All I have to say is…thank God I am ITB, otherwise I’d be royally pissed off to have paid retail for this junk. This is a typical example of a Parker 100 points that is NOT. Subjectively, I guess it could be, objectively no friggin’ way!
After a few sips, I just had to stop. Some may say…“Max, the wine is too young”…bullshit. I mean, where is the wine? The finish was like I had been chewing on a slab of oak for an hour. The fruit is muted, buried somewhere, so deep that I doubt it will ever become the predominant component, as it should be. One glass of this was enough and it was not enjoyable. All I could get out was oak, on the nose and palate. No class, no finesse of any sort, nothing magical and overall very disappointing. $300+ for this? I can think of at least 20 wines for $35 to $50 that would run circles around it. Unfortunately, I may still have about 30 bottles to sell and they will be going to auction where some point chaser will be delighted to buy them, stick 'em in the cellar and brag about it. Me, I am just happy to drink almost any vintage of Chave for a lot less.
I am a fan of Chapoutier and love the Le Meal. But my experience with the 02 Le Pavillon was similar and unfortunately, I still have 5 in the cellar. Granted, it is not a 100 point wine. It is only a 91. And I got the bottles for between 50-60, so my expectations were low to start out with. But I really had a hard time finding things to like about – the most telling similarity is the lack of finesse. It was in your face type without any subtlety.
Max, I have had the pleasure to taste the 88, 89 and 90 vintages of this wine with Michael at the Chateau. I have never purchased any vintage of the wine because it is not my thing, but those vintages were surreal. I believe I tasted them in 1995 at the Chateau. I haven’t tasted the 03 so I have no reason to defend it. I trust your judgment. I certainly agree that Parker points are as valuable in some wines as [1974_eating_popcorn.gif]
I don’t know if you saw it last night but I posted on Neal Martin’s thread about the 08 Bordeaux vintage and the questionable value of high RMP scores in oak.
Did have some good '89s and '90s as well from Chapoutier but they are in general not my cup of tea either. I have saved more than a half bottle of this to re-taste tomorrow so let’s see how it develops. Right now this is just a grossly overpriced oak-bomb with no redeeming qualities. Didn’t see the post on Neal’s thread…got to check it out.
Day two report: no change to be discerned. Basically a ton of bitter oak and I can’t get too much else. There certainly is fruit beneath it and if that oak integrates, we could have a nice wine. Would I ever call it perfect? Doubt it.