UGC 2014

WINE TALK
1

Back from UGC here in Chicago today and I was prepared to type up all my notes, but, honestly, it’s not worth it. The vintage (2011) is a bore. Plain and simple. There were a handful of wines that I liked (listed below), but most were forgettable. Lots of mocha, lots of black fruits, and smokey oak notes. I didn’t get to drink anything interesting from Graves, so there could be some goodies from there…

Great:
La Tour Blanche (my favorite wine of the day)
Chateau de Fargues

Very Good:
Canon
Gruaud Larose
Gazin
Cantemerle
Pichon Lalande
Pape Clement (blanc)
Leoville Barton

Good:
Beau-Sejour Becot
Haut-Bailly
Leoville Poyferre

Biggest Disappointments:
Grand Puy Lacoste
Pichon Baron
Figeac
Lynch Bages (again)

from left to right; Alan S, Izzy N, and me

2

I was there tonight too, and I have to say that (to me) it seems really difficult to taste young red Bordeaux, and to a lesser degree white as well. I’m reading over the notes of others from the other UGC tastings this spring, and I’ve no doubt they are good and correct for what those folks tasted, but Everything seems tight, closed, and only showing a slight hint of what would or could come in the future.

This is only my 2nd year of extensive Bordeaux tasting though, so admittedly I don’t know much. This past year however I had several 83’s (Leoville Poyferre, St Pierre, Lafaurie Peyraguey, Gruaud Larose) amongst other old(er) bottles I’ve picked up, so I do feel a little more comfortable understanding what the ultimate goal is… though obviously wines of that age are no longer made in the same way by those chateau.

So what I’m saying: difficult to taste young red Bordeaux… I wonder how it tasted when it was young 30 years ago?

3

Matt, one I’m interested in is Figeac. How much style change shows?

4

Ben raises a good point above when talking about how tough assessing young Bordeaux can be, and I lump myself in that general bucket too. That said, I thought the Figeac tasted quite woody, with almost a red licorice type of fruit profile. There were some whiffs of a leafy tobacco note, but it was incredible faint. Honestly, I had forgotten about the Figeac wine making shift while tasting the wine so I don’t think any biases seeped in (i was sad to learn about the change at Figeac)…

5

Tasting young Bordeaux is like tasting young wines almost anywhere really - you have to get past the youth. If you’ve had enough older versions of the wines, you can start to compare and maybe make some guesses as to what will happen. I’m not a huge Bordeaux fan but I guess I’ve tasted a bit over the years.

Anyhow, Chantegrive was one of my favorites, smoky and spicy and a touch of herb - that seemed one of the more interesting and complex of the day. Wines like Pape Clement were thin and weedy to me, and St Emilion was overall a disappointment. Gaffeliere was tart and had a bit of sweet fruit but overall lacked much interest, Couspaude was one of the worst of the tasting to me, almost like it was over-ripe and under-ripe at the same time, reminding me of wines from Chile. Figeac had a bit of a smoky note as well, with a bit of spice or earthiness on the nose. It was not offensive on the palate and and some fruit even peaked out at the finish, offering a bit of a cherry quality. It wasn’t bad, not overdone in any way, and I suppose that in lesser vintages it’s a good thing to have Rolland around because he seems to have coaxed something out. If you were paying about $15, I guess it would be OK but at the current price it’s lunacy to buy it.

Grand Mayne, Pavie Macquin, Troplong Mondot all seemed to have lots of wood that one hopes will integrate over time, but then there wasn’t a lot of fruit to any of those wines as opposed to some other years, so one has to wonder what that oak will actually integrate with.

Coutet was OK, with a bit of a citrus pith and a long finish, and Guiraud was OK, but overall the Sauternes/Barsac wines didn’t wow me. Maybe I’m just spoiled with Tokaj, but I didn’t get the acidity that makes a sweet wine great. Instead, I got just sweetness.

6

I’m skipping it as well. At this juncture, BDX is enjoyable for me as an old-backfill (60s-80s) exercise.

Thanks for the summary Matt

7

Are the Sauternes as good as reported? Did you taste Climens?

