Friday night TN: 2001 Giscours

[Houndsong]

I found three of these on finally organizing to some degree my cellar (right bank on the left, and vice-versa). I don't recall having it, and the cellartracker consensus is that it's ready or open, so ... My only Giscours reference is a 1990 that was OK but only whelming in context of the vintage and what I expected (they put wood in the wine). While I love 01 right banks, I haven't formed much of an opinion on 01 lefts, having had perhaps two or three in total. After a quick whiff (nice, forward) and a sip (tannic, a bit short), decanting is in order.

On the organizing, I brought a lot of stuff down to Salida. Here though I have more wines than I thought that have passed the 10-year mark so I guess I need to start surveying them (being middle-market stuff mostly) and there should be more ready wines than I thought.

[Houndsong]

This should work OK with the steaks. It's gaining, there's complexity and some char showing against bread and olive oil. Still prickly though, and to my taste this is not real close to optimum or drinking plateau. Frankly, it's primary.

[Houndsong]

Well, certainly for the present this wine is not to my liking. It's very high-pitched and high-toned, a lot of bright fruit and acid. It is not an insubstantial wine but I question, if I leave these long enough to round off the edges, will there be sweetness or just acid left. In so many words, this is my wife's opinion too. "Fruity" I think was the gist of her remarks. Regardless, I'll leave the other two for a while yet.

I know we have some 01 left bank fans here, but in my limited experience I've yet to find one really satisfying.

[JimHow]

I'm not a big 2001L guy.
The 2000 Giscours I had late last year was a beauty.
Thanks for the report.

[rjsussex]

Now come along there, BWE friends: 01 is an excellent left-bank vintage and one in the style that you like - finesse and subtlety over brute force. Montrose, Barton, Pontet Canet, Branaire, Chevalier etc - I have cases of each developing very nicely thank you: the Montrose is the best, the Pontet just hitting its peak, the Barton so promising - and (oh yes I forgot to post this when I put them side by side) better than the 03.

I'll just repeat that: put half-blind together I preferred the 01 to the 03 Barton. And the 03 Barton was, with the Soc Mallet, the only 03 I kept rather than sold on.

Richard

[Houndsong]

Richard I hardly doubt I would like any of the wines you list better than the Giscours in this vintage.

[JEP_62]

I'd add Pichon Baron, and Gruaud Larose to Richard's list of '01 left bankers. Cos and Leoville Poyferre were good but not great the last time I tried them.

Andy

[Chasse-Spleen]

I would have to add and forgive me for repeating myself so often, that I think Margaux appellation wines tend to need the most time of any Left Bank Bordeaux. I mean really - can you absolutely expect a classed growth Bordeaux to perform well at 8.5 years of age? The '01 LLC that Ian so graciously (and perhaps recklessly) opened the other night was definitely shut down.

-Chris

[DavidG]

I would have to add and forgive me for repeating myself so often, that I think Margaux appellation wines tend to need the most time of any Left Bank Bordeaux. I mean really - can you absolutely expect a classed growth Bordeaux to perform well at 8.5 years of age? The '01 LLC that Ian so graciously (and perhaps recklessly) opened the other night was definitely shut down.

-Chris

+1

Chris, I'm glad someone besides me keeps bringing this up. To really get the most out of many of these wines requires 10-15 years or more, sometimes much more, for my palate anyway. Nevertheless, these youthful tasting notes are an interesting read, and hopefully give some insight into where the wines might be headed.

[Tom In DC]

Piling on...so many of the better wines from Bordeaux shut down from somewhere around age 4 to 8 and don't revive until somewhere between age 10 and 15 (or as much as age 25+ for some of the immortals) that tasting at age 6 to 9 just always seems an exercise in futility. Like DavidG, I always appreciate when someone takes one for the team, but should I have any of the wine in question, I just file the note away as reinforcing the idea that the wine is something to hold for a while longer.

