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Overall impressions: a very interesting rear-view picture of these three vintages. Several had performed much better than I expected, while others had not lived up to my expectations. Both of the Petite Village's were very nice - with the '95 being the more lively of the two in my book. In nearly every case, I liked the nose better than the mouthfeel/taste. The lone exception was the La Conseillante, which seemed a bit overripe in the nose, but was just beautiful on the palate. Aside from the delicious Troplong Mondot, the Pomerols were generally my favorites in the flight. The L'Arossee was something of a disappointment. it seemed more dried-out than the rest of the wines. Given that the Clos Fourtet was similarly inclined toward dryness, I might have been tempted to think this was a "right bank" thing in '96. But, the nearly sumptuous Virginie de Valandraud seemed to disprove this. |
1996 Chateau L'Arrosee - St. Emilion. $36.99. Medium-bricky garnet color. Nice bottle aged nose of tobacco, tea, cassis, and mint. Smooth, soft mouthfeel, with a touch of tea at the latter palate and finish. Seems older than it ought to at this point. Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B 1996
Chateau Clos Fourtet - Saint Emilion. $49.99. Medium dark ruby
color. Nose has a touch of "French stink" to compliment
the herbs and cassis aromas. Tasty flavors, good concentration of
cassis fruit, light oak and a bit of heat on the finish. 1996
Virginie de Valandraud - Saint-Emilion. $45.99. Medium
brick color. Lovely nose of sweet cassis, vanilla, and mint. Smooth
and toasty mouthfeel, very nice fruit, long finish. 1994
Chateau Troplong Mondot - Saint Emilion. $49.99. Ruby
brick color. Fascinating nose of cassis, apple compote, vanilla,and
floral scents. Delicious taste, good concentration of sweet cassis
fruit, nice toasty long finish. 1996
Chateau La Croix du Casse - Pomerol. $26.99. Medium brick color.
Beautiful nose of cassis, toast, ash and floral aromas. Very toasty
mouthfeel, with lots of concentrated fruit, and long tasty finish.
1995
Chateau Beau Soleil - Pomerol. $29.99. Medium brick color. Light
toast and cassis nose, with a touch of orange zest and ash. Dry
mouthfeel, moderate fruit, bit of ash quality to the taste, and
a slightly bitter finish. 1995
Chateau Petite Village - Pomerol. $39.99. Medium brick
color. Gorgeous nose of cassis, toast, vanilla, and a hint of herbs.
Smooth and tasty mouthfeel, very round and concentrated on the palate,
with nearly perfect balance, and a long tasty finish. Flirty, and
still hasn't grown up. 1994
Chateau Petite Village - Pomerol. $39.99. Medium-dark
brick color. Ashen cassis, herbs, toast, and vanilla scents. Tasty
off-sweet cassis, very nice balance, and long tasty finish. 1994
Chateau La Fleur de Gay - Pomerol. $69.99. Ruby brick color.
Beautiful nose of toast, cassis, ash, and touch of smoked meat.
Good core of fruit, very tasty mouthfeel, with a nice long toasted
finish. 1994
Chateau La Conseillante - Pomerol. $64.99. Medium brick color.
Nose seems quite ripe, with a slightly caramelized or Porty quality
to the cassis and toast aromas. Delicious taste and mouthfeel, with
sweet succulent fruit, nearly perfect balance, and long seamless
finish. |
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1996
Chateau Branaire - Saint Julien. $39.99. Medium dark ruby garnet
color. Lovely, slightly mature nose of ash, cassis, and toast, with
some floral background notes. Very nice balance and flavor profile,
with mature cassis fruit, and lightly toasted finish. 1996
Chateau Lagrange - Saint Julien. $39.99. Medium dark brick color.
Nose of cassis, light notes of ash and toast. Very tasty, with excellent
balance, good chewy mouthfeel, and long finish. 1995
Chateau Lagrange - Saint Julien. $47.99. Medium dark brick color.
Lovely nose of fruit, vanilla, and toast all melded seamlessly together.
Nice fruit on the palate, slightly acidic mouthfeel, but not tart
or sour, and balanced quite well. Long smooth finish. 1995
Les Forts de Latour - Pauillac. $52.99. Medium dark ruby color.
Nose has an initial blast of bottle stink that blows off quickly.
Aromas of tea, cassis, and dried celery. Toasty and still even a
bit oaky in mouthfeel, but with an interesting hop or malt quality
to the very long finish. 1996
Chateau Pontet-Canet - Pauillac. $52.99. Medium brick color.
Nose of cassis, tea, and a bit of tobacco, alopng with a touch of
barnyard-chicken pen. Very tasty mouthfeel, with well-integrated
toast and fruit, and a nice long finish. 1982
Chateau Chasse-Spleen - Moulis. $69.99. Medium dark brick garnet
color. Lots of bottle age in the nose, with a musty, somewhat stinky
cassis-tea-damp earth thing going on. Off-sweet mouthfeel, plenty
of cassis fruit, very good balance, long finish and very nice aftertaste. |
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No original material may be reproduced without written consent Mail & Comments - Eric Anderson |