8

Went to a big 2011 Bordeaux tasting last Friday done by Calvert-Woodley here. This is not a great vintage, but I think I liked some of the wines more than Matt seemed to like any he noted. For me, the stars of what I tasted were the red and white Domaine de Chevalier. They were a decent amount better than anything else I had.

Others I liked were Talbot, Figeac, Pichon Lalande, Beausejour-Becot and Gruaud Larose. All very nicely balanced wine.

Not a great vintage for the point and gobs and gobs guys (and Matt I know you are not at all one of those), but I bet some of these wines (like the ones I named above) will provide very pleasant drinking in 10-15 years.

9

The Sauternes were generally good acress the board. For me, Suduiraut was the star of the show, followed by Guiraud and Fargues.

10

Climens didn’t make it to Chicago.

11

Put me in that bucket too, just not the spit bucket.

I find it incredible difficult to value and judge a wine, especially a very young Bordeaux, at group tastings with small or modest pours, typically with basic stems and limited control over serving temperature. Not sure the tasting conditions at UGC, but those have been my experiences at larger tastings.

Ps. That picture cracks me up. Not sure if I would say “Gamers” or Wine-Nerds! [wow.gif]

12

From the LA tasting yesterday, my view (and the consensus of my wino friends) is that 2011 is just a tough vintage for most of the reds, esp. in contrast to the more open, user-friendly 2009’s and 2010’s. I find myself in general agreement with Matt’s assessments, and there were several reds that I simply wouldn’t buy (at least on futures) regardless of price point. Perhaps these wines will blossom down the road, but I think you’re rolling the dice here.

Of the Sauternes/Barsacs, La Tour Blanche and Suduiraut were showing the best last night, although I wonder if either of them has quite enough acidity to match the RS levels for long-term greatness. But it’s not a fair fight to compare the relatively delicious young stickies with the MUCH more austere Bordeaux reds from 2011.

Bruce

13

Never having attended these bottles, and excuse my ignorance, but how long have the bottles being poured been in bottle? What’s the ‘average’ elevage time for both the reds and the whites?

And anyone know if these are bottled with elevated SO2 levels knowing that they usually will be laid down for quite some time?

Last but not least, are most of these decanted at this tasting?

Cheers.

14

Larry–I have no way of knowing if the SO2 levels are “elevated,” but my general sense is that the Bordeaux wines are bottled with SO2 levels in the industry normal level. I did not detect higher SO2 levels from smelling/tasting the wines, esp. in the whites and the dessert wines where it might be more apparent.

The vast majority of the wines were not decanted; I only tasted a few wines that were poured from decanters.

Bruce

15

Bruce,

Thanks for the response. Not sure how to determine ‘elevated’ - I guess it depends upon the ‘norms’ over there vs here.

Seems surprising that most don’t decant - or is it just me?

Cheers!

16

Matt, very much in agreement with your list. The Canon was my favorite wine of the night, and was a great way to finish up along with the Canon la gaffeliere and the Beau-Sejour Becot. I went in with a strategy to taste about 20 wines or so and wound up ignoring Sauternes/Barsac and Margaux as a result.

Other Right Bankers:
Gazin - Loved the structure on this, seemed like perhaps the most food friendly wine tasted.
Conseillante - Much more plush and ripe, refined.
Troplong Mondot: Maybe the most awkward showing of the wines tasted. Out of balance, with the alcohol very apparent, and not enough freshness.
Figeac: Wasn’t sure what to make of this, had more structure than most, but was a little awkward.

Saint Julien:
Favorite region of the tasting for the left bankers. Leoville Barton, Poyferre, and Saint Pierre showed very well. All bending toward a modern style, with the Poyferre most modern and slick. However, the alcohol seemed pretty well in check and the oak wasnt overbearing (like in 2010) for me. Gruaud Larose also showed well, just a notch below those three, and Talbot was as light/medium bodied and fresh as ever, even showing some green accents.

Pauillac: Grand Puy Lacoste, Pichon Baron, Lynch Bages.
These did not impress me very much…wouldn’t rule out any of these showing well with time but also wouldn’t be a buyer based on the tasting. Lynch showed best of the bunch.

