BWE Pessac-Leognan tasting
Afghan Kebab House in NYC
Tasted January 9, 2007 by MRichman with 797 views
Introduction
A few board members got together last night at the Afghan Kebab House in NYC for a tasting of Pessac-Leognan, organized by Arv. It was a very fun evening, and attendants not only got to hang out with Arv's fiancee Jennifer, but we got to meet his sister too!
It was a smaller group than I'm used to, so I was pleasantly surprised when bottles still had wine left in them for re-tasting later in the evening. I had a wonderful time talking to everyone and the food was very good. Cheap too! Plus, I finally realized that Jacques probably never saw any grade lower than an A+ when he was in school, thus his confusion over my grading system.
As for the wines, I wasn't in love with anything we had but there were some interesting bottles nonetheless.
Flight 1 - Pre Dinner Whites (2 notes)
White
1996 Château Pape Clément Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Sharp acidity, some beautiful light sweet cream butter under. Bright but not light (weight). Added weight and depth (and a higher score) as the evening went on. I'm not usually a fan of dry white Bordeaux, but I liked this wine.
B/B+
White
2001 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Kabinett
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Bright with high toned acidity. Very long finish. Some spritz, some honeysuckle and green apple to round it out. Clean & razor sharp. Acid dominates the fruit, throwing the wine a little out of balance for my palate and there is a slight empty hole in the middle, but I liked this wine anyway.
B
Flight 2 - Flight 1 (3 notes)
Red
1975 Château Latour-Martillac
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Warm nose. Hard, stiff tannins. Fruit's a bit fading. Not my favorite vintage, plus overly aged for me.
C+
Red
1982 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Warm with sweet cherry fruit. A bit light for a 1982. Not over the hill, but not showing me too much either.
B-
Flight 3 - Flight 2 (3 notes)
Red
1986 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Sweet, round, full fruit. Good complexity with tobacco, menthol. Fine tannins. Dark note. This wine showed a fullness and polish that I felt the previous flight lacked.
B+
Red
1988 Château Pape Clément
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Dark, full, solid. Lots of tar & tobacco. Some menthol & mint. Again, this wine had the fullness and polish missing in the first flight. I like this one. Just short of outstanding.
B++
Red
1990 Château La Louvière
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Nice big fruit with high tones and low notes as well. A little light in core. I would not have guessed this was a 1990.
B
Flight 4 - Flight 3 (3 notes)
Red
1999 Château Pape Clément
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Sweet core. Some hard fine tannins. NIce sweet herbs (typical of a 1999).
B/B-
Flight 5 - Stickies (2 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1997 Château Rieussec
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
It struck me as having grown out of it's youthful exuberance without having hit it's maturity yet (some might say the same thing about me). I liked it, but the carmel notes weren't burnt carmel yet and it's sweetness was a bit gobby.
Closing
Wine Of The Night votes:
LMHB 1986 (22)
Pape Clement 1998 (16)
LMHB 1999 (9)
LTHB 1983 (3)
La Louviere 1990 (2)
Thanks to everyone for coming and to Arv for organizing!
© 2003-24 CellarTracker! LLC.
