Important Update From the Founder
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Amsterdam UGC Tasting and Winemakers' Dinner
Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky / Café De Klepel
Tasted March 7, 2016 by Xavier Auerbach with 617 views
Introduction
I attended the evening session of the Amsterdam UGC tasting this year, which featured wines from both the 2013 and 2011 vintages. There was little time, there were many friends and discussions were lively. By consequence, my notes are relatively few and relatively brief. The overall picture is clear however. The 2013 vintage is a difficult one, but the best wines turn the lack of power and weight into feminine charm and will provide lovely drinking from now until eight to ten years after the vintage. The 2011 vintage by comparison displays much more power and depth, but few wines escape the tell-tale dryness in the tannins and austerity on the finish. Many wines still need a few years to soften, but obviously bottle-age is no cure for unripe tannins. In both vintages, careful selection is essential as they are by no means successes across the board. For Sauternes and Barsac, both 2011 and 2013 seem to be good to very good vintages, the latter capable of delivering real elegance and grace.
Flight 1 - White Graves / Pessac-Léognan (6 notes)
White
2013 Château de Chantegrive Blanc
88 points
Rounded, supple, lemon and grapefruit, light but complete, a lovely wine to drink young.
White
2013 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
93 points
Power and precision, finesse and balance, needs a few years. Stands head and shoulders above the rest.
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White
2013 Château de Fieuzal Blanc
90 points
A solid wine, but much coarser than the Domaine de Chevalier 2013, a bit one-dimensional, vegetal, slightly underwhelming.
White
2011 Château de Fieuzal Blanc
91 points
More finesse than the 2013, good expression and well-judged oak.
White
2013 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc
92 points
Rounded and ripe style, spicy oak, quite powerful in the context of the vintage, needs time to integrate.
White
2011 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc
91 points
Lots of spicy oak - does it lack the weight and ripe fruit to counter the onslaught of the wood?
Flight 2 - Right Bank (10 notes)
Red
2013 Château Canon
87 points
Thin and drying. Weedy, but there is some nice fruit. Not one I would recommend - a fine expression of the difficulties of the 2013 vintage.
Red
2011 Château Canon
90 points
Much more depth than the 2013 that preceded it, ripe cherry fruit, lovely hint of oak, drying finish. Should turn out all right.
Red
2013 Château La Gaffelière
90 points
Ripe fruit, light structure but considerable charm and style, nice oak spice and decent length. Embraces the delicacy of the vintage to good effect.
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Red
2013 Château Larcis Ducasse
90 points
Good presence, truffle, ripe fruit (slightly overripe perhaps?), quite a firm tannic structure. Ambitious.
Red
2011 Château Larcis Ducasse
91 points
Powerful, tannic, structured, drying finish but the fruit is ripe. Very typical for the vintage and the style of wine making.
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Red
2013 Château Pavie Macquin
91 points
A very serious 2013, ripe and velvety in the context of the vintage, quite deep and rich.
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Red
2011 Château Pavie Macquin
92 points
Very complete, ripe fruit, rich and spicy, full-bodied, harmonious, tannic, with the hint of austerity on the finish that is so typical for the 2011 vintage,
Red
2013 Château La Conseillante
92 points
Above-average weight and complexity, still a bit closed and needs time to settle, but the balance a structural components are all present and correct,
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Red
2011 Château La Conseillante
92 points
Wonderful typicity, perfectly judged concentration and extraction, slightly drying finish.
Red
2013 Château Clinet
91 points
Good richness and ripeness in the context of the vintage, plump almost and certainly juicy. A fine 2013.
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Flight 3 - Left Bank (16 notes)
Red
2013 Château Cantenac Brown
91 points
Polished and elegant, light style and structure, but lovely fruit and ditto oak.
Red
2013 Château Lascombes
91 points
Ripe fruit, elegant and balanced, spicy oak, good length. A very good 2013.
Red
2011 Château Lascombes
92 points
Recognisable Lascombes style, more depth than the 2013, hints of menthol and fresh red meat, very good length.
