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Bordeaux 2009 Grand Cru / 10-years on / tasted blind
Tasted October 28, 2019 by Collector1855 with 2,067 views
Introduction
We organized a blind tasting at the Commanderie de Bordeaux Singapore under the guidance of our resident MW member to assess how the wines were doing. We were 12 Commanderie members, 15 Grand Cru wines, at least 2 each from all major Bordeaux appellations. The wines were decanted for 2h.
Conclusion:
- A great vintage confirmed. The quality of the wines was high, top-to-bottom.
- The wines were fresh, seldom overbearing roasted/hot aromas visible (like in 2003). To the contrary, many showed cool, blue fruit.
- All the wines were a pleasure to drink due to their plush, ripe fruit.
- The smaller and mid-range Grand Crus (50-125 EUR) are ready to drink. Prime window: now-2030.
- The 2/1st Growths will benefit from more cellar time, they were quite structured still. Anticipated prime window: 2025-40.
Group's Ranking by score:
1. Leoville-Poyferre
2. Angelus
3. Montrose / Vieux Certan
5. Figeac
6. Gruaud Larose
7. Haut Brion
8. Calon-Segur
9. Domaine de Chevalier
10. Batailley
11. Kirwan
12. Duhart-Milon
12. Malartic-Lagraviere
14. Gazin
15. Cantenac Brown
Flight 1 (5 notes)
Red
2009 Château Cantenac Brown
91 points
Toasty nose, oak still visible, a bit shy. On the palate it is light and elegant, a bit hollow in the mid palate. Decent Claret but not really Grand Cru level.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Château Kirwan
95 points
Expressive nose with lots of cool, blue fruit, plum, blackberry. Relatively rich palate with lots of dry extract, stays fresh, plum on the finish. Modern in a good way I wrote down. Good showing.
3 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Château Malartic-Lagravière
94 points
Cool nose, lots of blueberry and cassis, exuberant with ripe marmalade as well, then witching towards left bank aromas with cedar. Ripe but within classic proportions. Nice.
Red
2009 Château Gazin Pomerol
93 points
Muted nose, ripe, with blue fruit and stewed Rhubarb. Extracted feeling on entry, then good lift. Medium complexity only. 93+
4 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Château Duhart-Milon
92 points
The most closed wine of this flight, Muted nose, cool aromas of forest and some dark fruit. Does not give much on the palate either, tannic, closed. Is this just sleeping or is it too pushed? 92+
3 people found this helpful
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Flight 2 (5 notes)
Red
2009 Château Calon-Ségur
96 points
Nose of cool blue fruit. Very clean and crisp on the palate, precise and structured with licorice and oak on the finish. Very well done and will please friends of classic proportions. Wonderful!
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Domaine de Chevalier
95 points
Expressive nose of farmyard, toast and forest floor. Light palate, almost a bit too light for a higher score, but good stuff for sure and another fresh and classic wine in this wonderful and ready to drink flight.
4 people found this helpful
Comments (3)
Red
2009 Château Gruaud Larose
96 points
Lots of farmyard and forest floor on the nose here, complex and typical Medoc, not for the faint hearted. Cool, blue fruit dominates on the palate, structured, long finish. This is Grand. 96+
7 people found this helpful
Comments (2)
Red
2009 Château Batailley
93 points
Toasty nose with Maggy, more muted than the rest of the flight. A bit too oaky but then also with nice, ripe dark and red fruit. Good but clearly the weakest in this flight.
1 person found this helpful
Comments (1)
Red
2009 Château Figeac
96 points
Another wonderful nose here with forest floor, farmyard, dark fruit, very left bank aroma profile. Masculine on the palate, light even, tannins very polished. Long, aromatic finish. Very good. 96+
1 person found this helpful
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Flight 3 (5 notes)
Red
2009 Château Léoville Poyferré
100 points
Expressive nose of forest flor, glue fruit, licorice, blackberry. This has layer after layer, always different when I come back. Impressive palate, ripe yet fresh, structured yet polished. A dream Bordeaux. My favorite and also WOTN #1 of the tasting. Kudos team Leoville Poyferre 2009.
