Bordeaux 2009 Part 2, Grains Nobles
Tasted June 7, 2010 by Bradford with 671 views
Introduction
This was a lovely tasting led by Bernard Burtschy. He was informative, witty, and personable. The setting was perfect, in a moldy stone cave in the Latin Quarter. This is my first ever en primeur tasting, so all notes should be taken with a grain of salt. My palate was virtually gone by the time I got to wine 35 or so. Too much swishing in the beginning. Generally I found the wines "ripe" (the word is all over my tasting notes). The best wines were "rich" without that cooked prune aspect. The top wines were distinguished by incredibly elegant tannins. Comparing, for instance, Marquis de Terme and Lascombes was very informative. The former was beautiful, long, rich, and enjoyalbe even at this young stage. Lascombes was ripe, disjointed, and harsh, but somehow still undeniably delicious. The stickies were gorgeous. Guiraud, I thought, was clearly superior to Doisy-Daene, but I prefer a fresher sweet wine, so it comes down to preference. [just one more note: there was a flight of six whites and two cru bourgeois to start, but I lost my sheet. Notes are from memory, with most wines missing.]
Flight 1 - White (2 notes)
White
2009 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Very pure entry, quite linear green streak is surrounded by beautiful assortment of peach, lemon-lime and toast. Licorice quality to the tannins. This was somehow "better" that the SHL, but not quite as delicious. 92+
Flight 2 - Supérieur (2 notes)
Red
2009 Château de Reignac Balthus
France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur
Very dark and oily. Blueberry, prune, oak on the nose. Very tasty fruit but too ripe, intense tannins.
Flight 3 - Pomerol (4 notes)
Red
2009 Château La Fleur de Boüard
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lalande de Pomerol
Some pretty oak, but lots of it. Very dark, black fruit with nice lift on the nose. A bit ripe but with reassuring tannic structure.
Red
2009 Château Bourgneuf
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Port-like on the nose, with violet and black fruit. Green quality to the mid-palate, poivron vert, black pepper. A strange wine.
Red
2009 Château Rouget
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Very ripe on the nose, spoiled port (?). Lots of wood. Blackberries and prune, alcoholic finish. Bitter.
Red
2009 Château Le Gay Pomerol
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Cassis, blueberry and oak on the nose. Complex entry, coffee, dark chocolate, soft tannins and a very pure, linear finish. Nice.
Flight 4 - St. Emilion (3 notes)
Red
2009 Château La Tour Figeac
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Too ripe on the nose with a bread-like quality, and prune. Some nice blackberry on the mid-palate, chocolate, with tannins that somehow charm the back-end of the tongue. Not bad, considering the overly ripe aromatics. 87+
Red
2009 Château de Pressac
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Ripe nose, good black and red fruits, dark chocolate, warming tannins, but somehow simple.
Red
2009 Château Grand Mayne
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Rich nose smelling of cedar and cutting board. Prune and black fruit. Certainly mature and little simple, but with charming, fine grained tannins.
Closing
I don't think I'll be buying 2009, but the tasting was very fun, and some wines were downright delicious. My eyes are set on 08, which I have yet to taste, but seems to be my style from the pro notes....
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