Bordeaux Tasting at the French Embassy

[Howard_Cooper]

I am going to a Bordeaux tasting at the French Embassy here in DC in a couple of weeks, and there are a number of wines I am not that familiar with (I am more familiar with the classified wines and bigger name other wines like Meyney and Ormes de Pez, but there are a bunch I don’t know). I am interested in learning more about non-classified wines and would be interested in any standouts you see on this list. Thanks for any help.

Red Wines

GravesBarde-Haut - St.-Emilion 2019

Beaumont - Haut-Médoc 2019

Beychevelle “Amiral de Beychevelle” - St.-Julien 2019

Brane-Cantenac “Baron de Brane” - Margaux 2016

Cap Royal - Bordeaux 2019

Carlmagnus - Fronsac 2020

Chambrun - Lalande-de-Pomerol 2018

Clos Badon - St.-Emilion 2018

Clos du Roy - Fronsac 2020

Clos L’Eglise - Pomerol 2019

D’Issan “Moulin d’Issan” - Bordeaux Supérieur 2019

D’Issan “Blason d’Issan” - Margaux 2020

D’Issan - Margaux 2020

Donjon de Bruignac “Premium” - Bordeaux Supérieur 2020

Fombrauge - St.-Emilion 2020

Fonbadet - Pauillac 2018

Haut-Bailly “HB” - Pessac-Léognan 2019

Haut Vigneau - Pessac-Léognan 2019

Lafont Fourcat - Bordeaux 2019

Lalande-Borie - St.-Julien 2016

Langoa Barton - St.-Julien 2017

Larose Trintaudon - Haut-Médoc 2018

Lascombes - Margaux 2019

Léoville Barton - St.-Julien 2020

Les Carmes Haut-Brion “Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion” - Pessac-Léognan 2019

Les Grands Chenes - Médoc 2020

Lugaud - Graves 2020

Marjosse - Bordeaux 2020

Mauvesin Barton - Moulis-en-Médoc 2019

Meyney - St.-Estephe 2018

Moncets - Lalande-de-Pomerol 2019

Noaillac - Médoc 2019

Ormes de Pez - St.-Estephe 2019

Pape Clement - Pessac-Léognan 2019

Phélan Ségur - St.-Estephe 2019 and 2020

Pichon Baron “Les Tourelles de Longueville” - Pauillac 2018

Poesia - St.-Emilion 2015

Sansonnet - St.-Emilion 2018

Vieux Chevrol - Lalande-de-Pomerol 2018

Vieux Château Saint André - Montagne-St.-Emilion 2018

White and Dessert Wines (Dry and Sweet)

Chantegrive “Cuvée Caroline” - Graves 2019

Doisy Daene - Bordeaux 2020

Doisy Daene - Sauternes 2016 (sweet)

Haut Vigneau - Pessac-Léognan 2019

Lespault-Martillac - Pessac-Léognan 2019

Lynch-Bages “Blanc de Lynch Bages” - Bordeaux 2020

Martinon - Entre-Deux-Mers 2020

Petit Vedrines - Sauternes 2017 (sweet)

Suduiraut - Sauternes 2016 (sweet)

Virginie de Valandraud - Bordeaux 2019

[Phil_T_r_o_t_t_e_r]

@Howard_Cooper

Larose Trintaudon - Haut-Médoc 2018

Normally a great value play year after year. I haven’t tried any since the 2016. @Julian_Marshall had a post about 4 sequential vintages of it:

Larose Trintaudon 2014, 15, 16 and 17

I’m organising the wine for my son’s wedding next year. One of the reds I’m considering is Larose Trintaudon. Most of you probably know it, but for those that don’t, it’s a Cru Bourgeois situated a few miles inland from Pauillac and Saint Julien, close to Batailley and Du Glana, I think. Larose Trintaudon is a huge estate, producing something like 1.3 million bottles a year and it’s sold in virtually every supermarket in France. In spite of the vast production, I’ve always found it to be prett…

[Julian_Marshall]

Looks like you’ll have a good time!

