Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

AlexR

Patrick, Dufort Vivens is the perfect example of one of those wines that has gone pretty much underneath the radar but is much better than wine writers make it out to be. I have had some fine bottles through the years. The house style was long what you'd call "foursquare" i.e. classic Clar...

AlexR

Stefan,

Rausan-Gassies' younger brother, Croizet Bages, would be neck and neck

.

Alex

AlexR

Tom, >>> But if Lynch Bages is a 5th growth, does this seem like a second? Good question, Tom, but I think you aleady knew the answer :-). You might think it is a result of the froggification process after all these years, but it really is, IMHO, a question of terroir, or rather the *potential* of t...

AlexR

Jim,

I see you haven't been doing to badly for good wine lately!

Most interesting to see the 2000s that are OK to drink now.

All the best,
Alex

AlexR

Hi Werner, >>>Just curious. Do you find the 2000s exciting now? Yes, I'm already drinking my non-classified growths and deriving great pleasure from them. >>>Do you think it's a vintage you could have the drinking experience and enjoy from the get-go? I ask becasue I had a Prieure-Lichine 2000 yeste...

AlexR

Chris, Thanks for your reply. Hope to see you on your next trip over here. The only problem is that so many people come at set times of year (en primeur tastings, Vinexpo) that everything tends to bunch up. Even so, it would be great to meet again. Please give me a shout! You write: >>>I disagree th...

AlexR

I have passed in front of this estate I don't know how many times without ever visiting or tasting their wine. The château building is kind of cool, set back among trees on the right as you enter Pauillac coming from Bordeaux, not far from Lynch Bages. http://www.chateau-bellegrave.com/default.aspx?...

AlexR

Chris, Thanks for your synopsis. I am well-known on this forum for defending "off-vintages" and sweeping vintage generalizations. However, your-depth tasting, approached without pre-conceived notions - "comparing that which is comparable" - is another kettle of fish, and there's ...

AlexR

Patrick, Too early to speculate about 2009 pricing. The great châteaux will test the waters in April 2010. The financial crisis hasn't hit everyone... I'm sure you read that some banks have actually grown and the bonuses are rolling in as though nothing happened. Wikipedia says there are approximate...

AlexR

Nic,

Félicitations !

Alex

AlexR

2001 Lafaurie Peyraguey for $40? That's truly a great deal. You ask (rhetorically, pehaps) : "Maybe 2009 Bordeaux will bring me back to my sense BWE senses... but only if the Bordelais set prices sensibly". Maybe pigs will fly ;-). The only serious answer that is to source the wines overlo...

AlexR

Having enjoyed a meal with Ed, Lisa, and James Grandison at Delfina's, I can imagine the atmosphere.

The wines sounded excellent.
As for the white Burgundy, this sad the name of the game.

All the best,
Alex R.

AlexR

Jeez, wish I had been able to make it...

Aleex

AlexR

Another censored wine label:

http://www.terredevins.com/article-586- ... ette-.html

Alex R.

AlexR

Jacques,

It is not really possible for a newspaper in provincial France to do some of that fact checking you speak of in the US.

Also, government agencies are notoriously difficult to pin down on anything...

Alex

AlexR

Sorry, I should have added IN FRENCH to the header... What it amounts to is that a Bordeaux wine producer wanted to export wine to the US with verse - in French! - from Charles Baudelaire's famous Fleurs du Mal ("Flowers of Evil") on the label. They American authorities refused saying that...

AlexR

http://www.sudouest.com/accueil/actuali ... 9/mil.html

Best regards,
Alex R.

AlexR

Robert Parker famously said of another 5th growth Pauillac "Life is too short for Croizet Bages". Pédesclaux unfortunately fell into the category - until lately. The estate was spruced up (they have a pretty nice "bed and breakfast" there now) and attention focused on improving t...

AlexR

Stefan,

Which Beauséjour?

