Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Jeff Leve

I am in Bordeaux for the rest of the week and much of next week as well. There are a few nice wines in this vintage, but you need to look to find them. Fans of low alcohol wines will be happier than I am, generally speaking. For a good summary on what's taking place with the wines and the vintage......

Jeff Leve

I am sad to report that the wine world lost one of the great ladies today as Christine Valette of Troplong Mondot passes away.

http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/201 ... sses-away/

Jeff Leve

2000 L’Aura, Margaux: I’m a fan of the Haut-Médoc Château Cambon La Pelouse, and this is their Margaux wine. Alex, how did you manage to taste the 2000? You really are connected! The owner only bought the property in 2006. http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/bordeaux-wine-producer-profiles/bordeaux...

Jeff Leve

Chateau Vin wrote:Did not get any clinet, but got VCC from pomerol (if I remember correctly, trusted Jeff's take on this...

You will be quite happy with 2011 VCC. It is one of the top wines of the vintage.

Jeff Leve

robert goulet wrote:
Jeff Leve wrote:
robert goulet wrote:I think Ronan was with Leve last week in Cali
Hmmmm

Yes Jeff, and that is the store where I obtained the (2) '96 Latour for you....a few scheckles less than $300....those were the days

And you only bought two bottles!!!!!!! Yes, those were the days my friend....

Jeff Leve

I think Ronan was with Leve last week in Cali Hmmmm :mrgreen: Clinet was in orlando....I could not attend but my friend said standouts out were Clinet and Loyferre The Orlando event was not with the UGC. It was a special tasting with a specific store in Florida that was organized outside of the UGC...

Jeff Leve

jckba wrote:I was in NY and while it wasn't listed in the tasting notebook, Ronan was there pouring.

I hate to say this, but Ronan was not in New York pouring. He was in Napa on January 20.... Trust me, I know this for a fact.

Jeff Leve

I did and I could have just have easily included Clinet in my preferred wines as well as it showed black and blue fruits along with an chocolate expresso like aftertaste (91-93 in my book). What city are you in that you tasted Clinet? I thought they were not showing their wine at the UGC events thi...

Jeff Leve

Jeff has no love for the "charmless" 94's. Nor me. Even Las Cases was anything but a real pleasure. For me, 2004 is the candidate for the worst vintage of the last decades. :shock: We seldom agree on wines... but I do not agree with 2004 at all. 91, 92, 93, 94, 97, 99, 02, 07, 11, 12 &...

Jeff Leve

Jeff, I enjoy your notes and they have guided me with some purchases in the past. Further, you respond to posts here, even the critical ones, which I greatly appreciate! With classified Bordeaux prices the way they are these days and the growing market share (I'm talking Asia here), I need all the ...

Jeff Leve

Bordeaux is no longer the benchmark of quality that it once was. Sorry, but I do not agree. Bordeaux remains the benchmark for quality in the wine, and for wine making techniques. The majority if innovations today come from what takes place in Bordeaux. In other words, there will be hundreds of inf...

Jeff Leve

If he is going to become the next He Who Shall Remain Nameless, he may need to become bigger than the pettiness that often exists on the internet. He may need to be above criticism. But I don't know. I honestly don't know what it would take to become the next HWSRN. Honestly, I have more than enoug...

Jeff Leve

I agree with the posters that stated there is in truth, no replacement for Bob. The market does not have the interest in supporting one name. It will be divided among several different people, and probably become more focused on tasters for very specific areas. For example in Bordeaux, people could ...

Jeff Leve

Pomerollover (Jeff's old BWE moniker) says Pomerol did best, and finds that some of the less expensive known estates there did quite well. Incidentally, whether or not you align with Jeff's preferences, his descriptions are generally very good and informative. On Bordeaux, I mean; on Burgundy he is...

Jeff Leve

You kids are funny. Plus, I thought the only state where pot was legal was in Denver :D If you have an event on the west coast, where it's closer to 80 degress in the winter, it would be easier for me to come to an event. Plus, you always have them during the EP tastings. I'll be in BDX when you are...

Jeff Leve

You can read my notes on the best 365 wines from 2012 Bordeaux for an idea on the wines and vintage

http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/201 ... est-wines/

Jeff Leve

Jim... I cannot help but think, served blind in a flight of other 2009 wines, you might comment on the ripeness, but you would not notice the alcohol level.

Jeff Leve

I just checked out the wine cellar insider, that seems like quite a site, if a bit overwhelming. If i was reading his notes correctly, I think Jeff gave this 93 points twice and 94 points once. Jim.. Thanks for the nice words! Is that the first time you have used the site? You are right, I really l...

Jeff Leve

The list you posted, Jeff, seems to be more in line with what I would consider important, but even it has some head scratchers. Natalie Maclean - the plagiarist - at number 13??? David... Either you edit your list or not. You cannot have it both ways. As I said in my post, the list I gave you the l...

Jeff Leve

The Weighting: “45% Traffic Score (Alexa US Rank) + 35% Social Score (Facebook Fans + Twitter Followers) + 5% Moz Domain Authority + 10% Moz Unique Linking Domains.” I don't understand all of that, but I don't believe that the ranking makes a whole lot of sense. David... I follow most of those stat...

Jeff Leve

Jeff, for a traditionalist like me, the demarcation line is 13,5/14 % Alcohol. That is a fact, and no subject to negotiation. Despite all differences of perception, knowledge, taste, and opinion, the influence of higher alcohol on brain is another than the influence of lower alcohol levels... I can...

