Yet another year passes, and I’m fortunate enough to still have an invite to Mark Taylor’s Bordeaux tastings. This year’s theme was the sometimes-maligned 2004 vintage, and it was an educational experience. In general, I’ve found that ‘lesser’ wines in that vintage seem to be at their drinking windows now (only one of all 24 wines was probably ‘past’ drinking window) and the better wines are perhaps just barely entering it, and seem to have a long life ahead of them. Several other Berserkers were in attendance, I hope they can share their thoughts as well, like @dcornutt and @Eric_LeVine
Michael McNeil did a freakin’ fantastic job setting up the flights, as each day had First Growths in it, thus finding wines that can keep up with that kind of quality, in a not-great vintage, had to be a challenge, and he nailed it. Very impressive how the flights aligned so beautifully.
Full notes below, but a lot of it is just my running thoughts, written down during the tasting, in order to establish 1) my guesses as to what they are, and 2) rank them, as this is the tradition at the event. There are definitely a few gems in this vintage, and I presume there will be some deals in the marketplace for this vintage. There was a bit more green pepper than I anticipated, but not overwhelmingly so. Several of the flights had 2 Right Bank wines, so I was ‘cheating’ a bit in going through the aromas to try and locate Merlot - I’ve found that it was far more difficult to do so with 20 years of aging - the blends truly integrate into one another, the individual components don’t stick out, so I failed miserably at identifying it.
I also discovered it’s WAY EASIER to do a vertical and guess vintages than it is to guess wines with age on them unless you have a ton of experience drinking them regularly, which I don’t have!
Day 1:
Flight 1: Les Fort de Latour, Brane Cantenac, Malescot St Exupery, Branaire Ducru, Pavie Macquin, Quinault l’Enclos
1 - sharp nose of graphite, leather and cedar, savory, hint of coffee, beautiful blast of dark red cherry on the palate, love the explosiveness of the flavor profile, finish lasts quite some time but has a bit of bitterness quickly forming the fruit - feels integrated, perhaps not one of the more important houses of the flight in terms of quality - the finish ruins what would be a wonderful wine (Malescot? Was right) (my 5th, group’s 2nd)
2 - initial nose points to Merlot, graphite, earth, violet, black cherry, red currant, silky palate gives a not to Merlot once again, roses, slate, bit of char, black fruits, long finish, grippy fine tannins (Pavie Macquin? Was Quinault l’Enclos) (my 2nd, groups 3rd) (is now owned by Cheval Blanc)
3 - pruney nose, dusty, past prime, palate has sweet cherry, cedar, hints of prune and again dusty and a bit astringent (Brane Catenac?) (my 6th, groups 6th) (other side had a fantastic bottle, ours was DOA) was Pavie Macquin which I had initially and changed, dang it
4 - blue fruited, dark floral nose, hints of chocolate, feels like a Saint Julien for some reason on the palate - crisp and bright, strawberry and raspberry fruit profile, fully resolved fine dusty tannins, long finish - (Branaire Ducru? - got it) (my 3rd) (group’s 5th)
5 - initial nose speaks Merlot, plum and blackberry, spicy, floral nose, delicate softness on the palate, blue fruited, floral palate, more acid than tannins so sticking with Merlot, great finish, (Quinault l’Enclos? Was Brane Cantenac) (my 4th, group’s 4th)
6 - nose a bit reticent but has a higher quality than the others on initial sniff, beautiful stream water, olive oil/brett, plum and strawberry, hint of green pepper, beautiful nose, wonderful sweet and tart red fruit on the palate, flint on the finish, complex and interesting (Les Fort de Latour? Was right) (my 1st, group’s 1st)
FLIGHT 2 (Vieux Chateau Certan, Ducru, Cheval Blanc, Mouton, Margaux, Pichon Lalande)
1 - hint of vanilla, perfumed blue fruits, mint/herbal nose, (initially feel like these are higher grade and still not ‘ready’, made for the long term), slightly ‘grapey’ nose, palate is sharp, black currant, blackberry, grippy finish (Ducru? Was Pichon Lalande) (my 6th, group’s 5th)
