Bordeaux spanks California

[Comte Flaneur]

A group of 11 gathered at the Medlar restaurant on the King’s Road in Chelsea to compare and taste some Bordeaux and Californian wines. The tasting was blind, and was very much about winners and losers in the spirit of the Judgement of Paris, 1976. I helped Ben the organiser put together the flights, but neither he nor I knew the order.

Champers

Champagne Vilmart Grand Cellier d’Or 2006 vs. Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc 2006

#1: Small bubbles, very pale colour, very fine, must be a luxury champagne – 92. It was.
#2: Fuller, sweeter, chewier, not a bad bottle of fizz, must be the Californian – 90. It was.

Flight one

Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1994
Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1994
Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron 1985
Château Calon Segur 1989

#1 Deep maroon colour fine nose of earth and pencil lead, dense on the palate; very good. Think this is Bordeaux, and has more than a hint of Pauillac, so this is probably the Baron – 92. It was indeed Pichon Baron
#2 Dark, brooding, smooth, classy, not showing much, as it ages further and develops more complexity it could become an outstanding wine. This is Californian, and I am guessing Dunn, which it was - 92+
#3 A lighter more translucent colour with rasping tannins; Bordeaux and it clearly played second fiddle to #1 and was a disappointment. I guessed correctly Calon Segur - 89
#4 This was quite buttoned up, not showing much complexity yet, will improve. Mondavi? Yes - 90+

A good flight, where I think the Dunn edges the Baron. Nevertheless a good performance from the Baron, which I thought could be a weak link on the night.

Flight two

Phelps Insignia 1994
Dominus 1994
Chateau Troplong Mondot 1990
Chateau Palmer 1989


#1. WTF? Cherry brandy, tastes like cheap port, this is a parody of California at its very worst. FMSW, this is unbelievably bad. It is flawed surely? People round the table are not sure. Is this the Insignia? No it’s the Troplong Mondot. ~<70
#2 This wine is very smooth and velvety, but somewhat detached with low acidity. It definitely tastes more Californian, but I am hopelessly confused now so I guess Troplong – 90. No it was Dominus.
#3. Initially this seemed a bit diffuse and unfocused. Unfortunately it was too warm. Then that familiar Palmer magic began to show through. Not the best 89 Palmer I have tried by far away the best wine in this flight. 94
#4.This had nothing on the nose. On the palate it was a bit gooey. Rich and voluptuous. Does not engage the intellect in the slightest. I am guessing Dominus – 90. No it was the Phelps.

Well that was a disappointing flight. The Troplong was too diabolical to be true, so the owner is going to bring another along to a 1990 tasting we are doing in November. Even the Palmer was a bit below par compared to one I tried a few weeks ago. I was really disappointed with the Dominus and the Phelps. They came across as such superficial wines which present no challenge to the intellect. Maybe that is what rich people want these days.

Flight three

Dominus 1991
Ridge Montebello 1992
Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1985
Chateau Latour 1985

#1: Ruby translucent. FMTG. Fabulous. Not a blockbuster but medium bodied and elegant, with layered complexity and a delicious finish. My wine of the night. Has to be Mouton - 95. Yes it was Mouton.
#2. Big voluminous wine, with lots of interest, fruit and complexity. Outstanding wine. 93. I guessed Dominus but it was Ridge.
#3. Fully mature, various fruits, spices and minerals and fine balance, very very fine. – 94. I guessed Ridge but it was Dominus.
#4. Starts out slowly; a bit brooding and a little volatile and funky, then pulls itself together and comes on very strong at the end with Pauillac mineral-fruit intensity, almost hauling in the Mouton. Must be Latour and it was. 94

Fabulous flight.

Ringers – these weren’t served blind

1) Mouton 1993
Cool, classy, lean; good but not in the same league as the ’85 - 91
2) Matanzas Creek 1992
Fully mature, fat and low acid. If you like them fat and easy this is a wine for you - 89

Dessert wines

1) Sine Qua Non Mr K the Noble Man 2000
Extremely sweet and unctuous, thrilling 94
2) Chateau d’Yquem 1989
Remarkably developed for a 23 year old Yquem, full bodied, less taut and acidic than the 1988; but still well balanced and very fine. Yquem never disappoints. 95

I liked the 91 Dominus so much more than the 94, and this kind of summed the evening up. Aside from the appalling Troplong Bordeaux clearly came out on top. Qualitatively it wasn't as close as my scores suggested. All of these Californians were undoubtedly well made, but few of them are really interesting to drink.


My pecking order

Mouton 85, Yquem, Latour, Dominus 91, Palmer, SQN, Ridge, Dunn, Baron, Vilmart, Mouton 93 - Hits
Mondavi, Scramsberg – Middling
Dominus 94, Insignia, Calon, Matanzas, Troplong – Misses

The scores make no claims for accuracy, consistency or fairness

[Nicklasss]

Very interesting Comte Flaneur.

The only wine I had in that listing, is the 1985 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and me too I really liked it. Very intense and balanced.

Never had a Dunn, but seems like a producer that touch the "special spot" for many BWEers.

Me too I had a weird experience with Troplong Mondot, but it was the 1989. A bottle I brought to BWE convention in 2009 was so closed and kind of ''cartooned", very weird and almost undrinkable.

Nic

[manton]

Very interesting account, but the actual results, from what you wrote, seem more close run than one side spanking the other ...

