Odds and ends

[Ken]

Recently tried a few less expensive bordeaux, including the 2010 Conseiller I mentioned in another posting. All of these were tasted within the past couple of weeks.

2009 Château Picampeau (France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lussac-St. Émilion) 11/18/2012 86
Opened this wine several hours before serving. Served with grilled beef ribs. Casis and smoke on the nose, carries over into the initial flavors with a touch of spice. Good mouthfeel with more tanins than expected; somewhat short finish. Young wine that needs more time. Not as impressive as some of the other petite chateau in this price range.

Tasted again the next day. Even more closed in with little in the nose and initial flavors. Not sure what to make of this wine.

2001 Château La Vieille Cure (France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Fronsac) 11/16/2012 90
Wine recently became available at a local wine shop. Opened, did not decant. Served with grilled pork loin rubbed with spices. Nice nose of casis, touch of leather. Initial flavors of casis, leather, and touch of nutmeg. Mild tanins, moderate length, slightly course texture and chalkiness in the finish. Still, a very nice wine and worth purchasing.

2010 Château Le Conseiller (Jean-Philippe Janoueix) (France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur) 11/11/2012 89
Drank this after dinner while visiting my family. Opened about 2 hourse before serving, but not decanted. I currently have and am drinking the 2005, 2008, 2009, and the 2010 Le Conseiller's. Having tried them all recently, I would give the edge to the 2009, but the 2008 is very good, and the 2010 is better structured than any of them. I think the 2010 will be the better wine after a couple of years. Casis and a touch of leather in the nose, noticeable round but slightly astringent tanin in the initial flavors, good length on this generic bordeaux. I have recently purchased a case of this and think it is an excellent value and great buy.

2008 Tour Sieujean (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac) 11/9/2012 88
Double decanted and served after about 30 minutes. Lovely, full nose with plums, casis, and leather. Leather even more pronounced in the flavors. Round, full tanins in the mid-range and relatively long finish. Nice wine, good with food. Will buy more of these.

2008 Château Lalande-Borie (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien) 11/4/2012 88
Double decanted and served after about 30 minutes. Nice nose of casis, plums, and berries. Medium mouthfeel with soft round tanins, good acidity. Relatively short length. Look forward to trying another one in a year or so. Purchased this at around $26; so a relatively good buy (at least in Texas).

[dstgolf]

Nice notes on lesser Bordeaux for every day drinking. La Vieille Cure has been very pleasant perrenially through the 2000's. The others I have not tried but will look for le Conseiller based on the note.

Thanks.

[AlexR]

Ken,

A great set of notes for some interesting wines.

I was also impressed with your accented capital letters in French, as in "Lussac-St. Émilion". Half the French don't even uses them (as they ought to...)!

Alex R.

[Ken]

Thanks dstgolf. I would appreciate any comments you have on the Conseillers' when you have the chance to try them.

Alex: I wish I could take credit for the accents, but I copied these from my notes in Cellar Tracker and they added the accents on the wine names. It is a bit cumbersome to add the accents in Word or WordPefect, so I understand why some do not. Wish I were that knowledgeable.

[dstgolf]

Ken,

We have the 2008 locally for sale at $25 and I'll give it a try on my next visit to the wine store.

Alex,

I have the opposite problem with a French version of Windows and a French keyboard at the hospital. It becomes a real pain jumping back and forth between the various keys/accents etc that drive me crazy. I still cannot find the apostrophy on the keyboard when typing in the hospital email system or creating a word document. Thank god when I send a note through BWE or my Yahoo email account that I return to my normal Anglo world that I understand! I remember in South America last year sending an email back home and this American at the desk top next to me was cursing at the station as he couldn't find the @ key stroke to put in the email address! Luckily the French board is set up the same way as the Spanish keyboard and is was nice to be able to help out. Small thing but these variances in the keyboards around the world can be maddening when you want to simply check your messages or send an email.

[Ken]

Thanks dstgolf. That is a bit more expensive for the Conseiller than here (Texas). we have it (and the 2009, 2010) available for about $20. I usually double decant these about an hour or two before serving, then chill them down to about 60 or 65 degrees.

