Community Tasting Note

• Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 99 points

  August 20, 2022 - Had this alongside a 2019 Ausone. While the Ausone showed best at PnP, the Mouton hit its stride around hour 3 in the decanter. There was a magical window at that point, and then by hour 6 it had completely shutdown.
  
  A fabulous vintage for this wine. Displayed soaring aromas of creme de cassis, white flowers, sweet tobacco, asian spices and wet stone. For a Bordeaux, this is very opulent, with ripe tannins that are almost immediately hemmed in by significant structure and excellent levels of acidity. For the brief time when the fruit was allowed to come out and play, this was spectacular, showing insane purity and incredible persistence as it danced around on the palate. Even in a more showy vintage, the sophistication, elegance and polish set it apart from nearly all other wines. Absolutely loved it, but it's going to be a challenge to find the right drinking window if you kill this baby.

  6 people found this helpful 9,216 views

12 Comments

• WineBurrowingWombat commented:

  8/20/22, 11:54 AM - What a great side by side, thanks for the great notes!

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/20/22, 1:43 PM - Thanks WBW. It was fun, that's for sure!

• NickRut commented:

  8/20/22, 3:40 PM - Didn’t even realize 19 mouton had come out. Had a 18 about 2 months ago that showed a ton of promise. Pretty sure you opening a 19 already hurt some feelings. Great review. First growth wines make me think I could get into bdx more.

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  8/20/22, 4:27 PM - Cristal - very cool H2H. Nice to see you looking East. Mouton is probably my favorite first growth stylistically with the others jumping in and out vintage dependent .
  
  Interesting your comment aroind ‘19 being a showy vintage as I would have figured 2018/2020 are more showy (your comment makes me happy as I enjoy a more modern vintage over rusticity. Cheers

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/20/22, 6:10 PM - Nick: I'm all about hurting feelings on CT. :) It was quite an experiment with the wines so young. I am still not 100% sold on heavy BDX buying, but there are a number of gems out there. This was one of them. It's really a challenge to figure out how to open and decant them...not only with super young vintages, but with most. That part can be annoying, because you can just waste a bottle pretty easily.

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/20/22, 6:12 PM - Lite: I was surprised by the opulence of both these wines. It certainly is more compelling than the overly structured, acidic and downright austere vintages that I am familiar with from previous failed attempts at enjoying BDX.

• LiteItOnFire commented:

  8/20/22, 6:14 PM - Cristal- yeah that’s how all my Bordeaux experiences were up until 6-7 years ago when I went deep and kind of figured it all out. Will be fun to try some together.

• Hendmo commented:

  8/20/22, 9:08 PM - Great note, thanks Cristal!
  
  I've wasted more than a few BDX opening them during the "dumb" phase, but I'm slowly getting better at timing things, and quality BDX is exquisite once you find the sweet spot. Cellar Tracker tasting notes are super helpful for this, and I also try to open them up gently as they can get grumpy if raised from slumber too quickly ;)
  
  At least 10-20 years old (depending on vintage/quality) and then 2-3hours to breath in the bottle, and 2hrs in the decanter is my go to method.

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/21/22, 7:57 AM - Thanks for the advice Hendmo. I was definitely aware these wines were too young, but that was part of the fun!

• Hendmo commented:

  8/21/22, 6:00 PM - I’m also keen to try a few on the young side before they close down, if only so I can understand the professionals tasting notes better and know what to look for / can compare and contrast over time, but I’m too scared to waste a precious bottle! What’s your experience? Worth it/not worth it and how enjoyable are these great wines in the early years?

• Cristal2000 commented:

  8/22/22, 8:58 AM - I am old hat with Napa cabs, a bit newer to the scene with BDX. These wines are a lot more tricky to get in the right spot. I tend to prefer energy and depth of fruit over old and perfectly integrated, so for my palate taking a shot early is half the fun. I guess it just depends on what you like, but I will always try to get in a taste before they close down. Cheers!

• Hendmo commented:

  8/22/22, 8:33 PM - Thanks - interesting to get a Napa perspective! I read somewhere the French drink their wines on young side too, so maybe I’m missing a trick after all 😀

Add a Comment