UGC Denver

[danzur]

Just got back from the UGC Tasting in Denver. Super brief impressions to follow:

Luckily, ran into to Tom and Gail-surprising as it was very well attended, Great to chat with them.

Every time I do one of these I marvel at folks who can hold it together and appreciated the nuances of the wines after 20 or 30 of them. Bravo! It all starts to get tough for me after that many.

Impressions:

Not terribly impressed with St Emilion in 2015. Pomerol was a bit more round and expressive, obviously I guess, but I probably won't be buying much, if any of either commune.

Margaux had a great vintage. Expressive, pure, round flavors. Nice balance. I particularly enjoyed the Brane Cantenac and Giscours. The Lascombes seemed a bit grainy, and a bit rougher to me.

Pessac/Graves-always in my wheelhouse. Many standouts-rich, long, expressive-I could drink many of these any time. My favorites were the Smith Haut Lafitte, Haut Bailly, Domaine de Chavalier, and the Pape Clement. Tough to pick the best, I'll take any of the 4. If forced I'm going Domaine de Chevalier.

The Paulliac area was pretty crowded. I LOVED the Pichon Baron. I think fatigue was starting to set in as I didn't get the same wow factor from Lynch Bages, or Pichon Lalande. There were quite a few I missed.

The Leoville Barton was strong, but a bit tannic for me tonight, but it has an amazing future. I really enjoyed the Branaire Ducru, Gruaud larose, Gloria, and Lagrange for their "old school" character.

That's all I've got for now....

DanZ

[Nicklasss]

Hi Danzur.

Thanks for reporting and i guess our palate are aligned! Did you tried Canon in Saint-Émilion? For me the lonely star of the wines i sampled in the aoc.

Margaux and Pessac are very strong.

Nic

[Comte Flaneur]

It’s an embarrassment of riches in 2015

[danzur]

Thanks Nic.

I did not try the Canon...I started with Beau Sejour Becot and found it odd, artificially sweet it seemed, Canon La Gaffeliere was underwhelming, La Couspade was a bit sour, and short.....I thought the Pavie Macquin was nice, good fruit and length, then stepped over the Valandraud, which I thought was just odd....decided to find the Pessac table, and was glad I did. Lisa has always found charm in St. Emilion, so I thought it would be a good spot for her, and she wasn't thrilled with any of them either.

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

I thought 2015 was really a rare vintage that was truly solid across the region, so it's interesting to see both you guys kind of pan St. Em.

[danzur]

I don't think I had any bad wines at the St. Emilion table, they just all seemed odd and uninspiring compared to the Pessac, Margaux, St. Julien, Paulliac, St. Estephe, and even the Haut Medoc tables . I really did like the Pavie Macquin, but that was the only one. I did miss the Canon, and I remember why now-there was a large group pushing to get in there...so I just went Beau Sejour Becot, then Canon la Gafelliere. Never went back to try the Canon which was a mistake.

One of the wines I tried that I really didn't like was the Ormes de Pez-it had a nose of cotton candy that I really can't stand (although it did not taste as bad as it smeilled)-especially when tasted next to the Lynch Bages..... and the Pichon Baron/Pichon Lalande.

[Tom In DC]

I went with Gail and a couple of friends, which turned it into more of a social event than the usual UGC power tasting. As a result, I didn't taste nearly as many as I might have hoped and my impressions are more impressionist than analytical.

Overall impressions - most of the wines are very approachable relative to their youth. The Graves/Pessac-Leognan region seems to be a real winner in this vintage, along with Margaux and the high-end Pauillacs. Everyone we talked with were delighted with 2014 and 2015, but most suggested 2016 was the best of the three.

The special "Wish List" pricing provided by the sponsoring retailer was ridiculous and clearly an attempt to scam unsuspecting attendees! I see Leoville Barton all over in the $75-80 range on Wine-Searcher, and even the retailer lists the bottle at $95.99 on their website, but the event's listed bottle price was $149.99, discounted to $119.99 by the 12-bottle case. Domaine de Chevalier Rouge was $105.99 per bottle, discounted to $84.99 for a dozen...it's in the $60-65 range all over wine-searcher.

