TN: Bdx, lots of 02, some 05, an 83, and more

So last night my usual tasting group got together to sample some Bordeaux. This time we were fortunate to have board member Brad S w a l l o w, his lovely wife, and his wine Berserkers shirt join us. Good times were had by all…plus the Ravens beat the jets!

we started off with a mini-vertical of whites while everyone was showing up.

2001 Larrivet Haut Brion - Golden in color already and lots of spice and minerals on the nose with a dollop of funk. Some smoke and honey too. As the evening went on it really fleshed out and got a lot of citrus fruits and honey. We all liked this better and were interested to see it age.

2002 Larrivet Haut brion - Similar golden color with more of a Semmion character. waxy and full of orange blossom flavors it was fuller bodied with a tangerine note. it finished with a saline note. Interesting and drinking pretty well now.

Then we moved onto two mini flights of reds from the 2002 vintage.

Pauillac

2002 Pichon Lalande - Very aromatic right out of the bottle with licorice, violets, plums, and mocha. It was mid-weight with a hint of blueberries on the palate and moderate tannins. This was a joy to revisit as the evening went on. It is drinking well now, but worth holding onto for at least 5 more years.

2002 Pichon Baron - My last bottle of this was very funky and tannic so I was worried to try it, but it was excellent. A touch of funk, then cedar, black currants on the nose. It had lighter structure and a long spicy finish. I have one or two more of these, they will sleep for a while.

Saint Julien

2002 Gruard Larose - Blackberry and spicy herbal nose with a hint of pine. It was fuller bodied and juicier than the pauillacs with sweet black fruit flavors and a long finish. Showing very well and worth drinking now, but will improve. Glad I have more!

2002 Beychevelle - I opened a bottle 2 years ago that was flat, not an off bottle, but it wasin a funky place. Last night this wine was rocking! Huge expressive nose with cassis, mocha, and smoke. Still primary and this bottle would have lasted an easy 10 years. Unfortunately it was my last one.

After that we tried a few slightly older Bordeaux.

1994 Leoville Barton - Showing nice maturity but could still age longer. a nice suprise for the 94 vintage, i recal an excellent bottle of Leoville Barton 94 a few years ago. This had a lot of cedar, a touch of sweat, blueberry, and blackberry fruits. still some structure and the finish began a little tight but opened up. This wine was double decanted in Baltimore before it made its way to Columbia.

1995 Monbousquet - In a nice place it showed very well with a pop and pour. blackberry, pomegranite, and plum flavors. It was still a big wine with tannin and a hint of cigar ash. Over time it seemed to shut down. But still a nice showing. I think the wine will last for a while yet.

Then we jumped forward to look at a few 2005s

2005 Rocher Corbin - A St. Emilion property that my buddy Marc went long on so he brought a bottle to check it out. dark purple and very primary, still a touch grapey and brooding with blackberry, herbs, and plums. Very young but very well balanced for its size. Should do well for a decade, I think he paid $18 a bottle on a closeout. Not bad!

2005 Phelan segur - Very big noe on this puppy! Lots of licorice, black currant, just very deep nose. It was very well put together with dark fruits and good structure. Developed a nice coffee note as time went on. Tasty!

2005 Tour Renaissance - A small St. Emilion property, this one divided the group. It was smokey and milk chocolatey with an ash note. Sweet blueberry flavors but still very tight. I liked this better the first time I had it, but it was very dominated by structure, I’m still curious to see how this ages.

Finally (for the reds) an 06

2006 Chateau Lusseau - This wine was even more polarizing! I got some green peppercorn, oak, sweet cassis, and plum. It was good but not great. Could be interesting as it settles down, but won’t ever be a great wine.

Can’t do Bordeaux without some sweeties to finish it up.

2002 Suduiraut - Burnt caramel, dried apricots, typical Suduiraut with its rich, slutty fruit and generally slightly less acid than I like. Finish was long and spicy. delicious to drink now, will continue to evolve but I don’t see it making old bones. Not that that is a bad thing. Some people prefered this.

1983 Chateau Romer du Hayot - Never had one of their wines before and I was impressed! This was generously brough over by my friend Sam since this tasting was also to celebrate my birthday, so he brought a wine almost as old as me. Very kind! This wine blew me away. Orange color with a hugely expressive and layered nose. Orange blossom, creme brulee, orange peel, lemons, white pepper, even some rose petal or cherry notes. It was not too sweet but had some honey flavors and excellent refreshing acidity. Big spicy finish. Considering how slowly it is evolving I think that bottle would have lasted another 30 years no problem. It was stunning!

