A few recent left and right bank tasting notes

[Claudius2]

2005 Chateau Dufort Viviens, Margaux.
I wasn't that familiar with this label. I pulled it out of the storage unit I still have in Australia on a return trip.
I have tried older wines a few times without it ever leaving much of an impression.
But this wine shows how good the 2005 Bordeaux vintage is.
It opened with heaps of violets, sweet red and black berry fruit, tobacco, mocha, cedar and earth.
The palate was medium to full bodied, and there was no tannin crust in the glass or bottle, showing it is still young.
The wine was very well balanced, a series of intense fruit flavours hitting the mid palate, with good acid and tannin on the end.

I would not rate it as a great wine, but it was delicious to drink. It is young but not at all a waste to drink due to its balance and fruit intensity.
I'd rate it as Excellent on the normative scale.

2010 Cos Labory St Estephe
Okay, okay, 2010 is still too young to drink, but I bought it on sale and thought I'd try a bottle.
Like the Dufort, not a wine I have a lot of experience with.
The wine was not at all tannic and stern. Rather, it was dark and cool, with pencilly oak and nice dark fruit on the nose. A bit of a surprise.
The palate was medium bodied (lighter than the Dufort, above) but with well balanced fruit and oak.
Sweeter and softer than I expected, with plummy, blackcurrant and redcurrant flavours.
In fact, I am not sure that this wine will ever make old bones, thus I'll drink the rest sooner than later.
I'd rate it as very good, though not great value for money.

2001 Ch Poujeaux, Moulis en Medoc.
Now, there is a silly tale to be told.
I ended up with a case of this (OWC) after accidentally bidding on it at auction. I won;t bore you with the details, but I never intended to bid.
It wasn't expensive so not a big deal in any case.
The wine was very smoky and earthy on the nose. I decanted it for an hour or two and more sweet red and black fruits were evident.
Actually not a bad nose at all. Very Bordeaux.
The wine is light to medium bodied, the tannins resolved and will not improve anymore, though no hurry to drink.
I have now had it 3-4 times with similar results.
Soft dark fruit palate, earth, tobacco and inky, smoky after taste. Medium acid and quite long.
It is a definite food wine. With a steak, it tasted sweeter, more ample and fruity, on its own, a little fluid and light.
I'd rate it as good, with the rest of the case to be drunk in the next few years.

2006 Lárossee' St Emilion GCC
I have now drunk this three times.
The first two bottles were medium bodied, with good plummy fruit and soft tannins and acid.
I'd rate them very good on my normative scale, and definitely worth drinking.
The fruit had a nice ripeness and inky, brambly character.

Now, the third bottle wasn't overtly corked and was in good condition. They came from the same OWC and were in refrigerated storage.
Yet it was much more tannic and dry, offering a stern and slightly lumpy mouthfeel.
So this bottle was rated okay. Drinkable but more like a $10 wine from a minor appellation. Oh well.

2006 Langoa Barton, St Julien
I hope the Leoville Barton is better than this.
I have now drunk it twice with similar notes.
It is medium bodied, but simply does not offer enough fruit or complexity to rate more than "good" - no better than the Poujeaux (which would be nicer with a steak).
Even after decanting, the fruit was a bit shy and seemed disinterested in showing much dimension.
I would have guessed it was from a poor vintage.

2006 Lagrange St Julien
This wine was cheaper than the Langoa yet a step up in interest.
Darker, smoky, earthy fruit, with more apparent oak and riper tannin.
Went well with food, with soft dark fruits and cedary, mocha oak.
Very good. May improve though no problem to drink now.
A better bet now than the Cos Labory. But equivalent quality.

[AKR]

A nice spectrum of classy wines.

[stefan]

Strange that Lagrange was less expensive than Langoa Barton.

Lagrange, Poujeaux, and Larossee typically have good QPR in their class IMO.

Your description of 2010 Cos Labory makes me wonder if this estate changed its style as older vintages are traditional stern St Estephe.

[AlexR]

Hi Cladius,

Yous still in Singapore?

I think it is good of you to introduce the value-for-money factor. By that yardstick, Poujeaux is a real champion.
You make me want to open my bottle of 2001...

Alex R.

[AKR]

Strange that Lagrange was less expensive than Langoa Barton.

Lagrange, Poujeaux, and Larossee typically have good QPR in their class IMO.

Your description of 2010 Cos Labory makes me wonder if this estate changed its style as older vintages are traditional stern St Estephe.

2003 is a freakishly happy Cos Labory

[Claudius2]

Alex
Yup, been here for over 7 years now.
Once you get used to a tropical climate, its pretty easy.
One of the downsides about Australia is that it is so damn far from everywhere and anywhere (except New Zealand).

Regarding the Cos Labory, I have had a few older wines that I was never taken with.
This wine was a more "modern" style with fresh fruit and well judged oak.

Stefan,
Lagrange is consistently cheaper here than Langoa Barton.
Duuno what it costs in the US.
I checked the 2015 indent prices for the two are Lagrange was $S53 and Langoa Barton $59, and the prices of the older wines were comparable (in terms of the gap).
The Singapore dollar is worth about 70c US.

[stefan]

Hmm. I checked USA prices, and Langoa is a little bit more than Lagrange. I pulled up 2000 and Lagrange is considerably more than Langoa.

[Comte Flaneur]

Claudius there is a big qualitative difference between Langoa and Leoville Barton which I don't think is adequately reflected in the price differential. Langoa is quite a simple wine. Leoville is much more complex.

[JimHow]

Agreed, Ian, but that still does not mean I would kick the lovely Lady Langoa out of bed for eating crackers.
Of course "Leoville [Barton] is much more complex."
But I've consumed an "un-complex" Lady Langoa or two over the years from which I have derived much pleasure.
Thus, the Lady Langoa from 1986, 1996, 2000, and other vintages over the years....

[AKR]

I had a 96 Langoa Barton a few months ago that was lovely. Better than a 96 Lagrange, which seemed on the lean side.