[dstgolf]

Ken,

Someones gotta pay for the Canadian version of Obamacare! There's no free lunch. Pay a little more for the vices that eventually result in people tapping into the healthcare system because of cirrhosis,heart disease,alcoholism,peripheral/cerebrovascular disease and cancer. Why not pay 3-5$ more on a bottle of wine/booze/beer/smokes to support the coffers. Whatever it takes to provide for all! What goes around comes around but I'm happy I'm the side of being a healthcare provider rather than a patient! At least I have the comfort of a pretty good healthcare system that won't bankrupt me in my twilight.

Danny

[Ken]

Thanks dstgolf. For what it is worth, I agree with you. I teach in a school of public health and I am currently serving on one of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research grant review panels; so I will be in Ottawa in early December. Look forward to paying the Canadian premium on wine.

[stefan]

Nice selections, Ken. Are all of these Le Conseiller still available in CS?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and Nancy from Lucie and me.

[Ken]

Thanks Stefan. I have been keeping track of your travels through BWE. Sorry about the difficulties in getting to Eugene. Glad to hear you finally made it.

I am somewhat envious of the wines you will be tasting over the holidays. I have certainly enjoyed the Oregon Pinots I have tasted. They frequently strike me as a cross between Burgundies and California Pinots (good ones only, of which in my opinion there are too few).

Specs in CS still has the 2008, 2009, and 2010s in stock. However, they only have a few cases of each. If you like, we can get together for dinner at Madden's when you return and I will bring the 08, 09, 10, and 05. I have not tried them together; although, I think they are very similar. It would be interesting to do so. If you want to buy some without trying, I can call them tomorrow and have them set aside bottles for you; however, I am relatively reluctant to buy wines untried. The one thing I would say is that Jeff Leve has reviewed them as has the Wine Advocate and they uniformly get good reviews. Listed below are some of the notes from HWSRN:

In 2008, Parker noted about the 2005 Conseiller: 91 (Two tastings listed with the same note)
Wow! What a sensational wine from such a humble terroir. Inky/purple to the rim, with fabulous, smoky, black raspberry, cassis, licorice, black truffles, and pain grille aromas, this concentrated sleeper of the vintage is the creation of the young visionary, Jean-Philippe Janoueix. It should provide plenty of pleasure over the next 5-7 years.

In 2011 and 2009, he wrote the following about the 2008: 89
Another sleeper of the vintage, this outstanding producer has fashioned a dark ruby/purple-colored 2008 offering hints of black currants, blueberries, charcoal and spice box. It is a round, generous, medium-bodied, pure wine to drink over the next 5-6 years.

(90-91) Made by Jean-Philippe Janoueix, Le Conseiller is consistently a top effort from this humble appellation. A big-time sleeper of the vintage, a dense purple color is followed by aromas of roasted coffee, blackberry liqueur, charcoal, and smoke. Dense, chewy, and rich, with sweet tannin, ripe fruit, a full-bodied texture, and good delineation, it should be drinkable for 6-8 years.

In 2011 he wrote about the 2010: (90-92)
An undeniable sleeper of the vintage, this dense ruby/purple-colored 2010 over-delivers in every wine tasting category. With plenty of fruit, body and purity as well as complex notes of charcoal, black currants and sweet, jammy cherries, this substantial, delicious, silky textured Bordeaux Superieur should provide plenty of pleasure during its first 5-6 years of life.

While I like these wines a lot for the price, the main concerns I would express is that they do not have a great sense of place, they are fairly modern given that they are made by Jean-Philippe Janoueix, and that they are relatively straight forward with little complexity as one might expect from their origins. That said, they are still very good wines. As one might say of most Americans, we are a mixed breed and perhaps not representative of place.

Regards to Lucie and the family. I know you will enjoy your stay and hopefully the return will be easier.

Let me know if you want me to contact Specs.

[stefan]

Thanks, Ken. I'll check with Specs when I get back. It is not so bad if I miss out; there are always other good ones in the pipeline.

