2004 BORDEAUX TASTING - (5/29/2013)
I’ve wanted to check in on a number of wines from the 2004 vintage from Bordeaux for a while. This was a great value vintage where top wines like Pontet Canet, Leoville Barton and Montrose could all be had for around $50. All the wines were decanted at cellar temp and poured back into the bottle for the tasting. All the wines saw 2 hours of air prior to the start and continued to open up over the course of the tasting. Overall, I was happy to see how expressive all of these wines were on the nose, palate differed a bit. Also threw in a 2004 Mount Eden estate cab to see how it would compare to the others. Wines were all served single blind, with only the producer being unknown.
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2004 Château Pontet-Canet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Glossy and creamy red fruited nose. Bit of sweet floral elements, strawberry and cherry. Nice even and balanced entry giving way to fruit and ample acidity. Powerful tannins, firm and upfront oak, a bit disjointed, tannins are a touch rough. Nose picks up a bit of chalkiness. Nice and dry with an even red fruited profile, tons of fruit there, very concentrated but not over extracted. Even with more air in the glass the tannins don’t calm down, a bit clumsy now but will age effortlessly. Tons of fruit to outlive the tannins, excited to see this come together with some more cellar time. -
2004 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
More of a dark savory red fruited nose, much more classic with cedar, finite oak, some dense dark fruit and sweet cigar smoke. Lovely entry, dark red fruits, purse, seductive and balanced. One of the more balanced wines on the table with perfect integration of fruit, tannin, oak and acid. Good length on the back end, firm tannins but integrated and not hard. Bit of tobacco, black tea, fruit for days, stuffed and stacked for some aging. No harm in popping one now with a few hours of air but this does deserve some more cellar time. -
2004 Château Lagrange (St. Julien) - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Sweet vanilla and coffee oak nose, creamy ed fruits. Lots of sweet baking cocoa and toast, smells like a coffee milkshake. Bit of spice pokes out on the nose with some masked red fruits. More coffee, coffee and coffee, its hard to get past it. Dense and rich mouth feel with more of the cocoa and coffee milkshake thing going on. Dark and chewy, hard time finding fruit underneath all of this wood. After a bit of air the fruit seems to emerge but I am not sure there is enough fruit to soak up all of this new wood. Very disappointing and very modern in style, surprising given the vintage. -
2004 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Bottled - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
Cool floral nose filled with red roses, menthol, some blue fruit and some perfume scents. Palate has some nice blue and red fruit mix, spice, touch hollow in the middle, more round and a tad unfocused when compared to the others. Glossy mouth feel with round tannins and very easy to drink. Id like some more definition in the middle and better concentration, this seemed a bit to simple for my tastes but others seemed to like it. Still raw and primary but I’m not sure it has the structure to warrant deep aging. -
2004 Château d’Armailhac - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Back to the lovely classic nose, gentle red fruits, oak spice, bottle sweetness, pretty and concentrated but not heavy. Sweet glossy red fruit, noticeable oak in the mouth but decently integrated. Tannins are ripe and round, not a hard edge to be found. Picking up come dark coca and coffee on the nose after some more air time. Toast comes to the forefront and masks the pretty fruit that was once there. Its got good depth and concentration of fruit to soak up all the oak at some point, lovely mouth feel, good acid, round and rich but interesting. Could use a touch more in the mid palate but its a minor flaw. -
2004 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Deeply pitched nose with sweet black cherry, sexy and opulent. Flinty mineral aromas, mixed with a purity of fruit that is hard to put into words. Baking spices, bit of oak toast, forward and holding nothing back. Powerful and masculine in the mouth, dense and layered but not heavy. Great acidity carries the fruit and oak, tannins round out on the finish. Bright and lengthy, seductive and drinking great now. It will be hard to keep my hands off the others.
