Coravin fun - Chateau Batailley/Cellatracker in the flesh with ninetails

Andrew swung by to join me trying a vertical of Chateau Batailley and to get his head around Pauillac plus a few other random Bordeaux that he dragged over and I had the pleasure to try

The 96 and the 00 were rather nice...another disappointing 03 though

• 1996 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Wet earth, forest floor, slightly creamy notes, a little horse shit, brambles, very slight bonfire, blackcurrant, tiny touch of cassis and chocolate. Juicy, fleshy, fruit more to the fore on the palate, cedary tannins are slightly drying, raspy, meaty notes on the finish, long, lovely.

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• 2000 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Slightly oxidised, meaty notes, plenty of spice here as well as wet clay, caramel, biscuit, porcini, almost a little tomato leaf with dark hued fruits hovering in the background, gets more creamy and lactic with time, that slightly oxidised note on the palate as well. Medium plus intensity acidity is juicy, plenty of lovely, grippy, cedar texture, the stave soaked with blackcurrant, cassis and sprinkled with baking spice, tertiary notes encroach on the finish lending complexity. Long. Yum.

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• 2003 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Raisined and slightly dried out, cooked fruits, dusty spices and baked earth, almost a touch of roasted red capsicum here as well as cedar, a little nail varnish remover with time a smidge of porcini, blood and iron. Medium plus intensity acidity married to those baked fruits, tannins here a slightly unripe chalky quality, touch bitter on the finish, not one of the better 03's I've tried.

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The 05 needs time for me, the others were a little 'hmm' for me

• 2005 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Brambles, earth, Autumn copse, mulchy leaves, touch of wet chalk, cigar box, leather, sweet spice, cedar, slightly dusty spice, fades a little with time. In the mouth it's juicy, savoury, meaty, a little mushroom, leather, dark fruits have a little sour quality, tannins are super abundant, drying but integrated long, it's a little 'thick' at the moment, clumsy almost. Time?

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• 2006 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Medium minus intensity aromas of biscuit, red and blackberry, a little red cherry note, cedar, sweet spice, very slight alcohol prickle, tiny dusty notes, slight closed, with time the fruit gets a little jam over compote quality. Sourly juicy tends to medium plus intensity acidity, red and blackberry, woody drying tannins are coarse sand paper textured, rasping the mid palate. Quite tart as well and finishes and a touch bitter. Meh today.

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• 2008 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Slightly ashy green pyrazine note, green capsicum, brambly fruit, sweet spice, cedar, slightly cassis and cream here as well, fruit gets prettier with time, nice nose. Juicy & fleshy, the green ashy note translates to the palate with the brambly fruit which has a slightly red berry underpin, tannins are a talc textured intrusion on the mid palate, simple, a little short but balanced. Okay.

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• 2009 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Slight baked and jammy black plum fruit, slightly metallic notes, a touch of blood, a little mint, cedar, dusty baking spices, liquorice. More of the same on the palate with alcohol warmth, concentrated dark fruits, a little milk chocolate, integrated tannins offer a powdery burr with a smidge of black coffee bitterness on the finish with some non intrusive alcohol warmth. Hmm; palate nicer than the nose

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A couple I liked here but the 19 felt a bit too much

• 2010 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Dark hued fruits; brambles, fresh blackcurrant, plums, sweet spice, cedar, a little plain chocolate, slightly leather. Lovely nose. Medium plus intensity acidity, cedar, brambles and blackcurrant, slightly plum, savoury spice, leather, touch meaty, plenty of cedary texture. Alcohol warmth helps carry the finish long, time for more tertiary. Bold. Now with a decant.

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• 2011 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Earth, brambles, slight red berries underpin, cedar, very slightly leathery notes and tobacco leaf. Salted liquorice, violet, pretty nose. Juicy, fleshy, balanced; brambly fruit with a very slight leathery underpin, a little red liquorice, silky super persistent tannins. Finishes with a lactic creaminess. Yum.

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• 2019 Château Batailley

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From Coravin. Fruit tea, baked black fruits, cedar, sweet spice, alcohol prickle, black liquorice. Thick and a little jammy and hot on the palate, medium plus intensity acidity, lots of alcohol warmth on the finish accompanying quite bitter and astringent tannins. Not for me.

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pity about the grubbiness in the SM but, without that, it might have ended up like the CS. Annoying about DdSM on the palate

• 1986 Château Sociando-Mallet

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  From Coravin. Damp cellar stink, fruit tea, a little rhubarb, meaty and savoury underpin, perhaps a touch of cork taint as well, time will tell. Juicy, with plenty of chalky tannins, meaty, savoury red hued fruits, a little earth, less cellar stink on the palate, touch of red fruit cordial tangy, interesting...oh, that cork taint wasn't cork taint, just a bit of grubbiness.

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• 1986 Château Chasse-Spleen

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Moulis en Médoc

  From Coravin. Red and blackberry fruit, bramble, leather, a little meaty savoury underpin here as well, touch alcohol warmth, pretty nose with a touch of rhubarb. More of the same on the palate, acidity just the right side of tart, grippy drying tannins have a slightly chalky underpin, surprisingly simple.

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• 2002 Château Sociando-Mallet La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

  From Coravin. Brambles, biscuit and rusk, earth, a little pyrazine, plums, touch of baking spice, nice nose. Acid is a little tart on the palate, fruit muted and skinny, grippy tannins are drying. Plenty after the nose.

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Well this was an annoyingly pleasing bracket to finish with. Yummo

• 2016 Domaine de L'Aurage

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

  From Coravin. Slight alcohol prickle, a savoury mineral note, almost with a touch of oyster shell salinity. With extreme agitation a touch of red plum, wet clay/earth, tiny tomato & tomato leaf, and fruit lozenge, rhubarb and cream. Juicy, fleshy, broad, silky tannins, pretty fruit is in the jubey lozenge spectrum, a little salty minerality here as well. Interesting, nice

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• 2017 Tertre Rôteboeuf

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  From Coravin. Slight fruit tea and black tea, brambles, plums, touch of brett, a little red berry, slight herbaceous notes, smidge of alcohol warmth, fruit has a 'compote on the way to jam' quality, sweet baking spice, polished. Nice nose. Juicy, fleshy, fresh, surprisingly so given the slightly encroaching alcohol warmth, dark fruits less delineated but showing black over red here, super persistent tannins are coarse flour textured, a little chocolate, very long, a little raspberry compote note on the finish with a tiny astringency that keeps things interesting. Yum.

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Great to try one of the (arguably?) lesser Pauillac wines - for me it's the first growths, the super seconds e.g. Lynch Bages, then wines like GPL and then these guys.

The outringers were also a lot of fun. The L'Aurage was very interesting and enjoyable