[dstgolf]

Ken,

Picked up the 2008 le Conseiller last night to try. Should I pop and pour tomorrow night with steak or let this sit for a while? My gut says just give er a try.

Danny

When are you in Ottawa?

[Ken]

dstgold:

I would go ahead and serve it, but open and double decant about 2 hours before serving. Also, I would chill it down to 65 degree or so.

I will be in Ottawa tomorrow night for a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant review panel meeting, but I arrive at around 6:00pm and go directly into a meeting until 10:00pm or so. We also have 8:30-5:00PM Meetings on Monday and Tuesday, a dinner Monday night, and then I fly back. Typical work related travel.

-Ken McLeroy

[dstgolf]

Too bad for the busy schedule and no time to share a bottle...or.two.

Tried unsuccessfully with the le Conseiller tonight with dinner and it was corked. Will try again.

[Ken]

Sorry to hear about the wine. Hope the next bottle is better.

Also wish I had more time in Ottawa to share a bottle or so. Maybe next time?

-Ken

[stefan]

On Ken's recommendation I picked up a bottle of the 2009 Château Le Conseiller (Jean-Philippe Janoueix) this week and drank it for lunch today. It is a solid wine with very good fruit. Leaning toward the modern style, it is OK for drinking now even if its structure suggests that it will age well. It is one of the best Bordeaux in its price range that I have tried recently. Probably I'll buy a case or two for weekday drinking and for use at business parties we host.

[Ken]

Glad you liked it Stefan. It is always a relief to me when you agree since I have a great deal of respect for your opinion, tasting experience, and judgment.

I think both the 2008 and the 2009 are very good for what they are and I enjoy drinking them, which is perhaps the most important criterion. I think they are more in the modern style, but the fruit is impeccable. While they lack complexity, they are very good for everyday drinking.

Specs also has about a case of the 2010 Conseiller. I would recommend it also, but it is a bit more austere at this stage and not as approachable as the others. I think it is a better structured wine.

I had your recent experience with travels on my trip to Ottawa. Drove to Houston for an 11:40am flight. Bit late leaving the terminal, took the grand tour of Houston International because they changed runways. Set on the runway for an hour and finally returned to the gate because of an equipment failure. We set in the terminal for 4 hours while they towed the plane to the hanger. They finally cancelled the flight after about a 4 hour wait and I could not get to Ottawa until 4:30pm the next day. Cancelled my flights and did by my grant reviews by phone. As Emily Patella used to say, "It's always something."

Drinking one of the 2005 Ampelia's this eventing with marinated, grilled NY strips. This is another one of those Cotes de Castillon that is quite good, and just beginning to open up. It has good fruit, some tanin (although not sharp nor astringent), good body, and good mouthfeel. It is amazing to me the quality of wine that is coming out of France in good years at relatively good prices. There is virtually no sense of place, but these are nice wines.

[stefan]

UA is so badly run, Ken, that it brings to mind the administration of our System.

No, that is unfair; if UA were that badly run planes would be falling out of the sky on a daily basis.

The bad news is that your day was wasted. The good news is that you avoided being on UA except for an hour on the ground. I bet that UA offers you nothing for compensation. I am waiting to see if UA returns the global upgrade I spent on my flight when I was downgraded to a middle seat in the cattle car on the return.

[JonB]

Ken - thanks for your note on the 2005 Ampelia. I've gone through 11 bottles of this and am saving the last for maybe 5 years hence. This never shut down or went into an awkward stage.....I agree, a good value and a nice wine.

[Ken]

JonB: I have about 8 bottles of the Ampelia left. Think I will try again in a year or so. Like you, I think it will last for a few years.

Stefan: I was traveling on the Star Alliance partner of UA, Air Canada. Appears they are not much better since this was the second flight in 2 days to Toronto they had cancelled. The one that is worst is AA. I am scared to fly them these days. Agree with your metaphor of the university system. PLanes would be raining down on our heads. At least they reimbursed me for the baggage check fee I paid. I am sure there is no check in the mail.