Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Sounds like it is nuts out there! PremierCru has sold out on most of it's 2010 Bordeaux. The 2010 GPL is all gone, they had 24+ bottles just a few days ago, BWE strikes again.

And the 2010 Cantemerle, the Bob put a 94+ on that wine.

I know points suck, but wow!

2010 Cantemerle, the "finest Cantemerle I have encountered in my professional career of tasting young vintages (dating back 34 years now)", says RMP.

More hype-tastic grade inflation or the next BWE Wine of the Year?

I admit it, I bought a few bottles of the greatest Cantemerle since the late Pleistocene...

2010 Bordeaux from Bottle

This is clearly another very great vintage in Bordeaux. When I first discussed the wines in Issue 194 (5-2-11), I didn’t think it exceeded in overall quality the Bordeaux that was produced in 2009, 2005 or perhaps even 2000, but I think it’s safe to say that, other than 2009, this vintage has turned out slightly better than 2000 and as impressive as 2005.

What's the interpretation here?
Is it 2009 > 2010 = 2005 > 2000 ?
Or is it 2010 = 2005 > 2009 and 2000?

Bob has a way of making confusing statements on purpose, to avoid analysis/comparison of scores. Obviously he wasn't so high on many 2005s (as far has 100 pointers) in his actual reviews.

People are such idiots. They wait for this guy to put his marks out, and then go nuts with their buying sprees, putting the prices way up. Sheeple! Nobody knows what they like until Bob tells them, and then they go nuts! Meanwhile, back to back-filling with 00s, 05s and 06s; and a few more selective 09s! You know you can get 04 Cos d'Estournel for somewhere around a C note! And the Wine Doctor rates it, if I remember correctly, at 17.5+

We already picked Cantemerle as a wine of the year, Patrick, as usual we are about five years ahead of the experts. Is there anything else they would like to know?

JimHow wrote:We already picked Cantemerle as a wine of the year, Patrick, as usual we are about five years ahead of the experts. Is there anything else they would like to know?

True that!

Blanquito wrote:I admit it, I bought a few bottles of the greatest Cantemerle since the late Pleistocene...

I just bought a case. I've been a fan since 1989 and the 1996 is special to Susan and me.

only 57 wines rated 96 or above
only 79 wines rated 95 or above

Should disprove all the cranks who think Parker's a grade inflator.

If you put yourself in his shoes the risk reward trade is to err on the side of low balling the 2010s. Imagine the flak he would getoff he high balled them like the Sucher.

pomilion wrote:only 57 wines rated 96 or above
only 79 wines rated 95 or above

Should disprove all the cranks who think Parker's a grade inflator.

I assume this observation is tongue-in-cheek, i.e. "only"?

RDD wrote:

Blanquito wrote:I admit it, I bought a few bottles of the greatest Cantemerle since the late Pleistocene...

I just bought a case. I've been a fan since 1989 and the 1996 is special to Susan and me.

The 1996 Cantemerle is very fine indeed, holding together very well.

Blanquito wrote:

pomilion wrote:only 57 wines rated 96 or above
only 79 wines rated 95 or above

Should disprove all the cranks who think Parker's a grade inflator.

I assume this observation is tongue-in-cheek, i.e. "only"?

The Anti-Wine Consumer Advocate strikes again!!

Here are Uncle Bob's 100 pointers...Not many, only 10....

Pauillac :
Pontet Canet
Latour

Margaux:
None

Graves:
Haut Brion
Pape Clement

Pomerol:
Petrus
Le Pin
La Violette

St Emilion:
Besojour (Duffau Lagarossee)
Cheval Blanc
Le Dome

Cantemerle is very good for 2010, showing very well

robert goulet wrote:Cantemerle is very good for 2010, showing very well

35.00/btl seemed fair enough.

I came oh so close to buying a case of the 2010 Duffau at $179 assuming it was a solid 100 from uncle bob based on everything I read. I thought for sure it was the most obvious 100. I passed as (1) i don't care, (2) i cannot handle these high octane st ems anymore and (3) i don't flip, i buy only to drink. Admittedly, though, I had a little gut-check.

Glad I bought my "drinkers" a couple days ago.

Talbot 2010... 94 pts... The Bob...

He shoots, he scores!

Blanquito wrote:Talbot 2010... 94 pts... The Bob...

He shoots, he scores!

Thank you, good sir!

I remain the proud owner of ZERO 2010 Bordeaux, futures or otherwise.

If these wines become drinkable in my lifetime, I'll sponge off of all of my BWE brethren. I'm sure I can find something worthy to open in return.

We have our eye on your Angelus vertical, David!

I'm the proud new owner of a case of 2010 Larcis Ducasse, which at $80 was about $30 less per bottle than the 2005. Interestingly RP rated the 2010 only 98+, saying it wasn't quite as good as the perfect 2005 (which was rated 98). The perfect score must have come at his large "2005 top wines" event.

From the other board, posted by Kevin Shin (DC Wino) who occasionally posts here:

I hope most folks realize that the only difference between a 97 pointer and 100 pointer is the price.

