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En Primeur campaign for the 2022 vintage Day Four
Bordeaux
Tasted April 25, 2023 by chatters with 385 views
Introduction
For the second year, Daniel very, very, very kindly agreed to take me to the En Primeur campaign.
Flight 1 - St Julien and Pauillac Chateau visits (30 notes)
We were again guests of the negociaant Ballande & Meneret.
Another early start and off we go to St Julien and Pauillac…traffic was terrible so it took us about an hour and 30 minutes to get from downtown Bordeaux to our first stop. Phew.
When we got to Beychevelle rather than just doing the 'standard' tasting of the Chateau's wines we got herded into the UGCB tasting...bit of a result for me as they had a selection of 'lesser' wines from the Haut Medoc that I particularly wanted to look at.
The Langoa was particularly pleasing today, Pichon Baron looked good and I enjoyed the Suduiraut VV quite a lot.
Red
2022 Château Gruaud Larose Sarget de Gruaud Larose
Immediate minty notes, plums, sweet spice, a little meaty underpin, touch of blackcurrant and berries, oaky notes. Juicy with drying tannins are grape and wood based though more in the latter space. It's quite savoury and the fruit a little muted, those tannins dominate the palate with alcohol warmth on the finish. Meh.
Red
2022 Château Gruaud Larose
Medium minus intensity aromas of muted black hued fruits, cedar and soft spice touches of red plum, quite polished. Opens with time and agitation. Spice over fruit here, a little very slight fruit cake note. Juicy tends to medium plus intensity acidity, a little cream joins the black hued fruits, tannins are drying, woody, chalky textured. Non-intrusive alcohol warmth on the finish, the tannins are slightly too intrusive but time should help. A bit hmm for me at the mo'.
Red
2022 Château Beychevelle
Blackcurrant over plum, polished oak, smells plush, a little blackberry. Juicy with medium plus intensity acidity, black hued fruits; plum, blackberry, blackcurrant, over spice, woody coarse flour textured tannins, drying tannins, on the finish a little savoury notes and some warmth on the finish. Okay
Red
2022 Château Léoville Barton
Blackberry, blackcurrant, plums, cedar, sweet spice and a little cream. Medium plus intensity acidity lends juiciness, fleshy, plenty of dark hued fruits, cedar, tannins are grainy, persistent but this is far more elegant than Sunday's tasting, balanced. Yum.
Red
2022 Château Langoa Barton
Plums, cream, slightly sweet spice, a little crunchy blackcurrant, cedar in support. Medium plus intensity acidity, fleshy, generous wild fresh black fruits are positively crunchy, supported by persistent and supple talc textured tannins. Very good
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Red
2022 Château Talbot
A little compote tending to Jammie notes, black fruits; currant; berry, slight red fruit, cedar, very slight creamy notes. Medium plus intensity acidity married to quite dense, slightly extracted black fruits that tend to a more jam/compote quality, chalky, drying tannins. It's slightly out of whack and shouty. Time required but a bit meh for me today.
Red
2022 Château Léoville Poyferré
Slightly baked black fruits, sweet baking spice, polished okay, touch of almost butter, very slight herbaceous notes and a touch of sourness. Medium plus intensity acidity, it's quite tough and chewy, a little herbaceous note here as well, plenty of drying chewy oak. Nah.
Red
2022 Château Fourcas Hosten
Plums, fresh, Autumn berries and currants in support, a sense of freshness, a little toasty oak in support. Medium plus intensity acidity, chewy, slightly drying tannins, fresh black fruits, simple, arguably a little dilute but this is pleasant
Red
2022 Château Fourcas Dupré
Cream, blackberry, very slight blackcurrant, plums, slight sweet spice, like the Fourcas Hosten it's quite fresh smelling. Medium plus intensity acidity, fresh black fruits married to drying wood and grape tannins are supple and talc textured. Liquorice and a touch of bitterness on the finish is a little bit off putting but otherwise yum.
Red
2022 Château Poujeaux
Very slightly baked black fruits; blackcurrant; plum, sweet spice, a little creamy note, smells a little riper than the last two wines, touch of polished oak in support. Medium plus intensity acidity, a lick of alcohol warmth, chewy woody tannins, the fruit is a little muted, touch of bitterness on the finish. Meh
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Red
2022 Château Maucaillou
Medium minus intensity aromas of slight, almost smoky, non-delineated black fruits, a little sweet spice, fruit tea, plenty of grippy, drying tannins take over the palate. Out of whack. Something not quite right.
