Quick notes on 4 of tonight's Bdx -- from memory

[marcs]

These are from memory so lack detail and had to run through the cliches, but will give you an idea:

2003 Grand Puy Lacoste: full, sweet, rich, and exuberant. Some heat and raspy tannins, but pretty buried in the plush fruit. Rougher than usual for this generally elegant chateau, but as usual with Bdx it's still a lot more sophisticated than equally fruity American/Australian wines. Lacked some complexity but just so velvety and luxurious you had to enjoy it. Crowd pleaser. Got plenty of tannin and the finish is a little clipped so it has a ways to go -- who knows how it will age but it's got way too much stuffing to just fall apart. Prototypical 2003, which I generally think is a good year with a lot to offer.

2002 Lynch Bages: Just the comparison you'd expect between 02 and 03. Given a few minutes to air out, nose is more complex, varied, and interesting than the GPL. Palate is thinner, more acidic and comparatively tart. But has the fruit in there to support a fine initial attack and a decent midpalate. Good complexity with cedar, herbs, some green elements, a bit of tobacco showing around the classic supporting cassis. Excellent match with meat. Fine tannins; they were present but this was very easy to drink. Finish is short, but as often happens to me with more classic Bdx I have a hard time saying whether this is due to lack of fruit or to fine tannins that will relax and allow the wine to broaden out a bit with more aging. I don't have enough experience to tell how this will age, be interested in thoughts on that. Nice complexity, I ended up liking this maybe more than the GPL. It all depends on the mood you're in, hedonistic vs. meditative. This was stored perfectly since release.

2000 Reserve de La Comtesse: Had sweetness and fruit but lacked complexity. Very easy drinking and smooth, but not much structure. The sweetness was a little reminiscent of this slightly sickly sweetness you get with sub-$10 mass-produced cabs. Did go down easy and sweet and was an inoffensive match with food. I may have been a little prejudiced against this because I thought a friend got ripped off by a pushy wine salesman on the price ($50). Also, I have never liked second labels.

1996 Sociando Mallet: Went down to the cellar and got this to demonstrate to the table what I meant by "lack of structure". (Yeah, I'm a wine bore). This baby just keeps going and going and will do so for another decade plus easy. Nice meaty complexity supported by solid cassis fruit, still richer than e.g. the 02 Lynch. Chunky tannins. Masculine style but its smoothed out a lot and drinks very well now.

[stefan]

Welcome, marcs--are you new here?

'96 S-M is a long-time BWE favorite. I plan to finish my last bottle just before going to That Great Tasting Room in the Sky.

I just took delivery on most of my '02s because my wine merchant, JJ, sold out to Spec's and so could no longer store them for me. I thought about cracking open cases to try the '02 Lynch and others but wasn't willing to put in the time and now my Lynch has 3-5 other cases on top of it. Judging from the other '02s I have drunk, that is a good thing. I did, however, open cases of du Tertre and Malescot St Exupery '02, and will be trying them soon.

[Ramon_NYC]

The 96 Sociando Mallet that I recently had was drinking well, or at least starting to drink well, too. It's worthy of the accolades that it's gotten.

[JimHow]

Thanks for the report Marc on some of our BWe favorites.

[Blanquito]

Welcome, Marcs. Nice notes.

One thing I like about the 1996 Sociando- it's the least green vintage I've ever had of it. Right now, even the 2000 and 2003 Sociandos have a fair bit of greenery.

[marcs]

Thanks for the nice welcome, everyone. I am indeed new here, although I used to post a lot on the Squires ebob board back about five years ago. I got into wine (and Bdx) back between 2001-2005 and then stopped buying for a while. That period left me with about 15 cases of what might be characterized as "internet wine geek favorites" (hence the 96 SM, lots of Pegau, etc.), plus a lot of regrets that the younger me thought $150 a bottle for Chateau Lafite was too expensive.

I just reloaded with four cases of what will hopefully be good stuff, including some selected 03, 04, and 05s. I'm in a little bit of shock about the new price environment. I can't quite figure out whether it's because all good wine has escalated in price or because the wines that were bargains when I got into it have been discovered by the world, and there are a new crop of equally great sub-$40 bottles hiding out there somewhere. Anyway, buying again brought me back to the net and I was also shocked to find that Squires was no longer free. Seems like you folks and Wine Berserkers are the new places to be; I like the vibe here a little better than WB although that is a good board too. Of course, all internet wine communities are both supportive groups of thoughtful, friendly wine experts, and fiendish enablers of a wine-driven slide into bankruptcy, so we'll see if I can both hold to my reloading budget and participate on the web. Had to quit ebob to stop buying last time.

Been drinking well lately, I'll post another thread with recollections of a few random recent bottles.

[marcs]

Welcome, Marcs. Nice notes.

One thing I like about the 1996 Sociando- it's the least green vintage I've ever had of it. Right now, even the 2000 and 2003 Sociandos have a fair bit of greenery.

Sadly this was my last bottle of 1996. I don't mind my cab with a little green pepper if the fruit is there to buffer it, it's a nice contrast. (E.g. I like Togni). I did pick up six bottles of 2000 and 2003 on the theory that the fruit would buffer that green component in those years. My theory is that it's good to get stern-styled producers in big fruit years. But I'm not touching them for a while.

[Houndsong]

I think the classical definition of bankrupt is unable to pay debts as they mature or liabilities exceed assets. As long as you have the cash flow to buy BDX I have come to the conclusion somewhat reluctantly, but with conviction blostered by QEII, that BDX will not cause you to fail the alternative test.