This is too funny. I’m working on an 04 Leoville Barton as well. I agree with your initial take on it
Vintage?
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2004 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (12/24/2020)
Nose: The nose is deep, balanced, and poised as it fills up the glass with tones of dark red cherries, raspberries, cranberries, fresh cut cedar, cigar wrapper, sweet cassis, currants, and fresh leather notes. This is a lovely nose that is exactly what I love from Bordeaux.
Taste: The feel is Medium/Full bodied with medium acidity and silky, medium+ tannins. The structure is starting to pull back as it leads into well balanced tones of dark red cherries, cranberries, cigar wrapper, sweet cassis, currants, and leather notes.
Overall: This is at the beginning of its maturity. It is starting to move into the next stage but there is still a subtle primary quality to the fruit. This has a long life ahead of it and it feels like it will be very good for a long time. (93 pts.)
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2001 Leoville Barton I wish it showed like my bottle a few months ago. This one may have been off, although it did improve somewhat with air. Fruit was drying up. I like 2001s for current drinking - not this one.
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Opened this to pair with the Spanish themed appetizers.
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2007 Château Petit Védrines - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (12/25/2020)
Dark copper looking like amethyst. Sweet pear and apricot aromas. The attack is apple cider which is quickly replaced by sweet pear and caramel. Medium plus weight. Holding up well but unfortunately this is the last of a case. Very good QPR.
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Corrected. 1996.
This is a wine I recall from decades back, but have not tasted in quite a while. It used to be ubiquitous in “serious” local wine shops years ago. I remember it being a favorite recommendation for a good Bordeaux at a value by the great Myron Norman of Harvard Liquors in Brookline. I saw it not long ago at my local wine shop and grabbed a bottle.
2015 Larose Trintaudon
A cru bourgeois from a fairly recent “vintage of the century”. Thinking it might be too young, I let it decant for a while before dinner. Still a bit tart after two hours, but a glass with our prime rib dinner at about the three hour mark showed smooth, spicy, and tasty. I will follow this over the next day or two to see what else shows up.
Cheers to you Jud, for supporting this worthwhile charity.
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2001 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (12/25/2020)
Did some cellar reorganization this morning, and came across a bottle I thought was long gone. Popped it in the fridge for a pre-dinner wine. Never my favorite type of wine, but this showed well, with yellow fruit, hay, waxy elements, and a spicy (wood?) note on the finish. My wife had a sip, and pronounced it “not bad”, which is a high compliment from her for a non-Riesling still white.
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1999 Chateau d’Armailhac
Decanted 30 min. Nice aromatics, matched on the palate. Cassis, red fruit, raspberry, sweet tobacco, leather, graphite. Perfectly balanced between elegant fresh fruit, still bright, and earthy, dusty tannins. 12.5% ABV. Beautiful.
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Thanks Jud for supporting this cause! Popped this guy to have with a Christmas roast.
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2003 Château Sociando-Mallet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (12/25/2020)
Nearly pristine cork. Incredibly rich nose of cassis, cigar, and forest floor at first, but palate was a bit tightly wound so I decanted for a couple hours. Unfurled over that time, showing classic tomacco, leather sofa, and cedar notes, wrapped around a small core of cassis, plum and blue fruit. Powdery tannins lead to a resonant finish. Savory and Rich, with more heft and depth than other more classic years, but otherwise no signs of ‘03 heat. (92 pts.)
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1970 Mouton Rothschild
The fill was top shoulder; stood upright for a week before service, quick decant for sediment. Healthy deep garnet with some bricking. Classic mature Pauillac bouquet, with notes of dried plum, cigar box, sous bois, black truffle. Medium bodied, elegant, fully mature, silky texture, excellent delineation, impressive depth and balance. Long and savory finish. What a treat! 97 points
Last bottle from a half case purchased at auction back in 2001; of the six bottles, all of them were amazing except for one oxidized bottle back in 2008. I’d been sitting on this one ever since…50 years old, for our 22nd anniversary seemed like a perfect excuse to pop the cork. Glad we did!