Red
2022 Château Fonréaud
Slightly dusty sweet spice baked black fruit, sweet spice, plenty of tannins prove woody and dry backed by black fruits. Hmm
Red
2022 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Haut-Médoc Madame de Beaucaillou
Black hued fruits, baked by a touch of liquorice, sweet spice, a little plum. Medium plus intensity acidity, plums, black fruits, liquorice washed away but a flood of okay tannins that flay the mid palate.
Red
2022 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Le Petit Ducru
Sweet spice, slight alcohol warmth, black plums, berry, liquorice. Medium plus intensity acidity, concentred to the point of savouriness, again plentiful grippy woody tannins dominate the proceedings, a little creamy note on he finish.
Red
2022 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou
Ripe plum with a slightly pyrazine notes, quite savoury underpin, again a touch of liquorice, sweet spice. Medium plus intensity acidity, slightly sour but also concentrated black fruits accompanying drying chalky, woody tannins which close down the palate.
Red
2022 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
Black fruits; blackcurrant, sweet spice, a little toasty biscuit note. A touch of plums, a sense of power but not as overtly clumsily concentrated as the other wines from Ducru Beaucaillou that are here today. Medium plus intensity acidity, a very slightly sour underpin to the black hued fruit again monster level tannins are chewy, drying, broad, big and bolshy but the fruit persist on the long finish. Woof. Very slight bitterness on the long finish.
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Red
2022 Château Pibran
Plummy fruits proves quite black hued but fresh with a little creamy underpin and sweet spice, fresh earth and a tiny fruit tea note. Medium plus intensity acidity, again plummy fruits with those fruit tea notes, woody and grapy tannins are drying, slightly coarse and a little chocolate note on the finished by a little alcohol warmth. Hmm
Red
2022 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron Les Griffons de Pichon Baron
Blackcurrant, slightly herbaceous notes, a little dusty spice underpin, touch of plum and blackberry in the background. In the mouth it has medium plus intensity acidity that is juicy, fresh and crunchy black fruits are a little non-delineated, slightly bitter notes join the chewy drying tannins that provide both time and quite woody, fruit just about persists,. Hmm.
Red
2022 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Ooh, a little immediate minty waft, plenty of cream black hued fruits especially currants, sweet oaky spices. Medium plus intensity acidity, fresh dark hued fruit slide seamlessly into drying grape and wood tannins that are quite chalky textured, the fruit persists,. There is a tiny of red fruit sourness on the finish. It's slight out of balance at the moment but complex. Good.
White
2022 Château Suduiraut Lions de Suduiraut Blanc Sec
Green apple over gooseberry, smells fresh and proves equally so on the palate with gooseberry and green apple, a little texture. Simple. Nice. Probably going to be prohibitively expensive for what it is.
White
2022 Château Suduiraut Vieilles Vignes Grand Vin Blanc Sec
Medium plus intensity aromas of gooseberry, apple, slightly stony minerality, a little candied peach and passion fruit notes. Forward with a little sweet spice and a tiny touch of savoury herbaceousness. Nice and complex nose. In the mouth it's juicy and fleshy, a similar melange of flavours, perhaps some lees work or time on solids, like the Pichon Baron, the slide from fruit to texture is seamless. Arguably lacks a little fresh acidity for any form of longevity but otherwise wonderful.
White
2022 Château Suduiraut Pur Sémillon
Apple, a little fresh hay with a herbaceous underpin, a touch of chalky minerality and leesy work. Juicy, fleshy, it's a bit on the flabby side with a touch of bitterness on the finish. Meh.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2022 Château Suduiraut
Muted botrytis shows a little apricot compote, a little smoky note then some sweet spice. Lusciously sweet with insufficient acidity to support the sugar, that smoky note here as well helps create the impression of bitterness, a little sugary apricot jam. Meh.
Red
2022 Château de Pez
Slightly muscular plums and blackcurrant backed by earth, spice, a little pyrazine. Medium plus intensity acidity, similarly muscular dark hued fruits on the palate, a little alcohol warmth helps carry the fruit past the drying moderately coarse tannic grip. Time. Okay in a bullish way.
