Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

A return visit to my buddies place in Bradenton then on to Fory Myers and Treasure Island. Starting to hunt for a golf retirement home for the future but haven't found the right spot yet. Liked Sarasota the most but over the years of visiting I haven't been wowed by the golf but certainly my/our favorite area on the west coast.

Drinking was mighty fine with some very memorable and enjoyable wines.

2001 Leroy Clos Vougeot was one of my favorites of the 2 weeks in Florida. Beautiful sexy wine in a perfect place right now with sweet light red fruits on nose that you could sniff all night. Elegant yet powerful with super long finish perfectly balanced. Lovely spice with strawberry/ violet fields. No flaws in this one until we reached the bottom of the bottle then we were all sad because there was no more. This ranks up there with one of my best Burgundy experiences. A solid 97pts.

2001 Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin was in a different class. Not necessarily a worse wine but certainly the more masculine of the two Burgs. Black, heavy and brooding with much to come in the years ahead. Never would have guessed this to be a Burgundy first off because of how dark purple it was and showed way more black cherry/currant than I would expect. For the money I'd certainly go with the Leroy for its sexiness but in a few more years I think this will come around and strut its stuff from a different perspective than the Leroy. 91pts with higher potential.

2008 Chateau le Carré was an experience that I have Michael P to thank for. This was purchased at the Chateau on our visit Wed afternoon day off BWE Bordeaux 2015. Michael if you remember had a driver pick a few of us up from the hotel for a private tour and tasting. This wine has 300 case production and considered a garagiste wine with property purchased from Chateau Canon next to Clos Fortet in St Emillion. Parker calls the wine "packed and Stacked"! which is appropriate. Black fruits with dark cherry/cassis nose wide open and I hate to say silky smooth going down with perfectly ripened resolved tannins. Some sandalwood, vanilla,smooth toasted oak and black cherry going down with impressive length. I was concerned that this might not be ready but certainly this was an impressive drink and in a very good place with years ahead. This was an absolute pleasure to drink and sad to say I only brought back one bottle and will likely never have it again. At least it was an opportunity afforded by Michael P whom we say thank you and if I ever have the opportunity to source this wine again I won't hesitate. 98pts

2000 Chateau Langoa Barton was classic old school Bordeaux also in a great place. The best Langoa that I've had and maybe I just haven't been patient enough. I've always found these tough tannic unyielding wines but maybe patience is in order. Lovely traditional drink with present but ripe resolving tannins showing classic blackberry,cassis,cigar box, lead pencil and leather. This had so much going on and changed over the evening never showing quit through the dinner. In a great place but years of pleasure to be had and still not showing any signs of significant aging as of yet.94pts

2006 Numanthia. I used to love this wine but I found this to be hot,new world on steroids with over extraction exuding cherry cola cough drops as a close description. Well balanced with sexy mouth feel but not my cup of tea any more and not sure why I had been so enamored by this in the past. 86pts .

2007 Terra Valentine Marriage Thanks to a referral from a former BWEer Maureen Downey we discovered this winery formerly on Spring Mountain about 10-12 years back. Great memories of several visits and an amazing stay at there on site Chateau overlooking the rim of Spring Mountain staring down Napa Valley. The land where the former winery was has since been sold and I can no longer comment on current production but their line up of wines was stellar throughout. Only wine club that we've ever belonged to and never a complaint with anything they produced. This bottle was no different with classic Spring Mountain ripeness and reservation. Luscious mouth feel with black fruits,toasted oak and smooth finish. Delicious and brought back great memories staying on Spring Mountain with our best friends living large!! 91pts.

Many more but less memorable wines. Now going to dry out for a while entering a Jim H wine fast and low carb diet to shed some Christmas fat and dry out the liver!!

Many more lesser wines

Ma

Sorry about the crappy weather, Danny. We've been here for about ten days and it has been cold and windy. No complaints though as people in the Northeast and especially the DC area have been hit hard. You seemed to have had fun anyways, though.
If you're still around the Sarasota area and have time for a drink, let me know, it would be fun to finally meet you.

I'll trade weather with you guys!

Nice wine lineup. Sarasota, Siesta Key in particular, would be a sweet place to retire, but I don't know the golf situation.

Thanks for the nice report dstgolf.

I did not had Leroy often, but liked it every time. Bizarrely, never had a Langoa.

I'm happy to read your note on the 2008 Le Carré, as I purchased one bottle too, at the Chateau. So good thing MichaelP, Larry and you forced me to join for the tour! I guess I have to bring it to Ottawa one day.

Nic

Jacques

It would be nice to finally meet and share a bottle or two. I forgot that you had relocated to Sarasota or I would have made a point of getting together this year as we had plenty of opportunity. Hopefully we'll return next year and make it happen.

