Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
Académie des Cinquante Bordeaux visit
Tasted September 26, 2012 - September 29, 2012 by Xavier Auerbach with 998 views
Flight 1 - Drinks and Dinner at Café Opera in Bordeaux (3 notes)
White
2009 Jegher Graves Blanc
88 points
Well-made Graves, good fruit and freshness, nice vegetal notes, well-judged oak, good length.
Red
2004 Château Haut-Bailly
92 points
Balance, style, satiny, seductive, hint of coffee, a wonderful floral quality, elegant, medium-weight, seamless. A very lovely example of the finesse and intensity of Haut-Bailly. There was some bottle variation though, with two other bottles being (slightly) bretty.
Flight 2 - Visit of Château Pontet-Canet (1 note)
Red
2011 Château Pontet-Canet
92 points
Echantillon prélevé le 25 Septembre 2012. Final assemblage not determined yet. Charming, seductive, floral; wonderful fruit, great purity and balance, silky, elegant tannins.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 3 - Visit of Château Pichon-Longueville Baron (4 notes)
Red
2010 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
95 points
Absolutely wonderful, complex, complete, with weight, style, balance, energy, superb tannins; a great classic in the making.
Red
2011 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
92 points
Echantillon prélevé 27 September 2012 from the final assemblage. 82% Cabernet-Sauvignon and 18% Merlot. Very classic Pauillac, excellent blackberry fruit, well-structured and well-balanced, polished, good length.
Red
2009 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
94 points
Incredibly seductive, ripe fruit, classic structure sheathed in luscious flesh, floral, fragrant, long.
Red
2005 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
94 points
Starting to develop some meaty notes, not quite as impressive as last December but it has an excellent structure and opens up with some aeration. Wait 5 years.
Flight 4 - Lunch at Le Lion d'Or in Arcins (2 notes)
White
2010 Ginestet Graves Blanc Les Croix Blanches
84 points
Simple but nice enough, hint of sweets, slightly vegetal, light commercial.
Red
2004 Château Giscours
92 points
Deep colour; excellent Giscours typicity on the nose, no greenness, good ripe fruit; lovely energy and balance, medium weight, good intensity and minerality, quite tannic but this does not dissonate, opens up well; good length. A very good 2004.
Flight 5 - Visit of Château Léoville-Poyferré (3 notes)
Red
2011 Château Léoville Poyferré
92 points
Seems toastier than both the Pontet-Canet and the Pichon-Baron, seductive, balanced, grainy and velvety tannins, classic Saint-Julien structure, elegant, fleshy, hint of cedar, good length.
Red
2007 Château Moulin Riche
88 points
Merlot dominated, relatively fleshy but elegant and without greenness, well-balanced, nice length. Showing well.
Red
2006 Château Léoville Poyferré
93 points
Wonderful nose, an essence of blackcurrants, liquoreux, medium weight, velvety, lovely tannins, excellent balance and length.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 6 - Tasting and Dinner at Château du Tertre (8 notes)
Red
2011 Château du Tertre
91 points
Echantillon prélevé 27 September 2012. 65% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot. Assemblage almost final. Violets, tobacco, generous, lovely ripe tannins, pure, precise, seductive, nice balance and length, a lovely and cheerful wine.
Red
2011 Château Giscours
91 points
Blackcurrant, very good typicity, more masculine than Du Tertre as it should be, marries good depth and tannic structure to Margaux charm.
Red
2010 Château du Tertre
92 points
Cabernet Sauvignon 60%, Merlot 25%, 15% Cabernet Franc. Silky, precise, tannins present but wonderfully integrated, excellent acidity, great finesse and elegance. Very charming.
Red
2010 Château Giscours
93 points
Precise, excellent energy and tannic presence, a great Giscours reminiscent of the 1970 and the 1961.
Red
2007 Caiarossa Caiarossa Toscana IGT
91 points
Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc (30%), Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache. Biodynamic. Ripe fruit, velvety, hint of tar, excellent balance, quite modern, young but drinking very well.
Red
2005 Château du Tertre
92 points
Complete and classic Du Tertre, good depth and weight, hasn't closed down at all, opens up very fragrantly, rapsberry fruit and pepperiness, lovely sweetness, well-integrated tannins, charming, generous.
Red
2000 Château Giscours
93 points
Wonderful wine, elegance, finesse, excellent Giscours-typicity, ripe fruit, velvety tannins, depth and precision, excellent length.
Red
1983 Château Giscours
90 points
Double-Magnum from the cellars of the Château. Very fragrant, perfumed, raspberry, elegant, fresh menthol, balanced, lovely tannic presence, tobacco. Showing very well but even from this grand format with impeccable provenance now a fragile wine.