Red
2022 Pichon Comtesse Réserve
Quite spiced plums over polished oak, a little blackcurrant. Juicy, surprisingly sweetly fruited, sweet spices straying towards a little fruit cake note, chalky tannins are present but as non-intrusive as the slight alcohol warmth on the finish which also shows a touch of bitterness. Okay
Red
2022 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
Dense black hued fruits, a little clay, plenty of oaky spice in support. Juicy, medium plus intensity acidity, chewy woody tannins have smashed the black fruits asunder. Slightly bitter on the finish. Big, time will help but not for me.
Red
2022 Château Pontet-Canet
Short note - For me this was over-extracted and over-worked to the point of undrinkability. Read the below if you want a more detailed diatribe/rant
Longer note - Medium plus intensity aromas of concentrated (to the point of bitter savouriness) black fruits; blackcurrant especially but touches of plums, oaky spices, dried woody notes and a little baked earth on the nose. Ripe concentrated black fruits and woody, though smoothy textured, tannins smash around the mouth like two cars trying to squeeze into the same tiny parking spot. With time the fruit appears to win the fight by beating the tannins into submission with an alcohol based nightstick. the tannins then park their ugly wooden vehicle on top of the fruit. Pretty awful over-extracted stuff. One for the masochists and I'm no masochist. Pontet Canet appears to be striving to be the Pavie of the Left Bank.
Longer note - Medium plus intensity aromas of concentrated (to the point of bitter savouriness) black fruits; blackcurrant especially but touches of plums, oaky spices, dried woody notes and a little baked earth on the nose. Ripe concentrated black fruits and woody, though smoothy textured, tannins smash around the mouth like two cars trying to squeeze into the same tiny parking spot. With time the fruit appears to win the fight by beating the tannins into submission with an alcohol based nightstick. the tannins then park their ugly wooden vehicle on top of the fruit. Pretty awful over-extracted stuff. One for the masochists and I'm no masochist. Pontet Canet appears to be striving to be the Pavie of the Left Bank.
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Comments (13)
Red
2022 Château Branaire-Ducru
Cream, plum initially, a little violet, blackcurrant has a little jammy note, sweet spice. Medium plus intensity acidity, red and black fruits; currant, berries and plums, a tiny liquorice note lends a little touch of bitterness, concentrated without being over wrought, tannins are talc textured, persistent with a touch of alcohol warmth on the finish which helps carry everything long.
Red
2021 Château Branaire-Ducru
Creamy, more blackcurrant than plums, a tiny green note, dialled back sweet spice. Medium plus intensity acidity is juicy, fresh, crunchy black fruits, a little rhubarb, married to talc textured persistent tannins, long with a little green note joining on the finish but, for me, absolutely lovely
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Comments (8)
Red
2020 Château Branaire-Ducru
Popped and poured…Very closed…a little plum, rubber, smells dense. With a fairly vigorous shake starts to show a little black currant, a little pyrazine, touch of almost baked notes and concentrated savoury and saline dark fruits, lend an almost meaty quality. medium plus intensity acidity, dark hued fruits; plums; blackcurrant, polished oak, talc textured and persistent tannins, a little sweet spice and non-intrusive alcohol warmth on the finish. Hmm.
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Flight 2 - Lunch at Pichon Baron (4 notes)
"Poshish sit down lunch with 100ish covers…I sat next to a lovely couple from New Zealand who were over with the reps from the Glengarry team.
The Suduiraut vieilles vignes was served with marinated salmon, the Pichon Baron 2016 with Blanquette de vis and black rice, the 2011 with a selection of cheese and the Suduiraut 2011 with fresh strawberries"
White
2020 Château Suduiraut Vieilles Vignes Grand Vin Blanc Sec
Gooseberries and cream backed by green apple and a touch of herbaceousness. Juicy but with a fleshy softness to the fruit, alcohol warmth and textured burr are joined on the finish with a touch of bitterness. Meh.
Red
2016 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Medium minus intensity aromas of black hued fruits; a little plum and Ribena, a touch of savoury notes. Quite closed. Equally dark hued and closed on the palate, talc textured tannic burr persists with the fruit. Slight non-intrusive alcohol warmth helps create the illusion of density. Balanced and long this has a sense of elegant power but needs time and/or air to open to show it's true potential
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Red
2011 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Blackcurrant, earth, slight leather, savoury spices, again that Ribena note and a little red currant underpin. Medium plus intensity acidity, concentrated black hued fruit, savoury spices, chewy wood and grape tannins are coarse flour textured and persist long with the dark fruits, touch of non-intrusive alcohol warmth on the long finish. Nice
White - Sweet/Dessert
2011 Château Suduiraut
From Magnum. Soft smelling, fleshy, delicate with aromas of fresh ripe apricot, sweet spice, very slight vanilla, a little orange and tangerine marmalade. Lovely welcoming nose. Medium plus intensity acidity is just about enough to stop the lusciously high sugar level from being cloying, very slight caramel and almond paste notes join the apricot and orange & tangerine marmalade flavours, a touch of texture. Yum.
