Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Claudius2

Guys The only vintage I’ve had that was badly affected was 88 though I gave up buying this wine from 88 until 95 as a result. Pity as DB was a regular buy and a personal fav in those days. So were a few other seconds such as PL and Cos but well times have changed. I got some inside information on wh...

Claudius2

Izak I’ve not tried any 2022s - will go to the UGC tasting of 2020s here in balmy Singapore on Wednesday. My point about Australian wines is that the addition of tartaric acid is common here particularly in mass produced wines. Given the generally warm conditions, some TA is rational though it can l...

Claudius2

Jim The 2020 according to Bordoverview in Euro46 which is around USD51. Over here the retail price will be higher - not sure what it will be yet. I’d guess SGD100 after the 19 was around SGD80. It isn’t a great wine by any means but I’d say it is not just a supermarket wine, if that implies average ...

Claudius2

Guys All my 2019's - and I bought quite a few - were delivered to Singapore a year ago, and I've bought several more Chateaux retail since then. Same applied in Australia, which was notoriously slow in past vintages to supply en primeur stock. This part of the world is often slow to receive stock - ...

Claudius2

Guys I started buying this wine from 2005 vintage onward. No experience with older vintages but the wine since 05 has been very good and typically Margaux with that complex, fragrant berry character. The 05 jumped out of the glass with heaps of fruit meshed with forest floor and oak characters. That...

Claudius2

Well I busted.
Been saying no more Bordeaux buts this year but just ordered a case of 2019 Ch Pontet Canet.
I tried this some months ago and really liked it. More power than most 2019s but in a nice way.
Cheers
Mark

Claudius2

Arv I'd look to drink the 05 in the next 5 years. The 2008 is ready to drink now, with the tannins largely resolved. It won't get any better I'd imagine. Still a fair bit of acid - just needs a bit more fruit. I may be being a bit harsh with it as my tastebuds seem to be affected lately (post-surger...

Claudius2

Guys Sipping this now. At 15 years old, it is still young. No browning at all, and will last for many more years. Although this isn’t a top rated Pomerol, the wine is pretty good, and maybe I should have kept the rest of the case longer. The nose shows a lot of tobacco, savoury, earthy characters an...

Claudius2

Guys Oh no. Another greatest vintage ever, or close to it. At least I agree on his views (in retrospect) of 2003. I’ll be interested in reading the views of others though I am not budging from my plan that 2019 will be my last EP vintage - and I have to say, I can still buy more for a reasonable pri...

Claudius2

Guys I refrain from using the term precise though I do have in my own mind a specific definition of it, and it has two components. Firstly it must imply balance, giving the wine a sense of completeness or wholeness. Not too much of anything - including sweet fruit, alcohol, acid, oak, tannins etc. I...

Claudius2

Guys, largely agree with these. I don't want to rank them, though based on the wines I have tried, I'd rate 2016 as my favourite as they are classically styled with density and power. I've been picking up a few more at auction or retail when not too expensive. Maybe a touch better on the left bank, ...

Claudius2

Jeff
Yes many thanks
I’m going to a big 2020 tasting in May so I’ll make sure I read your report soon.
Cheers
Mark

Claudius2

Guys
I have to say that Haut Brin is the only Premier Cru I’ve bought for some years.
Both HB and LMHB always bring a smile to my face and the 82 and 83 of both are some of my most memorable wine experiences. Pity I can’t find them for the price I paid 30 odd years ago.

Cheers
Mark

Claudius2

Guys I’ve watched all of this from the sidelines and have no dog in the fight. I make it clear that I don’t support any politician, and particularly Trump or Biden. Arresting Trump would go a long way to making the US look like a lot of corrupted, cronyist nations over here in Asia. We have kleptocr...

Claudius2

Folks I’ve sipped away at several bottles of this and I think this is the last. I first opened one several years ago and it was quite tannic, but tonight the wine had thrown a considerable crust and it seemed a lot more mature than a year or two ago. The colour is a nice dark red with ruby rim. Look...

Claudius2

I actually just pulled a bottle each of 2000 Sansonnet and 2005 Fonbel based on this. Arv I don't think I've ever had earlier vintages of these wines before, so interesting to see how they go. The St Emilions surprised me a little at this tasting. They were not as richly fruity as last year - a bit...

Claudius2

Folks Thursday night had one more tasting with French food in Singapore. All the wines were decanted at least two hours before drinking, and the restaurant was a bit too warm I think as they seemed to lack freshness later on. IMG_1031.jpg As an intro, I've tried all of these wines over the last year...

Claudius2

I had a small taste of this the other night at a family birthday party among other wines, I liked what I tasted, looking to examine it a little more closely tonight. Bought a bunch today in NH as part of European wine sale. I drank the 2019 Kirwan on Thursday night - will post more reviews separate...

Claudius2

Guys I generally avoid arguing as to whether todays wines are better than (say) those from the 80s as the styles of wine now are quite different from recent releases. It is a reasonable argument to say that wines made from 81 to 90 are the apogee of Bordeaux. Sure there were some poor vintages such ...

Claudius2

Guys
Based on tastings of the 2019s, 2026 and 2010s recently, I’d say the following:

Langoa Barton
Giscours
D’Issan
Haut Bages Liberal
Pontet Canet
Prieue Lichine
Dufort Viviens (not tried 19 though so tentative sssessment).

Cheers
Mark

Claudius2

Jim Believe me I understand. I take twice as many drugs and some of them are to offset the side effects of others. Last year I spent SGD45k on medical expenses and based on progress so far this year will be a lot more. In my case I can’t get insurance simply as I have a long list of pre-existing ill...

