Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

chris kissack

I'm trying to remember how it performed in the 1998 Pontet-Canet vertical with Alfred Tesseron a few years back. The fact that I can't remember tells me it wasn't very memorable. The "1998 Pontet-Canet vertical?" That would be one heck of a short tasting! :D I think 1998 Pontet-Canet is a...

chris kissack

I've been busy trying to get all my notes from this year's UGC tasting, which featured the 2008 vintage, online. I'm sort of halfway, having 'done' Pessac-Léognan and the Médoc communes this week. Looking back at these notes it does seem to be a vintage full of charming, attractive wines with crisp ...

chris kissack

Hi David Sweet wines do tend to dry with age (based on experience with ancient Vouvray rather than Mosel Riesling, but I am sure the extrapolation is valid) and so I would just look in again in 5+ years if I were you, especially for the spatlesen which should move into a place where you enjoy themmo...

chris kissack

I bought quite a few German wines from the 2001 vintage. Most (but not all) I have opened and tasted somewhere along the way, but I have been remiss in not revisiting them in a sufficiently regular fashion. Too many wines, not enough time, I suppose. And so, in a feeble attempt to right this wrong, ...

chris kissack

I agree with other posters who say these are merely shut-down and will come around. I opened many in May this year and they weren't showing well. But they will be great again, given time. As if cto confirm, was chatting with Aline Baly of Coutet last week who said in a quick and spontaneous vintage ...

chris kissack

I think that is how Montlouis has been seen for many years Alex. But the appellation is slowly being dragged from the mire by a bunch of dedicated producers.

chris kissack

Amongst my favourite personal 'discoveries' this year are the wines of Franz Saumon; a favourite because, along with the likes of François Chidaine and Jacky Blot, Franz is another brick in the wall of Montlouis, a wall on which are clearly written the words "I am no longer Vouvray's poor relat...

chris kissack

Vintages like 2002 and 2003 fascinate me, particularly as both have been touted as early-drinking vintages, and yet they are perhaps polar opposites in terms of style. I'm not convinced that 2002 is early drinking at all, just because the wines have less 'weight' than a riper vintage I'm not sure th...

chris kissack

Thanks guys, good responses and very kind comments on the notes too!

chris kissack

I think 1994 Bordeaux comes in for some undue criticism as a vintage at times. I do think 1995 and 1996 are superior, but this is not another 1991, 1992 or 1993. It makes for a middle ground, a hunting ground where inadequate and unexciting wines provide good cover for the occasional gem, you just n...

chris kissack

Alex

Accepting that you can't "prove" anything relating to success/failure of the Bordeaux en primeur campaign, please can you tell us on what you have based the statement "2009s selling like hotcakes".

chris kissack

I'm about to depart for the Loire and am just doing a little 'mopping up' before I depart. So here are three final notes on dinner wines, tasted in Bordeaux. I'll be back relaxed and recharged in three weeks. My best wishes for happy summer holidays to all! :) Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte (Pessac-Léog...

chris kissack

A couple more wines tasted over dinner in Bordeaux. Both are from Chateau Preuillac, a Médoc estate neighbouring the more famous Potensac. Chateau Preuillac (Médoc) 2004: This has a vibrant, youthful hue still. A layer of fruit on the nose with a honeyed sweetness, the same creamy character coming t...

chris kissack

Yes Alex, good wine: Chateau Saint-Pierre 2009: This wine has a very dark core with a bright crimson rim. The nose provides us with some bright and crystalline fruit, with a dark, black berry character. A very cool style on entry, supple, although through the middle it has a more lush feel. A good c...

chris kissack

St Pierre is an old favourite, an estate which has been under the radar for a long time, although that seems to be changing in recent vintages (probably as other wines from the same commune continue to become less and less affordable). Chateau Saint-Pierre (St Julien) 2004: This wine carries the aro...

chris kissack

Another two wines, this time a Margaux twosome, that came my way over dinner when in Bordeaux recently. Both showed better than expected. In the case of Lascombes, I have had a couple of experiences where young wines from the Capital Colony/Alain Reynaud era (2001 onwards) just seem overladen with o...

chris kissack

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown isn't the only Brown to have disappeared recently.... Chateau Brown Blanc (Pessac-Léognan) 2007: Tasted three times during a recent visit to Bordeaux. A great nose, vibrant, still showing a little sliver of oak it seemed on one occasion, but always lovely and fresh, wi...

chris kissack

So Robert Parker's 2009 Bordeaux scores are out. And people have - predictably in some cases - reacted in a variety of different ways. Predictable reaction #1 is "Wow, what amazing scores! What a great vintage - I'm buying!" which is a brave statement to make before you have seen the price...

chris kissack

Lots of odd Bordeaux notes floating around at present following a number of dinners in Bordeaux during the primeurs week (all my 2009 notes except for Sauternes are now up on Winedoctor) and also down in London. Here are two lumped together purely on the basis of common commune: Chateau Pedesclaux (...

chris kissack

Comte, I bought these en primeur - w-a-a-a-y less than $40 (I think, allowing for exchange rate) - price for the GL was £15 each.

I have some '02 Lagrange and Léo-B too, so shan't be too worried!

chris kissack

Thanks for this note - I have 6 of these tucked away. Wish I had bought more at the price I paid.