Alex

AlexR

Hi John, I maintain what I said about the wine, although perhaps agree with you if I can understand what you mean by "87". Sometimes too, a wine that has never been moved in nearly 20 years and been perfectly stored at he estate will "perform" much better ("there are no grea...

AlexR

Stefan, All I know is what I tasted. The 90 Pichon Comtesse was a delight and I'm pretty sure that if you had shared a glass with me of the same exact wine I tried, you'd have mostly agreed with Izak and me. Could there be bottle variation? Quite possibly. Patrick, Pricing? High, very high for the t...

AlexR

I visited these 2 châteaux yesterday with Danish wine writer Izak Litwar. Paul Pontalier of Château Margaux (who speaks just about the best English I have ever heard from a Frenchman) was genuinely delighted with the crop. They should be winding up the harvest by next Wednesday. Pontalier thinks 200...

AlexR

They already own Larmande and Soutard. Obviously, this was not enough... All three grands crus classés are in same part of Saint Emilion. Cadet Piola is the one with the racy label :-). http://www.weinetiketten-sammlung.de/images/EUROPA/France_Frankreich/Bordeaux/St-Emilion-Etiketten/w_Cadet-Piola-1...

AlexR

Hi,

This is a mythical wine and I am bowled over by how little you paid for it.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Alex R.

AlexR

All records are being broken, yesterday's by over 4°C. I have never seen such a long spell of consistently fine weather in over three decades. Of course, people will jump the gun and assume the wine is great regardless of its intrinsic qualities (which helps to make up for prejudice and oversimplifi...

AlexR

I have tasted Lafite "en primeur" the last 4 years, and the 2004 was the vintage that captured my heart

.

I have 2 bottles in my cellar.

All the best,
Alex R.

AlexR

I've served 94 Dominus twice blind in Bordeaux (incuding once to François Audouze) where it received high marks and did not make anyone doubt for a moment that it was a fine Bordeaux... As for lamb shanks, I'd be interested to hear how you prepared them. People usually cook them in a pressure cooker...

AlexR

Thanks for your notes, Nic, even if I cannot buy those wines here!

Alex

AlexR

As for Palin's upcoming book, the NY Times quoted someone as saying it comes with crayons, a Palin-English dictionary, and aspirin...

Alex R.

AlexR

Has the world ever been other than a crazy, mixed-up place?

Let us console ourselves with philosophy and good wine.

Alex R.

AlexR

There are no great wines, only great bottles.

The oracle has spoken (with a statement that is hardly original, I will allow

)))))))))))).

Alex RY.

AlexR

Patrick,

>>>If you really like 03, I wonder if you like Bordeaux at all.

We'll have a talk about this, young man, over a glass of wine next summer

.

Alex

AlexR

I called them. They do represent one of the first growths on the list, but would not say which one

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Alex R.

AlexR

Obviously only valid if you live in the UK...

Alex

AlexR

Thanks for the notes.
Looks like a very honorable showing.
Alex R.

AlexR

I had a bottle of this half a year ago, enjoying it maybe a little more than you, Rick.

What struck me at the time was the wine's drinkability. In other words, while perhaps not at its peak, it was by all means mostly there.

Best regards,
Alex R.

AlexR

Always did consider ecologists a little harebrained...

However, if you are game to strip down to the bare essentials and spend an enjoyable weekend romping with other like-minded people, here's how to apply:

http://www.greenpeace.fr/tunick/

Best regards,
Alex R.
(who'll pass ont that one...)

AlexR

Danny, Great to read your post which made me very nostalgic. This is where I spent the first 18 years of my life. As a teenager I hated it! All it took was to travel and return and see how nice it is... The climate ain't so great (hot, humid summers, and it's on the snow belt) but I do like places w...

AlexR

Thanks for setting me straight, Tom! 2008... I have attended the March barrel tastings for the past 5 or 6 years. The decrease in attendance this March (for the 2008 vintage) as compared to tastings of the 03,04, 05, and 06 vintages was impressive. This reflected the prejudice against the 2008 vinta...

AlexR

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/healt ... ng.html?em

Alex R.

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