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Flight 3 - Academie du vin de Bordeaux (43 notes)
After last year I never thought I would have the opportunity to attend this incredible event again so I was extremely grateful to get back to it thanks to an invitation from The Wine Merchant. It is a huge privilege and I treasure the experience completely. I've explained the format below but it's quite hard to do proper, formal notes so they tend to be more in the 'quickly jotted impression' space.
Now to the details: A note on the format. Basically, there are a number of ‘tasting tables’ which shows wines from vintages ending in the year of the dinner – this year was 2023 so the tasting table had wines from vintage ending in 3 e.g.1983, 1943 or 2003 etc. Additionally, there is a dinner where some of the first growths are also shown with the same vintage ruling.
The evening flows as follows (well, it did for me) you arrive, find out your room and table of allocation (there are three rooms and multiple tables) and have a choice of Champagne or Sauternes/Barsac as an aperitif with nibbles, then there are some speeches (the green party mayor, the head of the academie and then Olivier Bernard who explains the format of the dinner), flesh is pressed, hands pumped and friends reacquainted, then you go and sit down for dinner, have the first course with the first ‘first growth’, then Olivier Bernard rings a bell and a massive scrum of older gentlemen in tuxes and ladies in fine dresses converge on these tables, elbowing, biting and scratching (okay, a little bit of poetic licence here but not much) to get a taste (pours are in the -20 ml kind of area) of each of these wines. After a few minutes of frenzied slurping and scrimmaging the bell is rung again and we return to our tables for the next course (with the associated first growth and a little introduction from one of the guests)…and thus the evening proceeds until all the wine is drunk, the clock strikes midnight or the patron in question can no longer stand.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château de Fargues
From Magnum. Aromas of apricot, slight almond, a touch of bitter orange marmalade, muscovado. A little tannic burr, a touch too much sugar for the acidity
White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château Bastor-Lamontagne
From Magnum. Medium minus intensity aromas show a little botrytis but this is very fresh and smells more late harvest, a little textured tannins, a little marmalade, apricot, touch of alcohol warmth on the finish.
Red
1953 Domaine de Chevalier
From Magnum. Leathery, fully tertiary, fresh earth, mushrooms, a little textured burr, fresh, red berry, travels long, okay
Red
1953 Château Poujeaux
From Magnum. Blackberry, bramble, leather, still fresh, a little red currant underpin. Juicy, medium plus intensity acidity, red over black fruit, fleshy, leathery, Autumn leaves, mushrooms but still fresh on the palate as well. Very good.
Red
1953 Château Siran
From Double Magnum. All tertiary loveliness; mushrooms, truffles, Autumn leaves, a little biscuit, toast. Juicy, slightly dilute, red hued fruits, talc textured tannins, mushrooms, umami notes, glorious
White
1983 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
From Magnum. Initially fresh but with a slight green underpin and little else. On the palate it has a touch of sourness, textured burr on the mid palate but this feels a bit too tired and flat. Not a good example.
White
1993 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
From Double Magnum. A little honey, but still fresh with some green apple and white fruit, a touch of sweet spice, a little grassy note. Medium plus intensity acidity, apples with fresh grass, honey, still generous and aging slowly. Lovely.
Red
2003 Château Haut-Brion
From Magnum. Quite forward; leather, earth, black hued fruits, cedar. Juicy, fleshy, alcohol warmth combined with a sense of diluteness, tannins are soft and talc textured, a little baked on the finish. Hmm
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Red
1983 Château Branaire (Duluc-Ducru)
From Magnum. Fleshy and dark hued fruit; brambles, fresh blackcurrant, sweet spice, Autumn leaves, leather, a little mushroom. Juicy, savoury more bold and dense than the nose implied, same fruit profile, leather, a touch of alcohol warmth on the finish. Still has time for me. Yum.