Flight 7 - Visit of Château La Mission Haut-Brion (2 notes)
Red
2007 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
91 points
Paired with Haut-Brion 2007. Black fruit and earth, some toasty oak but this disappears with air, perfume, darker notes than Haut-Brion; just a bit light on the palate, better than the bottle tasted in December 2011; good length, touch of vanilla. Does not justify its price tag this vintage.
Red
2007 Château Haut-Brion
94 points
Paired with La Mission Haut-Brion 2007. Wonderful nose, excellent Haut-Brion typicity, fragrant, pure, warm, complex, earthy, bricky, floral, red fruit, layered, hardly any oak noticeable; more finesse than its sibling and more flesh and fruit on the palate too, excellent phenolic ripeness; very good length, lovely red fruit, an altogether delicious wine.
Flight 8 - Guided Tour of the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin and lunch, both with Denis Dubourdieu and Serge Delrot (4 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
2007 Château Doisy-Daëne
92 points
Excellent ripe sweet fruit both fresh and preserved, apricot, grapefruit and pineapple, good rôti, hardly any VA; elegant rather than big and rich, purity and precision, medium-sweet, fresh but I would have liked a bit more cut; drinking very well on its primary fruit.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
White
2009 Clos Floridene Blanc
88 points
Hard to taste directly after Doisy-Daène 2007. Solid Graves to drink now.
Red
2007 Château Haura
87 points
Good depth of colour; good red fruit, slightly smoky, hint of burnt toast; attractive sweetness on the palate, nice stuffing but slightly drying tannins; decent length.
Red
2007 Château Haut-Bailly
89 points
Good colour; relatively dark notes, black fruit, slight vegetal note; attractive sweetness on the palate, slight edge to the acidity and drying tannins. Seems to lack the typical delicacy and harmony of Haut-Bailly in this vintage, comes across as slightly overworked.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 9 - Visit of Château Cheval Blanc (1 note)
Red
2006 Château Cheval Blanc
92 points
Good colour, slightly maturing rim; initially still a bit closed on the nose, quite oaky (low toast), opens up to a fresh, Cabernet Franc dominated nose, peppery and with sweet raspberry fruit, lovely depth and minerality; richly tannic, medium weight, still very hard but the balance seems to be allright even if it does not have a lot of flesh, typical 2006-freshness; good but not exceptional length. A difficult wine. It is clearly very closed but I wonder.
Flight 10 - Dinner with the Académie du Vin de Bordeaux at Château Gazin (5 notes)
White - Sparkling
N.V. Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier
91 points
A lovely marriage of richness and freshness, fruit and style and very characteristic for the house.
White
2008 Château Malartic-Lagravière Blanc
91 points
Elegance, finesse, balance, relatively light weight, a very stylish wine with very elegant use of oak, lovely ripe fruit and some vegetal notes.
Red
1989 Château Gazin Pomerol
91 points
Magnum. The heat of the vintage provides lovely meaty (beef stew) and spicy notes, good fruit and complexity, fully mature but energetic and lively, stylish, beautifully melting tannins, good length. Drink now but with time in hand.
Red
1985 Château Larcis Ducasse
88 points
Fully mature, sticky cherries, touch of caramel, nice depth, some spice, lovely aroma; slightly drying on the palate but still well-balanced, nice mature flavours; decent length. Drink up.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2008 Château Nairac
89 points
Only 450 cases made. Relatively light, elegant, lemon, vanilla, spice, little botrytis, medium-sweet, nice length.
Flight 11 - Visit of Clos Fourtet (1 note)
Red
2006 Clos Fourtet
93 points
Merlot 90%, Cabernet-Sauvignon 10%, 80% new oak, 34 hl/ha. Medium colour, charming and lively; open, fragrant, beguiling nose, very elegant complex sweet red and black fruit, floral, perfumed; fresh, excellent limestone minerality, seamless, pure, slender, tannins present but not overpowering. Needs two more years. A very impressive Clos Fourtet. Drink 2014 - 2020.
2 people found this helpful
Comment
Flight 12 - Tour and lunch at Château Figeac (4 notes)
White - Sparkling
1999 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé
91 points
Lovely fresh style, citrus and apple, tilleul, just a hint of nuttiness, characteristic Laurent-Perrier, excellent aperitif.
Red
2003 Château la Fleur Pourret
90 points
Fleshy and ripe but with a lovely freshness, red fruit (no confiture), ripe tannins, creamy, good length. A successful and balanced 2003.
Red
1996 La Grange Neuve de Figeac
90 points
Light style, lovely minerality, completely mature but lively, opens up well with some air, bay leaf, raspberry, elegant and stylish, bien fondu tannins, good length with a hint of coffee.
Red
1993 Château Figeac
91 points
Good colour; surprising depth on the nose, black fruit and raspberries, cedar, excellent minerality, opens up very well in the glass; very lively and balanced palate, still completely integrated and harmonious, perhaps slightly dry and cool (it is a 1993) but with very good length. A remarkable 1993, a great surprise and a wonderful finale for our trip.