Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I just bought the last 3 bottles of 2015 Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc that my favorite distributor had in stock. I've had a few bottles previously. Crisp and refreshing. I also just had a 2005 Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc - a very charming white Bordeaux that really opens up after about an hour in the decanter.

The last 4 bottles of 2014 Niellon Chassagne Montrachet Chaumées Clos de la Truffiere $90 at Wallys in Beverly Hills. My daughter who moved to LA picked them up for me and we'll grab them after Denver (we'll have room in our wine carrier, lol)

The following Goodfellows:

2 2016 Richard's Cuvee, Whistling Ridge Chardonnay
2 2016 Durant Vineyard Chardonnay
3 2016 Fir Crest Vineyard Pinot Noir
2 2016 Durant Vineyard Pinot Noir
3 2016 Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir
3 2016 Whistling Ridge Blanc
3 2016 Clover Pinot Gris
3 2016 Ribbon Ridge Chardonnay
3 2016 Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir

Just picked up a case of the 2013 Altesino BdM for $25/per in addition to a 6er of 2013 Il Poggione BdM @ $45/per in Zachys current weekend Brunello blowout!

2008 Dom Perignon x 6 @ $139/each.

Quite a bargain price for that Altesino Brunello. And from a very strong vintage.

Following on JC's lead, I bought:
2013 Ciacci Piccolimini x 4 @ $40
2013 Il Poggione x 4 @ $45
2013 Constanti x 2 @ $51
2013 Lisini x 2 @ $41

Thanks JC!

You did well, also, Jim.

Just a mixed bag of recent purchases...

Splits:
1 - 2016 Drouhin Dundee Hills Pinot Noir (for test drive)
2 - 2016 Ridge Geyserville

Regulars:
2 - 2017 JJ Pum WS Kabinett
2 - 86 La Lagune (Courtesy, DavidG)

The following in auction...
1 - 2014 Porter Creek Hillside Old Vine Pinot Noir
1 - 2015 Montille Volnay Champans
1 - 86 Meyney
1 - 2012 St innocent Freedom Hill (thanks stefan, for highlighting this estate's fine wines)
1 - 2012 Radio-Coteau Clos Platt (thanks jal, for introducing this estate)

4 Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet Clos St Jean
1 Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet Maltroie

hand delivered by Blanquito. We opened one of the Clos St Jean for lunch on Saturday. This confirmed the wisdom of the purchase.

A mixed case of 2016 Rhônes:
Rostaing Côte Rôtie La Landonne
Levet Côte Rôtie Maestria
Beaucastel CduP

When I got home waiting for me were the following South African wines from a producer I really dig (if you see any in the US they are worth a punt, but I think all the exports of this tiny producer go to the UK. Space and weight constraints prevented me bringing one over for the convention):

1x Blank Bottle Moment of Silence 2017 for £16.99 each
1x Blank Bottle Offspring 2017 for £17.49 each
5x Blank Bottle Manon des Sources 2010 for £21.99 each
5x Blank Bottle Epileptic Inspiration Semillon 2016 for £22.95 each

And these from the Wine Society (the NZ Exhibition Chardonnay is from Kumeu River):

6 Bottles The Society's Exhibition New Zealand Chardonnay 2017 14.95/ 89.70
1 Case of 6 Latour Martillac Blanc Pessac Leognan 2015 192.00 /192.00
1 Case of 6 Soave Classico Calvarino Pieropan 2016 108.00 /108.00
6 Bottles. Terroir des Chateaux Forts Domaine Rolly Gassmann 2016 12.95 /77.70

All this is pretty academic because I will be fasting until 25 Apri, when we have a 1998 Bordeaux tasting.

2 bottles 1983 Gruaud Larose
2 bottles 1996 du Tertre
1 bottle 1997 Azelia Barolo San Rocco
1 bottle 2014 Niellon Bourgogne Blanc
2 bottles 2004 Château Belair
1 bottle 1979 Château Haut-Bailly
3 bottles 1983 Château L'Evangile
2 bottles 1986 Château Meyney
1 bottle 2000 La Dame de Montrose
3 bottles 2010 Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon
1 bottle 1983 Paul Jaboulet Cote-Rotie Les Jumelles

And of course the half case of 2014 Niellon Chassagne Montrachet with Stefan!

