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K&L High-End Bordeaux Tasting - October 2015
K&L
Tasted October 10, 2015 by RajivAyyangar with 517 views
Introduction
Overall, the wines were consistently of high quality, excellent typicity, and ridiculous price. When I think about how the 2001 Latour could be exchanged for over a case and a half of Corison's '95 York Creek Meritage, I wonder why anyone buys classified-growth Bordeaux anymore.
How I felt about the wines:
Around 9.5
-2000 Pontet-Canet (5th) $150
Between 9 and 9.5
-1995 l'Evangile $170
-2000 Brane-Cantenac (2nd) $139
-2000 Leoville-Poyferre (2nd) $230
-2010 Pontet-Canet (5th) $280
-1995 d'Yquem $250
Around 9
-1990 Grand Mayne $120
-2010 Lynch-Bages (5th) $170
-2001 Latour $475
Around 8.5
-2000 l'Avocat Graves Blanc
Flawed bottle
-2000 Kirwan (3rd) $100
Flight 1 - Basic Blanc as a Palate Opener (1 note)
White
2013 Château L'Avocat Blanc
85 points
Fresh, slightly grassy, slight impression of cheese rind (lees). A bit richer than you'd expect from Sancerre. No overt oak. Very nice - slightly mineral but mostly fairly simple. Fresh and light.
Score: around 8.5
Score: around 8.5
Flight 2 - Right Bank (2 notes)
Red
1990 Château Grand Mayne
90 points
75% Merlot, 15% CF, 10% Cab
Lovely plum with some development. Some dog fur on the nose. A bit plummy, but mostly earth-driven - sweet leather, sweet tobacco, dried forest floor. Only a medium-length finish.
Score: Around 9.
Lovely plum with some development. Some dog fur on the nose. A bit plummy, but mostly earth-driven - sweet leather, sweet tobacco, dried forest floor. Only a medium-length finish.
Score: Around 9.
Red
1995 Château L'Evangile
92 points
75% Merlot, 25% CF
Beautiful nose - dark, glossy black fruit, slight blackcurrant liqueur. Cold coffee grounds - slight minty pyrazines. Super well-integrated. If you pull it apart you get a bit of dog fur (Brett), a bit of toast - slightly burnt/charred, a bit of baking spices (oak), bruised apple (development). Slight mentholated bourbony aroma - french oak with a touch of pyrazines. In the mouth it's plush, with some milk chocolate (Merlot character). Medium bodied. Moderate alcohol, acid is just medium, and tannins are just medium, papery.
This is what I think of when I think of Right Bank Bdx.
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
Beautiful nose - dark, glossy black fruit, slight blackcurrant liqueur. Cold coffee grounds - slight minty pyrazines. Super well-integrated. If you pull it apart you get a bit of dog fur (Brett), a bit of toast - slightly burnt/charred, a bit of baking spices (oak), bruised apple (development). Slight mentholated bourbony aroma - french oak with a touch of pyrazines. In the mouth it's plush, with some milk chocolate (Merlot character). Medium bodied. Moderate alcohol, acid is just medium, and tannins are just medium, papery.
This is what I think of when I think of Right Bank Bdx.
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
Flight 3 - Margaux (2 notes)
Red
2000 Château Kirwan
flawed
This bottle seems a bit oxidized. A bit tired with bruised apple, figginess (acetaldehyde). Maybe the fruit and other elements will come out with a longer decant. Medium-plus grippy tannins, with moderate concentration and some plushness (40% cab, 30% Merlot, 20% CF, 10% PV).
Score: Flawed.
Score: Flawed.
Red
2000 Château Brane-Cantenac
92 points
2000 Brane-Cantenac
Really nice nose. A lot of development. Sweet cedar, hint of tamari, sweet tobacco. Mushrooms, leather. Savory and earth-driven but with ripe fruit (blackcurrant and also plump-chocolate merlot character). Great flavor concentration. Longer than the Kirwan or l'Evangile. Less tannins.
