November 4, 2023 - 3 bottles in the last 12 months. Brilliant nose, lots of earth and tertiary notes. The palate is good but a little short and with resolved tannins this feels a bit unstructured and flabby. Clearly not a wonderfully vintage, no surprises there. Score based mainly on the wonderful nose. Drink up.
November 27, 2022 - 13% alcohol. Between the embossed bottle and the lavish label, this is one of the most striking packagings in Bordeaux, just about on the right side of overdone. Shortish cork of good quality with some superficial penetration on the side, but nothing deep.
Decanted 90 mn ahead. The colour is deep with marginal thinning at the rim.
The nose is reduced when pulling the cork; later mostly tertiary with leather and tobacco, but there are vivid remnants of fruit aromas, mostly blackcurrant. Similar in the mouth, adding good mouthfeel and a very vivid high pitched aspect; no direct oak, but the influence of élevage is undeniable. Menthol in the finish; good grip and resolved tannins.
Maybe not the last word in harmony, but still a super Pessac, and nowhere near the end of its life.
Outside of my price range now, so the repeat purchase question does not arise.
October 3, 2022 - 2002 Bordeaux 20 years on tasting (Fribourg): 2002 Bordeaux 20 years on tasting. Key takeaways: 1/ 31 out of 32 wines were in flawless condition which indicates either luck or less bottle variation in the vintage, 2/ On average still early days with the fruit predominantly primary, 3/ solid hedonistic quality with only few laggards, but also no blow-outs, 4/ structures built on both tannin and acidity, but common mid-palate weakness, 5/ best wines were Valandrau, Palmer and a surprise underdog Lagrange (all 95), 6/ biggest disappointment was a cooked Figeac (87). More comments and full list of wines included in the tasting story.
Tasting note:
The only wine in this vintage horizontal that showed a brett feature. A more red type of fruit on balance with a bit of leather and a splash of spice. Nice and fruity palate with good tension. A solid SHL in the vintage context, but pretty weak for SHL.
October 11, 2020 - Leather, earth, farmyard, wet leaves, mushrooms, muted wet blackcurrant and brambles, a little spice as well. Medium plus acidity, talc textured, persistent tannins, brambles, leather, savoury, spice, a little mushroom and a touch of sweet plum fruit. Finishes with some non-intrusive alcohol warmth.
March 17, 2020 - 13% alcohol. Good cork, not that long but very dense and showing minimal wine penetration. Decanted a good hour ahead. Fairly deep colour with hardly any fading at the edge of the rim.
Rich nose with a mixture of fresh berries, discreet ripe red bell pepper and some notes of evolution, adding up to a pretty complete experience.
The mouth is equally good but if anything less classical than the nose. Perfect acidity and menthol notes give a lift to the finish. The oak does not intrude, and the overwhelming experience is one of freshness.
If one wants to be hypercritical, one could point to a lack of Pessac character, but this is a damn good wine regardless.
Comparing with my previous notes, I see that this bottle came across as considerably fresher and less opulent than the previous ones. Go figure...
February 26, 2020 - My first bottle in almost 6 years.....ooops. Holding up, but just barely so. Would recommend drinking before it's 20 yrs old.
September 30, 2018 - 13% alcohol. Good cork with a full cm of wine penetration. Decanted an hour ahead.
Dark colour with just a hint of ageing at the edge. The nose is intensely fruity (blackcurrant), with barely a hint of oak. The mouth is in the same vein, irresistibly fruity and with a superb lively balance; again, not much direct evidence of oak. Should last another five to ten years, but best enjoyed while the fruit is at its vibrant best.
I am won over by this wine even though its thoroughly modern fruit-forward character is not what I normally look for in a 15 year old Bordeaux; if I search for negatives, I can point to a one-dimensional aspect of the wine, ie a lack of complexity, as well as an absence of Pessac character. A somewhat guilty pleasure then, not to be repeated too often, and for that reason alone I will not label this as a repeat purchase.
July 8, 2018 - W steak from grill - JH and Roosje in Rhinebeck. Good solid wine but it was a bit rough around the edges. We had next to the 96 Lagrange. That was balanced and more medium weight. Still good fruit and tannins are still around. I found some “bitterness” but that was because of the roundness of the Lagrange. However this had good length and showed the interesting aspects of aged bordeaux.
May 5, 2018 - W veal chop from BBQ. Next to the 2004. This was the better wine tonight, more weight, more balance and subtelty of taste. Very good wine. Good finish.
April 7, 2018 - Cork was 90% wet which means I gotta drink my other 3 bottles soon. Olives, spices and sour ripe fruits nose. Stings your mouth but not in a bad way. Taste a tiny bitter. Does have complexity though. Overall a good experience.