2 bottles 2014 Rieussec
3 half bottles 2014 Guiraud

Nic

1x 2015 Ch. Fleur Cardinale
4x 2015 Ch. Pierre de Montignac
1x 2014 Ch. Monfort-Bellevue

Fleur Cardinale has become one of the great names of Bordeaux.
I'm not familiar with the other names.

JimHow wrote:Fleur Cardinale has become one of the great names of Bordeaux.
I'm not familiar with the other names.

I don't drink much St Emilion, but I want to have a few nice bottles on hand.
15% alc. on the label indicates that it really isn't my kind of wine though.

The other two are Cru Bourgeois. Something to drink while I wait for the good stuff.

-3 bottles 2016 Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet Chaumees Clos de la Truffiere
-3 bottles 2017 Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet Chaumees Clos de la Truffiere
-1 bottle 2017 Domaine Bouchard Meursault Les Perrières
-3 bottles 2016 Ridge Geyserville

How much did you pay for the Niellons Patrick. 2017 is a good vintage for white burgundy. A bit richer than 2014. Like a cross between 2014 and 2015.

Regular prices for both the 16 and 17 Niellons is $90, but I got them for $76.50 on sale. William Kelly wrote strong notes for both of these wines as well as the 14, and he seems to have my kinda of palate (or vice a versa), so that made it easier to pull the trigger.

I am going to pull the trigger on some 17 Clos St Jean which works out at about $70 all in.

Guys, please watch out with these Niellons, I love them but wouldn't collect and age any of them. I haven't had any pre-moxed ones lately but I would be very wary of keeping any longer than two three years.

Jacques, I think I may have told you in Denver, that one 14 Vergers I had recently was darker than normal and on the edge. So yes point taken, because this producer has a poor track record with Premox.

William Kelly was 94-pts high on the 2017 Niellon Clos St Jean:
https://m.klwines.com/p/i?cid=TPV-Wines ... &i=1393045

My 2014 Niellon will not last long!

There’s was a discussion on Berserkers recently, making it sound like Niellon was doing better of late per premox:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/vi ... n#p2707082
William Kelly: “They have certainly taken [their premox problems] seriously. Michel Coutoux is paying careful attention to dissolved oxygen during the racking and bottling processes. He has been perplexed by why premox affected some of his father-in-law's wines and not others and IIRC thinks it's down at least in part to how the wines were bottled. He also had some malolactic stability issues with some of his own wines so also monitors completion of malo very carefully. I have not experienced premox with recent vintages and buy the wines myself for what that's worth.”

Folks
The Singaporean dollar (SGD) is quite strong now particularly against the Australian Dollar (AUD) and Euro, so there have been wine sales all over the place.
As I sold most of my cellar over a prolonged period after leaving Australia, I have picked up:

2005 Bordeaux such as Leoville Barton, Langoa Barton, Dufort Viviens and Gruaud Larose which I will leave for a while. Have also picked up some 2015's on sale, both right and left banks.
2009 ans 2010 red Burgundy particularly from Gevry Chambertin (Caziers, Come Aux Moines, Combottes) and NSG 1ers Crus, plus a few Beaunes particularly Hospices de Beaune cuvees and a few mature white Burgs.
Can't buy too much as the storage unit is completely full, as are the two wine fridges.

A few regulars I tend to buy whenever well priced:
NV Champagnes particularly Billecart, Cazanove, Veuve Forny, Moet, Roederer and Gosset. Hard to beat in 90-odd degree heat (which is all the time). So I buy it whenever on sale, and it is cheaper here than in Australia.
I don't know if it is just my palate, but these days I find the better NVs taste just as good and vintage wines fro the same estates.
Margaret River cab blends and chardonnays. Cape Mentelle, Ashbrook, Evans & Tate, Leeuwin) and a few favourites from Coonawarra, Yarra, Clare and Adelaide Hills.

One issue in Singapore is that wine condition is often problematic.
I am very careful about the retailers as some don't store them properly and handling at wharves and stevedores is often poor.
I only buy from one auction house which brings the wines in from Europe by air freight and guarantees them.

Claudius2 wrote:Folks
The Singaporean dollar (SGD) is quite strong now particularly against the Australian Dollar (AUD) and Euro, so there have been wine sales all over the place.
As I sold most of my cellar over a prolonged period after leaving Australia, I have picked up:

...

