Nick, I feel your pain. I have so much wine I decided two things: 1) slow down buying and 2) track bottles coming in and leaving house. The idea was to not buy so much and shrink the total a bit. I have roughly 2200 bottles not counting our own product (Greyscale Wines) which has roughly 5K bottles in the warehouse.
So, I started off pretty well and by 9/1 I had shrunk my cellar by roughly 8 cases. Not bad, but a good start. The unfortunate happenstance is that there is a private list I subscribe to (Echelon) which offers interesting wines and often at very good prices. And the owner Sam is nice enough to hold bottles until we want to pick them up. Well two weeks ago I thought I had bought a enough so I should go pick them up. I expected there to be maybe 2 cases b/c when really interesting wines are posted I buy 2 so my wife Jean and I can try them.
As you might have guessed by now, I asked Sam to prepare the wine for me to pick up and asked how many cases it wasā¦4 CASES! Damn, I was down 8 cases for the year until, oops, back to down 4.
I bought a lot of BDX in the 2000-10 (have 20+ cases). Iād be happy to sell some if folks are interested. I bought a lot of '09s b/c I thought they would be good to have in the future. Many are lower cost wines that turn out to be very nice.
We had '09 Pavie last week at a group dinner and it was surprisingly good. It didnāt taste like California to me. More so just a very dense and rich Right Banker. Plenty of acid.
Overall, Iāve been surprised by how well the '09s have held up. Iāve enjoyed several from lists over the past few years. I wrote this vintage off and never bought early, but Iām no longer hesitant to order them when I see them.
The only 2010 that Iāve tried is the Haut Brion poured at the NYWE this year and in 22. It was the best wine Iāve ever had the pleasure of tasting. Keep trying to get some for the cellar, but talk about cost prohibitiveā¦.
Deep colour in the glass, hinting at maturity around the edges.
Not much nose on opening, but a swirl gives a little cedar and mulberry.
In the mouth this is solid and extracted. Tannins are firm. There is enough acidity to prevent cloying and the fruit is clean and free from prunes. This is not friendly however and the word monolithic comes to mind. ***1/2 and not sure where its going.
As promised I opened a 2009 Phelan Segur last Saturday and paired it with Lamb Chops. I thought this wine is young but very good. Dark fruited, cashmere like tannins, no heat or overripe aspects. Based on some comments I expected a bomb but it was a medium bodied, ripe but balanced Northern Medoc with upside potential. Certainly low acid but still Bordeaux. IMO this wine is not much evolved and will get more complex with time. Undrinkable? Not for me.
To me the most fascinating thing about wine is its diversity. Every vintage brings something new. I have no problems with that. I have problems with modern CdP but not with this St. Estephe.
The nose is of cherry and liqueur, with a touch of sweetness.
In the mouth the cherry liqueur comes through again. This aināt classic Bordeaux but I think it is delicious.
Interesting that this thread came back around just now.
A number of years ago, Jonathan exchanged some expensive bourbon for some 2009 and 2010 Bordeuax of excellent provenance (purchased in OWC in bond in the UK). I fussed at him at the time, complaining that could turn out to be too ripe for us, and wouldnāt age the way we like Bordeaux to age.
Well, recently I think Iāve had to eat my hat. We havenāt touched our stash yet, which consists of some '10 Lynch Bage, '09 LāEvangile, '10 Pichon Baron and ā09 Latour), but weāve tasted all but the Latour from othersā cellars and Iāve been really impressed. While there is ripe fruit, primary and forward, I did not find any of them stewed or lacking in structure. On the contrary - I thought the Lynch and Pichon Baron were showing quite a bit of firmness, while LāEvangile, while certainly not flabby, was much more on the voluptuous side, in a good way.
Thatās nice to hear! Iāve had some worry about 2009 in the stewed/figgy department, but havenāt tasted many. The 2010s Iāve had have been lovely - ripe, sunny fruit, but broad shouldered and structured a lot like the 1990. I agree that the 2010 Pichon Baron in particular is excellent.
I hear you. Itās a reminder for me that what I hear may not always match my own impressions, and that itās a mistake to apply characteristics across the board in a vintage.
I have an update on a less seen name - 2009 Ch. Clos des Prince [St Emilion] which is an estate I had not heard of before but is a 3 hectare 35 year old vineyard near Monbousquet. Details online seem scant but Jeff Leve had a few notes on recent vintages. Natural cork, somewhat modern flared bottle, 14.5% abv, and picked up from a gray market importer some years after release. Nose is fennel/licorice with ripe plums/prunes on the palate. Color is dark, body is full, acid is low. Feels like it was selected for the American/California loving palate. The back label charmingly notes ā80% merlot, 20% cabernet franc, 100% passionā. Perhaps the fruit was picked a few days too late, and now at 16 its slipping out of balance, lacking some freshness. I still like the wine+modern style, and would slot this into the B+ zone, but I suspect WB would notch it down a level. It would have been better a half decade ago.
I had two of those last year and thought they were both rock solid bordeaux. I gave each bottle 17 out of 20. I bought them at my local wine shop when they hit the US way back when and held them in my apartment ever since, and now I wish I had bought a case or more.
At a K&L tasting a few days ago the best wine there was a 2010 Langoa-Barton. I wouldnāt dare call it fully resolved but Iām not sure it needed more aging.
I doubt this has any bearing on the relative quality of the wines. Sounds typical for a lengthy tasting of multiple flights. First one gets polished off. By the end people are more careful about how much they are imbibing.
Itās likely impossible for any taster that is drinking without spitting to maintain an acute palate and critical mind over multiple flights. Even with spitting there are changes in perception after 20+ wines.
The rest are very different though. The nose and palate of the Angludet are softer, broader, and has earth, chestnut, mulberry and tobacco flavours, seems fairly merlot heavy. The Langoa is more elegant and cleaner cabernet; blackcurrant, cedar and violets.
Both will run for a while yet, but the Langoa will last longer and is our favourite tonight.
