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Selective Sampling of the UGC Tasting of 2016 Bordeaux
Metreon, San Francisco
Tasted January 25, 2019 by drwine2001 with 523 views
Introduction
Sorry, folks. This was as many wines as I could taste and quickly assess before reaching the saturation point. Many omissions.
Flight 1 (43 notes)
White
2016 Château de Fieuzal Blanc
Elegant mix of vanilla and orange. Great feel. My favorite of the white Graves I tried tonight.
White
2016 Château Pape Clément Blanc
Pungent and a little funky. Lean, high acid. Did not care for this one.
Red
2016 Domaine de Chevalier
Classic Graves nose. Cherry fruit. Deep, long, well balanced.
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Red
2016 Château de Fieuzal
Very herbal, much lighter and not as pleasing overall as the Domaine de Chevalier.
Red
2016 Château Pape Clément
Earth and herbs. Elegant weight. Palate herbaceous with high acidity.
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Red
2016 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot
Lovely sense of earth, pliancy, texture, and dull red fruit. Excellent.
Red
Red
2016 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière
Strongly herbaceous. Wonderful medium weight and texture. Chocolatey finish.
Red
Red
2016 Clos Fourtet
Some funk here. Ripe berries, spicy, and tannic. Not quite as big boned as La Dominique though.
Red
2016 Château Pavie Macquin
Blueberry and soil, medium weight, high acidity, very herbal finish. Completely disjointed tonight.
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Red
2016 Château Le Bon Pasteur
Herb and some brett. Relatively light, supple, green tones and lovely berry fruit.
Red
Red
2016 Château Gazin Pomerol
Slightly herbal nose. Middle weight. Neutral flavors. Most of what I got was the tannins. Not much here.
Red
2016 Château Rouget
Herb and berry aromas. Rich, round, and fruity with very good acid/tannin punch at the end.
Red
2016 Château Chasse-Spleen
After one clearly corked bottle, the second one was also a bit funky. Lighter color, elegant weight. Good red fruit entry, then curiously short. Very disappointing.
Red
2016 Château La Lagune
Cedar and green aromatics. Lush texture, toothsome, round tannins. Lots here.
Red
2016 Château Giscours
Classic Cabernet scents and flavors. Nice concentration and chocolatey richness with excellent back end structure that will carry it. Relative bargain here.
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Red
2016 Château du Tertre
Green with some brett. Lush and round but too soft.
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Red
2016 Château Kirwan
Mute nose, ripe cassis fruit, harsh finish.
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Comments (1)
Red
Red
2016 Château Rauzan-Ségla
Cedar and herbs. Power and freshness. Subtly sweet fruit, herbal finish, gentle tannins. I really liked this, and it was by far the best of the Margaux.
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Red
2016 Château Beychevelle
Rich, dark, classic, good herbal complexity. Lots of grip. Only nit is a lot of wood showing on the finish. Should be excellent though.
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Red
2016 Château Branaire-Ducru
Excellent texture, feel, and complexity. Tannic but round.
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Red
2016 Château Gruaud Larose
Backward, sweaty, and earthy. Nice, ripe black fruit, but plenty of structure to resolve. This needs a good deal of time.
Red
2016 Château Langoa Barton
Also a bit sweaty like Gruaud Larose. Wonderful volume, ripe blueberry fruit, and layered, tannic finish. Impressive and delicious. I preferred this to the Leoville Barton tonight.
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Red
2016 Château Léoville Barton
Much more herbaceous and lighter weight than the Langoa. Spicy, complex, great acidity. Elegant package that shows some oak.
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Red
2016 Château Léoville Poyferré
Bigger, rounder, and more fruit driven than the Barton-more like the Langoa in this regard. Austere tannins demand time, but this too should be excellent if given enough time.
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Red
2016 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse
Definite funk on the nose. Better in the mouth, though. Blue fruit, reasonable volume, dry finish. Not for the early going, hope it's cleaner than it smells.
Red
2016 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste
Lovely combination of cedar, spicy fruit, and perfect weight. Lively and fine. Truly excellent.
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Red
2016 Château Lynch-Bages
Dark and deep with wonderful fruit. Great poise between power and restraint. Beautiful balance with a citric lift. Delightful and right up there with some of the other heavy hitters tonight.
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Red
2016 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Well, for me, this just leaped out as one of the 2 best wines of the tasting, along with the Pichon Comtesse. Spectacular and classic Pauillac. Deep, rich, round, and superbly balanced, again with that lively citric acidity and waves of perfectly ripe tannins. Phenomenally impressive now, but this will clearly make old bones. Top quality.
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Comments (1)
Red
2016 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
This is completely different from the Baron but similarly outstanding in its own way. Much more herbal, lighter, and less dense. It is a marvel of complexity, though, with sweet fruit and tobacco beautifully intertwined. Epitome of elegance. This is gorgeous now and will be for quite some time.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2016 Château Doisy-Daëne
Gorgeous honey and citrus. Medium weight, quite Barsac-like. Moderate acidity. Really good.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2016 Château de Fargues
Melon, pineapple, less honey. Elegant weight, nice twist of grapefruit at the end.
White - Sweet/Dessert
White - Sweet/Dessert
2016 Château Suduiraut
Lower pitched aromas, quite honeyed. Great feel and length, only average acidity. Delicious for sure, but I doubt it will be a Sauternes that ages particularly well given its forward nature and lack of structure.
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Closing
Yes, some really good wines, but not everything is great