Eclectic tasting incl LLC, PB, Palmer et al

[Claudius2]

Went to a free tasting at a wine importer on Friday.
Notes a bit sketchy but the vintages stood out to me.

2003 Dom Perignon
Nice smoky, fruity nose.
Colour is a young looking yellow gold, with fine bead.
Complex brioche and citrus, with a smoky, slightly woody after taste.
The wine is excellent and would benefit from a few more years I think.
Expensive but very drinkable.

2009 Kerlann Gevry Chambertin VV
Not used to this producer. rahter light colour, bit swampy.
Okay palate but rather light and non-descript.
Would have guessed a generic Bourgogne.
Okay but no better.

Chezeaux Griottes Chambertin 2010
Nice dark red colour, almost black core.
Smoky, ripe red fruits on the nose, touch of wood though the fruit is dominant.
Medium bodied palate, quite dense and lush red fruits, some savoury characters and earth, though it is very young.
Needs some time to develop, though quite drinkable now.
Would not have picked it for a GC though.
Excellent in time - very good now

2000 Du Tertre
Dark red/black core, mahogany rim, showing some signs of age.
Nose was a bit murky and earhty, and I wonder if it was slight out of condition.
Jennifer found it to be unpleasant.
The palate was a bit unbalanced, sharp acidity, muted fruit, with no Margaux berry character.
More dark fruit with earthy characteres, some tar and cedar.
Is that would it normally tastes like??
I have 3 bottles of this and am wondering about it.
Reserved judgement here.

2008 Leoville Poyferre - second wine
Quite a nice open nose of red fruit, with some savoury charcters.
Colour was red black, diminishing slightly at the rim.
Palate was medium bodoed, with good red fruits on the front palate, crisp acidity, some earthy, choocalaty characters and a touch of cedar.
The palate seems to be a bit flat in the middle and whilst pleasant is not a 'serious" wine. Okay it is a second wine.
Quite happy to drink now.
Very good.

2007 Palmer
Surprisingly dark colour, with rich nose of red and black fruit, cedary oak and spices.
The palate was medium bodied, quite complete, with a compote of red and black berries and currants.
There is a nice end palate with good acid balance, and slight dark chocolate.
It is very good for the vintage but just does not compete with Palmer from better vintages.
Nice to drink now and I wonder how long it would keep for? Not for old bones.

2007 Pichon Baron
Lighter than the Palmer, with red core and slightly fluid rim.
Nose was a bit spiky, spice, with capsicum, sawn wood and dark fruits.
Palate was light to medium bodied, with too much green character and a slightly rough texture (prickly acidity) for me.
The fruit was just underwhelming, but others did not seem to mind the overt green tinges.
I'd rate it as good, but that's all.

2006 Ducru Beaucaillou
Much darker than the 07s with black red colour and bright red rim.
Nose was smoky, earthy, savoury, with red and black fruits, chocolate/espresso and cedar.
Similar palate, medium to full bodied, quite sweet (relative to the 07s) and with good density of fruit.
Well balnced and complete.
Excellent wine, keep for some time.

2006 Leoville Las Cases
After trying to explain to the girl serving how to pronouce it, it was the best wine on show.
Colour was young and vibrant, brighter than the DB and the nose exhibited a lot of complex, rich fruit - blueberries, cassis, currants, plus cedar, woodsmoke and a touch of savoury character.
Palate was medium to full bodied but so well balnced. The fruit fills the mid palate (lacking in the 07s) and there is more sweetness than the DB, but in a nice way.
it was the only wine that shouts out cassis, matched to blueberries and cedar.
it is ripe and juicy and surprisingly nice to drink now (decanted for 1 hr).
Outstanding for the vintage.

We then drank a few Rhones and frankly, the order was absurd.
A Cotes de Ventoux 2010 tasted like sherbert anf gum drops.
The 2009 Beaucastel CNDP was better but overpowered by the Medocs.
It was rather sweet and simple in comparison.
There were a few southern French wines that were similarly out of place and nondescript.
Oh well. may be better on their own.

Anyway, the LLC was very nice and surprisngly drinkable, followed by the DB and Gr. Ch.
I am starting to find 06 to be a very good vintage with some consistency, and possibly similar to 08 in the hierarchy of the decade.
2007 is I'm afraid the weakest of the decade, but even then, the wines are not bad.

[DavidG]

That was an interesting mix of wines.

The '06s sound really nice.

2000 du Tertre was a BWE favorite at a post-release tasting dinner we had in NYC, but that must have been 8 years ago. I never bought any, so no recent experience to add.

[dstgolf]

A similar recent experience with du Tertre. Certainly all will agree it drank very well in it's early years and was a very good QPR. I figured I'd watch this evolve with time as my last bottle was closed,acrid and showing little to no fruit as well about 6 months back. I'm not convinced this wine is done(or surely hope not with 6 bottles left) and it has entered a dumbed down awkward phase. I was planning on giving it another year (with fingers crossed) hoping that this will rebound with some life again.

[Jay Winton]

2nd of LP is Moulin Riche. I bought a few of the 2005 and wish I had bought a couple of cases-one of the best 2nd wines I've had. Edit, MR comes from separate plots than LP so technically not a 2nd but the label would have you think it was.

[Claudius2]

Jay
The wine (MR) was actually pretty good.
It does not have the mid palate density of LP but it is a quite complete wine made for food.

David et al,
I hope the 2000 Du tertre does not stay like this as it was a bit stinky and too tarry for me.
Jennifer, who tends to like younger wines that moi, said it was awful.
Well it was a bit of an assault to the senses after a Grand cru Burgundy (and very young at that).
Yet I do not hold out a lot of hope to be honest. I think there are a few faults emerging.

[Claudius2]

Jay
The wine (MR) was actually pretty good.
It does not have the mid palate density of LP but it is a quite complete wine made for food.

David et al,
I hope the 2000 Du tertre does not stay like this as it was a bit stinky and too tarry for me.
Jennifer, who tends to like younger wines that moi, said it was awful.
Well it was a bit of an assault to the senses after a Grand cru Burgundy (and very young at that).
Yet I do not hold out a lot of hope to be honest. I think there are a few faults emerging.

[Nicklasss]

Very interesting comments.

Both Ducru Beaucaillou (249 $) and Leoville Las Cases (325 $), from the 2006 vintage, are atill available in Quebec, but price are too high.

Nic

[Claudius2]

Nick
That is MUCH higher than they are in Singapopre. The LLC was $S280 (or about $US 220) and the DB was $S230 or about $US175.
Even then I passed.
I paid about $S50-75 ($US40-60) for some pretty good right and left bank wines from this vintage and I must admit that the wines from 06 are starting to show well.
The tannins are quite firm but there is good red and black fruit, medium acidity and reasonable balance.
Not as powerful as 05 or opulent as 09 but still a very good vintage.

[stefan]

That was an incredible for a free tasting! I assume it was restricted to very good customers.

[Claudius2]

Stefan
It was a "member" tasting which is people who have spent above a certain amount wiht them (in my case mainly 09 and 10 Bordeaux with some Burgs and Rhones thrown in).

They are now offerng the 06 Ducru for $S175 or about $US140.
cheers
Mark

[Claudius2]

Jay
I re-checked the label of the second wine of LP
It was called Pavillion de Leoville Poyferre.
maybe a change of name??