Between 2009 and 2010, is there one you generally find less offensive? Feel free to break it out between R Bank and L Bank, if need be.
Personally, I drink very little R Bank, so whenever I talking about Bdx. in general I’m always talking L Bank. That having been said, “I just can’t” with the '09’s. I put them in the same bucket as the '15s. Just not my thing. As I stated briefly yesterday, I hold out some hope for the '10s, but it’s kind of a Holding My Breath situation; I think they’re similar to the '05s, but even a bit more amped-up. Due to pricing, I own very few '10s — as time goes on, that may prove beneficial/lucky.
Any comparison between 16 and other recent vintages (like 19/20/22)? The estate seems to deal well with hot weather - certainly the 03 doesn’t seem roasty or overdone - so I wonder if they’re actually well suited to the new normal.
Edit: I haven’t had the 90 but it is similarly well regarded, as I recall? My point being - do you think the lack of Sociando-ness, by which I assume you mean just more conventional warm vintage left bankishness as opposed to edgy and a touch of greenery - is just one off in 16 or do you think it is gone for good?
Had this '16 Saint Pierre at dinner tonight. Short decant. Soft, dark fruits – tannins fully resolved. Great food wine. Still have several '03s (drinking surprisingly great btw) '00 (bit past its prime) and several '10s and ‘20s’ – (not tried either of these). But this '16 is super enjoyable, lush and ready to go. Underrated Chateau IMHO
Until now I have stayed at the shallow end with my 2016 Bordeaux, drinking only cru bourgeois. We went a little deeper this evening with a Château Poujeaux.
On opening doesn’t say a lot. The colour is relatively light, some maturity at the rim.
Little nose, what there is isn’t complex.
Medium bodied, driven by red cherry and a touch of tobacco. No pencil notes evident to me which seem to feature in some reviews.
The wine opened slowly over 3 hours or so. The same elegant character, but amplified, touches of floral notes emerging. A wine of refinement and focus rather than power. May still develop, but good now with a little air, ***1/2.
Tour du Haut Moulin 2019 today. I reckon the last bottle I had from this property was the 1990.
Hugh Johnson describes it has having a lot of stuffing and he’s right. This is pretty deep extracted red. The tannins have a plumskin roughness. There is dark fruit too, plum and blackberries. This is a lot of wine for the money (about £10), I think it will fall apart rather than become refined, but right now it’s a good mouthful. It went well with kidneys for dinner. Happy to have several more. ***.
I’ve had the 2016 Phelan Segur [St Estephe]a few timesin the past, so was pleased to share a bottle of this with my better half this evening. (Nowadays, it is rare for her to partake) This was the remaining 375ml that had been decanted/sealed into a split after Thursdays (excellent!) WB 2016 Bordeaux panel zoom/discussion … and I preferred it the second time around, suggesting that aging will continue to reward holders. I find it to have medium body, 13.5% abv stated on the label, with a great balance between fruit/grip/brightness. The tannin and acidity have not faded yet. In the past I’ve thought there is some lactic/milky/caramel creaminess, along with herbal/minty/bay notes, with lots of darker fruits; today I find the fruit more on the dark late summer cherry side. My bottle came over via Fruit of the Vines, Long Island City. I look forward to watching this develop over the next decade and for now give it an A-, but I could see the arguments for a solid A too. The style has changed in recent years, so perhaps this is an outlier for the WB palate – 2016 had the magical combination of favorable growing conditions yet traditional vinification/elevage at this address.
Tired Burgundy - as is the case with many of my burgs and what has driven me back to Bordeaux – besides bottle variation and price, etc, The Chateau De Sale Pomerol great with chuck roast. Soft – easy drinking. Do wish it had a bit more acid but perfect easy drinker. Not sure it will evolve as structure seems a bit loose. Continue to love and seek out the '19 vintage.
2018 Château Lilian Ladouys - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe (8/29/2026)
Fairly dark red. Really nice nose, not too ripe at all. Cassis, red berry, bonfire and cedar. Dry tasty red fruit flavours and a very balanced finish. Not the monster that the 2018 Pedesclaux was in March. (91 points)
That’s the bottle I opened for Thursday’s WB 2016 Bordeaux online. My take, some ripe fruit but far from glossy:
2016 Sociando Mallet: Dark red to rim, nice nose of cassis, dark cherry, mouth-watering umami, hint of green. Medium body, tannins overwhelming the fruit on first sips. Let it sit for 4 hours and prepped the palate with some grilled ribeye and it showed much better, obviously no aged complexity yet, medium finish. Excellent with enough air time but it really needs another 5-10 years, maybe more.
I appreciated this description, and need to recall it, as it is often spot on with younger big wines, and most often I just lump it in as ‘oak/vanilla’ but it’s not quite as accurate as the above
Opened over 2 days purchased to try and get excited about some big 2025 scores.
2016 Larose was my first bottling from the winery. Verry sharp, the color was much more brown/light than I would expect at this age. Had some sour cherry and bitterness in the tannin, I believe this could potentially be corked, but I saw this didn’t receive great reviews for what I thought would be a good benchmark bottling to compare future style and profile. Will try another bottle at some point.
2023 Brane was not a new wine for me, but wanted to see if it was my style. I really enjoyed the bottle great dark color and a nice light floral and plum nose. Darker fruited on the pallet, dark chocolate and very soft velvet tannin. Wish there was a little more fruit a little shorter than expected on the finish. I enjoyed the wine even though obviously very young.
Found a few of these buried in the back of the wine cabinet. Since I am grilling a nice big Flannery rib eye today (getting in some BBQ before the cold and rain kick in on wed) I thought it would be a good time to check in. I really enjoyed the 01 but that’s the last one I truly enjoyed. Picked these up in 2010 on closeout, think I paid $65 for them, so cheap compared to recent vintages (every vintage after 04). Fingers crossed its in a good place.
2015 Rauzan-Segla. Clear medium dark fuschia in the glass, violating S.A.T. guidance. Intense nose. On the palate medium body, medium+ tannin and acidity in ideal balance. Alcohol high. Flavors and aromas include cassis, boysenberry, raspberry, bing cherry, cedar, menthol, licorice, caramel, green tea, fresh cut wood, black pepper, free of pyrazine. Long finish. What a wonderful elegant wine. Bargain at €150 for this wine I give 96 points to. Just lovely stuff.
Off topic, but it was great fun watching an ocean liner making its way underneath the raised deck of the Chaban Delmas bridge. Watching this was excellent preparation for enjoying the Rauzan-Segla.
Definitely below 96 points for me but Rauzan, like the other good Margaux wines and particularly d’Issan, is a bright spot in the gloomy mess of 2015 for me.
Good, not great. Hasn’t seemed to evolve much. I need to check in on the batch of 2010s that i bought on release. I expected more from this, to be candid.
