Community Tasting Note

John Dunlap wrote:

Saturday, January 22, 2011 - Attended the UGC tasting at the palace. Room too dark to gauge the color of the wines, except to say that they all seemed reasonably dark at this stage.

To generalize, I found many of the Saint Emilions acidic on the palate, which I thought a bit surprising given the high concentration of Merlot. Conversely, the Pomerols – also dominated by Merlot – seemed to fair much better. Not sure why there was this difference for me other than to surmise that terrior and date of harvest must have been key in 2008. Seemed to concentrate on the right bank wines this evening, thought I did find the Margaux region a notch above other left bank wines. I would cellar these 2008 wines tasted tonight for up to 10 years.

(1) Chateau Clinet – 92 points. WON. Very nice nose with round berry flavors and lovely finish. No astringency here. 85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Oak flavors were nicely integrated in the wine. The chateau employed 60% new (some with medium toast) and 40% one-year barrels. Nicely balanced. (PS 4/11 Decanter: 4-stars 17.3 pts.)
(2) Chateau Beauregard – 91 points. Never had this wine before. The nose was really lovely, revealing rich qualities of berries, chocolate and caramel. 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. (PS 4/11 Decanter: 4-stars, 16.9 pts.)
(3) Chateau La Cosiellante - 91 points. Nice nose, but not as expressive as the Beauregard; however, the Conseillante was quite well balanced. Good berry flavors. A pleasure to drink. It may outlive the Beauregard, but who knows.(PS 4/11 Decanter: 4-stars 17.3 pts.)
(4) Domaine de Chevalier Rouge – 91 points. Lovely nose with hints of chocolate. Very good balance both on the nose and palate. Fairly high percentage of Petite Verdot (10%), though I don’t know if this historically an anomaly. Expected a little more rusticity in this wine, based on tasting older vintages in the past. Instead it t possessed more sophistication than I anticipated.
(5) Chateau Kirwan – 90 points. Both the nose and palate were very nice and offered black currant and other berry flavors. Wine was well balanced and can best be described as a traditional Bordeaux styled quality. Best for current to seven year’s out consumption.

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