David

Siesta Key is a beautiful area for its beach but wouldn't want to reside on the key. There are no golf courses and traffic issues on and off the key can be problematic. Cost is another issue!! Golf is a big priority for me and it has to be something to get excited over to keep bringing me back. Florida is full of mediocre golf courses and few great courses. The greats again seem to be hugely expensive so I may have to work a few more years to ensure that cost is not as limiting as it is now. The green back is also limiting for sure with the exchange closing in on $1.50 making everything nearly prohibitive to buy. If it keeps up I suspect many Canadian snowbirds that found deals in real estate after the economy down turn in 2008 may start to unload their properties to turn a combined profit on both the absolute appreciation in property value and more so the dollar exchange. Hard to give up a 100% ++ net flip. Several friends are seriously considering this.

Nic

The le Carré was delicious and drinking very well. I was amazed for a 2008 to be so ready to go. Fantastic opportunity Michael P afforded to us and glad we have some memories to share. You still owe us a visit that's been over due.

I'll likely be starting a similar search in a few tears Danny, but I'm not a golfer. Traffic on and off the keys can be a bitch, but if you're retired you don't have to fight rush hour. And that squeaky pure white sand. And the sunsets... But Sarasota is no famous golf destination. The places in Florida for golf that come to mind are Miami and Jacksonville. Ponte Vedre Beach is less crowded than Miami and Sawgrass is there. Probably terrifically expensive though.

Good chances we'll go to Ottawa this summer, so I will let you know ahead.


Maybe the time to plan a BWE offline in Ottawa, as the US dollard out value ours big time.

Nic

That 2000 Langoa Barton was kind of a unique wine for them. Way off their spectrum of normality.

Numanthia is kind of like a reverse QPR. I think they suck, and are richly priced in the context of Spanish wines.

How so on the 00 Langoa Arv? I have never taste this estate but do have some in the cellar.

Come on over, Danny and David. The area is lovely and could use some more wine lovers. jill and I intend to be here at least six months a year for the next five years, it will be great to see you (and any other BWEers of course).

Claret wrote:How so on the 00 Langoa Arv? I have never taste this estate but do have some in the cellar.

Big huge tannic, even more so than normal. Don't buy it much but still have 85,96,03 hovering around. The 00's were consumed at some offline, too young.

Arv,

That has also been my impression with Langoa as well. Certainly not great exposure but the half dozen bottles that I've had were iron fisted tannic wines not showing much other than mouth puckering tannins never yielding any pleasure. Maybe they just need a lot of time and I've openned them too early but the tasting at Chateau LB this Spring again showed the tannic monster that the ??2014 showed. Jim H seemed to think it was good if I remember but we all know Jim loves chewing through his young wines. I couldn't get beyond a sip or two before spilling the wine out.

David,

No question Sarasota has a lot to offer for a retirement destination but golf is not one of its strengths. There are a few clubs offering good golf but price point to join and annual dues more than I'm willing to put out especially with the Canadian dollar getting whacked! If Scottsdale or Palm Springs were closer there would be no question. Some have talked about Texas being more reasonable but only been there once touring around a BWE event. Big trucks and bigger guns have us somewhat concerned!! Never know who's going to pull out a gun over a drink or two!! That episode in Dallas kinda scarred us.

Nic,

Would be a great idea to have a Summer off line in Ottawa if there is interest. Jim has a passport now and maybe others would be interested to visit our Nation's capital now that everyone elses dollar is going so far following the plunge in the resources market taking our dollar down with it.

JAL

Appreciate the offer and will touch base hopefully next year if Sarasota is in our winter plans again.

NZ would be a nice place to retire. Great wine/food and a seeming pricing equivalency in nominal terms of most consumables (ex-gas/petrol) to US, even including built in 15% GST and despite .65 Kiwi/USD exchange rate! And no capital gains tax. And no estate/inheritance tax. Plus the Cape Kidnappers GC south of Napier is ranked #22 in the world. But I guess expatriation has immediate US tax consequences and otherwise Americans are still subject to US tax (albeit with credit for foreign taxes).

Hound,

My buddy was initially looking at a place in NZ spending two consecutive winters there renting. He raved about everything saying it was the perfect winter spot. Not very expensive,natural beauty,good food/wine and fine golf. He was then invited to a business colleagues condo for the following winter at Blue Springs in Phuket Thailand and was hooked. His colleague took ill and Jim bought the condo. Great spot but Thailand not my cup of tee and certainly not a place that my wife would feel comfortable with. Old men with fat wallets can live like kings there and certainly having a live in maid/cook has its benefits for way less than it would cost to maintain a place in the USA. This hunt for a winter spot out of the snow is far from done but if anyone else has there preferances send them along. Certainly open to further investigation and exploring.