Jeff Leve

Jim... I do not care what someone else thinks.. Papa Doc or Rudi or... I taste wines and decide all on my own based simply on what is in the bottle. I know that seems like a novel concept to you. But each wine is different. You cannot extraplote what 2009 Haut Brion tastes like from trying 2009 Haut...

Jeff Leve

Does the fact that the La Missions out there are coming in at 15.1% raise any concerns with you Jeff? Having tasted the wine in barrel and in bottle... No. What concerns me more are people that judge a wine based on numbers without having tasted it to decide if they like it or not. FWIW, In both 20...

Jeff Leve

Some 2009 left bank alcohol contents: Cos d'Estournel: 14.5% Ducru: 13.5% Haut Bailly: 14% Haut Brion: 14.3% d'Issan: 13.7% Lafite: 13.59% Latour: 14% Les Forts: 13.5% LLC: 13.8% Leoville Poyferre: 14% Lynch Bages: 13.5% La Mission: 15% Montrose 13.7% Palmer: 14% Pontet Canet: 14% Jim... What is yo...

Jeff Leve

Jeff, Yep. I don't think chaptalization is allowed in Bordeaux. It is allowed. It was widely used in 2013. But I do not think it is common. But surely, they can stop fermentation whenever they want as long as the min required alc level is achieved as per appellation laws. But you would not want to ...

Jeff Leve

Huh? Once the fermentation has stopped, how do you add more alcohol? I think you can remove alcohol and excess water, but I am not sure you can add more alcohol to the wine. What I meant was the point where the fermentation is stopped can be moved around to get higher/lower alcohol levels, and some...

Jeff Leve

also disagree with Jeff in that Higher alcohol does not always mean more sweetness which comes from riper fruit. Higher alcohol also comes from producers going overboard in fermentation at the expense of fruit, thus making some wines flabby. Huh? Once the fermentation has stopped, how do you add mo...

Jeff Leve

I take it you must be stocking up on Aussie wines these days? :lol: Now you've gone too far! I'd almost rather have dinner with Alex R than own Aussie wines. Notice I said almost, but it was a close call :D You are focusing on my use of the word "manipulation." As far as I know, the only ...

Jeff Leve

[quote="JimHow"]I'm surprised you don't like the southern Rhone, those wines come in at 14.5-15% every year![/qoute] I am a huge fan of Chateauneuf du Pape. I own them, drink them, buy them and visit the region. La Fleur de Bouard has 2% higher alcohol than the Moutons, Margauxs, and Lynch...

Jeff Leve

By the way, can somebody tell me why "higher alcohol" is a good thing? What is it about a 14.5% alcohol level that makes it "better" than 12.5%? Higher alcohol means more sweetness which comes from riper fruit. The goal today, when possible is to obtain phenolically ripe fruit. ...

Jeff Leve

Yes, we can just accept things the way they are, like the rest of Parker's sheep. Jim... People are not sheep for liking the same wines as Bob. They have their own palates and decide all on their own what wines they like or don't, based on what is in the bottle. It's amazing they sold ANY wines fro...

Jeff Leve

robert goulet wrote:Goodbye pichon baron and la a grave pomerol...take those off the list

Not that we share the same taste in wine, which is fine, but what is about Pichon Baron, and which vintages did you taste that make you not like the wines today? The same for La Grave a Pomerol?

Jeff Leve

"It was actually fantastic if you like modern-style bordeaux (one of my wines of the tasting), but you never would have picked it blind as Figeac in a million years." I mean, Pom, isn't that the problem here? It's no longer Bordeaux! It's become something else. FWIW, Figeac did not do any...

Jeff Leve

JimHow wrote:They don't make 'em like they used to...

And that's a good thing

Jeff Leve

Jim... 2009 could be the best vintage of my lifetime for Bordeaux. It might not be to your taste as you are a much bigger fan of years like 2002 than I am. You need to keep in mind, the small amount of wines you're tasting do not represent the vintage one way or another. I love the wines. They are p...

Jeff Leve

Hi Jim It's far too cold for this southern Calif raised boy to make it back east. But I will definitely let you know the next time I am out that way. I do read your schedules for the BWE events. But they are always during the EP tastings. I'm in the midst of booking my next trip to BDX now. Any Bord...

Jeff Leve

All wine is personal taste Jim. But how can you decide if a vintage is good, or not based on a small sample base of a few, moderately priced wines? I' love the vintage. But that is just me.

Jeff Leve

Jeff, a leopard does not change its spots. Alex... Not that I am trying to be pedantic about this, but the correct, or at least more common usage of the idiom is "A Leopard cannot change his spots." If you think about it, while cannot and does not do present a simlar meaning, they are dif...

Jeff Leve

Jeff, You've got it wrong. I have it right.... again. But good try. I did not appreciate your snarky nit-picking post. Really? I am quite surprised. I thought it would make your day :mrgreen: Since when is auctioning wines not selling them for chrissakes? Seriously, you do not see a difference betw...

Jeff Leve

Alex... That means 2014, 2015 & 2016 must be 100% organic. The earliest that will allow for certification is the 2017 vintage. Chartity auctions are donations, not public sales. Look at this on the bright side, at least now you know how to spell Duroux

Search found 318 matches