Our friends got there a few minutes before Gail and me and sent us straight to the Lynch Bages station (a favorite wine of theirs.) I was poured de Pez first which I found quite good for its ranking and the first example of a very approachable wine for a two year old St. Estephe. The Lynch was also quite open with an already (surprisingly) complex bouquet, good depth of flavors and a strong finish.

We went to Saint Emilion next where I thought the best wine was clearly Canon, with La Dominique, Larcis Ducasse and Pavie Macquin also giving good impressions. All of these struck me as more old school. We did a "drive by" tasting at the Pomerol tables which as a group kept to the approachable theme, showing better than the St. Em's, but nothing stood out as a must buy.

Pessac-Leognan next, everything I tried held up the vintages reputation with some real standouts here - Domain de Chevalier, Les Carmes Haut-Brion and Haut-Bailly were rich, complex and long. DdC seems like the buy. Also tried a few whites - the Pape Clement and Smith Haut Lafitte seemed overdone, the Carbonnieux was its usual good value self, and again, the DdC was quite impressive.

Finished with more drive by's at Pauillac (both Pichon's seemed excellent, wish I could afford them!), Margaux (like danzur said, Brane-Cantenac and Giscours were standouts), and St. Julien (Leo-Bart excellent as expected, Branaire and Lango-Bart impressive.)

[Nicklasss]

I couldn't be happier to read that my palate is similar to the palates of danzur and the great "Tom in DC". Well that makes my day!

Say hello to Gail. We'll miss you guys in March.

Nic

[Tom In DC]

Thanks, Nic! Let us know should you find yourself in Colorado.

[JimHow]

I’m happy that my palate likes what I like, regardless of who among my BWE friends agree or disagree.
Individuality and diversity is what makes life interesting!
To me, that is the essence of BWE.
Looking forward to seeing as many BWEers as possible in 2018, whether your palates conform with mine or not!

[Nicklasss]

Don't worry Jim, I wrote "similar".

I can tell you I did not like the Barolo Chinato (or something like that) that Tom poured for us a few DC convention ago!;-)

Nic

[Tom In DC]

Barolo Chinato is an acquired taste, one that I have not really acquired.

[JeanFred]

Tom

What about the price of Rausan and Canon ( went from 145$ca in futur to 225$ca at the UGC and Canon from 175 to 425$ca)!!!

JeanFred

[AKR]

Sounds like a good event

[Tom In DC]

Tom

What about the price of Rausan and Canon ( went from 145$ca in futur to 225$ca at the UGC and Canon from 175 to 425$ca)!!!

JeanFred

Hi JeanFred,

I was looking at current prices on wine-searcher, so those prices relative to en primeur already reflect the knowledge that 2015 is a very fine vintage. I can't really comment intelligently on Canadian pricing other than to observe that you gents live in the land of inscrutable government monopolies.

Rauzan Segla and Canon were not included in the retailer's offer list at the event, so I can't say what bizarre pricing they may have posted for those wines. Based on wine-searcher, Canon may be found around US$200 but does not appear to be widely available. (Marty's in Massachusetts lists it at $135 but they don't ship out of state.) Rauzan Segla is pretty widely available in the US$100 range. Relative availability makes sense since Rauzan Segla makes twice as much wine as Canon. Interestingly, the event's retailer has both wines on their website, the Canon for US$190 and the Rauzan-Segla for US$105.

Cheers,
Tom

[DavidG]

The Chinato that Tom poured in DC a few years ago caught me off guard, though it didn’t surprise me as much as the cops that showed up shortly after. Fortunately, springing that on us was the only activity in the room that came close to being criminal. That night, anyway. I think if I had been prepared for an Italian iteration of a Chartreuse-like experience it might have gone down better.

Anyway, back to 2015 Bordeaux: I bought no futures. I'm reading these threads with interest though I am supposedly done buying young Bordeaux (too old, no space since downsizing, yadda yadda).