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Bordeaux Tasting
"Chateau McClure Roberts", Philadelphia PA
Tasted May 16, 2009 by ews3 with 1,097 views
Introduction
The theme for this tasting -- Bordeaux retrospective... old and young, white and red... some amazing wines came out of the cellars for this, and it was a great time. Catering and cheese by DiBrunos.
Flight 1 - Dry Whites (3 notes)
Nothing special here -- but nice, refreshing whites
White
2008 Château Turcaud Entre-Deux-Mers Blanc
85 points
simple, watery palate has lots of citrus notes. some mineral quality here as well
White
2007 Château Guiraud Le G
88 points
nice refreshing grapefruit flavor. the acidity is a bit sharp on this. more structured than the other whites had this evening
White
2006 Château Carbonnieux Blanc
87 points
Fruity with nice balanced acidity. apple and apricot notes on top of the typical citrus.
Flight 2 - The 70s! (3 notes)
A few impressive bottles. The Haut Brions were great and this flight showed that Bordeaux can age forever -- and 73 and 79 aren't even great vintages... The 75 HB was the WOTF, but the 79 is in a sweet spot right now.
Red
1973 Château Pontet-Canet
85 points
orange rim, but looks surprisingly youthful at the core. nose of leather, shoe polish, tobacco. developed somewhat unpleasant rubber notes as it opened up. tobacco most evident on the palate, with a short, sweet finish. A pleasant surprise.
Red
1975 Château Haut-Brion
93 points
nose and palate both show licorice, leather, but still some black currant and chocolate behind the secondary notes. still nice soft tannins there show there is still quite a future ahead of this wine. medium-long finish was lovely, with fruit and leather in perfect harmony.
Red
1979 Château Haut-Brion
92 points
extraordinarily fruity -- blackberry, plum, and black cherry. also some secondary notes of earth, soy sauce, and prune. medium-long finish has some sharp acidity.
Flight 3 - The 80s (3 notes)
A nice side-by-side comparison of La Lague, but the 86 Cos was a clear WOTF here.
Red
1986 Château Cos d'Estournel
92 points
drinking really well right now -- this bottle outperformed my expectations. somewhat subdued nose of anise, almond, black currant, graphite, kirsch. the palate is remarkably youthful, with a good amount of black fruit still remaining. medium-high tannins are a hair coarse, but add a lot to this wine. medium-long finish is really pleasant.
Red
1989 Château La Lagune
87 points
somewhat subdued on the nose, this showed some green character. grassy, herbal notes. palate shows sweet black fruit, cherry, dirt, cedar, and tobacco
Red
1990 Château La Lagune
88 points
more aromatic than the 89, this showed some fruit on the nose -- blackberry most prominently. still some greenness on the nose, mixed in with secondary notes of tar and leather. palate shows well, with some development still ahead for this. leather and blackberry with an interesting viscosity that makes for a very pleasant mouthfeel.
Flight 4 - The 90s (3 notes)
Finally some right bank to compare. The Pavie Decesse showed really well and was my WOTF. The 96 Cos was off in some way, as it was quite different from a bottle I had recently.
Red
1998 Château Pavie Decesse
92 points
really delightful wine. nose shows milk chocolate on top of plum and sweet oak. extremely youthful palate is also sweet, with lots of fruit showing and extremely youthful. medium-long finish has chocolate milk taste.
Red
1996 Château Cos d'Estournel
84 points
very disappointing -- having had this recently, this bottle was very different. i do not believe it was flawed, as it wasn't corked smelling, and the cork looked fine (nor were the flavors indicative of heat damage). very green on the nose, with grass, forest, and cedar showing through with time. medium-long finish shows the quality here.
Red
1996 Château Pontet-Canet
92 points
nose of plum, cedar, pencil lead. palate shows plum, coffee, milk chocolate, cedar, and graphite. medium-long soft tannic finish.
Flight 5 - The Aughts (3 notes)
A nice flight, but one that in my opinion was quickly overwhelmed by the 05s. The Pavie Macquin was my WOTF, but I enjoyed all three wines. A special shoutout to the Le Dome, our only Cab Franc heavy wine, which I love.
Red
2000 Château Pontet-Canet
91 points
tasted and smelled older than the 96. nose of coffee, tar, and chocolate. palate showed more youthfully, with plum and blackberry notes, black pepper, and violet notes on top. strange disconnect between the nose and the palate -- both were nice... medium finish was pleasant.
Red
2003 Château Le Dome
89 points
nose of green pepper, earth, asparagus, and cedar, with a nice mint note on top. the palate was very green -- i liked it, but it was offputting to some. the finish lasts longer than most of the wines we had.
Red
2004 Château Pavie Macquin
92 points
nose of milk chocolate, red fruit, plum. really smooth mouthfeel. milk chocolate is most evident on the palate -- I really loved this! medium-long finish.
Flight 6 - 2005 - Vintage of the Century (3 notes)
The 2005 Cos was my clear Red WOTN -- significantly outclassing everything else. I liked the Fleur Cardinale, but there was disagreement over it.
Red
2005 Château Pipeau
92 points
nose of vanilla, raw almonds, ginger, and ripe red cherry. tannins are really forward right now. great value.
Red
2005 Château Fleur Cardinale
94 points
very fruity, with plum, red cherry, ripe raspberry, floral notes, violet, milk chocolate. strong tannins. medium-long finish. great value at release price.
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Red
2005 Château Cos d'Estournel
97 points
Awesome wine. nose of dark berry, raspberry, chocolate, graphite, black cherry. palate shows even more dark fruit, pencil lead, with an AMAZING chocolaty finish that just kept going, and going, and going...
Flight 7 - Sauternes (3 notes)
I love drinking young and old Sauternes side by side -- there's no better way to show someone the aging process. The Yquem was amazing, and my clear WOTN. Amazing. But I love Sauternes, so this whole flight was special.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1975 Château Suduiraut
92 points
beautiful burnt orange color -- when I saw this I just wanted to look at it in the bottle... marmalade, butterscotch, apricot, honey, clove. good backbone of acidity and a medium-long finish. a steal at $40ish a bottle for a wine with over three decades of age on it.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1990 Château Rieussec
94 points
softer fruit flavors than the suduiraut, with apricot showing most prominently, and some peach and honey in the background. great structure for long aging, this still has decades of development ahead. medium-long finish.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2001 Château d'Yquem
98 points
apricot, peach, toffee, creme brulee, apple, tropical fruit, marmalade, truffle. remarkable wine, and lived up to my absurdly high expectations for it. absurdly long finish... in fact, long enough that i found myself justifying the cost of splits since it lasts so much longer than full bottles of other wines! I will be buying more, for special occasions. Any occasion where you open this will become special.
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Flight 8 - Post-party (2 notes)
...because 21 bottles wasn't enough...
White - Sparkling
N.V. J Vineyards & Winery Cuvée 20
87 points
good value sparkling wine. doesn't have the red fruit notes and toast i like, but a good simple easy drinker -- lots of green apple. crisp acidity.
Closing
A great tasting -- up next, blind whites!