fully developed
  Palate: Dry, medium acidity, soft, fine, medium tannins, medium body, medium(+) intensity, dark fruit, hint of spice, cedar, mint, medium(+) finish
  Conclusions: Very good - nice balance and structure, well integrated; drink now - not suitable for further aging (and I don't think it will last too much longer)

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

• 2000 Château Lascombes 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Appearance: Clear, medium intensity, garnet with a tawny rim
  Nose: Clean, medium(+) intensity, dark fruits, cedar, spice, fully developed
  Palate: Dry, medium acidity, soft, ripe, medium tannins, medium body, medium(+) intensity, dark fruits, cedar, leather, tobacco, vanilla, long finish
  Conclusions: Very Good/Outstanding, beautifully integrated, fine, mature claret; drink now - not suitable for further ageing (although there's no hurry to drink)

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

Event greatly enjoyed by all. General feeling was that these wines showed better than those from the 2004 tasting late last year - the wines generally had more finesse and development. The stand-out wine was the Chateau Lascombes from 2000, but Chateau Labegorce-Zede 2000 and Chateau Marquis de Terme 2005 were both very good too. Tesco Finest Margaux 2008 represented excellent value and early drinking potential. Chateau Desmirail 2008 needed time to show itself (slightly surprising given how long it had already been open). Chateau Saint-Marc 2005 was an unknown quantity and was probably the poorest wine of the evening.