UGC Bordeaux Tasting - 2013 Vintage
Bentley Reserve, SF
Tasted January 30, 2016 by RajivAyyangar with 625 views
Introduction
Full note with diagram of floor layout: https://www.evernote.com/l/ABb2_TvhZd1Jg7NXJf44fs7SkPZbglYswK8
Not the greatest tasting for me- I didn't have a clear impression of a lot of the wines, and it was a bit chaotic. Palate wise I was initially concerned I was getting over a cold, but the Pessac whites and the Lynch Bages reassured me that when a wine was good, I could taste it in detail. I tried to avoid scoring wines when I was doubtful I had a fair impression.
However I was excited to hone in on the celery soda / key lime pie note in the Pessac whites! I felt like I had a minor epiphany there. Bdx Blanc seems to be all about that balance of greenness, tensile acidity, minerality, and opulence from the elevated alcohol and oak.
Wines I scored around 9:
Pessac Whites:
-Dom. de Chevalier
-Pape Clement
Pauillac:
-Lynch Bages
-Pichon Baron
St. Emilion:
-Canon
Wines I scored between 8.5-9:
Pessac Whites:
-de Fieuzal
-Carbonnieux
-Olivier
-Smith Haut Lafitte
Margaux:
-Cantenac Brown
St. Julien:
-Branaire-Ducru
-Gruaud-Larose
-Leoville Poyferre
Sauternes:
-Lafaurie-Peyraguey
-de Fargues
Wines I scored around 8.5:
Pessac Whites:
-Malartic-Lagraviere
St. Estephe:
-Lafon-Rochet
St. Julien
-Lagrange
-Leoville Barton
Margaux:
-Brane-Cantenac
-Prieure-Lichine
-Rauzan-Segla
Sauternes:
-Suduiraut
-Doisy-Daene
Flight 1 - Graves/Pessac (11 notes)
This was the most exciting grouping for me - I finally got a good scent-impression of what oaked sauvignon blanc tastes like. In all the major wines I tasted a note best described as celery soda, grass with cream soda, or key lime pie.
White
2013 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Slightly reductive. Grassy celery soda (oaked sauv blanc nose). Elevated alcohol with high acid. Very nice! Between 8.5 and 9.
White
2013 Château Pape Clément Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Beautiful and creamier than the Smith Haut Lafitte. Grapefruit and grass plus celery soda and key lime pie. Slight impression of tannins - maybe from oak? Well-contained alcohol at 13.5%
18 months elevage in 60% new oak. They do lots of battonage - daily for the first week or so.
White
2013 Château Olivier Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Strong lime peel. Key lime pie. Creamy but more aggressive acid than the Pape clement. 40% new oak.
Red
2013 Château Olivier
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Very open. Good fruit and significant oak. Significant Merlot presence on the nose. Palate is fleshy and soft. Medium tannins.
White
2013 Château Carbonnieux Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Absolutely classic. Celery soda and grass. Key lime pie. Fresh acidity, in the medium-plus to high range.
30% semillon, 70% sauv blanc. 10 months in 1/3 new oak. They mostly use new oak on the semillon, and 2nd/3rd use barrels on the sauv blanc. 85-90
White
2013 Château de Fieuzal Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Green grass / celery soda / key lime pie (oaked sauv blanc) is in the background. Very honeyed (48% semillon!) with slight cream. Quite developed for 2013 (18 months elevate, 40% new oak, some in concrete eggs, some in 400L acacia barrels. Very distinctive. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Julia Harding thought this might have some botrytis (honey) but I asked and the rep was emphatic that they never have botrytis. Maybe it's the semillon?
White
2013 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Intense and captivating nose. Tropical yet tensile. The grassy celery soda / key lime pie / oaked sauv blanc note is present as well. Moderate alcohol (I guessed 13.5% - it’s 13%). The 2011 was a bit warmer (14%). Acidity is long, lingering, and brings lots of light to the palate. 18 months in 40% new oak. This was an above-average year for whites in Pessac. Score: Around 9.
Flight 2 - St. Emilion (4 notes)
Overall, these were lighter and thinner than the 2011’s. Noticeably absent was the chocolate-covered blackcurrant note from the merlot-dominant wines. Canon still had some nice things going on.
Red
2013 Château Canon
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Cab franc influenced on the nose (softer and greener) but rich and powerful with bright acidity on the palate
Flight 3 - Pomerol (5 notes)
Overall these were indistinguishable from the St. Emilions. The chocolate-covered blackcurrant note was absent.
Red
2013 Château La Pointe
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Medium ruby, quite bright with a bit of red at the rim. Rustic. Good concentration and structure but missing a bit of fruit.
Red
2013 Château Beauregard
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Well-put-together but with pronounced bell pepper (ripe, fresh bell pepper).
