As I alluded to in my post on the Kansas Cab Franc, this past semester made it pretty much impossible to find time to sit down and type up notes, so I’ve got a backlog of notes going back to the holidays that I will be posting over the coming week.
All but one of these I had over the holidays (in fact if I had typed these up in January, I was going to title the post “My Bordeaux-laden holidays”), which was quite the nice run of claret (and Sauternes), with 2010 taking center stage; and let’s just get this out of the way: I am completely smitten with 2010.
Chateau Grand Corbin Manuel, St. Emilion (Grand Cru) 2010
Awesome nose: succulent black fruits, cedar, flowers, tobacco leaf, chocolate, and mineral. Wonderful depth. Same notes on the palate, full bodied and dense with wonderfully succulent texture, exceptional mineral depth. Great quality. As with other 2010 Bordeaux, has exceptional balance between acid and fruit. Wonderful stuff. Quite youthful, and will improve; 10 years or more ahead. Tasted twice with very consistent notes. 3.5 Stars [12/23/16]
Chateau Greysac, Medoc 2008
Peppery with nice, dark, succulent fruit. Medium-full body. Good quality quaffer, but more weight would be nice. 3 to 5 years more. 2 Stars. [12/25/16]
Chateau La Serre, St. Emilion (Grand Cru Classe) 2007
Medium garnet. Good nose: fleshy currant, and floral tones, with chocolatey earth and mineral, very savory. On the palate: juicy, tart red, with undertones of rich black fruits, hints of orange and flowers, and lots chocolatey, earthy mineral. Medium-full bodied; fleshy and savory in texture. On the tart and lean side, but not without depth. This is attractive, and I really like it. Drink now. 2.5 Stars [12/25/15]
Chateau Laffitte Carcasset, St. Estephe 2010
Cru Bourgeois. Excellent nose: deep black cherry and sweet currant, herbs, chocolate, and lots of St. Estephe dust, leathery earth, and mineral. Same notes on the palate, with deep, dark, black fruits offset by tart, sweet red fruits. Nice minerally, savory finish. Full bodied, ripe, and dense, with wonderful, succulent texture and perfect acid balance. The delights of 2010 St. Estephe! A wonderful, satisfyingly complete claret. 10 to 15 years ahead. 3.5 Stars. [12/26/15]
Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Sauternes 1998
Light amber. Heavenly Sauternes nose of pear, loads of flower nectar, candied pineapple and apricot, barely sugar, mineral, and botrytis notes of allspice; rich, dense, aromatic, and deep. Similar notes on the palate, with ripe fresh pear upfront followed by dense, deep candied apricot, a touch of candied pineapple, strong, rich barley sugar notes, all with floral nectar; toward the finish, potent candied ginger notes, with allspice, and lots of mineral depth. Long, richly textured finish; the spicey notes resonate for minutes. Huge body, and so very deep, with powerful structure, balanced by big, fresh, orangey acidity; so fresh and exquisitely precise. Every sip is enthralling. An awesome Sauternes, just a hair away from the 1998 d’Yquem. Heading toward maturity but youthful still, with 20 to 30 years ahead of it. A taste of heaven! 5 Stars [12/26/15]
Second bottle on [5/20/16]: nearly identical notes, but less aromatic and harmonious, the principle difference being a relative lack of the flower nectar notes that made the first bottle so glorious; but, does have that nice touch of mature fruitcake notes coming in. Closer to 20 years ahead based on this bottle. Nonetheless, outstanding, a top-class Sauternes, and I was extremely happy. 4.5 Stars
Chateau Poujeaux, Moulis-en-Medoc 2010
Decanted 5 hours. Opaque ruby. Great nose: loads of ripe, dark, well-toned fruit (black cherry, blackberry, red currants, and raspberry), with fresh tobacco leaf, chocolate, a hint of violets, cedar, cigar box, leather, and loam/stoney earth; so much going on on the nose. Same notes on the palate. Loads of dark, ripe, dense, deep fruit upfront: tart, fresh blackberry, underlaid by cherry, with loads of tart red currant and raspberry followed by tobacco leaf, leather, chocolatey earth, and loads of sweet tannin and mineral. Full bodied by not huge, with wonderful, savory/succulent texture, great presence, and a long finish. A little reticent in the mid-palate at this stage, but age will round that out. Very impressive, and very good quality. Has 20 years ahead of it. Great stuff! 4 Stars [12/30/15]
Chateau Latour-Martillac, Pessac-Leognan 2010
Decanted 3.5 hours. Opaque ruby with hints of purple. Enchanting nose: loads of rich, dense, dark blackberry, black currant, and mulberry, with cured tobacco leaf, roses, a note of green olive, sweet, black, chocolatey soil, and gravel; fantastic tone; almost like a Margaux. Identical notes on the palate, with the addition of leather and a hint of tar neat the finish. Dense, rich notes of fig emerge with air. Big body, but with equally big acid tone, and such rich, juicy, balanced fruit. Such depth and complexity; like the other outstanding 2010s I’ve had, this is incredibly complete. Brimming with potential, this is a tremendous classic claret. 30 to 40 years ahead. Wow! 4.5 Stars [12/30/15]
Chateau Cantemerle, Haut-Medoc 2006
Impenetrable color, very young-looking still, with just a touch of garnet, then clear, at the rim. Wonderful nose: sweet, dark, perfumey fruit (blackberry, black current, cherry), some lovely aromatics and lots of rock and mineral depth; quite lovely, and very 2006; gets better and better as it opens, with roses, cured tobacco and cedar emerging, and a little later becomes almost Italianate, with notes of orange rind, red plum, and gravel; really lovely nose. On the palate, lovely, sweet blackberry upfront, followed by dried cherry/cranberry, fleshy red and black currant, red plum, overtones of roses, tobacco, and cedar. Toward the finish, chocolately, mineral laden earth and tannin. Full bodied but elegant, with succulent, lovely, dark, sweet fruit; very nice density and depth. The quality and class is very evident. A lovely, exceptional claret. Still approaching maturity, with a solid 10 years ahead, maybe 15. 4 Stars [3/7/16]