London 2004 dinner
Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 11:04 pm
Ten friends gathered tonight in the City of London for a 2004 Bordeaux dinner.
Some brief impressions of our wines:
White Bordeaux: Bouscat 2008, fresh Sauvignon on lead guitar/vocal, with a rhythm section of waxy-lanolin semillon, with decent structure and finish
Flight one: St-Emilion
Larcis Ducasse - overtly sweet berry, plummy, fruit, ripe modern somewhat oaky style. Not complex but not offensive either.
Grand-Mayne - more subdued, less obvious oak, nice enough but like its flight mate a tad anodyne and one dimensional.
Flight two: Graves
Haut-Bailly - graphite, red fruit, polished, smooth, developing complexity, hits all the graves-y notes; lively with a fabulous long finish
La Tour Haut-Brion - nice raspy tension and nervosity, more old school, and less slick than its flight mate. Fabulous earthiness.
Great flight.
Flight three: Margaux
Giscours - good nose, berries, it has become more resolved since I last had it three years ago, but still structured for the long haul and still a tad clunky, needing a bit more time
Pavillon Rouge - took a bit to open with lovely Margaux berries, minerality and lead pencil. It has the chateau Margaux signature. Beautiful wine.
Flight four: Pauillac
Batailley - classic cedar cigar box Pauillac, accessible and really enjoyable in an old school kind of way; a really pleasant surprise
GPL - modern style, a bit insipid, flatters to deceive, not bad but caught in no-man’s land really. (Cue Jim)
Lynch-Bages - modern, v classy/stylish, still cocooned, good potential. Would be v. happy to own this.
Flight five: St-J plus ringer
Lagrange - low key like the 2002, subdued with green notes; another shrinking violet Lagrange.
Mystery wine - fruits allied to confected rubbery notes. It was Warwick Trilogy 2004 from South Africa.
There were four standout wines tonight: the two graves/Pessacs, the Pavillon Rouge and the Lynch. Haut-Bailly deservedly was wotn, just ahead of the Pavilion Rouge, both of which were ahead of the next two: the Lynch and the La Tour Haut Brion.
Based on this showing we agreed that:
2004 is a good vintage
2004 is a useful vintage in that generally speaking the wines are accessible and the tannins are not obtrusive
Some brief impressions of our wines:
White Bordeaux: Bouscat 2008, fresh Sauvignon on lead guitar/vocal, with a rhythm section of waxy-lanolin semillon, with decent structure and finish
Flight one: St-Emilion
Larcis Ducasse - overtly sweet berry, plummy, fruit, ripe modern somewhat oaky style. Not complex but not offensive either.
Grand-Mayne - more subdued, less obvious oak, nice enough but like its flight mate a tad anodyne and one dimensional.
Flight two: Graves
Haut-Bailly - graphite, red fruit, polished, smooth, developing complexity, hits all the graves-y notes; lively with a fabulous long finish
La Tour Haut-Brion - nice raspy tension and nervosity, more old school, and less slick than its flight mate. Fabulous earthiness.
Great flight.
Flight three: Margaux
Giscours - good nose, berries, it has become more resolved since I last had it three years ago, but still structured for the long haul and still a tad clunky, needing a bit more time
Pavillon Rouge - took a bit to open with lovely Margaux berries, minerality and lead pencil. It has the chateau Margaux signature. Beautiful wine.
Flight four: Pauillac
Batailley - classic cedar cigar box Pauillac, accessible and really enjoyable in an old school kind of way; a really pleasant surprise
GPL - modern style, a bit insipid, flatters to deceive, not bad but caught in no-man’s land really. (Cue Jim)
Lynch-Bages - modern, v classy/stylish, still cocooned, good potential. Would be v. happy to own this.
Flight five: St-J plus ringer
Lagrange - low key like the 2002, subdued with green notes; another shrinking violet Lagrange.
Mystery wine - fruits allied to confected rubbery notes. It was Warwick Trilogy 2004 from South Africa.
There were four standout wines tonight: the two graves/Pessacs, the Pavillon Rouge and the Lynch. Haut-Bailly deservedly was wotn, just ahead of the Pavilion Rouge, both of which were ahead of the next two: the Lynch and the La Tour Haut Brion.
Based on this showing we agreed that:
2004 is a good vintage
2004 is a useful vintage in that generally speaking the wines are accessible and the tannins are not obtrusive