As far as Margaux relative to other Medoc appellations, I can't agree that Margaux wines *need* the most time -- I'd reserve that designation for St. Estephe, followed by Pauillac before Margaux. If we rephrased the assertion about which commune most *rewards* aging, I'd put Margaux at the top of the list since the bouquet develops so well with aging and becomes such a dominant component in the wines with age.

[Blanquito]

Yeah, the 1995s and 2000s we had in NYC in December were all too young, most by a fair amount.

It's fun to open young ones once in a while, but I am not opening anymore my bordeaux without at least 15 years (the usual disclaimer applies to lighter vintages and some Right Bank properties... but even the 2000 Fombrauge and Pipeau opened recently were very primary).

[aimeedogdogdog]

Without the usual big fruit behind the wine, the '01 we can look for right now are the balance, finesse and nuances, i.e. terroir. Some might be well integrated and the others not. When they are mature, hence come with the complexity, transparency, and all of the interesting and tasting components. We just have to have patience and wait. For those who love this kind of vintage, it's fast becoming rare as every vintage nowadays comes with big fruits, high extraction, and higher and higher alcohol level . It becomes more like tasting vs. drinking. Both are exciting. No right or wrong, just different preference. It's just how the trend goes. Hence the popularity of the whoShouldRemainNameless score board?

Werner

[rjsussex]

I agree with Werner (and apologies if my earlier post sounded a bit high-handed! I was just rising to Jim's bait about left bank 01s not being for him!). 01s on the left-bank are a different animal to 00s, 05s, and doubtless 09s; their finesse and balance mean that at least some of the big names are hitting their peak now at 9 yrs old (for me, that's Pontet Canet and Barton - even Montrose if like me you like tannin). The Chevalier and Branaire have been - for my taste - ready for a year or so. (Having said that, the Branaire went firmly asleep aged about from c 5 to 7 yrs old.) I wonder if the Giscours is balanced?

I buy in 1, 2 or 3 case purchases so it's part of the fun for me to track them across time.

Years ago I heard a UK merchant say that the French drink claret too young, the English too old, and the Americans just right!

Best

Richard

[DavidG]

Good point about case/multi-case purchases, Richard. That makes it easier to follow a wine's development. Between a combination of not drinking a bottle every day and a preference for experiencing wines from many different producers, my own strategy is to purchase smaller numbers of bottles from multiple producers and wait until I start seeing notes posted by others describing wines hitting their peaks before I start pulling corks. And of course my definition of "peak" might not be the same as everyone else's.

[Chasse-Spleen]

I am finding all the comments on this thread interesting. I especially agree with the first half of Tom's comments, although I I'm not sure about the second half. St. Estephe does have the reputation (I've read it many times in wine books, such as the Wine Lover's Companion, which I know Tom is a fan of) of taking mucho time to come around. The '96 Cos that we recently shared at the Blanquito tasting last Summer would go against this theory. But generally, there are relatively fewer classed growths in St. Estephe compared with Margaux, so - who knows? In terms of Pauillac, I think Pauillac wines are just straight out more flattering in their youth, although this could be a factor of my having tasted more recent vintages. I think back especially to the Pauillac tasting that we did and the Margaux tasting. The older wines in the Margaux tasting really stood out, while the Pauillac tasting was just a love fest - just about all of the wines were rocking.

[Houndsong]

All well taken. I still don't like the wine. My impression of the 2001 LBs I've had is nothing if not consistent, viz, this reference to the 01 Haut Bergey (and La Gurgue): http://bordeauxwine.org/bwe/new/9/137219/

[Claudius]

Guys
I've had the 01 Giscours on one occasion, and I picked it up cheap at auction thus not sure of the provenance.
I found it a bit too tannic and rustic; the wine is not exactly balanced and I don;t know where it will go.
Maybe it will soften and develop into a good medium bodied style but the tannins dominated.
I do however think 01 as a vintage is underrated. Some excellent wines made that are in the shadow of 2000.