Red
2013 Château Branaire-Ducru
92 points
Elegant but tight, harmonious, subtle layers, great finesse. One of the stars of the left bank in 2013.
Red
2011 Château Branaire-Ducru
91 points
Powerful and serious but perhaps without the finesse of the 2013. Quite tannic and drying.
Red
2013 Château Langoa Barton
91 points
Classical style, light and juicy but does not lack structure, elegant and well-balanced. Lovely, but drink in the first 10-12 years of its life.
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Red
2011 Château Langoa Barton
91 points
Classic, masculine, tannic, slightly dry finish. Needs time but will age well.
Red
2013 Château Léoville Barton
92 points
Really well done, an excellent 2013, the kinship with the Langoa is evident, classical style, good fruit. Very much in sync with the vintage.
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Red
2011 Château Léoville Barton
90 points
Very dry, very structured but little in the way of fruit. Austere. I am not a fan - I prefer the Langoa in this vintage.
Red
2013 Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion
89 points
Light but lovely, gentle and refined, very feminine and elegant.
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Red
2011 Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion
91 points
Perdictably, this has more depth and weight than the almost ephemeral 2013 and more spicy oak too; avoids any austerity or dryness in the tannins, really lovely.
Red
2013 Domaine de Chevalier
91 points
Ripe fruit and elegance, quite tannic and a bit drying, but there are layers of floral finesse.
Red
2013 Château du Tertre
89 points
Very floral, light and Burgundian, almost Pinot Noir in character, juicy, very elegant, just a hint of pepper.
Red
2011 Château du Tertre
91 points
Much more depth than the very light 2013, spicy and with good fruit, no dryness on the finish, delicious.
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Red
2013 Château Giscours
90 points
Lovely Giscours typicity, restrained wine making, perfectly judged tannins, very good balance.
Red
2011 Château Giscours
91 points
Sturdy, masculine, slightly medicinal, hint of cream, well put together.
Flight 4 - Sauternes / Barsac (8 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château Doisy-Védrines
93 points
Très belle réussite, fresh, excellent rôti, balanced and elegant, complete and pure, subtle warmth from the oak, energetic and refined.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2011 Château Doisy-Védrines
92 points
More heft and weight than the very gracious 2013, rich yet elegant, tropical fruit, good bitters.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château Guiraud
91 points
Rich and tropical, resinous oak, intense and concentrated but not yet harmonious. Not really my style.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2011 Château Guiraud
91 points
Powerful and rich, deep and complete but lacks elegance and finesse.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château de Rayne-Vigneau
92 points
A wonderful Sauternes, very pure and elegant, has weight and poise, cream and honey.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château Sigalas Rabaud
90 points
Good weight, rich and velvety, but actually neither very powerful nor very refined.
White - Sweet/Dessert
White - Sweet/Dessert
2011 Château de Fargues
88 points
Made for power in a vintage that allows this approach better than 2013, but the lack of finesse is palatable.
Flight 5 - Winemakers' Dinner (5 notes)
Red
2001 Château du Tertre
92 points
Magnum. This is such a wonderful vintage for Du Tertre - what a pity that it took almost a decade to come my way again. It is fully mature now, with lovely tertiary development and complexity, whilst retaining its elegant and fresh core. Lovely flavours and length.
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Red
2004 Château Pavie Macquin
91 points
Magnum. Lovely evolution, good depth and balance, slighly drying Cabernet Franc, spicy and rich.
Red
2001 Domaine de Chevalier
93 points
Magnum. Wonderfully lively and balanced, energetic, cool, spicy, ripe and fresh, medium weight, powerful and elegant, long. Excellent. Classic Claret.
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Red
2001 Château Léoville Poyferré
92 points
Magnum. Perfectly mature Poyferré, with its characteristic generosity, amazing fruit, balance and structure, vegetal notes, gentle, vital, bright.
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Red
2001 Château Giscours
92 points
Magnum. Almost twelve years since I last tasted this and it has developed very well. In 2004 it was outshone by the youthful energy and greater weight of the more powerful 2000, but after fifteen years it has attained a finesse and balance all of its own. Elegant, with nothing lacking.
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