In the whites, Chantegrive Cuvée Caroline can be a bit oaky but it’s normally quite good.

In the reds, Fonbadet should be interesting. It’s just across the road from Haut Bages Libéral. I’ve had some good wines from there in the past. Beaumont is a reliable Cru Bourgeois I often buy. Vieux Château André should be interesting too - it belongs to the Berrouet family (Jean Claude Berrouet of Pétrus fame) and is run I think by one of his sons now. Noaillac is another CB - not bad but not one of my frequent buys. And of course Larose-Trintaudon is a very safe bet CB.

P.S. It’s funny that Phil should include that post about Larose-T (thanks!) because my son finally got married in July - we didn’t have L-T in the end, but we did have a few bottles of Clos du Jaugueyron 2019 - hence my hazy recollections of it!

[rsmithjr]

Chambrun is a must try…

[Howard_Cooper]

Thanks a lot. After your thread on Clos du Jaugueyron, I looked at the list for the tasting to see if it was there. I have had Larose-Trintaudon a number of times and Fonbadet a couple of times a long time ago, but the others are new to me, as is Chambrun. Should be a fun tasting.

[Sarah_S]

Thank you so much for posting this- I’ll see you there!

[Jeff_Leve]

If you’re interested, I have tasting notes almost every wine in your post on my site.

[Howard_Cooper]

Thanks. I will look them up.

[Mont_Stern]

I chose a bottle of Virginie de Valandraud blanc when we were in London 2 weeks ago and it was very enjoyable. I thought it was a good value. We dined a few times with others who have a lower wine budget than I do and I made sure we drank good wine at a price that they were happy with. Much easier to do in London and France than an American steak house.

[Brian_Pinci]

Following… I’m attending too. With only two hours, I will have to be selective!

[Howard_Cooper]

The tasting was last night and I really enjoyed it. Showed what a tremendous amount of value is available in Bordeaux wine. Of course, my two favorites were the D’Issan 2020 ($72) and the Leoville Baron 2020 ($103.20), which were classified wines and were fabulous. However, below these wines were a number of really nice wines at fabulous prices.

At one table, they had Ormes de Pez 2019 ($32) and Meyney 2018 ($36). Not sure where one can get Cabernet based wines of this quality anywhere else in the world. Among my other favorites were Pichon Baron “Les Tourelies de Longueville” 2018 ($44), Les Carmes Haut Brion “Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion” 2019 ($30.39). Then, the steal of the evening was Mauvesin Barton 2019, a wine from Moulis now owned by the Barton family of Leoville Barton and Langoa Barton, that is on sale to $20. Not a great wine, but very, very enjoyable for the price.

For the whites, I enjoyed the Larrivet Haut Brion 2020 ($48) and, at a lower price, Chantegrive "Caroline 2019 ($24). And, of course I like Doisy-Daene, a very elegant Barsac, for ($24 a half bottle).

[maureen_nelson]

@Howard_Cooper

The tasting was last night and I really enjoyed it. Showed what a tremendous amount of value is available in Bordeaux wine. Of course, my two favorites were the D’Issan 2020 ($72) and the Leoville Baron 2020 ($103.20), which were classified wines and were fabulous. However, below these wines were a number of really nice wines at fabulous prices.

At one table, they had Ormes de Pez 2019 ($32) and Meyney 2018 ($36). Not sure where one can get Cabernet based wines of this quality anywhere else in the world. Among my other favorites were Pichon Baron “Les Tourelies de Longueville” 2018 ($44), Les Carmes Haut Brion “Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion” 2019 ($30.39). Then, the steal of the evening was Mauvesin Barton 2019, a wine from Moulis now owned by the Barton family of Leoville Barton and Langoa Barton, that is on sale to $20. Not a great wine, but very, very enjoyable for the price.

