2000 Bordeaux Horizontal: Part I

[Blanquito]

I'm rooting for Ghana... great story.

[JimHow]

To understand that equation, how Mr. Suckling rated the 00 d'Armailhac lately? I'm pretty sure he is on JimHow side... if so, I understand everything.

Does anyone know whether Hardy Rodenstock and James Suckling ever partied together?

[DavidG]

I knew I had left something out, David.

Really, it's a miracle that any wines ever show well.

I now see that all those hacks on eBob were correct all along-- if you don't like a wine, or heaven forbid, rate it lower than the Big Cheese... well, it must be an off-bottle, poor conditions, fascist tendencies, bottle shock, a jejune taster, or most likely, all of the above.

You are learning, Grasshopper.

Notice that, while others swear it is a critical factor, I did not include the phase of the moon in my list of factors to consider. I don't buy that biodynamic BS, with or without the cow horn.

[robert goulet]

the 99' we consumed recently at a blind tasting was absolutely fantasic. My first taste of this estate, looks like a real winner in it's price range.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Maybe D''Armailhac tends to excel in the non-superstar vintages? As per RG above and my own experiences, the three best d'Armailhacs I've had have been the '99, '02 and '06. Never had the '00 but the '96 was baffling. Anyone tried the '05?

[JimHow]

We had the '90 d'Armailhac on Campobello Island at the Maine/Canada border the weekend Princess Diana was killed, it was spectacular. I think that was one of the first years it was called d'Armailhac.

[Michael Malinoski]

I think '89 was the first year for d'Armailhac--a real tasty wine that surprised the heck out of me when I first tasted it back in the day.

[DavidG]

Armailhac goes back to the 1700s, and has a complicated history including several name changes over the years. Before the most recent name change to d'Armailhac for the 1989 vintage, it was called Mouton-Baronne-Philippe.

[stefan]

David, Michael is right--the change back to D'Armailhac took effect for the 1989 vintage.

[DavidG]

Thank you - typo fixed.

[AKR]

Well, so much for my bottle of d'Armailhac being a one-off, your notes are similar to mine, light and lean.

I also like the Chauvin a lot. Got about 6-7 bottles or so left.

We had a bottle of the 2000 Chauvin [St Emilion] tonight, with strip steaks prepped sous vide, and then flash grilled for a couple minutes outside. We made baked potatoes too, and rubbed the outsides with bacon fat, before wrapping them up in tin foil. That added a nice smoky flavor to them. This 2000 remains fruity and generous, with black cherry and cocoa flavors. It's low acid and drinks well by itself, maybe when it was younger and had more grip it would have stood up to the meat better.

[Tom In DC]

Arv, your ability to dig up ancient references is impressive!

[Blanquito]

Lets do a 20 retrospective of the 2000s next year.

[Nicklasss]

I'm with blanquito. 2000 Bordeaux would be a good theme for BWE 2020, 20 years of convention, 20 years after the vintage.

1996 would also be a great theme, being one of the BD favorite Left Bank vintage...

Nic

[Blanquito]

I like a 96 revisit!

Also, 1970 and 1990 would be good themes too.