Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
UGCB Boston
Boston Harbor Hotel
Tasted January 19, 2018 by RockinCabs with 433 views
Flight 1 - UGCB Tasting Highlights (16 notes)
There were many great wines in the room tonight, but I just going to share some of the wines that stood out for various reasons. If you are looking to understand the vintage in each of the major reasons this is a great year to make it to a UGCB event.
Overall 2015 is a ripe but balanced vintage that is exuberant. Most of the wines were showing well, very open and not all that difficult to assess.
Red
2015 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
96 points
Nose: Perfumed notes of blackberry, plum, violet. All the elements you want here. Palate: Layers and layers of black fruit are draped over a nicely structured frame. More dark floral and some graphite notes. Finish: Extremely long with an inner mouth perfume that is impressive.
PLL made great wine in 2015. This was another outstanding highlight of the range tasted.
PLL made great wine in 2015. This was another outstanding highlight of the range tasted.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
95 points
On the elegant side of Pichon Baron in 2015 showing taught structure, black/red fruit and very ripe tannin. Has a lifted presence in the mouth that shows clarity and focus.
Red
2015 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste
93 points
Nose: Blackberry, Cranberry, Cedar and Graphite. Palate: Quite nice dark fruit, although a bit of a roasted/oak note takes this out of focus right now. Good elements for future development, but not the least bit over extracted. Still a classic style.
I found this to be right in line with other great vintages of GPL. Just a hair behind the 2014 for me right now.
I found this to be right in line with other great vintages of GPL. Just a hair behind the 2014 for me right now.
2 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Château Clerc Milon
93 points
This was surprisingly nice, elegant and poised Pauillac. No sharp edges, just soft with Blackberry, Cassis and Cherry notes at this point and accents of graphite and mint. This should grow into a very nice Clerc Milion.
Red
2015 Château Léoville Barton
96 points
Nose: Super perfumed blackberry, cassis, cedar nose. Dark and impenetrable right now. Palate: Complex and layered already with black fruit, spice, eucalyptus and loamy earth. Exceptional mouthfeel showing "breed" and classical Barton presence. So much to come from this wine.
One of the clear wines of the night. Barton is at the top of their game right now.
One of the clear wines of the night. Barton is at the top of their game right now.
4 people found this helpful
Comments (2)
Red
2015 Château Léoville Poyferré
92 points
The ripeness is dialed way up on this Poyferre, but that seems to be the style here since 2003 or so. Layers of Cherries, Blackberry, Chocolate, and a glossy new oak note. Felt a bit more like cult cab from Napa on some sips. This is going to play well, but I hope the fruit is able to fully integrate with the oak.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Château Beychevelle
90 points
Black fruit, smoke, walnuts and oak. Very big and black fruited in the mouth. Am I in Napa here?
Red
2015 Château Branaire-Ducru
92 points
Much more classically St. Julien than many of the other wines on display. Firm structure, cherry, blackberry, smoke and tobacco notes. This appears to be going in a good direction.
Red
2015 Château Gruaud Larose
88 points
Surprisingly elegant and lighter fruited than I would expect for a Gruaud Larose in a vintage like 2015. Not sure if this is a new direction, but I am missing the earthy, funky, tweed jacket personality.
Red
2015 Château Brane-Cantenac
95 points
Nose: Opens with a stunning perfume of blackberry, violets and truffles that does not let up. Hunt around in the glass and the florals, earth, cherry and some mint all pop up. Palate: The palate feel of this wine is very elegant, and black fruit, floral and graphite continue on a long rich mid-palate.
This was truly excellent, and one of my favorites in the Margaux range.
This was truly excellent, and one of my favorites in the Margaux range.
2 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Château Giscours
91 points
Beautiful dark fruited profile with Blackberry, ripe plum and violet notes. Perfumed dark nose. Layered and deep on the palate for sure, but slightly closed right now. 80% cab sauv in the blend and it shows. A serious wine.
3 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Château Marquis de Terme
93 points
Very layered and ripe with blackberry, sour cherry, chocolate and violet notes. Mouth-feel is really nice here.
Under the radar sleeper in 2015. Pay attention, this is a wine that represents a huge bump in quality.
Under the radar sleeper in 2015. Pay attention, this is a wine that represents a huge bump in quality.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Château Haut-Bailly
96 points
Gorgeous black/red fruit, cedar, tobacco and brick notes already with a smokey background note. Bit of BBQ and fresh blueberry in the finish. This is a seriously nice wine, and one of my highlights of this tasting.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Domaine de Chevalier
94 points
Gorgeous red fruited wine with expressive brick, mineral, cedar, vanilla and cherry skin notes. Quite lifted in the mouth, and showing classic pessac notes already. Lots of promise.
2 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Château Smith Haut Lafitte
This is a full throttle wine with lots of Black/Blue fruit. Licorice, smoke and cedar are there, but right now this is all about the layers of fruit. Will be interesting to see this evolve in bottle.
3 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2015 Château Gazin Pomerol
90 points
Impenetrable and huge in the mouth with Blackberry, Fig, Cola and Clay/Earth notes. For a Pomerol this delivers on size, but has a more new-world personality that I would have expected from drinking the 2004, 2005 and 2011 from the chateau.
Flight 2 - Dinner after Party (3 notes)
After the event we went out to dinner with Englishman's Claret and IronRyan1. Unfortunately, this was not the greatest showing for any of these wines. Perhaps a bit of palate fatigue influenced this, but it was still a good end to a great night.
Red
1978 Château Lynch-Bages
85 points
Nose: Dominated by green notes of capsicum, vegetables and herbs. Some earthy notes, graphite and lavendar, but they are elusive and the green notes ruled the day. Palate: Decidedly Light/Med weighted with an entry of blackberry, faded leather and earth, then the green notes arrive. Finish: Somewhat vegetal with a few tell tale ghosts of Lynch Bages in the background.
Consumed with Englishman's Claret and IronRyan. We were all quite disappointed by this bottle, and it certainly would not make you guess Lynch in a blind tasting.
Consumed with Englishman's Claret and IronRyan. We were all quite disappointed by this bottle, and it certainly would not make you guess Lynch in a blind tasting.
Red
1985 Château Figeac
88 points
Nose: Red cherry, chocolate, green pepper and herbs. A perfumed nose that grew with decanting. Palate: Much lighter in the mouth than anticipated, but the aged merlot came through nicely with cherry, chocolate shavings and spice. However this was quickly covered by bell pepper and herb notes from the Cab Franc. Finish: Moderate, but quite faded.
Initially upon opening this was difficult to distinguish from the very green 78 Lynch in the next glass, but it did gain some fruit and had a better showing. Although this never seemed to get going and reveal the fruit, cedar and molasses notes of a good 30-yo right banker.
Initially upon opening this was difficult to distinguish from the very green 78 Lynch in the next glass, but it did gain some fruit and had a better showing. Although this never seemed to get going and reveal the fruit, cedar and molasses notes of a good 30-yo right banker.
Red
1986 Château Cos d'Estournel
89 points
Nose: Plum, wet earth and blackberry notes. Simpler than prior bottles. Palate: Good dark fruited entry, touches of tobacco, but really stayed in the dark fruit/loamy earth range. Finish: Good Cos character with more plummy muddy notes, but no real complexity.
This was opened at the end of the night (PNP treatment with a short decant) and I am not sure it really got its due. Very cold coming up from the cellar, and never really to to the level of other bottles I have had.
This was opened at the end of the night (PNP treatment with a short decant) and I am not sure it really got its due. Very cold coming up from the cellar, and never really to to the level of other bottles I have had.