Over the past 3 nights, two excellent 2019 Bordeaux Superieur
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A couple of modest Crus Bourgeois from 2015 that are drinking well:
2015 Château Fourcas Dupré Listrac-Médoc
Pretty much like a bottle enjoyed a year ago, this had red berries and Xmas cake aromas, very mouth-watering, then a smooth, full-bodied mouthful of spicy blackberry and juicy loganberry, freshened by some cooler blackcurrant midpalate which neatly rounds off the finish. Nothing like the rustic, rather clumsy wines Listrac produced back in the 80s and 90s, this is almost elegant, albeit with a lot of clout - very enjoyable and satisfying, but better during the winter months. A bit like a Madiran! 91 pts
2015 Château Pomeys Moulis en Médoc
Quite a light and floral nose, with peonies amid the black cherry and blackcurrants, then a very elegant and lithe mouthful of dark fruit, mostly blackcurrant with the warmer blackberry well under control and a gentle wave of dark cherry midpalate. Almost Margalais in style, so a true Moulis. Much improved from 2024, this is the prefect midweek wine for late September. 91 pts
I was impressed by both these wines, which were incredible value - 12€ the first, 9€ the second. Either would be ideal dinner party wines for guests who don’t “drink labels”.
Both reassured me about how 2015s are developing - once the baby fat subsides, as in these cases it had, there are going to be some good wines, at least on the Left Bank.
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2010 Cantemerle
Black fruit, cherry, currants. On the riper end of the spectrum for the estate while remaining a lovely claret and maintaining its classicism. Has some tobacco leaf and elements of cedar and graphite, but nothing overly pronounced. Medium bodied, balanced with agreeable tannins and a modest finish. Alcohol around 13.5% if I recall.
Cantemerle always scratches the itch without breaking the bank.
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Saw this on the shelf at my local wine shop and grabbed a bottle based on the feedback. Will give it a whirl in the near future. Thanks for the note.
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I’m cheating a little here, as the Bergerac is a blend of Bordeaux grapes but obviously outside the appellation. It’s fine, and for 11.90 euros it gives a reasonable enough metaphor for Bordeaux to be enjoyable. 86 points and just fine. Good value.
The Pedesclaux has troubled me, as have the Pontet-Canet from 2015 and 2016. All of them are no longer open for business, and they demand revisiting at a later date. I’ve had this specific bottle open for a week, under VacuVin. And it still doesn’t show its stuff; the dense blackcurrant, blackberry, red apple, appleskin and plum fruit are there, but it’s playing hide and seek with them. The tannin and acid are both pronounced, and yet they’re somehow out of balance. And the finish displays as short, at the same time as I know it has been and will be much longer. Just not a good time to be opening this one. Five more years and it will be fascinating.
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Pedesclaux has seriously rebounded from a decade before. The standing line on boards in the nineties was “Life is to short to be drinking Pedesclaux”.
Couldn’t resist and didn’t want to fuss around with an older bottle – but thankfully this '22 Corbin is still firing on all cylinders and over delivering. Great from PNP from cellar temp and continues to unfurl. A bargain and a half. They have really stepped up at this estate.
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A Saint Emilion liked they used to make them:
2000 Château Moulin Saint-Georges Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
Nothing much has changed since the last bottle opened in 2023.
Lovely aromas of redcurrants, strawberries and red cherries, along with some mint and plums, before a fresh attack of redcurrants, then the same intense wave of strawberries as the last time, plus Victoria plums and a little cranberry, with a long, luxuriant finish. Just delicious. A purity to the taste, intense but subtle and balanced. A mere 13% ABV, nothing overdone, as if the Parker period never happened. Gosh I wish St.Emilions could always taste like this. 95 pts
Really good value too: 38 euros at auction in 2021. Sadly my last bottle and the not much likelihood of finding any more.
