Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Father day diner last night. It was time to open good wines.

A 2014 Ropiteau white Bourgogne was very good. Simple but very good flavors of Chardonnay, lemon, light oak, pears, with a medium power mouth, good richness and balance. Decent length, and i'll buy some more. Tn: 89.

With the main meal, I opened a bottle of the 2012 Chateau Malartic Lagravière. Count me in the 2012 lovers. This Pessac Léognan Cru Classé, with it nice dark blood red color was incredibly seductive on the nose. A superb mixture of red berries, sour cherries, light oaky chocolate, smoke, blueberries, sweet dry herbs. And yes, some blackcurrants as well. I like very much that nose. Mouth is defining really well the word "claret". A very nice semi thick texture, with nice fruit like blueberries, blackcurrants, nice spices, light vanilla, sweet tobacco. Nice presence in mouth, good tanins and freshness, with a long finish on cherries and noble oak, that finish strong and fade away like the sun on the horizon of a Bordeaux vineyard. Drinks well now, with more to come over the next 7-8 years. Bravo. Tn: 92.

Lately I had the 2008-2009-2012 of that Chateau, liked them all for their nice Graves character, complex nose/mouth and elegance in a bottle, with a balance richness too. A producer to follow.

Nic

The 2002 Malartic was very full bodied for a '02 and left me wishing I'd bought more than one.

Although I've had the estate a few times, I'm not sure I've ever purchased their wines for myself.

Malartic is a lovely, smooth, slick, femnine sort of wine to me. Good in both white and red and not outrageously expensive.

The Fëte de la Fleur is thre tonight...

AR

Hey Nic, I like Malartic but I haven't tried the 2012 yet. Glad to see you like the 2012 vintage. I continue to be impressed by it. Not powerful 50 year wines, but generally well structured 20 year wines.

Bill

dying to try this estate(malartic)...up the street they have the 2012 les carmes haut brion for $40..may snag it, heard good things...another real solid 2012 is the Croix de Beaucaillou, had a very good showing sometime back, seemed very pauillac'ish.

Since our visit with BWE 2012 I`ve picked up multiple vintages of the red and thoroughly enjoy this property. Prices were reasonable and quality continues to rise along with the pricing. I haven`t bought anything since 2015 and with 16 pricing I think I`m done with this and the other Bordeaux properties. Maybe the odd under $30 early drinker may be a thought but I think I`ve got enough.

The white is lovely but more expensive than the red and I don`t find the value to buy it anymore.

Has anyone else had issues with premoxed white Bordeaux? I have a case of 2005 Chateau Brown,6 Haut Bergey,Malartic 06s and a couple of others that are all premoxed to the point of undrinkable. Just like white Burgs I`m not dipping into the white Bordeaux market except for early drinking.