Bordeaux -

Notes and impressions from a Bordeaux tasting - Saturday, Feb 24, 2001, at the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA. Twenty-two wines were poured for a tasting fee of $30.

The wines, in the order tasted:

1998 Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion - Pessac-Leognan. $26.99.Very light yellow color. Smoky and citrusy nose. Nice citrus and spice flavors in the mouth, with a nice crisp long finish. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Faizeau Vieilles Vignes - Montagne-St. Emilion.$13.99. Ruby purple color. Nose of buttery rose petal, with some stemminess, chalk, toast, and maybe a hint of petrol. Young in mouthfeel, with good cassis/black cherry fruit and an off-sweet medium-long finish. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Chateau d' Aiguilhe - Cotes du Castillon.$13.99. Medium-dark ruby color. Somewhat stemmy nose of floral aromas along with a toasty quality. Young in mouthfeel, full bodied, good fruit with a touch of mint, and very long toasty finish showing just a bit of heat. Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Cap de Faugeres - Cotes du Castillon. $9.99.Dark garnet ruby color. Deep and herbaceous nose with lots of floral and toasty background notes. Sweet-sour fruit, nice and chewy body, with a smooth off-sweet long finish. You won't mistake this for 1erCru, but it's surprisingly quaffable. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau Faugeres - St. Emilion. $22.99. Medium-dark purple ruby color. Stemmy and herbaceous cassis nose, with notes of oak, toast, and spice. Big mouthfeel, with gobs of fruit, and a smooth off-sweet long finish. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau Peby Faugeres - St. Emilion. $49.99.Purple-black ruby color. Rich and plush nose of toasty cassis, with some background floral notes. Hugh fruit-filled mouthfeel that nearly blots out the tannins in this chewy monster. Very long and rich finish. Aroma score: A- Taste score: A- Overall score: A-

1998 Chateau La Fleur Bouard - Lalande de Pomerol. $18.99. Dark garnet ruby color. Ripe, almost burnished stemmy cassis nose. Young in mouthfeel, big and chewy in body, the fruit seems to climb in intensity through mid-palate, flattening out a bit at latter-palate and through long smooth finish. Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau La Fleur de Jaugue - St. Emilion. $23.99. Dark garnet ruby color. Herbaceous and toasted cassis nose. Somewhat light in mouthfeel, with tart/sour fruit, with a toasty dried-pasta finish. Aroma score: A- Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Chateau Bellisle Mondot - St. Emilion. $24.99. Medium-dark ruby purple color. Oaky, floral, and cassis-filled nose. Semi-sweet cassis fruit, with a nice long toasty quality to the finish and aftertaste. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau Daussault - St. Emilion. $27.99. Medium-dark garnet ruby color. Somewhat herbaceous nose with cassis, chocolate, mint, and floral aromas. Smooth, lush mouthfeel, very long and toasty finish. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau Beau Sejour Becot - St. Emilion. $n/a. (~$50). Dark ruby color. Nose of sweet cassis and herbed toast. Surprisingly smooth and approachable mouthfeel. Seems nearly quaffable at first, but the wine takes on a little weight toward the smooth long finish. Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau Barde Haut - St. Emilion. $34.99. Dark purple ruby color. Toasty cassis fruit in the nose, with additional floral and herbaceous notes. A bit stemmy in taste initially, the wine becomes a bit sweeter and thicker by mid-palate, and picks up a slight bitterness during very long finish. Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau Grands Murailles - St. Emilion. $38.99. Dark garnet ruby color. Deep and lush nose, with aromas of cassis, cheese-toast, and hint of brown sugar. Tasty off-sweet fruit, nice mouthfeel, and a very long finish. Aroma score: A- Taste score: A- Overall score: A-

1998 Chateau Ferrand Lartigue - St. Emilion. $47.99. Dark garnet-ruby color. Nose of cassis, aged cheddar, toast, and shoe polish. Young mouthfeel, off-sweet fruit, nice palate coverage, long finish. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau Troplong Mondot - St. Emilion. $54.99. Dark ruby garnet color. The nose is a mass of integrated cassis, toast, and floral aromas, with an interesting tar component. Beautiful mouthfeel, smooth and very integrated flavors, the fruit trails off just a bit on the long finish. Aroma score: A- Taste score: A- Overall score: A-

1998 Chateau Le Moulin - Pomerol. $56.99. Purple ruby color. Very dense slightly stemmy cassis-filled nose. Huge, fruit-filled slightly sweet mouthfeel, long and very chewy finish. Very much Parker-ized. (TNs are from a 2nd bottle - the 1st bottle appeared to be corked, exhibiting a musty, corky, eucalyptus and menthol odor, and which tasted about the same.) Aroma score: A- Taste score: A- Overall score: A-

