What is the tannin index for 2015?

[JimHow]

Tried the 2015 Carbonnieux.
Not much of a step up above the Latour Martillac.
Is 2015 overrated?
These wines seem tannic, angular, sharp.
Okay, Margaux seems great.
But there are other parts of Bordeaux, too.
And the prices prohibit drinking the big boys ITNOS.

[jckba]

https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2016/04 ... 5-bordeaux

[JimHow]

Interesting article, jckba.
I'm finding the tannins in 2015 to be pronounced... perhaps disturbingly so.

[Nicklasss]

Jim, don't be so "Trump". The 2015 Bordeaux aren't your ennemies.

Try Léoville Barton, Clinet or Brane-Cantenac instead.

Nic

[JimHow]

I liked Giscours (albeit "big") and Siran.
Labegorce was good, not great, although certainly better than these two Pessacs I've tried.

[JimHow]

Try Léoville Barton, Clinet or Brane-Cantenac instead.

I need Trump-like wealth to drink those wines in the name of science, Nicola.
I have one bottle of Leoville Barton.
I'm going to be getting my hands on some Cantenac Brown this week.
I'm going to stick to Margaux in 2015.

[Racer Chris]

I went deep on 2015 Margaux. I don't think they are made for near term drinking though.
The Cantenac-Brown I opened wasn't ready after 2 hours in the decanter.

Some of the Pessacs should be good too.

Cantemerle has strong but approachable tannins. I'm drinking my 375s and holding the 750s.
Du Retout (Haut-Medoc), Pierre de Montignac (Medoc), and Lalande (St-Julien) are more tannin than fruit right now.

A great value is the 2015 Fourcas-Dupre from Listrac. Drinking well now, for those who enjoy young Bordeaux. 88-89 points at less than $20.

[Comte Flaneur]

It may not be an ideal time to broach these wines.

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

Gee it looks like the victorious 14-15-16 triumvirate has a big whole in the middle.

Seriously 15 was pegged as the vintage that will always drink well, and which if anything was tarred by some as being "too obvious" (digression--this has always been one of my favorite trade terms, one which I've always held to mean so good that even the proletariat could recognize them as such, which of course disqualifies the vintage entirely for connoisseurs) to be a truly great vintage, in contrast to 16 which is great but more "classic" and presumably requires aging and 14 which is more "classic" in the sense that it just isn't as good as either of the other two, but still needs to be sold through.

[JimHow]

My experience with 2015 is extremely limited.
I was just really struck by the 1995-like tannins in the Carbonnieux and Latour Martillac.

[marcs]

Gee it looks like the victorious 14-15-16 triumvirate has a big whole in the middle.

Seriously 15 was pegged as the vintage that will always drink well, and which if anything was tarred by some as being "too obvious" (digression--this has always been one of my favorite trade terms, one which I've always held to mean so good that even the proletariat could recognize them as such, which of course disqualifies the vintage entirely for connoisseurs) to be a truly great vintage, in contrast to 16 which is great but more "classic" and presumably requires aging and 14 which is more "classic" in the sense that it just isn't as good as either of the other two, but still needs to be sold through.

LOL. Someone else has been listening to Bordeaux sales bullshit for decades just like me.

Of the three vintages I ended up going long on 2014 because the pricing was so good. I am also hoping that it is ready to drink younger. I think in the modern era the "not as good but not actually bad" vintages are ones to aim for because the quality level generally is so high now that they can turn out really well especially at the higher end. Hoping 2014 isn't like 2001 though, a middling vintage that still takes a long time to come round.

Did get a mixed case of 2015 Margaux, looking like I might have to wait a while to crack them!

[dstgolf]

Jim,

Supermarket wine??!! I thought you'd never waste your time on anything below 90 pts. Is the BD slipping near retirement into the land mediocrity??

Sounds like another vintage for the long haul and I'm not sure that I have enough years ahead to wait for the big guns to come into their own so apart from Malescot which usually is crafted in a softer modern style Margaux and the rest coming in are and a few others mainly from Margaux.

CHÂTEAU HAUT-BRISSON 2015- 6
CHÂTEAU MALESCOT ST. EXUPÉRY 2015-6
CHÂTEAU LAFON-ROCHET 2015-6
CHÂTEAU DU TERTRE 2015-6
CHÂTEAU MALARTIC-LAGRAVIÈRE 2015-6
CHÂTEAU CANTENAC BROWN 2015-6
CHÂTEAU PALOUMEY 2015-12

[DavidG]

So two 2015 Bordeaux, not the cream of the crop but decent solid wines, came across as too tannic at 3 years old.

This does not elicit a Chicken Little response from me.

[Nicklasss]

Did Barde Haut, with it's lush high alcohol low structure wines ruined Jim's palate? Or is it just a natural bitter tannic taste that come with years of criminal defense?

Nic

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

LOL. Someone else has been listening to Bordeaux sales bullshit for decades just like me.

Of the three vintages I ended up going long on 2014 because the pricing was so good. I am also hoping that it is ready to drink younger. I think in the modern era the "not as good but not actually bad" vintages are ones to aim for because the quality level generally is so high now that they can turn out really well especially at the higher end. Hoping 2014 isn't like 2001 though, a middling vintage that still takes a long time to come round.

Did get a mixed case of 2015 Margaux, looking like I might have to wait a while to crack them!

I have liked the few 2014s I've had and I found them to have good body, acidity and firm tannin, which, it seems to me, is actually classic (sans quotation marks) Bordeaux. I'm not sure they will be ready to drink younger than 2015, certain properties excepted of course. But I think they'll be fine--classic, you might say.

But I do stand by my remarks on the tradespeak.