2000 Pavillon Rouge
Bought from auction but seems to have been stored well. Decanted for around 2hrs, at which point this was singing. Beautiful ruby-red color with no signs of any bricking, some still evident cherry, blackcurrants on the nose and nicely developed tertiary notes of tobacco/ash and leather. Acidity was on the higher side and tannins were velvety smooth; super fresh still and the only thing keeping this from “outstanding” was drinking on the lighter side / lacking a bit of depth.
That 94 LB is one of the better wines of the vintage, imho. Glad it’s still showing well.
Have yet to try a vintage of this wine (all post 2016) that I haven’t really really liked. Was a spur of the moment decision to open at the end of a long weekend, so no time to properly decant - just opened and tasted half a bottle over 4 hours, each glass getting better with more air. Will leave the rest to try tomorrow. I feel like its becoming a cliche to like this wine, but it is just that good, especially for the price you can pick most of these up at auction (except 2022).
375 bought EP for the purpose of tasting young. Double decanted and then consumed after about 2 hr. I bet black cherry, some spic and oak on the nose and palate, the wine tastes nicely balanced, quite delicious, no hard edges at all/ very ready to drink…but, lighter in body than I anticipated ( it was much more powerful at UGC NYC) and not much to say complexity wise. Nice enough but I expected more. I have 750’s that I will wait on.
1998 Ch Barde-Haut (St Emilion) last night, from a totally pristine bottle sourced via WineBid with the coveted “original owner/purchased as futures/pro storage” provenance description and no adverse condition notes. $35/btl before vig. The cork looked totally firm and I chanced it - successfully - with a waiter’s key, no ah-so needed.
The wine showed cigar tobacco, autumn leaves, bit of Merlot tomato paste, and plummy fruit. The nose has moderate intensity and on the palate this is just down the middle old school right bank, proper medium body, crisp acidity, and some firm tannin remaining. The finish isn’t long but it’s there, and while not especially complex it has good bottle aged character. Not going to win any awards and certainly won’t be confused with the high end St Ems but this is a very solid and useful drinker.
Great fit for the frequently encountered situation in our house where you’ve opened a white or sparkler before dinner but want a red with some age with dinner, but know you aren’t going to finish the bottle and so don’t want to open anything too fancy.
From my reading, this was shortly before the estate was bought by new ownership who invested significantly in the estate and winemaking, but at the time that meant the Full Rolland with the grapes pushed to max ripeness and loads of new wood. The 2001, a right bank vintage I’ve mostly enjoyed, is simply awful to the point I gave two bottles away to a friend that likes Napa gloop (he loved them). Based on recent tasting of the 15 and 16, they’ve pulled a bit back more toward the middle but it is still a modern leaning estate today. This 1998 is nothing like that, though I would not necessarily expect that earlier wines from anything less than tip top vintages would be much good, as I think the evident quality here may be more in spite of the farming and winemaking at the time than because of it. Perhaps others with more knowledge can correct me if I’m unfairly maligning both the old and new owners!
This was the third of the six pack I bought and caused me to lift six more on seeing there was a pro storage full case up on WineBid this week. There are six others up for grabs at reserve of $35, just sayin…
I went through a case each of the 1998, 1999, and 2000 over the decades, and they aged incredibly well. They had rich fruitiness upon release and developed into complex Saint Emilion over time. Some of their peers in price and ratings of that era did not age well eg Ferrand Lartigue, La Couspade, Grandes Murrailes, Rol Valentin, and so on
I’m glad they’re still drinking well; the price you paid today for 1998 Barde Haut is only a few bucks more than what they cost EP. I love this whole category and style of wine.
Which is why I always feel like a dope buying young Bdx!
Poured a small taste from the half-full bottle, refrigerated overnight then put on the counter to come back up to temp. Really still banging along. On day two, and with a fresher palate/no food, there’s a really excellent mineral/chalky character to the structure–limestone soils showing through?–and a lot of savory, chicken-brothy, saline character on the finish. Yum.
1996 Leoville Poyferré - Drinking well from shortly after opening up until about 2 hours. Tobacco / cigar and a lot of complex black fruit. Silky texture with tannins totally resolved.
Everything started to fade 2 hours in, but quite nice up to then - would drink up over the next couple years.
'79 Certan de May is a lovely bdx. '79 is my birth year so always looking for good '79 bdx Shame your bottle didn’t show
I’m still holding on to a few 1996 Poyferre in my remote storage. Appreciate the look. Will plan to pull out and try a bottle sometime this year.
Sounds like it’s quieted down, I had the same 2019 Branaire-Ducru from 750 mL two years ago and with about two hours open it was high-flying with a lot more complexity between the layers you’re mentioning.
Sounds like it just needs time, thanks for checking in!
