LCBO added some more 2021 Les Carmes Haut Brion at original pricing… maybe from the UGCB release. It’s on the original 2021 futures purchasing page. About ~80 bottles left.
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It is a highlight not just in the ‘21 vintage but in general. Killer wine.
I missed buying the 21 travelling… I have 16’+… so I was pretty happy to grab a case at original pricing.
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Stylistically the wine changed with the hiring of the new winemaker ~2019/2020 vintage (of course the influence doesn’t happen on day one but is noticeable for the better with the ‘21 vintage).
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Any thoughts on UGC tasting?
These are my thoughts from the tasting… written on the train home, so not the most scientific…
My take on the wines… 2021 seems to be a more difficult vintage than 2020, winemakers calling it a “classic vintage” which just means not as good. Anyway… There were quite a few highlight though…
I thought the white bordeaux from Pessac-Leognan were showing really nicely including the Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte blanc and Chateau Pape Clement Blanc… Nice complexity, well integrated wood and enjoyable finish.
I also thought the best reds of the night were also from Pessac-Leognan, the Les Carmes Haut Brion, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge, and Domaine de Chevalier Rouge… Maybe its just that kind of vintage that supported southern left bank due to harder to ripen as you get north and closer to the Atlantic…
The wines of the Medoc I thought weren’t the best this time around…
St Julien I thought was showing well, even though no one in my group but me enjoyed Beychevelle. I thought the highlight of St Julien was the Leoville-Poyferre.
Lynch Bages frmo Pauillac has strong backbone and will go for decades, but the rest of the Pauliiac I found to be too tight at this point.
In Margaux the Brane Cantenac was very good, the Kirwan was good for the price.
The right bank was showing better overall than the left bank I my opinion:
In the right bank Chateau Petit Village, and Clinet were excellent in Pomerol, while Saint Emilion Grand Cru Clos Fourtnet, Chateau Villemaurine and Pavie Macquin were all drinking very well right now
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Man is it nice to get some straightforward, non sales pitch-y, reviews. Thank you, gentlemen!
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In what way did the style of LCHB change? FWIW, the person in charge of the estate, Guillaume Poutheir has remained in place since his arrival in about 2012.
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I believe his first vintage from start to Finish was ‘14, but you would know better than me. Drinking his wines over the vintages, it tastes as if he continued to become more and more familiar with the vineyard, specific climate and facilities. Really blossomed in the most recent vintages to the point knocking it out the park even in ‘21. So for me, my palate and current vintages the tweaks have been monumental in the finished product- but that’s just one man’s opinion.
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Sorry to be a Debbie downer but this was largely a restaurant styled vintage save for the whites. Sure some wines showed better than others and regionally I seemed to prefer the wines in Graves / Pessac Leognan (DdC, Haut Bailly and SHL) and Saint Julien (Beychevelle, Gruaud, Lagrange and Leoville Barton) but keep in mind there were also a number of missing properties from the NYC tasting this year and especially in Pauillac where neither of the Pichon’s or GPL was present.
While some folks might very well summarize these wines as classically styled, fresh wines that are imminently approachable, I think that they are being overtly generous as these wines severely lacked depth and concentration with some coming across as dilute. While some wines might very well provide enjoyable drinking; the pricing for these wines really needs to drop by ~50% to elicit selective interest from me.
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Thanks for the notes.
Exactly what I expected unfortunately.
It was obvious from the moment the harvest was brought in, that it was never going to be one of the great vintages. Surrounded by much better vintages this would be best what the British trade describe as a useful vintage and from the sound of it that’s exactly what it’s turned out to be.
Useful vintages need to be priced accordingly, and financial politics ensure that this would not be the case. Ridiculously expensive off the bat, it never sold, and only because it was a smallish vintage has it not been a real problem for the trade.
The usual solution for unsold wines is to throw them to the supermarkets for their annual fair. When they, prices do come down, but even at the usual discounts, they are unlikely to sell. You cannot sell a pig skin purse at a relatively small discount when silk purses are still available at prices not far off your pig skin offering.
I think the 50% discount mentioned in the previous post may not be far off the mark. It remains to be seen in the present era of higher interest rates, whether or not the trade bites the bullet, and brings prices down enough to rid themselves of unwanted inventory.
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Having tasted over 650 wines in barrel and bottle, I would not paint the vintage with such a broad stroke. 2021 is a lighter, lower-in-alcohol vintage, and at the lower end, it is problematic, with notable green notes. 2021 is an early-drinking vintage, with many wines best enjoyed in their youth, in restaurants, etc.
But some wines developed better than expected, with lighter, fresher, elegant, frankly charming characteristics.
This is not a buy recommendation. My comments are only about the wine in the glass. That being said, numerous folks on this board disdain the ripe, opulent, more alcoholic years, and when that does not happen, today, this is what you get. If fans of those lighter, more, classic vintages choose wisely, there are wines with a lot of charm. Prices will probably decline, but I doubt you will see 50% discounts.
FWIW, some 2007s ended up aging nicely. 2021 is a better year that 2007.
YMMV,…
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I don’t disagree with much of what you state but I would say that this vintage bares a closer resemblance to 2007 than 2014 which is the classic style many of us enjoy.
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2014 is a better vintage than 2021. But they share some similarities.
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I bought some discounted 21’ BDX from K&L. I think the weaker vintage will get discounted over time with better vintages on the market.
I am sure they will, and I hope they do it quickly. If I were in their shoes, I would sell to Costco at that 50% pricing.
On a personal note, this is the first vintage since 2013 which I have not purchased a single bottle of red wine. Even at 50%, I might buy a few bottles to complete verticals, but certainly not many as they will still needs to be cellared for a few years.
I have to say that the sheer cynicism that resulted in the overpricing really stuck in my craw, and resulted in a much smaller purchase of 2022 than I would usually have made.
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Mark- agree prices should have been much lower, and I am sure we will see that. Of course there are exceptions- but that will be on one hand vs a larger sample.
I also took the same approach on ‘22. Cut my buying by 75%. Something has to give or I have become my father like the State Fram (Progressive) commercials… or something in/between.
It’s Progressive, not State Farm.
I suck.