[marcs]

Re the 90 Troplong Mondot, many of the Cellartracker reviews seem consistent with your description, although they give vastly higher point ratings. E.g. this 98 point Jeff Leve review is surely reminiscent of cheap port:

With a nose that soars with its truffle, blackberry, boysenberry jam, chocolate fudge, earth, spice box and liqueur scents, you know you’re in for something special. Incredibly concentrated, with layers of decadent, ripe, pure, jammy berries, port like textures and a finish that expands for close to 60 seconds,

[Ramon_NYC]

Your TNs made it appear less of a spanking and more like a couple of excitable bitch-slapping on the Cali wines. Looks like some of the Cali are seriously good or, at the very least, fun drinks.

I've never had the 1990 Troplong and it's amazing to note that a Bordeaux that tries to make itself out as a Californian fell flat on its face ... against the same wines it tried to be.

Palmer 1989 had not really lived up to the expectations that I set for it. I remember bringing a bottle during our 1989 tasting at Fabio's in NYC and while the La Mish and the Haut Brion were runaway WOTNs, the Palmer imho turned out just above average among the high-level of quality wines we had then. I've had it in other tastings and it failed to increase my enthusiasm for it. I'm holding off on my last bottle as long as I can to see if it will finally perform to my heightened expectation.

Always fun to read blind tastings and yours is no exception.

[JonoB]

Lifted straight from my post on the UK Board, so if some doesn't make sense, I apologise.

Right, here are my notes of a quite lovely night, with all scores marked in the context of the tasting and written when still blind.

Wine 1: Vilmart Grand Cellier d'Or 2006
ripe, nutty, cooked apples, lemons, grapefruit, slightly lactic, brioche, nice balance and length. 67+
Wine 2: Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc 2006
nutty, vegetal, soft, quite elegant and citrussy, nice length, apples and minerals, in need of time to unfurl. 66-68

Wine 1 FLight 2: 85 Pichon-Baron
cedar, warm, sous bouse, cassis, quite soft, meaty and leathery, pencil lead, plum, tobacco, cedar long. 73
Wine 2 Flight 2: 94 Dunn Cabernet
herby, fresh, poised, mineral and with time in the glass, quite dark, rich, roasted and sweet. 72
Wine 3: FLight 2: 89 Calon-Segur
mushroom, herbs, round and warm, smoke, honeyed with solid tannins 71
Wine 4: Flight 2: 94 Mondavi Reserve
dense, rhone-like, roasted, extracted, long, dusty and minty. 67

Wine 1, Flight 3: 90 Troplong-Mondot
smoke, flint, rocks, cassis, kirsch, rich, alcoholic, flamboyant and fairly dull- faulty. 58
Wine 2: Flight 3: 94 Dominus
tobacco, dark fruits, quite deep, mushroom, minerals, boot polish, bacon. 70?
Wine 3: Flight 3: 89 Palmer
herbs, mint, spearmint, fresh cassis, some ripeness on the finish. 69
Wine 4: Flight 4: 94 Phelps Insignia
sweet, almost sickly, sappy, quite dull, some eucalyptus and length. 62

Wine 1: Flight 4: 85 Mouton
perfume, lifted, cassis, deep but subtlely flamboyant, soy, umami 76+ This was incredibly consistent with previous bottles tasted.
Wine 2: Flight 4: 92 Ridge MonteBello
rich, chemical, medicinal, deep, dark, roasted nuts, coffee, lactic. 73
Wine 3: Flight 4: 91 Dominus
oyster sauce, powerful, cassis, earth, some minerals and herbs 74
Wine 4: Flight 4: 85 Latour
deep, intense, tobacco, coffee, chocolate, mint, leafy, sous bois, poised and long, unwinding in the glass and coming into its own. 76This will outshine the Mouton in time but it needs some serious time to really unwind given the uncouth nature of the nose from the initial pour.

1993 Mouton
quite herby, but taught, poised, red plum, fresh fruit, quite watery, even a touch Burgundian. 70+
1991 MAtanzas Creek Merlot
intense but medicinal, structured, cassis, jalepeno, furniture polish, cassis, sweet, warming, plummy very nice but outshone by the ethereal nature of the Mouton. 66
With these two, it was obvious from the beginning which was which as I provided the two Mouton's but they were initially served blind to the table, hence the reference in the notes.

The dessert flight was fun. I'm pretty sure I smelt them and blurted out "given what we've had these must be SQN and Yquem", Chick then thought I had ruined the fun but I was simply making a bit of a tongue-in-cheek remark not really knowing despite having tasted both these wines before. I think that is what led to Alex's "we don't have any Yquem here" remark.

Wine 1: 2000 Nobleman, SQN
intense, poised, very focused, marmalade, orange peel, nice, a touch underwhelming, but rich, powerful, moreish, excellent but of its type.71+?
Wine 2: 1989 Yquem
grassy, smoky, herby, mineral, poised but a touch astringent whilst remaining fat. 72

Other than the initial sparklers, and the Troplong wannabe Cali vs the Dominus wannabe BX I picked all other wines correctly, and whilst all were nice wines in their own right, my personal taste is for mature Bordeaux over mature Californian. For me Bordeaux won it, Flight 4 was quite magical, and on the night the Mouton won it for me, closely followed by the Latour & Pichon, with 91 Dominus close behind. The 94 Calis on the whole were lovely and I enjoyed both Dominus, the Dunn and the 92 Ridge. Perhaps I just like elegance and subtlety which 85 Bordeaux's possess in spades.