A couple of good ones from this past weekend:
2001 Château Poujeaux - Moulis
Very aromatic - lovely notes of rosehip, wild strawberry and red cherry, quite intense, then a mouthful of sweet red fruit - strawberry, redcurrant and red cherry, that really blossom and fill the palate. Midpalate, there’s a wave of Victoria plum, before the red fruits return for the glorious finale. Beautifully balanced between fruit and acidity, a 12.5% ABV claret in all its splendour. Perhaps not quite as good as the 00 but I’m not sure. Just a lovely wine. 93 pts
2000 Domaine de Chevalier - Pessac-Léognan
Forest fruits on the nose, forest floor too, quite earthy and leafy, but also some Pauillac-like cigar box and cassis, then a large-framed mouthful of juicy dark brambly fruit, quite sweet, almost too much so, but reined in by classic Pessac-L earthiness and a wave of cooler blackcurrant midpalate, before a soaring finish of Christmas cake fruits, again tempered by grainy, if fine, tannins. Still quite youthful, a classic DDC. Delicious now and for at least another decade. 94 pts
Both these wines were big improvements on previous bottles. The DDC was much more structured than the bottle tried 5 years ago, and the Poujeaux…well…it was a revelation. My last bottle was so tired I had to add some 09 to it. This one will still be delicious in five if not ten years from now. Obviously at 25 years or more there are only great bottles rather than great wines, and I’m more inclined to recommend the DDC than the Poujeaux…but the Poujeaux is a lot cheaper. I’d guess a success rate of around 40 to 50%, which sounds dodgy until you factor in the current price - 25€ - so why not?
Poujeaux may have gone to the dark side around 2010, but their wines from the olden days punch way above their weight. The1982 especially, was an extraordinary wine, one of those sleepers which the vintage keeps bringing up.
But the biggest surprise was the 1928; which I served with the 2000. Although the wine was evolved, it barely showed its age, and there seemed no possible way that there was a 72+year difference. A mid 90 point wine.
Yes, absolutely. I have fond memories of a 1967 tasted in 1999 that was excellent. I think that RMP “classed” it as a 4th Growth in one of his books. Oddly enough since the change of ownership it actually seems to have lost rather than gained in ambition unlike its perennial rival Chasse-Spleen. The latter has successfully embraced oeno-tourism but when I tried to visit Poujeaux a couple of years back I was told that they only did tastings at reception and no visits - no appointment required. I didn’t bother. Moulis is a tough name to sell but it’s a shame as Poujeaux can be one of the most charming and beguiling wines in the whole region.
A few vintages of Les Carmes Haut-Brion tonight at a roadshow tasting that Spec’s put on with a brand ambassador from the Chateau. As usual I forgot to take photos. Had not tasted the wines before. Very promising stuff though the 20/21 to me showed a significant step up vs. the 17 and 19. The 20 was head and shoulders my favorite; to my surprise the 21 came second. The 19 may come around but right now it was a bit muddled and lacked the edge and mineral/saline drive that I admired in the 20/21. The 17 was ok, would drink a glass if offered, but wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
2022 “C” de Carmes
Dark fruit, florals, chalky tannin, fairly bright acidity, saline, mineral. Seems like this is a fairly traditional left bank/Pessac blend with cab sauv lead. On the bright side in the house style.
2020 LCHB
Big cassis and floral nose; classical and fine structure with firm tannins; bright acidity. Very classical and composed, though the fruit is deep and pure, a touch more red vs the 2019 in addition to the black fruit. Chalky and salty. Still a good bit of coffee toned oak.
2019 LCHB
Softer presentation than the 20; a bit rounder and fruitier. Fruit profile a bit darker with some blackberry and cassis, though again quite bright in tone. Tobacco, bit of green pepper. Friendlier and a touch more open but a step behind the 20.
2021 LCHB
Mint, cigar ash, roasted meat? A bit of blueberry. Some pepper and licorice. Doesn’t have the depth of the 20 but I enjoy the energy and drive. Again some choco/coffee oak still showing that needs some time to integrate.
2017 LCHB
More reserved than the warm vintage wines, this is starting to loosen up a bit. Some minty and tobacco tones, soft darker toned fruit. Seems to lack the energy and drive of the 20 and 21. This was the weakest wine of the tasting.
2000 Brane-Cantenac
On the nose this is is on the delicate side, showing flowers, red berries, cedar, leather couch, dirt. On the palate quite elegant with medium minus body, strawberry/raspberry fruit, moderate acidity, and a fairly long finish.
All that said this is sort of “perfectly nice,” a great example of why in Bordeaux the formal classification isn’t really all that indicative beyond the high visibility estates. (And similarly it is a good example of why it can be disappointing to drink back vintages of estates that are on a hot streak today.)
That is a longer way of saying that if I had to rank this against other bottles of Bordeaux I’ve had recently this 2nd growth would not stack up well even against the “value” bottles I often post. It would sit below last weekend’s Barde-Haut, most of the Sociando bottles I’ve posted, etc. It isn’t a bad bottle of wine at all, my wife and dad both liked it, but it just doesn’t do anything beyond “good aged Bordeaux.”
I think this was a pretty sound bottle; it was sourced from Benchmark and the cork was dead solid and could easily have been removed with a corkscrew. I have two more and will report back if there’s a significant improvement in subsequent bottles.
For my recent low-key birthday dinner:
2001 Château Duhart-Milon
A bit of mushroom when first double-decanted, the nose really blossomed 5 hours later at the restaurant. Pencil and plum. The palate opened too, turning from tart and leathery to plum and red berry fruit, cocoa and leather. Just a hint of tannin. Exceeded expectations. It’s why you cellar Bordeaux. Excellent.