Claudius2

Folks Please check out this link from the Australian Government, Dept. of Agriculture: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/images/wine-fig1.png You can see the report in full here: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/agricultural-outlook/wine-and-winegrapes#wine-indu...

Claudius2

Nice to see La Pointe in there. I have not had any of their wines in a long time, maybe not since the 1998 near release. Arv, I have only had this wine a few times and never been overly impressed. The 2019 is a very nice wine. My view is that if you cannot make good wine in 2019, then change the wi...

Claudius2

I told myself that 2016 would be the last vintage I buy in meaningful quantities but then I bought a half of Chateau Dalem and drank it. Damn wine. Now the proud owner of Montrose, Phelan Segur, Dalem, Gloria, Leoville Barton/Poyferre....yada, yada. This is a GREAT vintage. Reminds me of 82 and 90....

Claudius2

Comte I bought 6 bottles myself and 9 of the La La Lagune, the latter at a lower price. I’ve never been a fan of Langoa Barton until this vintage but it is worthy of a third growth now. Have another tasting of 2019s on Thursday so I’m starting to get a good view of them though I’d like to try some o...

Claudius2

The tasting was at a French restaurant and this was the place I've had several tastings before. All reds were double decanted and were surprisingly open by the time we started sipping them. All served in Riedel glasses. Francis Orban Cuvee Prestige NV Grower Champagne that I've had a few times. The ...

Claudius2

Guys The wholesale price for the 2020 is about 15% higher though the usual suspects rate the 19 just above it. No experience with 2020 but I do recommend 19 overall. If you can get the 19 at a lower price I’d definitely choose it. The 19 s will probably be drinkable earlier but they are still well s...

Claudius2

Thanks Jim and stefan, for those suggestions. I forgot about Malescot. Did Poyferre, Pape Clement, or Pontet-Canet make a good wine in this vintage? Regarding 2004, I’ve had that vintage of Pavie twice and it convinced me that the “old” Pavie actually did not need fixing, I regularly bought Pavie u...

Claudius2

Alex The fact that there are changes in demand that seriously affect Bordeaux attest to the idea that nobody can be right all the time. Markets are fickle and if they weren’t, well, my own career would have suffered as clients paid me to inform and guide them. There are something like 8000 growers i...

Claudius2

Nothing earth shattering but happened upon some 2019 Ch Pontet Canet at Costco today. I haven't really been a big fan since last buying the 2005 vintage but for $90/btl I felt compelled to pick up a couple. Gerry Seriously load up the truck at that price - the wine is really nice. Wish I could get ...

Claudius2

Guys I just gotta stop bidding at auctions as I end up with more wines that I really don’t need. Oh well. Last auction was Sunday, and I bought: 2016 Beausejour DL St Emilion (6 OWC) 2015 Castagnier Clos de La Roche (6) 2014 Faiveley NSG 1er Cru Porets St Georges (12) 2020 Rapet Corton (6 OWC) 2019 ...

Claudius2

Alex you beat me to the punch with this Guardian article. Despite the fame of the top wines in the best appellations the production of AC Bordeaux etc has long been a hard job with little income. The same can be said for numerous other regions in the world so I’m not sure that Bordeaux is isolated h...

Claudius2

Guys 2004 is hard to generalise. I found most wines from this vintage to be rather angular and at times unbalanced. My view is that St Julien performed well on the LB and Pomerols on the right, though some St Emilions did quite well. Many wines to my palate lacked fruit intensity and came across as ...

Claudius2

Guys Can't get the 2020 Giscours, though the 2021 EP is SGD71 plus about $20 in fees, thus $91 or so. That is around USD70. Malescot is $65 plus fees, thus USD4-5 less. It gets similar ratings from the usual suspects. So it is clearly more expensive here but that's pretty cheap. At least I can get t...

Claudius2

Guys
If it gets any colder, you will all have to drink Vodka instead.
It's worked for centuries in Siberia.

cheers
Mark

Claudius2

Guys Today I got an offer on 2016 and 2019 Giscours for SGD126, which is about USD95 or E87. The importer even used my tasting notes - he hosted the tasting - when it was the winner of the flight. I already bought some EP so I don’t desperately need it but I’ll see what I can get the 2020 for, thoug...

Claudius2

This morning, it is -29 C, - 49 C feel with wind chill.... Nic/Jim Well it’s 9.40 pm and still 30C/86F just like every other day though we’ve had a hell of a lot of rain with sporadic flooding. At least you never need a jacket or overcoat here - in fact shorts and a t-shirt work well. Regarding Cro...

Claudius2

Jim
That is a great deal on Krug - it is way more here. I mean twice as much.
As for Giscours, I got some on EP for SGD 90 odd and it’s now at least SGD 105-110 retail, or USD80-85. The BB is at least USD100. Again, the Govt is smiling.

Claudius2

6 each of 2019 Ch Langoa Barton and La Lagune. Really like this vintage especially the left bank. 24 bottles of Justin Girardin 2019 and 2020 Santenay, SLB and Chassagne Montrachet 1ers Crus reds 6 each 2018 Muga Rioja Riserva and 2019 Condado de Haza Crianza Ribera de Deuro, two Spanish wines I’ve ...

Claudius2

Robert Scratching my head a little to recall all this. The tasting I referred to did not show much of interest in 2007. I’ve drunk a few 2007 Bordeaux since then were quite good but 2007 will always be a lesser vintage. As for Burgundy I still don’t think much of 2004 or 2007 accepting that there ar...

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