The Grand Tour - day nine

Bordeaux
Tasted Tuesday, October 10, 2017 by chatters with 364 views

Introduction

today was Cos d'Estournel, Phelan Segur and Leoville Las Cases

Flight 1 - Cos d'Estournel (3 Notes)

A slightly less than wooden guide shows us around, avoids a few of my more direct questions and serves us a few wines.

  • 2012 Goulée

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc

    Plum over blackcurrant, slight cream, sweet spice and slight flint and struck match, Juicy acidity. A little hard for me, plummy fruit is a little sour….might be because first of the day…tannins are chalky. Meh.

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

  • 2011 Les Pagodes de Cos

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Slightly dusty and sulphurous though with time it opens to reveal cream, sweet plum and slightly muted cassis. Quite juicy, savoury tannins are a little gritty and bite down on the plummy fruit. Hmm.

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

  • 2008 Château Cos d'Estournel

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Slightly polished blackcurrant and otuches of crushed rock, perfumed violets, slightly sweet tobacco. Fleshy and juicy, the fruit is initially pretty and sweet and then, for me, things get quite mineral and I find the tannins a little hard and oaky. With agitation the fruit becomes even more blackcurrant and forward on the palate. Needs an awful lot of time.

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

Flight 2 - Phelan Segur (11 Notes)

tasting then lunch (Salmon. Veal, Chocolate tart) with Veronica who is a charming host. A really splendid time for all...

  • 2010 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Blackcurrant and crushed rock, concentrated and touches of black cherry, a little vanilla and sweet spice. Juicy, spicy, savoury black fruit; again cherry and black currant. Tannins are big and tight and lend the fruit a liquorice note. Yummy.

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

  • 2011 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Very slight herbaceous notes over savoury blackcurrant and brambles, a touch of farmyard for me as well as some vanilla. Juicy, a little savoury, quite wet, fruit is a little muted and the tannins are a little softer textured than I would have expected but are still drying and tight. Muted fruit persists. Pleasant.

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

  • 2012 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Fruit forward, dusty spice and more cherry than blackcurrant, cream and vanilla. Very primary. Juicy acidity but, again, fruit forward. Tannins are tight but, again, softer in texture than I would have expected which makes this quaffable and approachable despite relative youth.

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

  • 2014 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Confected and slightly jammy black fruits…tending to currant rather than cherry. Juicy and fruit forward with ripe blackcurrant, spiced and a little more breadth than the 2012. Tannins are tighter and more grippy and dense than the 11 or 12. Needs time.

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

  • 2016 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Pretty and floral with lovely soft berry fruit, still a little sulphur with cream, polished oak and spice. Liquorice rather than fruit initially on the palate, tannins are closing things down and are a little woody and toasty. Fruit is present beneath this. Balanced but, unsurprisingly, needs a few years. Shows great promise.

    Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2017 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Cabernet Franc. Tomato and tomato leaf, herbaceous over red berry and a bit of meatiness. Hasn't undergone malolactic fermentation

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

  • 2017 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Merlot. That same meaty scent but this time over soft plummy fruit. Tannins are quite drying.

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

  • 2017 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Cabernet Sauvignon. Less meaty than the Cabernet Franc or Merlot. Cherry, pyrazine and alcoholic fermentation. Very acidic. Tight tannins that are exceedingly drying. A bit of fruit and a bit of crushed rock and a bit of green leaf.

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

  • 2009 Château Phélan Ségur Frank Phelan

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Blackcurrant compote, sweet spice, slightly wet and earthy. Savoury and rocky, fruit a little muted on the palate. Tannins are bold and tight. Hmm.

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

  • 2005 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Blackcurrant, spice, slight leather, earth and cigar box, crushed rock. Slightly dusty. Juicy, savoury but with ripe fruit, taninns are tight but softening and lends a liquorice notes. Wine travels very long. Still needs time for me.

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

  • 1990 Château Phélan Ségur

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Served blind and my lucky string continues as I picked this - it did taste like my limited experience of 1990 though, interestingly enough. Leather and slightly meaty, soft fruits but fully mature, gamey, tannins are still present but fine and fully resolved. Some sweet spice with touches of sous bois. lovely

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

Flight 3 - Leoville Las Cases (4 Notes)

Very interesting walk around with the technical director and a rather splendid tasting at the end!

  • 2009 Château Nenin

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Plums, cream, vanilla, quite polished and buttery. There is a little stone fruit sweetness here as well oddly enough as well as a tiny touch of yeast extract. It's more savoury and spiced on the palate, a little reductive with muted plummy fruit, tannins are grippy and it feels a little warm. Nose is better than the palate. Meh.

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

  • 2005 Château Potensac

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc

    Meaty, cheesy and funky, black fruits, leather, perhaps a little forward for the vintage with some chalkiness on the nose. Quite drying taninns over slightly muted black fruit other than a certain leatheryness the tertiary characteristics do not translate to the palate, very savoury. Hmm.

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

  • 2009 Clos du Marquis

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Earthy almost red currant fruit over black here, some sweet plum and spice as well as polished and perfumed oak. Creamy and rich on the palate, fruit forward though and all hanging on a firm tannic backbone, quite spiced as well. Rather well balanced and a lot nicer than I (vaguely ) remember

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

  • 2005 Château Léoville Las Cases

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    soft nose but still very fruit forward, black currant and berry also touches of red berry as well. Juicy, soft but wonderfully cabernet focussed with both elements of sauvignon and franc. Eminently approachable and easy. Tannins are softly textured but present and act as a vehicle to carry the fruit. Pretty handy.

    Read 2 Comments / Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 4 - Brasserie Bordelais (3 Notes)

entrée - charcuterie selection - pretty good then entrecote steak with a bucket load of veg...

  • 2015 Jean-Marie Bouzereau Meursault Les Narvaux

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

    Soft peach, butter, cream, very slight vanilla. Same on the palate, quite soft but none the worse for that. Easy and enjoyable….Oh, by soft I mean lacking in a little acidity

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

  • 2007 Château Fourcas Hosten

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Listrac-Médoc

    funky with plenty of horse shit initially that blows off with agitation of the glass. Leather, black cherry, tannins are resolved , slight oak and soft, almost tarragon, notes. Easy but a bit funky and, for it's age, a bit more forward than I'd expect.

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

  • 2011 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Chocolate and coconut, muted plummy fruit, cinnamon, spice. Very soft on the palate. After time some biscuit and, oddly enough, petroleum & slight leather all join the original aromas

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

Closing

Cos was a bit meh but Phelan and Leoville LC were both excellent...Other than a couple of badly stored 97's at a tasting a couple of years ago my experiences with Leoville Las Cases are exceedingly favourable...hmm

×
×