Red
2013 Château Le Bon Pasteur
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Good concentration but a bit burnt on the nose. Reductive right now. Warm animal stink to it - in a good way.
Red
2013 Château Clinet
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Red fruited. Harsh, extremely bitter tannins. Bitter cranberry on the finish.
Flight 4 - St. Estephe (2 notes)
Red
2013 Château Lafon-Rochet
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Seems like a perfectly standard Left Bank. The fruit isn’t super expressive but it’s ready to drink, with well-rounded tannins and a very ripe stewed bell pepper herbaceousness.
Flight 5 - Pauillac (7 notes)
Red
2013 Château Lynch-Bages
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Classic pauillac. All the elements are there - animal fur, hints of new oak, slight ripe pyrazines, blackcurrant/cassis, cedar.
Red
2013 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Classic cedar on the nose. A bit pyrazine-y but great fruit at the same time. Cassis. 82% cab. Very Pauillac in balance - structured with the ripeness to balance it.
Red
2013 Château Lynch-Moussas
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Green underripe peppers tending towards green menthol. Heavily toasted oak. Burnt popcorn. I’m not a fan.
Red
2013 Château d'Armailhac
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Softer than Cleric Milon. Open and flavorful but light. Margaux-like. The winemaker said d’Armailhac does tend to be more “feminine” in the context of Pauillac.
Flight 6 - St. Julien (11 notes)
Relatively strong quality across the board, especially given the vintage. There was some tannin silkiness at play too.
Red
2013 Château Langoa Barton
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Similar to Leoville but more floral. Missing some muscle but pretty. Silky tannins.
Red
2008 Château Léoville Poyferré
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
A nice contrast for this tasting - quite open! Savory fur-forward nose. Warm and pleasantly animal. Soft, stewed peppers. Slight bruised strawberry. Good fruit but missing a deep core of cassis. Palate is ready to go. Between 8.5 and 9.
Red
2013 Château Gruaud Larose
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Very good. Well integrated aromatics. A bit tight but a satisfying palate. A great picture of 2013. Ripe but light with good firm but chewy tannins. Between 8.5 and 9.
Red
2013 Château Talbot
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Underripe nose. Underripe fruit. Suspiciously sweet on the palate. RS?
Red
2013 Château Beychevelle
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Green, underripe. Merlot character is prominent - a softer, fleshier, plummier type of fruit. 36% Merlot. Good structure.
Red
2014 Château Beaumont
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
(not St. Julien but included here because it’s the same winemaker as Beychevelle). Not great. Underripe fruit.
Red
2013 Château Branaire-Ducru
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Very nice and balanced. Similar to Gruaud Larose. There’s a nice silkiness to the tannins (it’s a St. Julien, so maybe I’m predisposed to say this). Between 8.5-9.
Red
2013 Château Saint-Pierre
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Burnt popcorn. Good structure but too toasted for me. Problems with yeast/malo, perhaps?
Red
2013 Château Gloria
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
A lighter wine. Thin, but with decent fruit. A bit wan, overall. 8-8.5
Flight 7 - Margaux (10 notes)
Some of the wines were classically floral/aromatic, but overall the quality was really spotty.
Red
2013 Château Lascombes
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Burnt popcorn nose. Over toasted. Nevertheless, a nice palate with some sweet reddish fruit.
Red
2013 Château Rauzan-Ségla
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Aromatic nose with a bruised strawberry note. But a bit light and underripe on the palate. 85.
Red
2013 Château Prieuré-Lichine
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Floral brettanomyces and bruised strawberry (is this a possible marker for Margaux?). Very nice and feminine. Around 8.5
Red
2013 Château du Tertre
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Aromatic but all the aromas are underripe. Green stems, underripe cherry, cornflakes.
Red
2013 Château Brane-Cantenac
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Pyrazine-y notes of well-stewed bell peppers, olive, and salvadorean tamales, with some ripe dark fruit as well. Around 8.5
Red
2013 Château Cantenac Brown
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Very interesting perfumed sandalwood floral note. I like this a lot! The sandalwood-y oak reminds me of grand old CA wines, especially the Kathleen Kennedy Syrah. Between 8.5 and 9.
Flight 8 - Sauternes (5 notes)
I think I prefer my Sauternes one of two ways: aged to the point where the savory character is more prominent, or with much stronger acid than most of these display.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château Suduiraut
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Well-balanced nose (fruit, botrytis, savory/waxy/non-fruit notes). Not super aromatic. Lighter on the palate than other Sauternes. 8.5.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château de Fargues
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Good! Some savory complexity here, with good acid and an impression of crushed stones. A slight burnt toast note which, in this wine, I like. Between 8.5 and 9.
© 2003-24 CellarTracker! LLC.