2 - dark fruit profile, coffee, roses and violets which gives a more seductive yet sophisticated quality but like others not ‘ready’/young, palate has a beautiful blast of dark red and blue fruits, nice weight and silkiness, voluptuous, grippy, great fruit profile that carries strong to the very long and rewarding finish, fantastic (Mouton? Was Margaux) (my 1st group’s 3rd)
3 - bright strawberry and leather, elegant nose, bolder profile on the palate, rich but muscular in character, blue fruit on finish (Margaux? VCC) (my 3rd group’s 2nd)
4 - fresh spring water, cassis, loamy nose, silky texture, nice weight, decent amount of oak, good tannic structure (Pichon ? Was Ducru) (my 5th, group’s 6th)
5 - initial hint of cola was odd, more herbs, touch of cured meats, richer florals - feels like it’s delivering a lot of complexity on the nose but you only get hints of it, typical Bordeaux profiles of graphite and leather and tobacco, unique in this flight, drying tannins with sweet red cherry (VCC? Was Cheval Blanc) (my 2nd group’s 4th)
6 - coffee, similar profile to 2 with darker fruits, rose and violet, seductive, more dark berries on this than 2, hint of curry, more coffee on the palate, this feels less luxurious than 2, lighter and more acidic, dusty tannins (cab franc? Cheval Blanc? Was Mouton) (my 4th group’s 1st)
Day 2: (some variety on the nose, much more structure than 1st flight yesterday)
Flight 1: (Giscours, Gazin, Leoville Barton, Montrose, Pontet Canet, Pavie Decesse)
1 - herbal, smoked meats, vanilla nose, modern styled, graceful and rich, very tannic but fresh fruit carries through (Giscours? (My 5th group’s 2nd)
2 - shy nose, some citrus peel and cinnamon peeks through, light to medium bodied, focused, high acid, drying tannins, good red fruit profile with a bit of cinnamon (Gazin? (My 3rd, group’s 4th
3 - classical qualities (red cherry, leather, cedar, brett) on the nose, forest floor, green pepper on the palate, strawberry, forest floor, harsh finish and sharp tannins (Leoville Barton? Montrose (My 1st , group’s 1st)
4 - dark berries, leather nose, bit of heat, nice weight, though still medium body, dark and red berries, drying fine tannins, long finish (Pontet Canet? (My 4th, groups’ 6th
5 - floral, herbal musky nose, (merlot?) black pepper, sharp graphite, iron, fruit into the tannins, which are bold, strong but elegant, very nice (Montrose? Barton (my 2nd, group’s 5th
6 - unique nose, black tea, chocolate, mint nose, coffee, (so much coffee and chocolate mint, past prime) palate a bit lacking and unintegrated but has some flint, earthiness, dark fruit profile, spicy finish (Pavie Decesse?) (My 6th, group’s 3rd
Flight 2: (Leoville Las Cases, Calon-Segur, Lafite, Latour, Haut-Brion, Palmer)
1 - perfumed, lifted floral nose, green pepper, bit of broth, dark fruits, cherry fruit profile, fruits integrated to the tannins but still sharp and drying, nice weight (LLC? Calon Segur) (My 6th, group’s 6th
2 - (somewhat frustrating how much these develop in the glasses) classic qualities on the nose, sharp focused, floral, bit of everything but not too much of one thing so it is a balanced nose, beautiful red fruits explode on the palate, sharp edged tannins, balanced, light to medium bodied - elegant expression of what Bordeaux should be but not ready (Lafite? Latour) (My 4th, group’s 3rd)
3 - very interesting, has a dessert baked goods nose, blackberries, spring water, lovely nose more expressive, delivering more than others, touch of sweet coffee, silky and nice weight, round tannins, very long finish, elegant and muscular (Haut Brion? LLC (my 1st, group’s 5th)
4 - classical profile with a bit of red cherry and olive oil, elegant and rewarding nose if just a bit shy, menthol, palate has beautiful integrity and class, tannins evolved, red cherry, very small and drying, short finish (Calon Segur? Haut Brion) (My 3rd, group’s 1st)
5 - classical nose profile but darker fruit and bit of coffee, cedar plank, earthy, red and dark berries, graphite, forest floor/dried leaves, cinnamon, very interesting and complex (Palmer? Lafite) (My 5th, group’s 2nd)
6 - violets, significantly floral nose, ‘smells’ silky and like it has a long finish nose, round tannins, long finish (Latour? Palmer) (My 2nd, group’s 4th)
