This past weekend Mark Taylor put on an exploration of the 2000 vintage in Bordeaux in honor of our friend the Happy Frog, Yves Durand. It was a wonderful time with lots of great people.
Eric Asimov and Bob Cunningham from NYC. Roy Hersh and Eric Levine from Seattle. Manny Berk and Greg Lambreth from California. John Pagnucco from Minnesota. John Hames from Ohio. Lots of local guys including my buddy Bob Fleming. Two very talented wine professionals led our group. Charles Curtis MW and Michael Mc Neill MS. As always the wines were served single blinded.
Day One
Flight One
Wine One- A gorgeous complex nose of darker red fruit and integrated earthy notes. Very big and rich red fruit in the mouth. The wine covers the mid palate and persists for some time.
Wine Two- Very young nose. Primary black cabernet fruit. Some element of pencil graphite. The palate is complex and elegant. Very large mid palate with expansion with warming. Long and extremely good!
Wine Three- Closed on approach. There are some vanilla notes from the elevage. It opens slowly to show red fruit. This one has a sexy texture and expands in the mouth. Spicy and long. Very nice.
Wine Four- Dark fruit and earthy notes on the nose. Complex. Wonderful mid palate of dark fruit, earthy notes and some spice. There is finishing tannin here but it integrates with a little air. Explosive finish. Excellent!
Wine Five- This one shows coffee notes and dark fruit on the nose. The palate is silky and shows dark fruit and a mineral character that is refreshing. Very precise and long. This is very good!
Wine Six - This shows oxidation that hides the nose. The palate is closed and tannic to me. I can’t much here (N.B. This was a mix of two bottles. One was completely sound the other was oxidized.)
1. Ducru Beaucaillou
2. Lynch Bages
3. La Dominique
4. Leoville Poyferre
5. Domaine de Chevalier
6. Clos du Marquis
The Clos du Marquis bottle was off.
The clear preference of the group was the Leoville Poyferre. Fabulous wine.
Second Flight
Wine One- Absolutely exquisite nose. Dark fruit. Very elegant. Loaded with complex elements. An elegant earthiness too here on the nose and palate. It is integrated with the whole. The finish shows tannin. Sexy texture and extremely long. Wonderful.
Wine Two- A great nose of dark fruit and earthy spice that takes some coaxing. The palate is explosive with silky texture and wonderful dark complex fruit. There is some tannin on the finish but this is one sexy wine.
Wine Three- Very dark fruit that is concentrated and difficult to coax alive. The nose is very dark and earthy. The palate is so big. Very focused darker fruit. This one was evolving all the way to the end.
Wine Four- Closed on opening. The nose finally comes alive with dark fruit and earthy spice. Silky texture. Beautifully spicy. Extraordinarily long when it finally comes open. Beautiful.
Wine Five - A beautiful red black fruited nose when it opened. So powerful. Rich red fruit on the palate that just expands and grows. Extraordinarily long. This is so nice.
Wine Six - Dark fruited nose in the beginning. It opens with an elegant burst of integrated earthy notes. The mid palate presence is huge and expands with red fruit and earthy spice. It finishes with tannin but they are silky and supportive. Incredible.
1. Lafite Rothschild
2. Pichon Lalande
3. Cos d’Estournel
4. Haut Brion
5. Cheval Blanc
6. Margaux
The clear preference of the group was the Haut Brion but this was closely followed by Pichon Lalande. All were extremely good.
A great first day of tasting. Thanks Mark!