2015 Chateau Palmer Alter Ego
Three hour decant, then another couple hours in the bottle. Very young and primary but really, really great on the palate with lots of potential down the road – dark fruit, tobacco, and sweet, polished oak. Rich and plush, but with a nice racy backbone of acidity to keep it right in my wheelhouse. Only knock was that the bouquet never really got going. I have another couple bottles (got three from wine.com at a great price thanks to the WB thread) that I’ll cellar for at least a few more years. Paired great with Kevin McAllister’s plain cheese pizza from Little Nero’s. 92+
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Popped a half bottle of 2006 Chateau Raymon Lafon after dinner last night:
This bottle was way different than previous bottles. Much more botrytized character, honey, lemon curd, figs, and a long finish. Much more rich than I recall. This had the acidity to back it up and really hit, for me, the right dessert wine balance.
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Sounds awesome Brian - thanks for helping KCEF out!
Thanks for the check-in Brian. I have one of these stashed for a 1970 Birthday horizontal, now delayed. Hoping to get to it next year!
Unfortunately corked
2017 Sansonnet. Open for 4 hours before Christmas dinner of prime rib. My second bottle of a 6pack. I abused the first one with a pop and pour approach and the wine didn’t show well until next day. Well a few hours decanted and what a difference! Totally a food wine and a great match for roasted beef. Welcome structure with ripe blackberries and leather. The under current of acid blends so well with the beef fat and what comes through is a marvelous pairing. Shoving the 4 bottles left to the back of the line.
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2017 Tour Saint Christophe –
This is a very nice wine, especially for the price. Giving this wine some air benefits it tremendously. The nose is full of plums, black cherry and spice, while there is a floral element that is present on the palate. Medium-bodied, with the tannins already soft and smooth, with some spice on the finish to go with the dark fruit. This is a step down from the previous vintages, but it is very, very good. For around $30, this is a ridiculous value and Tour Saint Christophe continues to be a wine that I will look for.
Ed
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I love it when a wine exceeds expectations like this one did.
1990 Château Canon de Brem - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Canon-Fronsac (12/26/2020)
I picked this up as part of a mixed auction lot that included some other wines that I really wanted, so it would be a bonus if it was just drinkable. It far exceeded my very modest expectations, with surprisingly vibrant color and classic red currant with well-integrated savory bell pepper and leather tied together with fine tannin. Fine on its own, but it took off with prime rib, I’m impressed and very pleased. (91 pts.)
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Apologies in advance for posting brief impressions rather than more complete notes. These were served at Christmas dinner, and the focus was much more on the family present than on the wines.
2006 Chateau d’Issan (Margaux)
Opened about 2.5 hours before service and double decanted. The highlight of this wine was definitely the nose, on which I think we all commented. Very floral and just lovely. Smooth and delicious. 91 pts.
Chateau Duhart-Milon (Pauillac)
Double decanted 2.5 hours before serving. Much darker on the nose and palate, with a pronounced lead pencil note accentuating the fruit. A touch of earth, too. Very good, and the tannins suggest there might be room for a little more improvement. 91 pts.
Chateau Lagrange (St. Julien)
Doubled decanted about 3 hours before serving. This seemed to be the most red-fruited of the four bottles opened tonight. Came across as having more acidity than the other wines, with a sense of lift on the finish. Long and clean finish. Very, very nice. 92 pts.
Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (St. Julien)
Opened and double decanted 4 hours in advance. I acquired this at auction about 15 years ago, so was unsure what to expect but hoping for the best. The cork was in excellent shape at age 25, and the wine was, as well. Undoubtedly the most complex of the four bottles and everyone’s favorite. Everything was in balance and there was a sense of elegance to the wine. Really delicious. 93 pts.
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