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
Really nice nose. A lot of development. Sweet cedar, hint of tamari, sweet tobacco. Mushrooms, leather. Savory and earth-driven but with ripe fruit (blackcurrant and also plump-chocolate merlot character). Great flavor concentration. Longer than the Kirwan or l'Evangile. Less tannins.
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
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Flight 4 - St. Julien (1 note)
Red
2000 Château Léoville Poyferré
92 points
Moderately concentrated dark ruby with lots of garnet.
A bit tight on the nose - it seems as if the fruit is not expressive on the nose, but on the palate there seems to be a density and weight of fruit. This is extracted and long, but the fruit hasn't unfurled yet. The most tannic of the lineup (m+ tannins - papery). This is really nice though - it's that magical combination of Brett and new oak, with cabernet character.
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
A bit tight on the nose - it seems as if the fruit is not expressive on the nose, but on the palate there seems to be a density and weight of fruit. This is extracted and long, but the fruit hasn't unfurled yet. The most tannic of the lineup (m+ tannins - papery). This is really nice though - it's that magical combination of Brett and new oak, with cabernet character.
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
Flight 5 - Pauillac (3 notes)
Red
2000 Château Pontet-Canet
94 points
2000 Pontet-canet.
Dark, brooding, and detailed on the nose - one of my favorite of the tasting. Muscular blackcurrant with a minty pyrazine note. Slight brett and new oak frame a long, extracted palate with elevated acid - there's an impression of tart black cherry. This is what I think of when I think of Left Bank Bordeaux. Very well done.
Score: Around 9.5
Dark, brooding, and detailed on the nose - one of my favorite of the tasting. Muscular blackcurrant with a minty pyrazine note. Slight brett and new oak frame a long, extracted palate with elevated acid - there's an impression of tart black cherry. This is what I think of when I think of Left Bank Bordeaux. Very well done.
Score: Around 9.5
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Red
2010 Château Pontet-Canet
92 points
A bit buttery. Unintegrated - blackcurrant liqueur, sanded wood/baking spices, slight dog fur, slight tinge of pyrazines - bell pepper/mint. It's all quality but not playing nicely together. Intense and long. Not complex or elegant. Elevated tannins. Young. Still though - the potential seems there.
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
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Red
2010 Château Lynch-Bages
91 points
A bit of volatile acidity - balsamic vinegar. Black fruit - blackcurrant liqueur with purity, minty pyrazines, wet dog fur, forest floor. Slight burn of alcohol - 13.5%? (correct). It's warming and more in the direction of Brunello in the flavors (though acid would be higher and color would be lighter). Slight wet coffee grounds for pyrazines. Medium plus papery tannins. Tastes younger than it smells - a bit thin in flavor.
Score: Around 9
Score: Around 9
Flight 6 - The Legends (2 notes)
Red
2001 Château Latour Grand Vin
90 points
First First Growth wine! The nose is on the dirty side - ripe to overripe plum, dog fur, bacterial aromas as well ("Central Park West"). The nose isn't really compelling to me. Plummy in the mouth - a definitely medium between cabernet and merlot character (surprising - this is 75% cab). Medium body, just medium acid, slightly warm alcohol - 13.5% ish? Slight mintiness from pyrazines, slight brett spice, new oak doesn't stick out - it's well integrated. Flavor balance is great but it's not really compelling to me. It's complex but nothing is really grabbing me. Overall the flavors seem a bit washed out, watercolored, withered. I don't get anything awesome from age.
Score: Around 9
Score: Around 9
White - Sweet/Dessert
1995 Château d'Yquem
93 points
Slight parmesan cheese rind, orange peel - candied, almond (toasted), marzipan, and saffron-waxy botrytis. Show-stopper of a nose - it gave me pause every time I smelled it. A bit acid-deficient, though.
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
Score: Between 9 and 9.5
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