 |
|
|
| Tasting notes from a 2003 Bordeaux tasting - Saturday, February 18, 2006, at the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA. Twenty-two wines were poured for a fee of $34. The wines were double-decanted 24-hrs prior to the tasting. Pricing shown is as it was at the Wine Exchange on the above date. Overall impressions: this was my first look at the 2003 vintage, a flight of mostly lesser cru wines, with a few grand cru thrown in for good measure. Generally, there were some nice wine here - at some very affordable pricing. The best wine of the flight was the Leoville Barton - but just barely. Factor in the cost, and the Lynch Bages steals the show. It's nearly as good, at 1/2 the price. In fact, I had the Leoville Barton much lower on the list, based on the first bottle tasted. While the nose was beautiful, the mouthfeel came across as quite soft and thin - almost dilute. A number of people remarked about this and the staff opened another bottle - which indeed tasted significantly better - a bit worrisome considering the price per bottle of $110! The Lascombes is a wonderful wine as well, but the d'Armailhac was probably the best bargain in the flight, followed closely by the Faugeres, La Fleur, Lagrange, and Fleur Cardinale. The Troplong Mondot was probably the biggest disappointment, coming across much better in the nose than on the palate. In retrospect, I wonder if another bottle of this would have shown better as well. Bottom line: there's plenty of very tasty Bordeaux around the $30 range to choose from. Can you say that about California Cabernet? As an aside, the wines are not served blind in this setting. Therefore, I attempt to shield myself from outside influences, by ignoring previous reviews, by not looking at the pricing of the wines until I am finished with my notes, and by ignoring the the pouring staff's banter about Wine Advocate or Wine Spectator scores for said wine. |
2003
Chateau. Charbonnieux Blanc - Pessac Leognan. $26.99. Very
light lemon color. Nice floral notes in the nose, with a touch of
clover. Bit tart and citrusy in mouthfeel, lightly crisp lemon on
the palate, long finish. 2003
Domaine de Courteillac - Bordeaux Superieur. $9.99. Medium-dark
ruby garnet color. Bit of violet and some tarry-licorice elements
accent the cassis nose. Moderate dark berry fruit,, good balance
and body, smooth medium-long finish. Apparently, this was Stephan
Asseo's property in Bordeaux, before he came to the U.S. to start
L'Aventure. 2003
Chateau Puygeuraud - Cote de Francs. $12.99. Medium-dark
ruby garnet color. Light clove, some cigar box aromas and a touch
of oak in the nose. Fresh crunchy fruit on the palate, not to shy
on the oak with a bit of grippy texture and long finish. 2003
Chateau Vrai Canon Bouché - Canon Fronsac. $12.99.
Medium-dark ruby garnet color. Smoky dark fruit, with a touch of
Parmigiano-Reggiano in the nose. Grippy in mouthfeel, good fruit
through mid-palate, but it only makes a brief appearance on the
mostly oak-driven finish. 2003
Chateau Joanin Becot - Cotes de Castillon. $12.99. Medium-dark
ruby garnet color. Sweet and very ripe in the nose - almost too
much so. But, this 75/25 Merlot/Cab Franc is much better on the
palate, and with a lots of stuffing and good balance through the
long chewy finish. 2003
Chateau Reignac - Bordeaux Superieur. $25.99. Medium-dark
ruby garnet color. Slightly herbed nose of cassis, cigar box and
a touch of fennel. Slightly soft and very accessible on the palate,
with very nice fruit and balance, and a nice sweet-sour finish. 2003
Chateau Pipeau - St. Emilion. $19.99. Medium ruby garnet
color. Interesting sweet candy-like quality in the nose, with notes
of clove accenting the cassis. Off-sweet nearly bitter fruit on
the palate - in contrast to the nose, with good body and balance,
nice fruit and an unremarkable finish. 2003
Chateau La Fleur - St. Emilion. $26.99. Dark ruby garnet
color. Lovely nose of cassis, clove and gingerbread. Delicious in
mouthfeel - if a bit tannic and slightly rough initially, but all
this smooths out through a very, very long silky finish. 2003
Chateau Faugeres - St. Emilion. $24.99. Dark ruby color.
