TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

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AKR
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TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by AKR »

05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc] Served a touch too warm, maybe 70F, and NOT owned from release, so hopefully storage was good, but I don't detect anything odd. Popped and poured. Anyways, a medium bodied example of a left banker. Color is the red you would expect at age 10 -- unsedimented red, but a few mm of watery lightening at the edges. More red fruit in nature on the palate, but plums/pluots on the nose. 13.5% abv but it feels lighter than that. Maybe a touch of acid here. Finish is ok, 20 seconds or so. The SO quite likes it, and the whole bottle gets finished. But I liked yesteday's baby Brunello, an 07 Rossi di Casanova di Neri, better -- which the wife didn't like, finding it kind of hot. I sauteed some specialty heritage breed farm raised bone in pork rib chops to go with it. This is pork which still has intramuscular fat in it, like the kind people used to get 40 years ago, before evil health Nazi scientists made skinny pigs. So that's the end of my Father's day butcher shop treats! Given the price tag that Pauillac (legitimately) commands, the better vintages of TsB are good midweek substitutions. I'd give it a B. Perhaps cooling and a proper decant would help it shine more. It's rare that we don't agree on the perceived quality of wines in our house, since we have similar preferences. We've got a few more so we'll try them over the years. This is a cru bourgeois that offers typicite and value.
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AlexR
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Re: TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by AlexR »

The provocative question (OK, OK, apples and oranges...) is this: in California, is this better value for money than most locally-produced wines?

AR
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Roel
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Re: TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by Roel »

Bas-Médoc is the 'weakest' of left bank appellations, with sandy/clay soil and mostly merlot. I find the wines in general good to drink with lots of fruit, earth, freshness and authenticity. Never a complex or hedonistic experience in my book, though.
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AlohaArtakaHoundsong
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Re: TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by AlohaArtakaHoundsong »

I find the 2005 TSB not as impressive as the 2000 although for an apples to apples comparison I should try one now since I last drank the 2000 at about age 10. I also found the 2005 TSB, relative to most other 2005s, to be a little less concentrated and more pointed-perhaps it's the acidity you noticed, so possibly picked a little earlier than other? Having had a couple of 2010s, though not the TSB, it seemed a little more of the style of that vintage. Just two vintages of experience but it seems a little more refined and less murky than some of it's Bas-Medoc peers. Good wine though and for $12 too.
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AKR
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Re: TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by AKR »

Hmm. In the $12-$20 California price points, the main ones that would seem comparable would be things like Ch. Souverain, Mondavi's 'Napa' Bottling, or maybe Beringer's Knights Valley Cab.

They are all probably better on average since vintage quality is consistent here. And they are mass produced, so one can get those in supermarkets or Costco's.

Still, in the better vintages, a wine to consider.
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AKR
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Re: TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by AKR »

We roasted a chicken paired with knodel & gravy, and prompted by RacerChris's recent notes, we opened a midweek Medoc for that. I grabbed a 2005 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc] to go with it, enjoying half the bottle, chilled but not decanted. This was pretty solid all around. A good earthy wine with density, and drinking well today. The color is very dark and I don't think there's any hurry to drink up. I'd give it a B+. It's not heavy at all, unlike a super gooey/extracted/old vine 2007 southern French wine I had over the weekend.

PS: when I look at the original note, I remember that tasting that 07 RdM made me go looking for its 07 big brother, and finding some later on.
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Blanquito
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Re: TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by Blanquito »

When I was 23 years old, the 1989 Tour St Bonnet was my first ever case purchase, along with a case of the 1990 Belgrave Haut Medoc, from Century Liquours in Rochester NY. I've had a soft spot for this Medoc ever since. In real dollars, the price has gone down a tad from what I paid for the 89. I'm a big fan of the 05, which I paid $11 for, one of the world's great QPRs.
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AKR
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Re: TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by AKR »

I finished the rest of the bottle last night. Lots of rhubarb and cranberry. Better on the 2nd day.

I remember having the 89 sometime around the turn of the century but I think the bottle I had must have gotten heat exposed. It didn't seem sound, too advanced for the chronological age.
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Re: TN: 05 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc]

Post by AKR »

The last full measure - 13.5% abv
The last full measure - 13.5% abv
I'm finishing the last bottle of 2005 Tour St Bonnet [Medoc] over a couple of days, during a heavy winter storm. I mostly confirm prior comments: this 2005 is medium bodied, with herbal/tertiary/forest floor notes on the nose, fully resolved tannins and low enough acidity to enjoy by itself. The picture makes it look a bit darker than it is; I'd consider it a mature garnet. Classic, slender, and balanced but just enough fruit in a big year like 2005. All things considered, I'd slot this into the B grade, and consider it a fair enough value for midweek casual enjoyment, especially for those whose tastes lean toward AFWE Medocs. Lots of sediment in the bottle.

Although not fading, I don't think there is positive development left here. Drink up, with gusto.
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