Jacques was right: 2000 d'Armailhac is a weak effort.

[JimHow]

I remember mocking Jacques a year or two ago because he was saying that this wine was a weak effort. I had had it early on after release and I thought it was a strong, classic Pauillac. I've had three bottles of this in the past two weeks. One bottle was modestly okay, I think I convinced myself it was good. The other two have been very thin, weak, diluted.

Rating: 80 points.

[Bacchus]

My recommendation for a corrective, Jim, the 2000 Pontet Canet. Obviously it's still not at its peak, but it can in no way be described as thin or diluted.

[JimHow]

interesting, Bacchus, I have not been that impressed with the 2000 Pontet Canet either. I agree it is not thin and diluted, but just seems boring. Not as boring as a 1993 Batailley, but I've had it in the middle of the rankings of Pontet Canets since 1994.

[stefan]

Let's hope these classified Medocs from 2000 make a come back.

[Blanquito]

My TN on it from July 2010:
d'Armailhac 2000 (Pauillac)
Big, effusive bouquet of herbs, zesty notes and sour cherry. After the pleasing nose, the palate comes across as fairly light, fairly lean, fairly disappointing. There’s some good chewiness, but the fruit is underwhelming and it’s tart-lemony in the mouth. This seems surprisingly advanced for a classified growth in a year like 2000. Aeration helps and it gains some weight and sweetness, but it can’t hide that is not much more than a pleasant picnic-styled wine. Drink now. 88 pts.

[JimHow]

Yeah I think that's an accurate description Patrick. That pretty much describes the better of the three bottles I've had.

[stefan]

Lucie and I are drinking a 2000 du Tertre; she with leftover beef stew and I with leftover grilled quail. This time it is every bit as good as I expected it be. Margauxberries are in the nose and the wine is intense in the mouth with no weakness in the mid palate.

This time I decanted for about 20 minutes. The oak seemed integrated at the beginning, but wood was noticeable after 30-40 minutes. I think the wine just needs a few more years to become excellent.

[Blanquito]

I really enjoyed a recent bottle of the 2000 du Tertre opened like 6 months ago. Spicy! And a co-BWE Wine of the Year once upon a time, I recall.

[AKR]

I remember mocking Jacques a year or two ago because he was saying that this wine was a weak effort. I had had it early on after release and I thought it was a strong, classic Pauillac. I've had three bottles of this in the past two weeks. One bottle was modestly okay, I think I convinced myself it was good. The other two have been very thin, weak, diluted.

Rating: 80 points.

The orange at the edge suggests full maturity

I've been drinking a 2000 d'Armailhac [Pauillac] the last few nights - with a meatloaf, mushroom gravy, broccoli and egg noodles on the first night. The wine is medium bodied, with some zestiness, that needs the rich food to balance it out. Tannins are resolved, fruit is on the wan side. It's a sound bottle (no TCA, purchased EP) but I suspect there is some natural variation after a bottle reaches 'drinking age' i.e. 21 years. The mature cab/Pauillac flavors of graphite, schoolhouse sharpeners, iron are present on the nose but the expansive palate, the long finish, are missing. The last d'Armailhac I had was a 1999 last fall (? I think) with GeneM here, and that open generous vintage was nicer than this. This bottle's grade aligns with JimHow's, a B or B-.

I guess the takeaway is that we can cellar wines, and be patient, doing as much as we can to tilt the odds in our favor, but life happens.

Mrs AKR got hit today with a cooked half case of grape flavored PowerAde Zero too, so variability isn't solely the domain of fussy fine wine! I'd never even thought truly manufactured stuff like that could even get spoiled!

[robert goulet]

Orlando booby and I had this a year or 2 back...a good wine but, its no '99.

[robert goulet]

Orlando booby and I had this a year or 2 back...a good wine but, its no '99.

[dstgolf]

Stefan,

I'm still happy to see the 2000 du Tertre is still drinking well with a good future ahead. On release this was truly a value wine and still strikes well above its price point. If you remember we had this at Stu's BWE night in Fort Lauderdale last winter before we were all locked down but it was dwarfed by all those first growths in the lineup for the night. Very good on its own but when you put these under the microscope against the greatest wines ever made it just becomes an unfair comparison. Du Tertre still holds a very special spot in my heart and not only that it is a fabulous wine but brings back some incredible BWE memories like our lunch their in 2015 with BWE, many trips to Bradenton where I bought a case at Normans for $19 a bottle and shared these over the years, bottles shared with my brother on visits back and forth etc etc. This brings back many nice memories and nice to reflect through these down times. Hopefully we'll have a chance to have another repeat performance in South Florida or elsewhere when the dust clears.

[robert goulet]

Stefan,

I'm still happy to see the 2000 du Tertre is still drinking well with a good future ahead. On release this was truly a value wine and still strikes well above its price point. If you remember we had this at Stu's BWE night in Fort Lauderdale last winter before we were all locked down but it was dwarfed by all those first growths in the lineup for the night. Very good on its own but when you put these under the microscope against the greatest wines ever made it just becomes an unfair comparison. Du Tertre still holds a very special spot in my heart and not only that it is a fabulous wine but brings back some incredible BWE memories like our lunch their in 2015 with BWE, many trips to Bradenton where I bought a case at Normans for $19 a bottle and shared these over the years, bottles shared with my brother on visits back and forth etc etc. This brings back many nice memories and nice to reflect through these down times. Hopefully we'll have a chance to have another repeat performance in South Florida or elsewhere when the dust clears.

Just picked up an '01 Du Tertre....anyone have this recently?

[AKR]

Just picked up an '01 Du Tertre....anyone have this recently?

sadly no, a 1996 some years ago was quite tired. 2006 was drinking well a couple years back though.
https://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com ... 84&p=59248

[Musigny 151]

The great Du Tertre was 1979. Opened a bottles year ago and it was only just beginning to show signs of age.

[johnz]

I concur on the quality of the 2000 du Tertre. I have just a couple bottles left, and have tried to back-fill via auction, but Winebid currently wants $88 for this including premium & tax. Geez.

--Gary Rus