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Bordeaux Blends Around the World
Manhattan Beach, CA
Tasted September 20, 2012 by cabber with 650 views
Introduction
Thursday "school-night" wine tasting. 10 bottles of Bordeaux blends from France, Italy, Australia, Chile, California, Washington. Single blind. Some decanted up to 12 hours.
Flight 1 (10 notes)
Red
2006 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard
97 points
Decanted 4 hours. Wow - I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but this was fantastic. Beautiful nose of cedar and spice. Harmonious blackberry and cherry fruit. Nice balance, long finish. Built to be great for a long time.
Red
2004 Viña Almaviva S.A. Almaviva
96 points
Decanted 12 hours. Elegant nose, ripe fruit and perfect balance. Beautiful.
Red
1996 Château Cos d'Estournel
95 points
Splash decanted and served. Very nice. Exactly what one would expect from this wine. Fine tannins, minerality and good acidity, all in balance. Loved it.
Red
2003 Château Léoville Poyferré
95 points
Splash decanted and served. Very ripe fruit, earthy nose. Surprisingly drinkable at this stage. Not sure it will hold up over time, but tastes great now.
Red
2000 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia
95 points
Splash decanted. Terrific wine. Garnet color. Integrated black and red fruit. Tobacco, spice and silky smooth. Drank late when my tastebuds were shot and still this was delicious.
Red
2001 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
94 points
Decanted and served. Nice fruit and balance. Big nose. Getting better and better in the glass as it opened up.
Red
2005 Andrew Will Sorella
92 points
Decanted 12 hours. Big, rich wine. Blueberry pie. A bit flabby and unstructured. i liked it overall, but others were underwhelmed.
Red
2005 Château Lascombes
91 points
Decanted over 12 hours. Very tight and tannic. Not showing much fruit. Hopefully just in a closed stage now. Was opening up a bit in the glass over the course of the evening. Try again in a few years.
Red
2001 Henry's Drive Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
89 points
Splash decanted and served. A bit of a fruit bomb. I like this style sometimes, but not with the more subtle blends we were tasting this evening.
Red
2007 Gemstone G
Decanted 12 hours. I thought this would open up after a good long decant - Wrong. Very tight and tannic. I think this has the potential to be very good, but hard to tell at this point. A little disappointing but mea culpa for opening so young. I'm not rating it.
Closing
All of the wines were very good, although some were too young. The wines that stood out as exceptional included the Almaviva, Cos D'estournel, Araujo, and Poyferre.