Introduction

TASTING NOTES PART III
THE MEDOC: WHERE CABERNET RULES

Please take note, that these are older notes from barrel back in 2006, that I just felt like publishing 10 years on, to see how they compare to more recent impressions.

These final notes on wines from the Medoc
represent wines with the most Cabernet Sauvignon, albeit with exceptions. Indeed, the northernmost (St. Estephe) and innermost vineyards (Moulis, Listrac) to the left of the Gironde River, have high proportions of Merlot, because soils there tend to be heavier (more clay) and colder (further away from the river). Indeed, the closer one gets to the river, the more temperate the micro-climate and the greater the logic of using a later ripening grape like Cabernet Sauvignon. You do not want to grill your Merlot, now, do you? Of course this is simple logic, as there are exceptions, such as certain plots where Merlot does well – even if it is hotter – but the axiom is a good general rule. We will start with the mid range (Moulis, Listrac and Medoc) and end on higher notes with the major league appellations (Margaux, Pauillac, St. Estephe, and St. Julien), symbolized by the beautiful châteaux that accompany the
wines, such as the above photo of Château Pichon Baron, at the entrance of Pauillac.
Following a blind tasting of Pauillac, St. Julien and St. Estephe wines at Château Talbot, fellow journalist Florence Varaine – a veteran of blind tastings – told me that she had never had such pleasure tasting Bordeaux en primeur. Though 2005 is a uniform vintage, in that all appellations had success, I feel that the appellations with more Cabernet Sauvignon did best, just by a hair. The high ripeness of the vintage brought perhaps one slight risk, especially for those who harvested late, and that was over-ripeness of Merlot. Paul Pontallier of Château Margaux, for example, felt that the high alcoholic content in some Merlot was not suited for his first wine. Going back to the Merlot-majority Rive Droite tasting, some of the wines did taste over-extracted and alcoholic. On the other hand, almost all Cabernet-dominated wines seemed at least good. For me, Pauillac is the appellation of the vintage. If we are going to split hairs, because the others, particularly Margaux, were also of very high quality. Interestingly, some of the lower-ranked St. Estephes – with more Merlot – were less successful. Pauillac’s Château Latour gets my nod as wine of the vintage (tied with Pétrus, which is almost 100% Merlot, so it is not black and white) and both Rothschilds are very nice. In the blind tasting of Pauillacs, almost all wines were terrific with only a couple of exceptions, I re-tasted both and stayed disappointed with one, but reassured from the other. Nowhere else does one reach such heights, I think. Perhaps in Margaux

Flight 1 - Medoc, Listrac and Moulis AOC (10 notes)

Flight 2 - Haut Medoc AOC (10 notes)

Flight 3 - Margaux AOC (18 notes)

Flight 4 - Chateau Margaux / 1st Growth (3 notes)

Flight 5 - Château Palmer (2 notes)

Flight 6 - Saint Julien AOC (8 notes)

Flight 7 - Chateau Léoville Las Cases (2 notes)

Flight 8 - Chateau Leoville Barton (2 notes)

Flight 9 - Pauillac AOC (10 notes)

Flight 10 - Chateau Mouton Rothschild & Lafite Rothschild / 1st Growth (8 notes)

Flight 11 - Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron (4 notes)

Flight 12 - Visit to Chateau Latour / 1st Growth (3 notes)

Flight 13 - Tasting at Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse (2 notes)

Flight 14 - Tasting at Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste (2 notes)

Flight 15 - St. Estephe AOC (6 notes)

Flight 16 - Château Cos d’Estournel (3 notes)

Flight 17 - Chateau Montrose (2 notes)