Admittedly I think I was lucky with my three bottles - nobody else on CT thinks like me - but mine have all been excellent (the tried and trusted mouldy labels and perfect fills…)
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A Classic Bordeaux-drinkers’ Bordeaux dinner in NYC.
A cool assembly of 1996 Left Bank Bordeaux, pencil and graphite-nosed, taut muscled, firm ripe fruit, appropriate acidity, with secondary characters. These and a couple of truly good champagne starters with a solid 2001 Sauternes showed so well with our steak dinners and will be pleasurable over many more years to come.
2007 Philipponat Clos des Goisses Brut
2021 Chemin de Reims Parcelle de Chartogne-Taillet à Merfy Blanc-de-Blancs Extra Brut
1996 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste , Pauillac
1996 Ch. Leoville Poyferre, Saint-Julien
1996 Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou, Saint-Julien
1996 Ch. Pichon-Longueville Baron, Pauillac
1996 Ch. Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac
1996 Ch. Montrose, Saint-Edtephe
1996 Ch. Calon Ségur, Saint-Estephe
2001 Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey Sauternes
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I had this earlier in the year and I was pretty blown away.
In fact, this bottle of the 88 was better than any bottle of the 89 I’ve tried (caveat: I’ve long found the 89 either overrated, shutdown or highly variable, but that’s a topic for another day).
A few years ago, early on in my time frequenting this board, I bought a total of four bottles of the 2000 Moulin St George from two different lots on Winebid on the strength of you and Sr. Alfert’s notes on here, and have one left. One of them showed very fresh and vivid, much as your notes except with the addition of an attractive truffley character, and the other two were “merely good” due to being a bit tired. So I am hoping that this means that the one I have left was from the same batch as the fresh and vivid one! Have been eyeing it of late, perhaps this will be my inspiration to crack in.
Edit: WK quite liked the 2019 iteration, and I bought a bottle to try, but it showed an unpleasant yogurty lactic character. The bottle was stored at (warm, Texas) room temp for a while which may have been the culprit there as I know microbial issues like that can be basically dormant at proper cellar temp but go vertical at 75f. Other than the strawberry Danon character it seemed a nice wine though after that I haven’t revisited.
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I have a few '00s left and a some '03s – and re: the '03s – not my kinda vintage but the '03 Moulin Saint Georges I have opened recently were fantastic – totallly resolved. Dirt and fruit and spice. I have gone back out in market place to find more back vintages of this producer. What is interesting is that they were considered ‘plush’ and modern at the time but with 20 plus years they are anything but…
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Thread drift: how was that Chartogne Taillet?
All the standard bearers there!
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I went through a lot of MstG in the 95-00 vintages, likely finishing them up by 2010 at the latest. I underestimated their lifeline, as a friend’s bottle of the 1995 this summer demonstrated. It feels like enthusiasts have either forgotten about this name, or it’s less well distributed now.
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Agree – I drank a lot of my 98-05s with the idea that it was not a wine built to last – but the bottles that got lost in my cellar prove otherwise. I remember at the time liking them – but the old vintages I now love and think they deserve more attention.
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There’s definitely bottle variation. I originally bought six EP, none of which came close to the bottles I bought at auction much later, but I did drink them too young - anyway I hope you’re lucky with the last one!
I’ve never tried the 03 so interesting to hear that they’re good! I’ve had multiple vintages going back to the 89 and would never say that the style is plush or “modern”, quite the opposite in fact, but I haven’t had any very recent vintages.
I never see it at retail over here and never have - hence my buying EP in the distant past. It only very occasionally come up at auction. MStG flies under the radar anyway, which is why it’s so cheap. I’m always on the lookout!
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Tanzer was a fan of this wine or at least his reviews intrigued me into buying. I mostly ignored Parker and looked to Tanzer when it came to Bordeaux. I remember his review of the '03 and just looked it up again – the MSG '03 clocked in at 14.8 ABV. The bottles I’ve had recently don’t feel hot.
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Well I’m glad I missed out on that one!!
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