Ying-Yang: Marquis du Terme 1996 & Haut Bergey 2006

[Blanquito]

Marquis du Terme 1996
A sleeper kinda chateau, the 1989 was excellent and I hear good things about the 2000... My first pass at their 1996 and it's impressive. Dark purple color, with ample tannins in reserve, this is still a young pup (somewhat surprisingly, given the appellation--Margaux-- and the chateau's modest pedigree). However, on the bouquet, this wine is ready to go and just lovely with an evocative aroma of red fruits, tobacco, herbs, cement-- very good nose. And on the palate, there is admirable richness to go with ample acids and those fleshly 1996 tannins; in other words, there's very nice balance. What I really like is the classicism without any austerity. Very nice today with upside. 91 points.

Haut Bergey 2006
The magician's fingerprints are all over this wine... A slick, candied nose of super ripe fruit and spice (there's tons of anise and asian five-star spice in the bouquet). Once upon a time, I associated these smells with Australia, but at this point, it's truly the modern/international smell of wine (and not incidentially, the smell of money). At any rate, not my kind of bouquet-- it's all flash and no intrigue. The palate is better, ready to go with ripe but not over-the-top fruit and with some good acids, but those Rolland-esque ultra suave, micro-bullage tannins are so dull. There truly is nothing that says Bordeaux here (except the label), which is not necessarily a flaw, but as time goes by, I enjoy regional differences between wines more and more, so this wine leaves me cold. How will it age, the 64-thousand dollar question with these nouveaux wines? Maybe it will get better with time, but until I find out firsthand that it does (and I will since I own a case of the 2005), I am done buying the likes of Haut Bergey despite the modest price tag-- the 2006 was $20 at PC on sale. 85 points.

[DavidG]

Hmmm, looks like your Ying yanked your Yang there, Patrick.

[Blanquito]

Oops, the HB note got cut-- I've added it in.

[aimeedogdogdog]

Thanks for notes, Patrick!

Is there any wine made in the similar style 15-20 years ago, which we could get a peak what these wines could become?

Werner