1998 Chateau Mont Perat - Cotes de Bordeaux. $13.99. Dark garnet ruby color. Sweet, big and dense nose, exhibiting just a bit of earthy/vegetal quality. Slightly chewy mouthfeel, the fruit's a bit on the simple side, but there's a ton of it and it lasts all the way through the long finish. Heck of a bargain. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau Larrivet Haut Brion - Pessac-Leognon. $26.99. Medium-dark ruby color. Beautiful toasted cassis nose. Medium mouthfeel, slightly off-sweet fruit, and a medium-long finish. Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1998 Chateau L'Enclos Gallen - Margaux. $17.99. Dark ruby-violet color. Dense and toasty, with shoe polish-scented cassis in the nose. Light mouthfeel, smooth, but a bit dilute across the palate. Considering this had about 50% Merlot - not a stellar effort. Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Carruades de Lafite - Pauillac. $26.99. Dark ruby color. Very funky nose, earthy and leafy qualities seem to mask whatever fruit is hiding there. Tannic and oaky mouthfeel, with lots of neutral-tasting fruit across the palate, leading to long finish. Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Chateau Montrose - St. Estephe. $49.99. Dark garnet ruby color. Toasty cassis scents in the nose struggle to emerge. There's definitely something there, but it's not delivering much. Scorching and tannic, with neutral-tasting fruit, and a long finish. Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1989 Chateau Rabaud Promis - Sauternes. $29.99. Golden amber color. Spicy and a bit sweaty in the nose. Spiced apple and citrus flavors seems to compliment the raisiny and slightly maderized fruit. Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

___________________

Overall impressions: as everyone probably knows by now, '98 was a mostly Right Bank year; and this tasting seemed to bear that out. The hot performers in this tasting included the Troplong Mondot and Grands Murailles, both excellent wines. The Peby Faugeres was from all old-vine fruit and quite impressive. The Le Moulin was a big wine that was more about extraction than any attempt at elegance. Nearly as big as the Peby, but tasting more of new fruit, this will probably be a long-lived wine -- yet one that is also very appealing right now. But actually, because of the their prices, I think the Grands Murailles and the Barde Haut represent the value buys. Both of these are nearly as good as the Troplong Mondot, but about $20 less. The Mont Perat was a shocker. It's hard to believe they can make a fruit-filled beauty like this for $14. Why can't California do that? Oh yeah, they don't want to -- I forgot.

On the disappointing side, the left Bank stuff was largely thin and flavorless. While the contents were no surprise, the prices for this quality seem quite unjustified.
___________________

Here is my order of preference, listed in order and by tier, of the wines tasted.

1998 Chateau Le Moulin - Pomerol. $56.99.
1998 Chateau Peby Faugeres - St. Emilion. $49.99.
1998 Chateau Troplong Mondot - St. Emilion. $54.99.
1998 Chateau Grands Murailles - St. Emilion. $38.99.
-----------------------
1998 Chateau Barde Haut - St. Emilion. $34.99.
1998 Chateau Beau Sejour Becot - St. Emilion. $n/a. (~ $50).
1998 Chateau Mont Perat - Cotes de Bordeaux. $13.99.
1998 Chateau Bellisle Mondot - St. Emilion. $24.99.
1998 Chateau Faugeres - St. Emilion. $22.99.
1998 Chateau La Fleur Bouard - Lalande de Pomerol. $18.99.
1998 Chateau Larrivet Haut Brion - Pessac-Leognon. $26.99.
1998 Chateau Daussault - St. Emilion. $27.99.
1998 Chateau La Fleur de Jaugue - St. Emilion. $23.99.
1998 Chateau Ferrand Lartigue - St. Emilion. $47.99.
1998 Cap de Faugeres - Cotes du Castillon. $9.99.
1998 Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion - Pessac-Leognan. $26.99.
------------------------------
1998 Chateau L'Enclos Gallen - Margaux. $17.99.
1998 Faizeau Vieilles Vignes - Montagne-St. Emilion.$13.99.
1998 Chateau d' Aiguilhe - Cotes du Castillon. $13.99.
1989 Chateau Rabaud Promis - Sauternes. $29.99.
1998 Chateau Montrose - St. Estephe. $49.99.
1998 Carruades de Lafite - Pauillac. $26.99.

Site Contents | Top of page | Recent Tastings