For the whites, I enjoyed the Larrivet Haut Brion 2020 ($48) and, at a lower price, Chantegrive "Caroline 2019 ($24). And, of course I like Doisy-Daene, a very elegant Barsac, for ($24 a half bottle).

Sorry I didn’t see this post earlier in the evening as Damien (Barton-Sartorius of Leoville Barton) just left my dining table for the airport and he (and his US importer of ex-cellar LB and the Maucvesin Barton) would’ve been pleased to see your comments. Be sure to ask for those wines at CW and/or Macarthurs.

[Sarah_S]

I had a great time as well. I really enjoyed the Phélan Ségur- the 2020 a bit more than the 2019. This is something I had never tried but would definitely seek out. Fabrice Bacquey, the winemaker, had just arrived from Bordeaux on a 3pm flight, but you couldn’t tell from talking to him. Surprisingly, his table was rather empty so I was able to have a decent conversation about his wine (and about the fact that last year he ran 160km- 100mi- through the Pyrenees…which probably explains why he seemed unfazed by the fact that he had been up for almost 24 hours!)

I also thought the Léoville Barton was excellent, but I expected that. Super crowded table, so no chance to really talk to the owner, sadly.

The third wine that I really enjoyed was the 2017 Pontet-Canet, but I wish I could have fast forwarded 20 years to see what it would taste like in 2043. This was another table that was relatively empty, and I’m not quite sure why. It was great to have Émilien Bouchab pouring, he was also wonderful to talk to about the wine.

The Sauternes that stood out was the 2016 Suduirat. Émilien was kind enough to reach over to the neighboring table to pour me some, as that was another table with quite a crowd.

So I came away from this wondering why two of the wines that I enjoyed most had very few “customers”…?

[Robert.A.Jr]

Howard, thanks for that check-in and reporting back. I think you know I share your sentiments, but you also brought to my attention a couple wines here that I have to look at.

[Brian_Pinci]

We had a wonderful time too. I love Sauternes and the 2016 Suduiraut and the 2020 Doisy Daene were wonderful wines. Even the 2017 Petit Vedrine was enjoyable. For dry white, I also enjoyed the 2020 Larrivet Haut Brion. Did you all try the white 2019 Virginie de Valandraud? Quite nice although I give the edge to the Larrivet

For the reds, so many to taste! I did like the 2020 Leoville Barton and had a pleasant chat with the owner. Also nice drinking for me were the 2018 Sansonnet, the 2018 Fonbadet and the 2020 Fombrauge. The 2020 Clos L’Eglise was also a standout. And I know they aren’t popular here, but I did like the 2019 Lascombes, the 2017 Pontet Canet and the 2019 Pape Clement. The owner of Latour Martillac was a sweetie and her wines were fine.

Friends of mine paid for the VIP tasting and they said it was well worth the cost, just the food alone was special for them as were the wines they were able to taste.

Looking forward to the Champagne tasting in December.

[Sarah_S]

Yeah, I had hoped that tickets were still available for the VIP tasting. As it was, I appreciate that @Howard_Cooper posted about the event…it made for a lovely Tuesday!

[Howard_Cooper]

Very much fun, although I wish there had been more food.

[rsmithjr]

Thanks for the tasting notes.

[Ed_Steinway]

Thanks for the notes, everyone.

Howard, I think you mentioned in another thread that you learned a long time ago that buying Leoville was a good strategy. I don’t think that has changed!

@Howard_Cooper

For the whites, I enjoyed the Larrivet Haut Brion 2020 ($48)

I agree, and enjoy both their whites and their reds.

@Brian_Pinci

The owner of Latour Martillac was a sweetie and her wines were fine.

Brian, I really like both the 2019 and 2020 reds. Both for under $35.

[CBuhlman]

curious. If memory serves, that last couple of these French embassy events offered markedly fewer wines and higher quality classed growths. I last attended about 5 years ago… I also recall that CW has a multi-decade relationship with LB, so that is always on the table.