Bordeaux on a Wednesday evening…
The Fort Collins winos staged a fantastic Bordeaux tasting this past week and Sean O’Leary and I drove up from Denver for a mid-week bash. The line up was serious Bordeaux and it was a treat to get to drink through these wines with and without food. Due to the small group, it was possible to taste through each bottle at different points through out the evening and really get a feel for the wines.
1986 Château Gruaud Larose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (2/25/2009)
This sports a deep opaque burgundy color to go along with its blockbuster aromatics of earthy dark fruit, spice, cedar and lead pencil. Very rich and with nice complexity, this has plenty of ripe fruit and freshness. The wine explodes on the palate with stunning concentration, solid structure and a long finish. This is a structured, masculine wine with plenty of life ahead of it. (95 pts.)
1982 Château Cos d’Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (2/25/2009)
Beautiful with sweet fruit, hot asphalt and spice aromas that blend with celery and subtle forest floor notes on the nose. The palate is fantastic with full body, a rich texture and a long finish where fine grained tannins show up. This wine drastically improved with air. (94 pts.)
1982 Château La Lagune - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (2/25/2009)
Completely mature with big, perfumed aromatics of sweet cherry, incense, spice and cedar notes. The palate is integrated with medium to full body paired with impressive sweet fruit, a silky texture and a long finish. This started out with guns blazing but faded over the evening and lacked some of the backend depth of the other wines so I’d drink these sooner rather than later. (92 pts.)
1983 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (2/25/2009)
Simply stunning with screaming aromatics of smoke, fresh brewed coffee, lead pencil and meaty notes all wrapped around a beautiful dark fruit core. It’s complex, deep and rich with surprising freshness and precision. The palate is medium to full bodied with a layered, structured and yet light texture, gorgeous balance and a long finish. Drinking perfectly. (96 pts.)
1973 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (2/25/2009)
The first year of Mouton’s claim to the illustrious league of First Growths… and this bottle wasn’t reinforcing that claim. The nose is decidedly oxidized and the palate was thin and acidic. Certainly serviceable with food… but not much more. NR (flawed)
2000 Château d’Issan - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (2/25/2009)
Youthful, perfumed and intense on the nose, this offers up jammy blackberry and cassis fruit mixed with saddle leather, spice and serious mineral notes. The palate is medium bodied with a core of sweet fruit, lush texture, impressive balance and a long finish. This is darn right precocious and nothing wrong with drinking these now. (94 pts.)
2003 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (2/25/2009)
A monster wine that displays raw power paired with a perfectly balanced, harmonious character. The nose is stacked with massive, clean, pure blackberry and cassis fruit intermixed with loamy earth and classy oak notes and the palate is perfect with stunning concentration, a seamless texture and perfect balance. There’s considerable structure hiding under the fruit and masses of fine grained tannins kick in on the finish. This bottle was double decanted 13 hours prior to drinking and showed brilliantly. (98+ pts.)
2000 Château Giscours - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (2/25/2009)
This is restrained and down right muted on the nose but with coaxing, yields espresso, pain grille, lead pencil and mineral notes. There’s a nice core of dark fruit that comes out with air and this continued to improve over the evening. In contrast to the nose, the palate is open for business with sweet fruit, a rich, lush texture and low acidity. This has lots of upfront appeal and is drinking beautifully. (92 pts.)
1990 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (2/25/2009)
Along with a dark amber color, this possesses lots of cream brulee, toasted spice and brown sugar aromatics, full body and an enjoyable finish. There’s nice sweetness, low acidity and a full, lush texture but it lacks complexity. (91 pts.)
2003 Château Guiraud - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (2/25/2009)
Wow, a gorgeous Sauternes that has gobs of vanilla, custard and honey mixed with white flowers, baking spices and marmalade notes on the nose. The palate is full throttle with low acidity, a fat, lush texture, beautiful precision, clarity and a long finish. Very young and primary on the nose at the moment but I’m a fan. (94+ pts.)