Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

00 Cote de Baleau [St Emilion] First bottle from a case purchased EP. Double decanted, as it had a bit of sediment. Label states 13% abv. Dark garnet in the core, a little lightening at the edges. Tea, mint, tobacco on the nose. Medium bodied. Very refined, balanced palate. Fruit is restrained (not like the young wines we had yesterday!). But drinks deliciously without food while we relax and play music as dinner bubbles away on the stove. Black fruit on the palate, just a slight hint of slate here. This is just super stuff. If objective people tasted this they would be unlikely to think "aha a Michel Rolland wine!" but it is a creation of his, although in a different style from the fruit bombs he is typically associated with. The estate was upgraded in the AOC classification system, so modern vintages cost more now. Not a widely available wine, but HDH has a few (non peak) vintages in stock. I'm very happy with this. I thought I had a bunch of the 1998, but I do not recall seeing those last time I went to my facility. Anyways A- on my scorecard. It's minerally notes remind me of Moulin St. Georges, even though different terroir and winemakers.

The 2001 is also excellent. It had a lot of acrid oak in youth but it integrated nicely.

2nd bottle from the case last night, and I'll be consuming these faster over the next few years. 2000 is lovely wine at its peak.

For those looking for more polite wines, yet with intensity, consider this in good recent vintages.

This wine reminds me of a movie I saw as a child. Anyone care to guess which movie?

Cat Ballou?

She's mean and evil through and through

As always, Arv, you are partial to the outliers, such as Côte Baleau. This can be richly rewarding both in terms of value for money and for the satisfaction of not following the herd .

I've only had this cru classé once or twice, and know the other wines from the Cuvelier stable much better (Poujeaux, Clos Fourtet, Grandes Murailles, and even the rare Clos St. Martin).

I need to pick up a bottle of Côte Baleau the next time I see one.

All the best,
Alex

JCNorthway wrote:Cat Ballou?

Yep - easy for us seniors...

Thanks for the nice note, Arv!
Indeed, the 2000 Côte de Baleau is a delicious wine, but their 1998 is even better....

We enjoyed another bottle of the 2000 Cote de Baleau [St Emilion] while prepping and eating supper. It remains very good even excellent, and has not seemed to have faded at all. This one had been sitting on a rack in the kitchen for at least six months so I thought it might have faded a touch - nope!

As noted above its more on the balanced side of styles. If one likes the older school Magdelaines, Canons, Moulin St Georges etc. - try a bottle of this at age 10-20.

I popped another one of these 00 CdB before going out for a casual dinner at a chain bakery, Boudin. After a week of disappointing bottles (a wan Sta Rita hills pinot and an older fruitless nebbiolo driven red Roero) it was nice to have something tasty and reliable. They really got the balance in this era although IIRC sister estate Grandes Murailles which cost more was never able to pull it off as well.

This too had just been in a kitchen rack so might have been a touch warmer than one from the stash in the back of the house. It is time to drink these up, no matter how well they are holding.

PS: added later - on the 2nd night, even better. fruit is expansive, full bodied / dark hued still, and even a little structure.