Served blind. Deep purple red colour. Aromas of spices, cedar, cigar box, black currants and camphor. Clearly a Cabernet Sauvignon predominant nose. In the mouth, dense, unctuous and very primary. Very tight, the fruit sturdy and presently a bit monolithic. Focussed, linear and long. Deep, dark fruit: cassis, prunes and black plums. A full throttle wine with, I would think, great material. It just needs another 8-10 years in the cellar, at the minimum.
Served blind. A more evolved colour than the Smith Haut Lafitte. Also a more evolved bouquet with dry underbrush, tobacco and spices accompanying the dark cherry, blackberry and crème de cassis. Some Margaux lift on the nose. On palate, a much better, more accessible Bordeaux on the night. All of the components there now. A generous palate with racy acidity, resolved tannins and palate complexity and detail. Satiny mouthfeel. Getting into its optimal window now. I often find that at this type of age, I prefer lesser vintages from the top Bordeaux houses ...
Wayne opened and decanted his wine three hours earlier. A lovely bouquet of cooked meat juices, black spices, dark berries, new leather and dark chocolate. Drinking it blind, I guessed the wine as a 1998 Left Bank Bordeaux. A classy, but quite young drinking Bordeaux, that ideally needs another 10 years. Spherical, well integrated, silky tannins. For such ripe fruit (that made me think of 1998), there is excellent balance and acidity here. Graphite, blackberries, high cacao chocolate, black plums and espresso, wrapped around a compact ferrous core. An austerity at its heart which I would expect to mellow with some serious cellar time.
A primary, dark colour. A pure nose, less expressive than the La Fleur, of blackcurrant, minerals and spices. Quite linear. With a little time a tarry, olive tapenade note emerged. On palate, the wine is only medium bodied at most, but presently a lot more accessible than many 2000 Bordeaux. I liked the crisp, elevated acidity (or perhaps it the acidity was more prominent due to the lack of fruit weight). I thought of it as a bit of an old fashioned, English-type Claret. Drinking it blind, Wayne thought he saw some Merlot softness and plumpness to the wine (although it's only 8% Merlot), but did correctly pick the vintage. Resolved tannins, however, not a lot of flavour complexity. Relatively open now, drink in the next 10-15 years.
2000 Château Smith Haut Lafitte
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Served blind. Deep purple red colour. Aromas of spices, cedar, cigar box, black currants and camphor. Clearly a Cabernet Sauvignon predominant nose. In the mouth, dense, unctuous and very primary. Very tight, the fruit sturdy and presently a bit monolithic. Focussed, linear and long. Deep, dark fruit: cassis, prunes and black plums. A full throttle wine with, I would think, great material. It just needs another 8-10 years in the cellar, at the minimum.
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1997 Château Palmer
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Served blind. A more evolved colour than the Smith Haut Lafitte. Also a more evolved bouquet with dry underbrush, tobacco and spices accompanying the dark cherry, blackberry and crème de cassis. Some Margaux lift on the nose. On palate, a much better, more accessible Bordeaux on the night. All of the components there now. A generous palate with racy acidity, resolved tannins and palate complexity and detail. Satiny mouthfeel. Getting into its optimal window now. I often find that at this type of age, I prefer lesser vintages from the top Bordeaux houses ...
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1998 Château La Fleur-Pétrus
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Wayne opened and decanted his wine three hours earlier. A lovely bouquet of cooked meat juices, black spices, dark berries, new leather and dark chocolate. Drinking it blind, I guessed the wine as a 1998 Left Bank Bordeaux. A classy, but quite young drinking Bordeaux, that ideally needs another 10 years. Spherical, well integrated, silky tannins. For such ripe fruit (that made me think of 1998), there is excellent balance and acidity here. Graphite, blackberries, high cacao chocolate, black plums and espresso, wrapped around a compact ferrous core. An austerity at its heart which I would expect to mellow with some serious cellar time.
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2000 Château Durfort-Vivens
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
A primary, dark colour. A pure nose, less expressive than the La Fleur, of blackcurrant, minerals and spices. Quite linear. With a little time a tarry, olive tapenade note emerged. On palate, the wine is only medium bodied at most, but presently a lot more accessible than many 2000 Bordeaux. I liked the crisp, elevated acidity (or perhaps it the acidity was more prominent due to the lack of fruit weight). I thought of it as a bit of an old fashioned, English-type Claret. Drinking it blind, Wayne thought he saw some Merlot softness and plumpness to the wine (although it's only 8% Merlot), but did correctly pick the vintage. Resolved tannins, however, not a lot of flavour complexity. Relatively open now, drink in the next 10-15 years.
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