5 people found this helpful
Comments (2)
Red
2009 Château Montrose
98 points
Muted nose, licorice, blue fruit, masculine. Closed but oh, so precise, lots of polished tannins but also ripe fruit and deep aromatics upon inspection. Very impressive. Don't open this before 2025. WOTN #3
4 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Vieux Château Certan
98 points
My gosh, is this an exuberant nose. Lots of toast still, plum, cassis, spices, really wild. Rich palate with good structure and freshness. A bit of a roller coaster but of the joyride type. No signs of cooked fruit and over-ripeness, hence my high score for this showman. WOTN #3
1 person found this helpful
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Red
2009 Château Haut-Brion
97 points
As well here, a more muted nose. Lots of cool, blue fruit with cassis and licorice. Needs coaxing. The palate has very good ripeness but also classic proportions, good tannins and density. Hard to judge today but will be grand.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Château Angélus
96 points
WOTN #2, but my least favorite in this flight. After an initial positive impression with lots of blue fruit, the wine came across as too Napaesque for me. Cassis syrup, plum. It does have the structure and acidity to support it, but we have gone astray here for my Bordeaux taste. Score higher if you like this style.
Flight 4 - 2009 Bordeaux tasted at other occasions this year (non blind) (8 notes)
Red
2009 Château Trotanoy
97 points
Consistent to my last tasting note. A great aristochratic wine that combines ripe fruit with freshness and structure. Polished palate, stays elegant despite the volume of the ripe 2009 fruit. A top Merlot in any aspect.
2 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Château Hosanna
96 points
During a Commanderie tasting dinner. Well, the Moueix stable does it again. I have noticed this before that when Pomerol is in danger of producing wines that are too hot and ripe, this producer gets it right by picking ripe but not too ripe. The wine here is overtly modern with blueberry, vanilla and polished tannins. At the same time there is freshness and drinkability, not too extracted and not oxidative. Very popular at the dinner table, a crowd pleaser in a positive way.
Red
2009 Château Lynch-Bages
95 points
Tasted next to the Ducru 10 and Montrose 09. A good Lynch for sure but could not reach the heights of the other two when juxtaposed. Ripe fruit, some torrefaction. Definitely feels young, oak not yet fully absorbed. As always with Lynch Bages, give this proper time to let the cigar box and pencil aromas emerge. Best after 2024.
4 people found this helpful
Comments (2)
Red
2009 Château Pontet-Canet
95 points
Nose of dark fruit and red fruit, oak, sandal wood, not very expressive yet. Dense palate, compact, good ripeness but kept in check. Similar to the Lynch Bages. The finish is not very long yet, but material is there. Solid but I doubt this will ever be a 100 points. Still young, drink after 2025.
3 people found this helpful
Comments (1)
Red
2009 Château Haut-Bergey
94 points
Expressive and complex nose of dark cherry, gingerbread, smoke and some meat. Lots of ripe fruit on the palate but also very good acidity. Like many 2009, combining ripeness with freshness. Feels young still, so don’t worry keeping this despite it drinking well now.
Red
2009 Château La Lagune
91 points
Rich and ripe, polished with some roasted 2009 aromas. Vanilla, spices on the finished. Very good house pour quality.
2 people found this helpful
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Red
2009 Château Pape Clément
89 points
Outch! Oak, oak, oak, torrefaction and then some more oak. These parkerized, too late picked wines are all dead after a few years, had so many of them, Pavie & Co... A shame. There are no aromas in these wines. Where is the fresh fruit? Where great aromatic terroir of the site? Not to mention elegance and drinkability. Luckily many Bordeaux Chateaus dialled back after this thicker-is-better era (heard promising things about the 2016). Hope we will get wines like 00/01 again. They were beguiling at age 10.
3 people found this helpful
Comments (4)
Red
2009 Château Pavie Macquin
88 points
During a commander tasting. While there were some bottle variations here, one thing became clear with this wine. This has been pushed to the limit with ripeness and extraction. Fell apart fast in the glass, oxidative not emerging and dry finish (another proof point that wines made like this don't age well). If you have it, I recommend to sell it. It have given these Parkerized wines the benefit of the doubt for too long, that time is over.