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Sunday Brown Bag Tasting: 2003 Bordeaux
Mike & Judi's
Tasted July 14, 2013 by AllRed with 776 views
Introduction
As is our tradition with the Sunday group, we start with a couple of warm up whites provided by the hosts. Today we tasted poolside, and a cool breeze and some shade made sure that the wines and tasters remained comfortable. The wines for the main flight are chosen by the hosts, no one else knows what is being poured. Nonblind dinner and dessert wines follow and are shown in the order tasted. There were twelve tasters for today's event, joined by a few more friends for dinner. Cost of the tasting was $45.
Flight 1 - Warm ups (2 notes)
White
2012 Domaine les Grands Bois Viognier Côtes du Rhône Blanc
Pale color with notes of peach blossoms and florals with a green apple overtone. Bright acidity; green apple note dominates other palate ending with an odd earthy/clay note on the finish.
White
2010 Le Paradou Viognier
Green apple and citrus aromas followed by apple and pear flavors on the palate. Picks up a cotton note too which had some leaning toward Chenin.
Flight 2 - Themed flight (8 notes)
Served double blind, in the order tasted. As a group, we were all over the place with this flight in terms of our rankings. The top three wines had no last place votes, but the first place wine had three 7th place votes. The d'Aiguilhe, which ended up in 6th place, had at least one vote in each place, 1st through 8th!
I thought we had a mix of 2003 California Cabernets and Bordeaux. There were a couple that were obviously Bordeaux, and a few I thought obviously California with the coffee and chocolate notes, so I was a bit surprised to see that these were all from Bordeaux. Tasting blind is always a humbling experience.
Red
2003 Château Sociando-Mallet
91 points
Deep color. Notes of tobacco, plum, currants, dark fruit and clay. Medium-bodied with flavors of plum, dark fruit and herbs. Medium finish. Tannins are integrating nicely. Develops a roasted bell pepper note and a chalky feel to the tannins.
My #3, Domino's #8
Group #7, 63 pts
My #3, Domino's #8
Group #7, 63 pts
Red
2003 Château d'Armailhac
91 points
Garnet color. Aromas of iodine, tobacco and a mix of red and black fruit. Medium-bodied with softened tannins and flavors of cherry, tobacco, dark fruit and herbs. Picked up coffee on this one too. 91+ pts.
My #2, Domino's #7
Group #4, 49 pts
My #2, Domino's #7
Group #4, 49 pts
Red
2003 Château Pontet-Canet
89 points
Initially quite reticent, eventually displays notes of red fruit with a forest floor undertone, though very, very subtle. Currants, blackberries and dark fruit later on. Flavors of red fruit and currants, spices and roasted herbs with coffee notes emerging with time.
My #5, Domino's #1
Group #3, 48 pts
My #5, Domino's #1
Group #3, 48 pts
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Red
2003 Château Lagrange (St. Julien)
88 points
Garnet color. Aromas of coffee beans, dark fruit and herbs. Medium- to full-bodied with flavors of dark fruit, cherry and currants. Has a bitterness on the finish that I did not care for. 88+ pts.
My #7, Domino's #3
Group #2, 45 pts
My #7, Domino's #3
Group #2, 45 pts
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Red
2003 Château du Tertre
89 points
Garnet color. Aromas of earth, herbs and clay. Nice mix of red and dark fruit on the palate, along with with bright cherry notes. Medium finish; nice balance.
My #6, Domino's #4
Group #5, 57 pts
My #6, Domino's #4
Group #5, 57 pts
Red
2003 Château Smith Haut Lafitte
92 points
Garnet color. Aromas of iodine, red fruit, herbs and asphalt. Medium-bodied with notes of red currants, cherries and black fruit. Finishes very well with good length and balance. Textbook Graves. 92+ pts.
My #1, Domino's #2
Group #1, 43 pts
My #1, Domino's #2
Group #1, 43 pts
Red
2003 Lynsolence
90 points
Dark color. Aromas of chocolate and dark fruit, coffee and strawberry jam, turning ripe and slightly pruny as it sat. Medium- to full-bodied featuring flavors of dark fruit, strawberry jam and currants with a fairly long finish.
My #4, Domino's #6
Group #8, 69 pts
My #4, Domino's #6
Group #8, 69 pts
Red
2003 Château d'Aiguilhe
Dark color. Aromas of strawberry jam, coffee and baked rhubarb pie. Medium-bodied with dark fruit notes on the palate. A bit simple.
My #8, Domino's #5
Group #6, 58 pts
My #8, Domino's #5
Group #6, 58 pts
Flight 3 - Nonblind dinner/dessert wines (11 notes)
Red
1999 Domaine Francois Lamarche Echezeaux
92 points
Rest in peace Francois. Aromas of cherry, forest floor and red fruit- lovely aromatics. Flavors of cherry, red berries, violets, lavender and spices with a long finish. Silky texture, balanced and fully-integrated. Mature and drinking very well, and while it should hold for a few years at this level, I will drink my last bottle sooner rather than later. Drink now-2017. 92-93 pts.
Red
2003 Fery-Meunier Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru
91 points
This was a lovely little surprise, thanks to whoever brought it. Faded garnet color with notes of clay, earth, red fruit and beef blood; a little bit funky, in a good way. Has some really lovely red fruit with earthy, forest floor accents and a lengthy finish.
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Comments (1)
Red
1986 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
94 points
Opens with Pichon Lalande's telltale green/herbal streak, followed by tobacco, black fruit and spice box notes. Integrated and balanced, with flavors of black fruit, tobacco, spice box and red currants. Forest floor, roasted herbs and red fruit linger on the finish. Absolutely terrific.
Red
2000 Château La Croix du Casse
91 points
Aromas of dark fruit, blackberry, earth and spice. Medium-bodied, with flavors of red & dark fruit and Asian spices. Nice finish with lingering spice notes.
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Red
2009 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape
90 points
Spicy red fruit aromas on the bouquet and palate. Nice spice and underlying acidity. Lengthy finish.
Red
2006 Mas de Boislauzon Châteauneuf-du-Pape
91 points
Black fruit and spice notes, followed by clay and garrigue. The palate follows the bouquet; long, lingering finish. Much darker profile than the '09 Lazaret.
Red
2000 Château Cambon La Pelouse
90 points
Popped & poured a few minutes before dinner was served. Aromas of earth, dark fruit, maduro tobacco, cigar box and graphite. Medium-bodied, with flavors of dark fruit, graphite, plum, red berries and spice. Nicely balanced. Long finish. 90-91 pts.
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Comments (1)
Red
2003 Château Sociando-Mallet
92 points
From magnum. Aromas of perfumed black fruit, soy, roasted mushrooms, plum and currants. Medium-bodied with flavors of dark fruit, plum and spice.
Red
2001 Château d'Armailhac
88 points
Notes of dark fruit, currants, cigar box and pencil lead. Black currant, plum and earthy forest floor notes on the palate. Light- to medium-bodied, finishing a bit on the short side for my liking, else it'd have scored a couple points higher.
Red
2004 Falcone Family Vineyards Syrah Mia's
Had only a brief taste, so more of an impression than a real note. Varietally corrcet though- dark fruit, pepper and meaty notes.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1983 Château Coustet
Light amber color with aromas of marmalade, baked apricot and honey. Honey, baked tropical fruit and candied ginger notes on the palate.