Don’t know what it is but I guess I was just getting thirsty from torturing my students with all those chemisry tests prior to their break for Easter holidays. Thought I’d report on five 2004s from Bordeaux but my mother recently asked me if I have some red wine. So I opened a 2004 Grand Puy-Ducasse. Since it was consumed at an alarming rate I also opened a 2004 Leoville Poyferre. Sipped and abused as we speak…
So therefore the summary will be about seven different 2004s
2004 Brane-Cantenac
2004 Giscours
2004 Smith Haut-Lafitte
2004 Carbonnieux
2004 Bahans Haut-Brion
2004 Grand Puy-Ducasse
2004 Leoville Poyferre
THREE of the wines stood out as clear winners, in my opinion. ONE was as expected and two were slight disappointments. Care to guess?
2004 Brane-Cantenac
Lots of typical Bordeaux flavours, with cedar, tobacco and spice box and a very good wine to savour any day of the week. However, my palate likes it more lucious and fat that this weightwatcher’s version. This is more a wine for those who prefer it slim, not much meat on the bone, medium-bodied, with some herbaceousness that accentuates the slim, cool appearance. Very black fruit, light on its feet and very pure and straightforward. 88 points.
2004 Giscours
Okay, I must confess… I have a weak spot for this style of wine. It’s the black olive tapenade that seduces me. Drink a Flaccianello from Tuscany and you’ll get what I mean. This is full-trottle from the first sip, with broad, juicy, full-boddied flavours of licorice, succulent black cherries, black currants but…never cloying. Always fresh, always lively, with a playful nerve of minerality and fresh acididity backing up the generous fruit. How can you not like this? Simply gorgeous. 93 points.
2004 Smith Haut-Lafitte
Now…this was a surprise! It started out very funny, with LOADS of smoke, tobacco and horse manure - impossible not to put in Bordeaux. Flavours are really exploding from the glass. Definately NOT for the anti-flavour crowd… 
With some time in the glass, the initial explosion of typical Bordeaux flavours turned quieter and gave way to voloptious fruit. Blackish… Think blackberries, the darkest cherries, add some black graphite and Asian spices. Very complex - the flavours keep changing all the time. Some flowers, some spices and then suddenly loths of graphite, only to change into lucious fruit again. Concentrated and focused more than “powerful”, with a liveliness and tension. A winner. 92 points.
2004 Carbonnieux
Oh, sweet and luscious, this is one to like. Flirtatiously seducing you with layers of cherries and even some wild strawberries amid the darker fruit, so a nice interplay between red and black fruits. Feels generous and juicy, almost succulent and with a finish that goes on and lingers beautifully on your tongue. I like it! 89 points.
2004 Bahans Haut-Brion
This is more towards the style of the Brane-Cantenac above. Very slim, down-scaled, shy and feminine. I like the spices and the earthy notes with some tobacco and the purity of the wine but I need more meat on the bone to appreciate at the highest level. Maybe I’m too harsh and I can only repeat that it’s a matter of style preference - those who do not agree on my assessment of the Ridge wines in another thread, will like this wine much more. To me it’s good and enjoyable, but too slim to play in the Major League. 86 points.
2004 Grand Puy-Ducasse
Solid from the start, offering coffee, plum and blackberries. Nice interplay between tannins, acidity and texture. Feels very yummy and solid throughout. I like the mineralic vibrato on the finish and the how the tannis feel almost sweet and polished. I’m happy I have more bottles. 89 points.
2004 Leoville Poyferre
Oh, this is good. Very much like the combinatioin of considerably more tannins than the wines above, with pitch-black fruit and coffee characteristics, yet…these ample ripe, juicy fruit creating an uplift in this beauty. It’s rich and powerful while at the same time regaining a lovely elegance. A wine to be combined with food but I must admit I very much enjoyed just sitting there sipping and savouring the ultra-black coffee/currant and the mineralic nerve. Yummy. 92 points.
Not the greatest of Bordeaux vintages but still some really nice drinking experiences.