Any opinions on the '02? I bought a few, suckered in by the dirt-cheap price (same for Lafite, Pichon-L, Léoville-B and a few others that vintage).

chris kissack

A lighter vintage, so I didn't buy much, and succeeded in drinking all my 96 Beaucastel some time ago. I though the 96 Prieuré de St Jean de Bebian, from the Languedoc, a much better prospect.

chris kissack

How time flies - it is already ten years since all the arguments about whether the end of the millennium should be celebrated with the arrival of 2000, or with its departure. In the end the arrival of 2000 won out; I remember the fireworks well, followed by a very foggy (and smoky?) New Year's day. ...

chris kissack

Two examples of Le Mont Sec from Huet here, from the 2005 vintage (despite promising myself that I wouldn't open another of these for a while) and also from 1995, recently savoured with roast pork and crispy-crunchy crackling. Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec 2005: This bottle shows a little differe...

chris kissack

Jay Winton wrote:Down to our last bottle of the 96-very enjoyable.

I haven't even started on my 1996s yet - tasted one 2-3 years ago and I didn't think it was anywhere near ready. Have you been drinking these for a while?

chris kissack

The 1998 Lanson which I drank earlier in the week was a recently purchased bottle, one of a large number I bought. Having tasted it, I think it has a long future ahead of it. A few days later here I am already drinking the last of my 1995 Lanson, a dirty and dusty bottle which seems to have been res...

chris kissack

Agree with Stefan. Just opened the first of my Haut-Bailly 1995 in the last few weeks, and it was delicious. Stewed prunes it definitely wasn't!

chris kissack

Marc Ollivier is one of the Loire's greatest winemakers that I have never met, despite walking past his stand several times at the Salon in Angers earlier this year, and repeatedly catching sight of him pouring his wines for numerous happy tasters. Perhaps those people were just in possession of bet...

chris kissack

I'm starting to line up a few for tasting, only a handful mind, but I probably won't get around to them until 2010. Agree on early showings of Lagrange, although I did avail myself of the opportunity to retaste a year or so later and wasn't so horrified that time. Tasting notes follow: In October 20...

chris kissack

Glad to see so many others like the Figeac 2000, wouldn't complain if I owned some myself!

chris kissack

I wouldn't have said dithyrambic...I think the wines underperform in comparison with their peers, in terms of classification and price-point, but equally I think the younger generation of the Quié family now in charge deserve some credit for the work they have done. Although I think they have a lot ...

chris kissack

Last week I attended the claret tasting at the Institute of Masters of Wine in London, an annual event which always looks at the vintage from four years before, so this year it was naturally the turn of the 2005 vintage. Strange, then, to find two interlopers in amongst all the other wines, which in...

chris kissack

I visited Rausan Gassies after the harvest in 2000, and it amazes me how the fruit - which was in perfect condiiton - can not produce a great wine from this estate. I tried several older vintages and found that there are several flaws with the wines - one is poor handling, the other is old barrels ...

chris kissack

Hi Alain Thanks for your response. I agree with you thoughts on the intrinsic quality of 2007, and as I have written in my report on my site it is an amazing achievement that they have made any wine at all, never mind drinkable wine, and if we were to turn back the clock 10-20 years as you have done...

chris kissack

Jon if they taste like "picnic" wines then they should commensurately be at picnic prices, surely. 2007 is like 1997 - overpriced and later dumped often on the on-licence market at low prices. Like 1997, 2007 prices are riding too high having been released at prices based on two preceding...

chris kissack

Chris, I'd just say: "lean" is at least better than "lean and green"! It would be (will be?) interesting to revisit some of the wines you tasted years down the road. Surprises have been known to happen :-). Of course, the question of pricing can never be absent from the consumer...

chris kissack

I've spent the last week and a half thinking about Bordeaux 2007 (well, somebody has to) after the annual UGC tasting of the wines at two years of age which was held at Covent Garden in London last week. I've just finished writing up my Médoc notes, which for Bordeaux was where I cut my teeth before...

chris kissack

I haven't really opened much Burgundy at home this year (I have had rather more bottles when dining out), despite (a) an informative trip to the region and (b) the recognition that I don't drink enough of it. So here goes. One of the things I love about Burgundy is how you can tie in the wine to an ...

Search found 78 matches

Re: 98 Pontet Canet is disappointing

TN: Two left-bank UGC favourites from 2008

Re: TN: Drei wines from Germany

TN: Drei wines from Germany

Re: Sauternes lovers: wassup with the 2001s?

Re: TN: A Saumon Trio

TN: A Saumon Trio

TN: Two St Emilion from 2003

Re: TN: Two clarets from the 1994 vintage

TN: Two clarets from the 1994 vintage

Re: 2009s selling like hotcakes

TN: Three from Bordeaux

TN: A Preuillac Pair

Re: TN: St Pierre & Ducru

TN: St Pierre & Ducru

TN: Margaux Twosome

TN: And Goodbye to Brown....

TN: An antidote to depression

TN: Two from Pauillac

Re: TN 2000 Gruaud Larose

Re: TN 2000 Gruaud Larose

Re: TN: TN 96 Beaucastel 750/1.5l

TN: Two Millennial Champagnes

TN: Huet, Ten Years Apart

Re: TN: A Right Pair of Lansons

TN: A Right Pair of Lansons

Re: TN: 1995 Haut Bailly

TN: Two from Marc Ollivier

Re: 2003 Bordeaux: freak show or legendary?

Re: TN: Non-conformists: Figeac & Rauzan-Gassies

Re: TN: Non-conformists: Figeac & Rauzan-Gassies

TN: Non-conformists: Figeac & Rauzan-Gassies

Re: TN: 2000 Château Rauzan-Gassies (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux)

Re: Thoughts on Médoc 2007

Re: Thoughts on Médoc 2007

Re: Thoughts on Médoc 2007

Thoughts on Médoc 2007

TN: Two from Billaud-Simon