Dry Whites:
Carbonnieux - showed very well, very fresh and with good fruit and balance, was easily my favorite of this small flight.
Latour-Martillac Blanc - Nice wine, though not as fresh or expressive as the Carbonnieux it was still a solid effort and pleasant drink. Thought the Rouge a touch better.
Domaine de Chevalier Blanc - Overwhelmed by oak, wow.

17

Missed the LA UGC, hope somebody posts on that. Usually go to UGC and in 2011…curious mainly about the Sauternes such as Suduiraut, Climens, etc…think the vintage is a good one for Sauternes.

18

We attended the LA UGC yesterday (missed you Ki) armed with observations from Panos, Matt and even Mike G.( [wink.gif] ) Their overall assessment of the vintage was quite accurate. The wines showed a bit of an austere character, lacking a bit in fruit but well structured. Overall, the wines of St. Julien showed consistently well with Leoville Poyferre, Leoville Barton, and LaGrange being my favorites. Not surprising for me, I enjoyed La Lagune (Haut Medoc) as that is a personal favorite. However, its’ relatively high price point is a bit of a turnoff. Some of my other favorites, not necessarily by commune, were Branaire Ducru, Canon la Gaffeliere, Troplong Mondot, Canon, Giscours, and Smith Haut Lafitte. The wines of Margaux and Pomerol were general disappointments. I don’t feel it really necessary to mention the wines that were disappointments but suffice it to say, many were.

I actually was interested in tasting the whites and found a few worthy of $$ consideration. There were some considerable bargains such as Chantegrive, Smith Haut Lafitte, and the excellent Carbonnieux. I also enjoyed the Fieuzal, and Domaine de Chevalier, but they were at a higher price point. The Pape Clement was not particularly appealing, especially at its’ rather ridiculous price point. In addition, dependable as usual, was La Louviere (R&W).

The Sauternes were a highlight for me with Rayne Vigneau being my overall favorite. The Coutet was overly sweet, and although enjoyable young, may not have the acidity to age well. I also really enjoyed Lafaurie Peyraguey and Fargues (too$$$). Honestly, I may be tempted to purchase some of there Sauternes and dry whites.

Overall, I will not be purchasing any red wines from this vintage but in actuality, I have not been a Bordeaux buyer for quite some time. Of course YMMV depending on among other things; age, finances, depth of your cellar etc. Although many of these wines will turn out to be “nice drinking” with a few years of age, at these prices, I would expect more. Even with prices being slightly lower, most are still, IMNSHO, overpriced.

Cheers! [cheers.gif]
Marshall

19

Anyone have other vintages they would liken the '11s to? '07 or ''02 perhaps? Or is it better than that, maybe '04 or '01 or '99?

20

Larry - depends on producer but bottling is usually around 2 years and these were the 2011s. Lafite for example, says they leave the wine in barrels for 18 to 20 months. But one of the Sauternes producers told me that he was pouring a barrel sample because he leaves his wine in barrel for three years. In any event, as far as I know, there’s no system like there is in Spain for Reserva and Gran Reserva types of wines.

Some whites on the other hand, are bottled as early as six months after harvest, but again, it depends on whether they’ve been put in oak and on what the producer wants to accomplish.

Interesting question about the SO2 - I’ve never asked but certainly will next year. My hunch is that the wines at these tastings are exactly what are going to be sold.

As far as decanting - it’s pretty much pop and pour. One or two folks might decant, but most don’t bother. In fact, I think that the Bordelais are rather slack about some of their wines - I’ve tasted corked wines at these tastings and can’t for the life of me understand why they pour them unless it’s real contempt for the tasters, and in some cases, I understand that.

The nice thing about these tastings however, is that you can go back as often as you want to compare a wine with others. Sip and spit and move on is what most people do, but sometimes it’s good to go back a few times. For example, I was interested in regional differences more than specific names, so I spent more time with Pessac Leognan than I might have otherwise. Plus there was a very attractive girl pouring one of the wines.

The trade portion was four or five hours and that’s a lot of time to taste the wines, although it’s a shame to spend that much time with crappy Bordeaux!!