Blind Bordeaux tasting

We are tasting a selection of low-to-mid-priced Bordeaux of various recent vintages (mainly 2005s) along with one ringer. We tasted in three flights and then went back around for a second taste afterward. Ch. Tour Saint Bonnet was also tasted in flight 2 from a different bottle.

• 2005 Château Pipeau 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Decanted for 30 minutes and poured back into bottle. Subtle dark cherry, liquorice, really expressive nose. Good body with medium tannins, high acidity. Well structured. Definitely better second time around (over an hour later). Would like to see how it develops with even more air. I plan to hold onto my other bottles for a bit. Very good QPR @ $22.

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• 2005 Château Puygueraud 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux

  Bloody nose with some dark fruit. Quite tannic still. Medium finish. 88+

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• 2005 Château Tour St Bonnet 86 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc

  Tasted two bottles as part of blind tasting. Notes consistent between bottles.
  
  Nose was a bit weak and somewhat hot, but this was probably because the room, and thus wine, was too warm. The palate was quite bloody/rusty, and at the end it had a bit of a metallic taste. Good acidity, good tannins. Just OK. Bottles I have consumed earlier were much better. Time to drink up. 85-86

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• 2005 Château Moulin Haut-Laroque 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Fronsac

  Coffee on nose. Quite strong tannins (hard to taste anything beyond this for me), good acidity. Well-structured. This will continue to improve for a while.

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• 2003 Ty Caton Cabernet Sauvignon Caton Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

  Ringer of a blind Bordeaux tasting and best wine of the night. Really deep, expressive nose, full of fruit but also something else I couldn't place. Great mouthfeel and structure. Well-balanced tannins and medium finish. This is drinking very well now. An excellent wine.

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• 2003 Château Beaulieu Comtes de Tastes 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur

  Very nice nose, well-balanced, body a little thin. Medium finish. At first taste 90+, but after some air it seemed to fall apart (nose became dominated by nail polish). Something to pop and pour; drink up now.

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• 2005 Château Haut Nadeau Réserve du Propriétaire 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur

  Surprisingly good for the price ($8.50). It beat out most of the wines in a blind Bordeaux tasting. Very nice nose w/ good fruit, bloody palate, strong tannins. Much better than the previous bottle. 88-9+

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The ringer, the Ty Caton Napa Cab, was rated best wine of the night. That may be because it is more approachable now, as many of the wines needed more air/age. The biggest surprise was how well the $8.50 Ch. Haut-Nadeau did, as it beat out almost all the other, more expensive wines. (It was tied for second with the Ch. Beaulieu.)