Two mildly disappointing wines!
Branaire Ducru 2000
Promising nose, with plums, spices, dark cherry and cedar. The attack was rich, deep and arresting, with trademark St.Julien spice alongside dark cherry and blackcurrant. So far, so good - but just when I was expecting it to ease through the gears into a long finish, it stopped dead, slinking away leaving nothing much behind. Very odd and rather frustrating. I had the same experience with the last bottle two years ago, although it was less pronounced than last night. The finish, such as it was, tasted diluted and weak. There was a slight improvement during the evening (I decanted two hours before tasting) but the impression remained the same. Many here like this, so perhaps I have a bad batch - EP is not a guarantee of quality. Anyway, purely on the basis of my experiences, I would choose the 02 over the 00 without hesitation - not least because it’s half the price.
Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre 2010
Curiosity got the better of me - I decanted this 6 hours in advance, expecting it to be very primary still, which it was. Quite a precise, concentrated set of aromas, ranging from blackberry to raspberry, with a hint of caramel and dusty stone. The first impression was very positive, albeit totally different to the older wines tried this year: strong red cherry, with a second wave of raspberry. After a while, the wine relaxed and the second wave started to ripple across the palate, with little peaks of flavour breaking through the dominant red cherry - some blackberry, more pronounced raspberry, a hint of wild strawberry and above all, a strong sense of stony earth (sounds weird I know), with a calming, dusty Margaux finale, just marred by an aftertaste of very acidic cherry. Sadly, the latter dominated more and more as the evening progressed. I’m not an expert, far from it, but I think the wine suffered from VA.
Overall, my first young Bel Air Marquis was an interesting experience: much more modern in style than the older wines and in blind conditions I would never have said it was BAMA. But also completely different to other 2010s I’ve tried. The acidity is there, obviously, the fruit is like that of the others, but the alcohol level is far lower (12.5°) and there are no aromas or flavours coming from oak. It somehow tastes more natural. Anyway, it needs many more years and I would imagine that a normal bottle without the VA would turn into an absolute gem.