Notes of clove, cake spices, and a touch of mint accent the plush
cassis nose. Slightly sweet fruit, chewy mouthfeel, very nice balance,
juicy long finish. Very nice! 2003
Chateau Fleur Cardinale - St. Emilion. $28.99. Dark garnet
ruby color. Somewhat sweet and ripe in the nose, with clove, nutmeg
and mint accenting the dark fruit. Off-sweet mouthfeel has plenty
of fruit through mid-palate, softening just a bit on the otherwise
long finish. 2003
Chateau Troplong Mondot - St. Emilion. $52.99. Medium-dark
ruby garnet color. While this showed the classic nose of cassis,
cigar box, and pencil shavings, it seemed somehow out of character
- more Haut-Medoc than a showy St. Emilion. Off-sweet fruit, with
surprisingly soft mouthfeel, and smooth if decent finish. Disappointing. 2003
Chateau Clos Fourtet - St. Emilion. $59.99. Dark ruby garnet
color. Nose of ripe cassis and sweetened cranberry - almost high-toned,
along with vanilla and cake spices. Delicious mouthfeel and fruit,
very nice balance, and smooth long sweet finish. 2003
Chateau Lascombes - Margaux. $41.99. Dark ruby garnet color.
Light expresso and mocha accent the gorgeous fruit here. Off-sweet
fruit, lots of presence on the palate, with sweet tannins, excellent
balance, and smooth long silky finish. |
|
2003
Chateau Rauzan Segla - Margaux. $47.99. Medium garnet color.
Surprisingly light in color and extraction, the wine seemed to almost
have a brickiness about it. Nice nose of cassis, cigar box, ash,
and Asian spices. Good balance and mouthfeel, slightly sweet fruit
that has a lot of presence initially, but fades more quickly than
the tannins through the otherewise long finish. 2003
Chateau Pavillon Rouge de Chateau Margaux - Margaux. $56.99. Medium-dark
ruby garnet color. Classic nose of cassis, cigar and pencil shavings,
but substantially muted. Nice fruit and mouthfeel initially, the
wine gets a bit softer from mid-palate onward, trailing the sweet
tannins to the finish. 2003
Chateau Lagrange - St. Julien. $32.99. Medium-dark ruby
garnet color. Beautiful nose with plenty of dark fruit and accents
of fennel and a light floral sweetness. Lots of fruit on the palate,
very nice balance and finish, and yet there was something interesting
about the mouthfeel - the wine seemed to have all the necessary
elements, but they seemed almost revolving around, avoiding each
other, rather than being integrated or in harmony. 2003
Chateau Talbot - St. Julien. $36.99. Dark ruby garnet color.
Very nice nose of cassis, cigar box, and pencil shavings. Good body
and balance, nice fruit, but somehow a little uninspiring. The nose
seems to promise to deliver, but the mouthfeel comes across more
as more of a nice - if well-made quaffer. 2003
Chateau Leoville Barton - St. Julien. $109.99. Very dark
ruby garnet color. Nicely integrated nose of fruit, sweet spice,
oak, and more fruit. Rich mouthfeel, slightly understated at present,
with excellent balance and a long smooth finish. 2003
Chateau d'Armailhac - Pauillac. $28.99. Medium-dark ruby
garnet color. Slightly sweet in the nose, with nicely ripen dark
fruit and cake spices. Less sweet on the palate, with plenty of
fruit, excellent balance, and slightly sweet smooth long finish. 2003
Chateau Lynch Bages - Pauillac. $49.99. Medium-dark ruby
garnet color. Gorgeous nose of spiced fruit, vanilla and light pipe
tobacco notes. Flavors of lightly sweet fruit, pipe and cigar tobacco
smoky nuances, excellent balance, smooth tannins and nice long finish. 2003
Chateau Le Crock - St. Estephe. $22.99. Dark ruby color.
Lots of clove and nutmeg accent the cassis nose. Slightly drying
in mouthfeel, though lots of fruit and spice, and smooth long finish. 2003
Chateau Clos Haut-Peyraguey - Sauternes. $39.99. (750ml)
Light lemon color. Lots of citrus in the nose - predominantly grapefruit,
and only slightly sweetened - you'd never know from the nose that
the mouthfeel woudl be sweet. Nice spicy lemon and citrus on the
palate, good balance spicy long finish. |
|
|
|
No original material may be reproduced without written consent Mail & Comments - Eric Anderson |