Red
1983 Château Brane-Cantenac
From Magnum. It is a bit of a treat to try this after the same vintage from bottle earlier in the week. Unsurprisingly this is fresher with more obvious dark hued fruits, brambles but still with Autumn leaves, leather. Juicy, softly fruited, savoury tannic burr is integrated, talcy and persistent. All travels long. Good.
Red
1983 Château Latour-Martillac
From Magnum. Brambles, forest floor, mushroom, sous bois, earth. Slightly sour red over blackberry, chalky tannins, it's a little sharp. Hmm
Red
1983 Château Beychevelle
From Magnum. Ooh, Bretty, funky, meaty savoury and wild brambles, touch of mint. Juicy, fleshy, mineral notes, farmyard, slightly chalky tannins are tight, grainy. Finishes a little gamey. Okay
Red
1983 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste
From Magnum. Medium minus intensity aromas of slightly savoury and gamey notes, muted fruit, this one is a little flat on the nose and this translates to the palate as well. This bottle is a little flat and tired.
Red
1983 Château Chasse-Spleen
From Double Magnum. Dark hued fruit, sweet spice, earth and mushroom. Fresh, tannic burr, the fruit translates to the palate as well, tannic burr, long. Lovely.
Red
1983 Château Durfort-Vivens
From Magnum. Red hued fruits fades with time in the glass, a little sharpness on the palate, tannic burr is soft, it's fairly complete, rather nice but, arguably, a little dilute.
Red
2003 Château Mouton Rothschild
Ripe blackcurrant, sweet spice, dense, concentrated, tobacco leaf. Medium plus intensity acidity, dense but surprisingly fresh dark fruits, talcy textured tannins, finishes a little warm. Nice especially considering the vintage.
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Red
2003 Château Lafite Rothschild
From Magnum. Black hued fruits including brambles, a little blackcurrant tends to Cassis, and plum, sweet spice and a little alcohol prickle note. It's a bit monolithic on the palate, black fruits are non-delineated, tannins are slightly chalky. Hmm.
Note - I left this glass until the end of the evening (so about 2 hours in the glass) and this had opened up considerably, showing a pleasing freshness, more integration and tending to a touch more elegance. Very good.
Note - I left this glass until the end of the evening (so about 2 hours in the glass) and this had opened up considerably, showing a pleasing freshness, more integration and tending to a touch more elegance. Very good.
Red
1973 Château Gazin Pomerol
Bramble, earth, leather, sous bois, red berry, Autumn copse…this is a surprisingly lovely nose and, rather wonderfully, this all translates to the palate; fleshy, generous, full resolved tannins, flavours as per the nose. Glorious, what a treat!
Red
1983 Château Fourcas Hosten
From Double Magnum. Wet earth, slightly meaty notes over brambles, sweet spice dwells beneath this, . Juicy with medium plus intensity acidity, a little dilute and reticent on the palate but pleasant and quaffable.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1943 Château Doisy-Daëne
From Magnum. Slightly baked brown sugar, sweet spice, a tiny menthol note, orange marmalade with brown sugar, orange peel. In the mouth it's again marmalade, a little brown sugar underpin and textured burr, fresh acidity offsets the sugar levels. Travels ridiculously long. Tear-jerkingly good.
Red
1983 Château Giscours
From Double Magnum. Brambly, black fruits, sweet spice, leather, earth, sous bois in support. And this shows that brambly fruit with the tertiary notes and a little sweet spice with some fresh acidity and softly textured tannins. Yum.
Red
1983 Château Haut-Bages Libéral
From Magnum. A touch of Autumn fruit, black fruits, cream, sweet spice brambly and leathery notes, umami and a touch of cellar stink, meaty, sous bois. Acidity tends to the medium plus intensity, umami, leather, a little brambly note. Nice
Red
1983 Château d'Issan
From Magnum. Porcini dominates the nose and the palate, a little red fruit and a touch of leather. That red fruit touches on the sour in the mouth. Hmm.
Red
1983 Château Beauregard
From Magnum. Slightly musty, dark hued fruits, leather, sous bois, plummy fruit, sweet spiced, tannic burr, leather and earth. Okay.
Red
1983 Château Trotte Vieille
slightly green, smoky, earthy, touch of plum, sweet spice. Medium plus intensity acidity, plums, talc textured tannins, savoury umami notes, long. Interesting.
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Red
1983 Château Larcis Ducasse
From Double Magnum. Brambly fruit, sweet spice, mushroom and leather. Slightly sour red fruits, leather and mushrooms but this proves a little sour on the palate.