Margaret River cab blends and chardonnays. Cape Mentelle, Ashbrook, Evans & Tate, Leeuwin) and a few favourites from Coonawarra, Yarra, Clare and Adelaide Hills.

...

I understand your familiarity with Australian wines, but are you familiar with any wines from New Zealand? When I visited there a couple of years ago I was really impressed with the pinots, chards, suave blancs, Bdx-style blends and even some syrah produced there. And that was just touring some North Island regions, not the famous Marlborough area. They all shared a sunny, cool/maritime climate vibe. I would think they would be more readily available in south/southeast asia than some other places.

My interest was piqued by Alex’s encounter with the Cullen and Claudius’s rave reviews on WA wines so I bought a mixed selection of wines from the UK Wine Society including one Californian Cabernet:

1 Bottle AU19581 Lenton Brae Wilyabrup Chardonnay 2013
1 Bottle AU17631 Cullen Diana Madeline Cabernet Merlot 2012
1 Bottle AU18651 Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay 2013
1 Bottle AU20841 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2014
1 Bottle AU21241 Shaw and Smith M3 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2015
1 Bottle AU21141 Pauletts Polish Hill River Special Aged Release Riesling 2013
2 Bottles AU21461 Lenton Brae Southside Margaret River Chardonnay 2016
1 Bottle US8081 Mount Eden Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
1 Bottle CM11461 Ch Beychevelle 2006 Saint Julien
2 Bottles RH35201 Hermitage Rouge Greal Domaine Sorrel 2011
3 Bottles BU45321 Volnay PC Champans Domaine de Montille 2008

I also bought some 2016 Pulignys from one of my favourite producers, Jean-Louis Chavy:

6 x PM Charmes
6 x PM Clavoillons 1er Cru
6 x PM Folatieres 1er Cru

I also bought a full case of Jean Thevenet Domaine de la Bongran Vire Clisse 2014

Nice haul, Ian!

Some here have way more than me to spend on wines. Lucky you, but will you drink it all?

Since I'm back from Denver, where the wines were amazing, i'm struggling as i realized again that excellent red Bordeaux need many years... these 1982 and 1983 were fabulous. The 1989 grandiose. The 1990, still young.

Backsourcing almost impossible in Canada. Yikes.

Maybe I should go "all in" on white Bourgogne, as you need to drink them within 3 years!

Nic

Mark, Champagne in particular is sensitive to excessive heat.
Do you like your NV Champagne with a little age? I find 3-5 years from release is a good rule of thumb.

David G
Absolutely. I have about 100 bottles of NV incl some magnums and I love the aged honeyed characters of Champagne. I will kepp it for several yrs but sometimes it disappears fast. The quality of NV champagne is pretty good these days and in the balmy weather of Singapore they taste great.

Ian
I love wine from all over the world but Margaret River has improved steadily over the yrs.
It is one of the few regions that produces great Chardonnay and Cabernet. I am not a fan of MR Syrah and Pinot noir however.

Aloha
I am not a real lover of most NZ wines and despite the fact that Aussies and Kiwis are natural enemies due to rugby, it comes down to style. Part of my resistance comes down to some essential dislike of Sauvignon Blanc. The only wines from Noo Zeelund I buy are Pinots, as the climate suits the variety and they have done a good job with it in Nelson Martinborough and central Otago. Not sure I am a fan of their cabs and Chardonnay with a few exceptions.

Seems that while NZ is "known" for their Sauvignon Blancs, their Pinot Noirs tend to appeal more to the geeky amongst us. It may be the Cloudy Bay phenomenon, with their success resulting in that style getting imitated and exported here. Similar to the Australian Shiraz invasion back in the 1990s. I’ve liked some NZ SBs if they’re not too heavy on the grapefruit and cat pee, but if I’m throwing darts at a wine list I’m likely to be happier with one from the Loire.

12x 2016 Ch. Senejac
12x 2015 Ch. Lalande (St. Julien)

Are the 2016s arriving down your way RC?

Based on my online shopping yesterday it looks like things are starting to arrive.

3x Saint-Cosme Gigondas 2016
2x Louis Roederer Cristal 2008

12 x 2014 Pichon Baron.

Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2008 x2