Good times were had by all. I have two decanters full of the Rocher Corbin and Lusseau to see how they show tonight, plus the Sauternes.

Hopefully Brad had fun and will add his notes. We ALMOST popped a Dauvissat La Forest 07 after all that but made a goal-line decision to save that for another day. Probably wise, I think it will go well with Habaneros!

First of all, your thread is full of fail without a photo of Brad in his WineBerserkers t-shirt!

Secondly, thank you for the notes on the '02 Pichon Lalande. I have a couple bottles of this wine in my cellar and the notes on CT have been quite disconcerting, even if they focus mostly on it being completely shut down. Yours at least gives me hope of what is to come, and even if I want to crack one open soon, there’s much to enjoy.

Mike, thanks for posting your excellent notes, and for organizing the tasting last night. Pauline and I had a blast both with the wine and your tasting group. For a Monday night, it was pretty strong.

I had a strong preference for the 2001 L’Arrivet Haut Brion as opposed to the 2002. The 2001 was very dry, packed with citrus rind, and had a stony quality that I really enjoyed. I agree that the 2001 took on honey notes as the night advanced. The 2002 was a more straight-forward wine with lush fruit but without the mineral component.

The 2002 Pichon Lalande was lush, opulent, and forward, showing tremendous blue fruit with some chocolate and earth in the profile. I think this wine will improve a little over the next few years but keep for at least a decade. I don’t plan to pop another one for a year or two.

The 2002 Pichon Baron was young and tight by comparison to the PL, but the youthful tannins were accompanied by plenty of big, red fruit and some cedar notes. A few more years will do this some good.

The 2002 Gruaud Larose had a funky nose and some more funk (in a good way) on the palate. Also showing pretty young, this seemed to pick up some weight during the evening and promises to reward patience.

Mike’s description of his earlier 2002 Beychevelle had us all a little curious for this bottle, but it performed well last night. The wine exhibited a nice nose of violets and a touch of funk, with big, dark fruit and some wood on the palate.

The 1994 Leoville Barton was a nice surprise. Although not a blockbuster LB, this was a fine effort in what I have always thought was an irregular vintage. In no way tired, the wine had elements of roasted meat, pencil shavings and graphite. It seemed like it could deliver pleasure for several more years.

If I had to pick a favorite of the night, I probably would go with the 1995 Monbo, in large part due to the fact that it is in a great spot now. The wine has plenty of vibrant fruit with earth and cigar box notes. The tannins are softening but still firm enough for years of further aging, and the oak is well integrated. A very good showing at age 14.

The 2005 Phelon Segur was not shut down in the least. It brought a powerful coffee bean nose with big, ripe fruit, nuances of cedar and dirt, and youthful tannins. Although I enjoyed this quite a bit last night, I would like to try this in 10 years.

I was not particularly inspired by the other reds and did not take detailed notes on them as a result. However, I will add that the 2006 Lusseau was my least favorite wine of the night by a good margin. It seemed manipulated and had a chocolate milk shake quality that I did not enjoy. If I had it blind I would not have guessed it was Bordeaux.

I can’t really add much to Mike’s notes on the Sauternes since I had put my pencil away by the time they appeared, but I agree that both were very good. I had a slight preference for the Suduiraut. Slutty is good.

What a great way to usher in the week. Thanks again for having us! Pauline looked terrified when you threatened to open that Dauvissat at the end.

Brad

PS: I received many compliments on my Berserkers tee-shirt. I would ease up on Mike a bit, though – he had his hands plenty full opening bottle after bottle and taking notes, so it’s no surprise he wasn’t able to snap pictures too!

Thanks for the notes. Was wondering about the 02’s myself, although I don’t have a lot of them. I had a 2002 Pape Clement over the weekend that was drinking very nicely from first pour through a three hour decant. Very nice surprise.

Mike, thanks for the notes on the 2002 Pichons, I have a small stash of Lalande and a slightly bigger one of Baron. I have been sampling the Baron from time to time, but have only had the Lalande on release. So, really helpful data point on that one.