Red
1973 Château Corbin Michotte
meaty, savoury, red berry and red currant, mushrooms, a little truffle, more of the same on the palate, softly textured, balanced, very nice. This, and the Gazin, make me think I should be trying more 1973 Bordeaux's.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2013 Château d'Yquem
From Magnum. Apricot, orange marmalade, vanilla ice cream, sweet spice. Medium plus intensity acidity, juicy, cloyingly sweet sugar levels are just a little high for the acid, a little orange marmalade and apricot jam in support. It's a little out of whack for me and needs time to come together. good with food though, especially (unsurprisingly) blue cheese.
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Red
1993 Château Fonréaud
From Magnum. Slightly musty, earthy, savoury, not much fruit. Equally meaty on the palate, not much else going on. Nah.
Red
1993 Château Phélan Ségur
From Double Magnum. Brambles, sweet spice, Autumnal, savoury berries. In the mouth it's a little sour, gamey, lightweight again, dilute. Meh.
Red
2003 Château Haut-Bailly
From Jeroboam (4.5L). Biscuit, bramble and dark hued fruits, forest floor, leather, earth very forward. Juicy, leather, slightly sour fruit and green notes but also ripe fruits. Grippy tannins, nice but confusing - burnt fruit days and shut down vine notes...
Red
2003 Château Calon-Ségur
From Magnum. Black over red fruits, blackcurrant, sweet spice, a little truffle, leather. Juicy, fleshy, alcohol bite, chewy drying tannins, dark hued fruits, again a little forward. Hmm
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Red
2003 Château Malartic-Lagravière
From Magnum. Savoury, fruit tea, perfumed a little baked bramble fruit. In the mouth it's oddly tart, again those fruit tea, plentiful tannins dry things out. Nah
Red
2003 Château Lynch-Bages
From Double Magnum. Baked black fruits with a meaty underpin, sweet spice, a little leather. Medium plus intensity acidity (adjusted?) baked and concentrated black fruits; currants and berries, plenty of chalky drying tannins. Woof.
Red
2003 Château Smith Haut Lafitte
From Magnum. Slightly meaty dark hued fruits, touch of sour bois, a little fruit tea and sweet spice. Nice nose but a little forward. Juicy, fleshy, slight alcohol prickle is the early indicator of the vintage, savoury dark fruits, chalky tannins. Rather nice.
Red
2003 Château Gloria
From Magnum. A little savoury, meaty note married to sous bois, blackcurrant bramble support with a smidge of leather. Medium plus intensity acidity, tannins are hard, chewy, tight, liquorice and black hued fruits in support. Meh.
Red
2003 Château Rauzan-Ségla
From Magnum. Meaty, savoury, forest floor, earth, slight leathery, sweet spice, black hued fruits. Medium plus intensity acidity, quite hard and bitter, tannins are drying. Nose better than the palate. Hmm
Red
2003 Château Canon
From Magnum. Black hued fruits; sweet ripe plum, sweet spice, polished oak. Juicy, sweet plums, dense, oaky, still very primary and one of the few not showing at least its age. Not my style but this is good.
Red
2003 Château Rouget
From Magnum. Fruit tea, dark hued fruit in support and slight herbaceous notes. Juicy, medium plus intensity acidity, fruit tea and black fruits plush tannins take over, slight alcohol warmth on the finish. Meh.
Red
2003 Château Lafon-Rochet
From Double Magnum. Smoked bacon, sweet spice, savoury black fruits in support, earth, leather and alcohol warmth. Juicy, fleshy, dark hued fruits; sweet spice followed by massive drying tannins, off, time but I don't this will ever be in balance.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2003 Château Coutet Barsac
From Magnum. Controlled apricot jam backed by Seville orange marmalade. Medium plus acidity but less obviously Botrytised on the palate - a certain glycerol note but feels more late harvest. Nice.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2003 Château de Myrat
From Double Magnum. Toffee, caramel, ripe orange marmalade, surprisingly forward and this is reflected on the palate; toffee, textured burr, sweet spice, that orange marmalade is more brown sugared. Yes it's forward but it's yum.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2003 Château Guiraud
Wood glue, apricot, sweet spice, cream, fleshy, a little toffee apple, clean, yum despite leading off with that wood glue note.
Closing
A lovely set of visits followed by the Academie du vin de Bordeaux was a pretty superb day