Truer words...

DavidG wrote:I remain the proud owner of ZERO 2010 Bordeaux, futures or otherwise.

If these wines become drinkable in my lifetime, I'll sponge off of all of my BWE brethren. I'm sure I can find something worthy to open in return.

Hey David we could start an AGED Bordeaux Cartel. Rodenstock ain't nothing. I have a bottle etched with the intials JC and some scribling saying it's for the wedding. HAHAHA

DavidG wrote:I remain the proud owner of ZERO 2010 Bordeaux, futures or otherwise.

If these wines become drinkable in my lifetime, I'll sponge off of all of my BWE brethren. I'm sure I can find something worthy to open in return.

We'll all bring some 2010 to your next anniversary dinner (given what was opened this year)!

Putting aside, for the moment, all of the negatives about Parker, it's interesting to see how he rates each particular bordeaux region in a given vintage. Here are his regional ratings for 2005, 2009 and 2010 (obviously some extreme grade inflation here from the Anti-Wine Consumer Advocate):

2005

St. Julien/Pauillac/St. Estephe -- 95
Margaux -- 98
Graves -- 96
Pomerol -- 95
St. Emilion -- 99

2009:

St. Julien/Pauillac/St. Estephe -- 99
Margaux -- 97
Graves -- 98
Pomerol -- 98
St. Emilion -- 93

2010:

St. Julien/Pauillac/St. Estephe -- 98
Margaux -- 95
Graves -- 99
Pomerol -- 95
St. Emilion -- 94

Correlating these regional scores with any sort of tally of individual wines from each region in a particular vintage can be a little puzzling at times (e.g., 6 of Parker's 10 "perfect" 2010s are from the right bank).

OrlandoRobert wrote:I came oh so close to buying a case of the 2010 Duffau at $179 assuming it was a solid 100 from uncle bob based on everything I read. I thought for sure it was the most obvious 100.

I've never tasted BDL but nevertheless got sucked into the hype about the '09 and bought a bunch at $110. When the 2010 came out 50% higher I wasn't even tempted. Wondering if I'll like the '09 when I finally get around to trying it - at least I can sell it for 2x (or more) what I paid for it thanks to Uncle Bob!

Yes, the relative ranking of the regional scores doesn't always match with the top scores from the region. I've never cared enough to analyze all of the published scores, but have always assumed that the regional scores are meant to reflect the quality across the board. Sort of a guide to the likelihood of getting a winner if you picked a wine at random. Not so much a rating of the top wines.

I too bought some '09 BDL before the scores came out and prices went nuts. Hope to drink them in 15 years or so.

Is the new 2013 David Bowie CD is out? What Will be Parker rating? Just in few days...

Nic

P.S. So Cantemerle is Parkerized starting on the 2009-2010 vintages?

I know, very sad, Cantemerle is going to be about $110 next year. The Bowie album is going to set records.

RDD wrote:

DavidG wrote:I remain the proud owner of ZERO 2010 Bordeaux, futures or otherwise.

If these wines become drinkable in my lifetime, I'll sponge off of all of my BWE brethren. I'm sure I can find something worthy to open in return.

Hey David we could start an AGED Bordeaux Cartel. Rodenstock ain't nothing. I have a bottle etched with the intials JC and some scribling saying it's for the wedding. HAHAHA

I like it, Rob! I've got a few bottles of In the Beginning and Let There Be Light. Hard to decipher the vintage exactly but Monsieur Audouze tells me he thinks they're from about 5000 BC. Maybe because of the label depicting a man tilling the vineyard behind a dinosaur-driven plough.

There's a few of us left with the resolve of the BD's original ban -- I haven't bought any '10s yet either. Their pricing is making the 05s look so much better, and they have 5 more yrs in bottle. If I do eventually get some 10s, they will probably be off-the-beaten-path sort of stuff, or stuff his Bobbness doesn't care for (Giscours? Gruaud?). I might give L'Esprit de Chevalier a go, the Domaine's 2nd wine. There aren't that many reviews of it, but the few that exist write highly of it -- I think Molesworth gave it 91. The important thing is, it goes for a song. You guys in the States can probably get it for $22 or something like that.

Candidly, with the rate of quality years flowing from almost all regions at an incredible pace, I really do not feel the need to stock up any longer on any one vintage. I did that in 2005, but since then, think about it, we have 2010, 2009, 2008 (decent) in Bdx, in addition to incredible years in Chinon for the Franc lover (2005, 2009, 2010), and then incredible recent years in Northern Rhone as well (2009/10 are fantastic), and Bojo (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011 (decent)). The diversity of my meager collection has increased dramatically, when 10 years ago it was about 90% Bdx. Cali syrah quality has also increased dramatically as a new wave of vintners eschew the high-octane fruit bombs (Copain, Cabot, Bedrock, etc.). We have a wealth of selections for us wine drinkers, emphasis on the word "drinkers".

tasted the '09 espirit recently I think I paid $28...decent wine but much better options at theat price...I think '10 may be a bit more based on what I'm seeing across the board.