The 2005 d'Issan has been uncorked and other ramblings....

[JimHow]

Approaching the beginning of a wine fast (I fast four not-usually-but-sometimes-consecutive months out of each year), I thought I'd uncork something nice. This bouquet filled the room instantly, I'm looking at a beautiful deep Margaux purple.

[JimHow]

Brutal December, temperatures well below average. Some people still without power now 5 days later. I was lucky, I was out only 30 hours.

[JimHow]

i think somebody is buying up all the 1989 Lynch Bages out there.
K&L had 8 bottles and overnight they were gone.
Now they're auctioning a single bottle, I started the bidding at $235 and it is now up to $370 with still two days to go.
There were two bottles for $335 at a place in Manhattan. Gone.
K&L is selling a single bottle for $349, I expect it'll be gone shortly.
Crazy. But then again, it is the greatest Bordeaux since 1961....

[JimHow]

Well we've been having big power lunches to prepare for a possible run for Congress.
I just know you guys here on BWE are going to open up your campaign contribution wallets generously so that we can have BWE events in the Capitol building!

[JimHow]

This wine does not seem elegant. It is kind of big and tannic. Don't get me wrong, I like it. It seems styled differently than Brane Cantenac. First, very initial impressions after two small sips.

[JimHow]

Just got a text from Rick Julien....
He and Kathy are doing well.

[JimHow]

My initial impressions are that this is a 50 year wine....

[JimHow]

Just went over to cellartracker.
What did they do over there?
Hadn't been there in a while, seems kind of overwhelming.
You know who seems to have a good looking site? Jeff Leve, although I haven't really had a chance to explore it that much..
Anyway, from what I can see over at cellar tracker, they seem to almost unanimously be using the word "elegant" to describe this wine.
Omg, victims of groupthink?
I have a long way to go with this bottle but my initial impressions are that it is anything BUT elegant.
Let me guess. Did He at any time describe this as elegant?

[stefan]

In the old days, d"Issan could be elegant. in other years it could be thin.

[JimHow]

Had my annual physical this morning.
All my blood work was perfect!
Blood pressure, cholesterol, kidneys, liver, weight down 15 lbs, my vitamin D level was back up, I'm a machine!
(Knock on wood.)

The bouquet on this d'Issan is absolutely beautiful, earthy, foresty, violets, spring flowers.
I just cannot call it elegant on the palate though.
It is tannic. A jimHow kind-o-wine.

[JimHow]

I don't know, I must be losing my mind if people think this wine is "elegant."
I'm not saying this is '86 Montrose or anything like that, but this is definitely well over onto the "not elegant" side of the spectrum.
Myself, I like this wine.
I just think it is going to need about 30 years to show its true stuff.
today's rating: Incomplete.
And as for what others think about this wine... It just corroborates my theory that Bordeaux wine tasters are insane.
Can somebody post His note on the 2005 d'Issan?
I'm going to be extremely surprised if he doesn't use the word "elegant" or some derivative thereof at least once.
How else to explain the almost manic use of the world "elegance" in the notes on cellartracker, other than the usual groupthink.
This wine is the antithesis of elegance, certainly at least at this point in its life.

[JimHow]

Almost seems a little green and thin at the end, but I can't believe that's the case in 2005.
I thought the 2005 Brane Cantenac was an amazing wine.
This wine is perplexing.
we shall see how it develops over the next 50 years.
I predict improvement.
I have 5 bottles left.
the one thing I'm pretty confident about, though, is that it is not "elegant."

[JimHow]

I have not seen HWSRN's note on this wine.
My guess is that He tasted this wine two or three times very briefly, among hundreds of other wines over a two week period in Bordeaux.
Somewhere in there he probably described it as "elegant."
The wine world, in particular the Parker-lovers on cellartacker (of which there appear to be many), then picked up on that and this wine was categorized as "elegant."
This wine is simply not elegant.
I'm not saying it is a bad wine.
But elegant it is not.

[Bacchus]

What constitutes an elegant wine, Jim? Exactly what features to you expect before you would call a wine "elegant?"

[Bacchus]

Along with the 2000, the 2005 is one of the two greatest d'Issans I have ever tasted. Kudos to proprietor Emmanuel Cruse for creating this beauty. Its dense purple hue is accompanied by aromas of camphor, forest floor, blackberries, cassis, and a hint of spring flowers. Full-bodied with superb richness, purity, texture, and abundant, sweet tannin, it should hit its stride in 3-4 years, and last for 25+. Bravo!
Score: 95 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (176), April 2008

[DavidG]

I'm not a fan of any old random CT note, but there are a number of people over there whose palates seem to match mine.

HWSRN's note on the wine:

Along with the 2000, the 2005 is one of the two greatest d’Issans I have ever tasted. Kudos to proprietor Emmanuel Cruse for creating this beauty. Its dense purple hue is accompanied by aromas of camphor, forest floor, blackberries, cassis, and a hint of spring flowers. Full-bodied with superb richness, purity, texture, and abundant, sweet tannin, it should hit its stride in 3-4 years, and last for 25+. Bravo!

No "elegant" in there. Jeff Leve, however, calls the finish elegant:

From 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, the wine was aged in 55% new oak. Still deep in color, the wine opens with floral, black cherry, forest floor, cassis, tobacco and spicy aromas. With supple, refined textures, concentration of fruit and a long, elegant, blackberry finish, this continues to develop perfectly. Give it a few more years and enjoy it over the next 15-25 years. 2005 Chateau d’Issan remains well priced for consumers looking for value and quality in Bordeaux.

[JimHow]

Interesting question, Bacchus, I guess I can describe better, at least in my mind, what "elegance" is not:
It is not tannic.
Its fruit does not dominate the drink.
Something can be elegant but also powerful, I think of the young Cassius Clay or Teofilo Stevenson, or Mariano Rivera.
Probably more often than not when I think elegance I think feminine, again, beauty with an inner strength.
But, again, it can apply to masculinity, some would say the John Kennedy White House was elegant yet he was a man's man.
Or the old James Bond.
Hmmmm... How to describe "elegance"? That is a tough one.
Ducru "seamlessness" I would equate with elegance.
Lack of"hard edges," but that descriptor is just going around in circles because what does "lack of hard edges" mean?
My notes on the d'Issan may have sounded a little harsh because in the end I did like it, but in a JimHow-kind-o-wine kind-o-way.
And when most people, myself included, think of me, I doubt they think "elegant!"