I haven’t had the '94 Leoville Barton since Oct 07 from 375ml. It was a good dinner wine with nice notes all around but nothing too special. Sounds like the 750’s are doing just fine, though, which is encouraging.

-Michael

should I not post the pics of him when he took it off then? [thankyou.gif]

I thought the Lalande was pretty open last night and showing well. Still young, but not a waste to pop one. i haven’t checked out the CT notes.

We almost popped a Dauvissat La Forest in your honor flirtysmile

Brad,
You and Pauline are welcome any time. Jess and I are always ready to pop some bottles. Let’s get together soon to see how Dauvissat goes with Habaneros!

Overall the 02s showed pretty silky fruit and very nice bouquets, often with floral/lilac notes. I know that this isn’t a collectors vintage or one to save for your grandchildren, but I think these wines are drinking pretty well now and have pretty nice complexity.

I have the Rocher Corbin and Lusseau in decanters on my kitchen table and will revisit them when I get home. Plus some of the 83 Romer du Hayot which I am looking forward to.

Brad did you keep any wines for tonight to see how they evolved?

Also, does anyone know how Romer du Hayot is doing now adays? A producer I was not familiar with, but really brought some heat to the party last night.

Mike,

Thanks for the invite to check out the Dauvissat. We will bring something interesting as a counterpoint. I just checked over that thread about combating palate fatigue and was disappointed to learn that nobody cited raw Habaneros as a cure for a fatigued palate. We use them exclusively for that around here.

As for the left-over wines, we treated our baby sitter to a few sips of each when we returned last night. She liked the Monbousquet and in fact damned near drained what was left. I still have a thimble-full of that, as well as about a quarter bottle each of the Gruaud and PB. Sadly, I had commitments tonight that prevented me from returning to them. Tomorrow should be interesting though. I’ll report. In the meantime, I am interested to hear your thoughts on the Lusseau after 24 hours in decanter. Was it better, or worse?

Post those pics from later in the night in NSFW where they belong!

Brad

PS: As I said in my notes, I thought the Lalande was far from shut down. I looked at the CT notes after reading what Todd wrote, and I thought it was interesting that about half of the entries said the wine was open for business and the other half said it was shut down tight. Different palates, I guess, but I thought the wine was seductive enough to go back to it many times during the course of the night.

The 05 Rocher Corbin was ok, showing less primary and more acid. Better last night.

The 06 Lusseau…my roommate Ryan smeeled and said it smelled like rotten fish. I didn’t think that. It still had some peppercorn, but the palate was gone. Didn’t do very well in the decanter.

However, the Romer du Hayot was still excellent, only a few small sips left. I ended up nursing most of that while cleaning up last night.

Sam stopped by to try me on an 05 Sauternes and it was ok, but with the Romer du Hayot still on my mind…it PALED in compairison. Luckily I had a nice 2000 Alsatian Pinot Gris open so we enjoyed that instead.

Just a quick Day 3 note on the wines I brought home. The wines were kept at room temp with nothing but a cork stuffed back into the bottle. I only had a drop of the Monbo but it seemed like it was still going strong. The tannins were softened, and what remained was dark fruit, burned cedar and lead. Persistent finish. The Gruaud also held up well, still showing some young tannins and some more tart fruit and licorice on the nose and palate. Still very tasty. The PB, while still there, was showing a little alcohol on the nose and palate. The funk was gone, and there was mocha and smoke in the profile. It was breaking down a little more than the other two, but still enjoyable considering the time since opening.

thanks for the day 3 update as a data point. none of my wines made it that far. the reds were dumped tuesday after a poor showing and the sauternes was gleefully drank

Great line up!! I still have one 750 and a mag of the 94 Leoville Barton. It is still quite good, as you indicate; I’ve enjoyed 2 or 3 bottles over the last year or so.

I would be interested to hear how it is doing out of magnum! I wonder how long this wine will keep going. I almost opened up an 02, but I thought it would be a waste.

Was the PL fully consumed, so no return?

I killed it the first night, i can dig the bottle out of my recycling and smell it if you like!! neener

I should have saved some, but it got mostly drained during the tasting.

That’s a good sign…maybe I should crack one soon.

Todd, I only went home with a few bottles that had some real volume left in them. As Mike said, there was not much of the PL left at the end, as I think a lot of folks (myself included) kept checking on it over the course of the night. Nobody at the tasting suggested that the PL was shut down or too tight.