TN 2000 Ch. Martinens, Margaux

[Houndsong]

Had this with grass-fed tenderloin. Wonderful bouquet heralded a wine that is ready to go. This was a lot more expansive and accessable than a bottle I had just a year ago, which came across as light and tight. I would say the nose was packed with margauxberries, although no one's ever pointed them out to me, since it seemed pleasantly peculiar. Not very tannic and a tapered finish. Seems like a lot of these junior 2000s are drinking very well now. Nice label too.

[SteveH]

Sounds like a winner, Hound. What's also satisfying is the fact that these juniors were priced in the teens and twenties. You are right about, "... drinking very well now."

My 'juniors' are also starting to express the beauty of the vintage, and will definitely go some distance.
The top 2000 'juniors' I like:

Ch. du Tertre (Margaux) - Lovely berry nose w/ ripe medium weight fruit. Young.
Lalande Borie (St. Julien) - Pure cassis fruit and some graphite, well balanced.
Lamothe Bergeron (Haut Medoc) - Earthy w/ attractive softening tannins.
Moulin St. Georges (St. Emilion) - Stunning, concentrated medium weight w/ black currants and minerals. Elegant and complete. An astonishingly classy $24. wine.
Haut Bergey (Graves) - Light to med. weight, attractive fruit with true earth and minerals.
Clos du Marquis (St. Julien) - A little disappointing last year, but now adding notable weight. Still tannic. No finesse as yet. Needs time.

These wines and a host of others are the affordable litmus test for a truely great Bordeaux vintage.

Anyone else exploring 'junior' 2000s?

Steve

[Chasse-Spleen]

Nice note, Hound. I drank my one bottle of Martinens a few years ago, and it was great. The interesting thing about these wines is that they have individual style and are still totally satisfying, absolutely nothing generic or 'budget' about them.
-Chasse

[DavidG]

Anyone else exploring 'junior' 2000s?

Steve

Not sure if they count as "juniors" but Giscours was pretty good a few months ago (expecting/hoping for more), and Grand Pontet was drinking like a "New Worldy fruit bomb" last month with lots of layered fruit, some oak, smooth tannins, but nothing happening in the complexity department yet.

[Blanquito]

2000's drinking-well that I've had in the last 6 months:
-du Tertre (young but promising),
-Cantemerle (been open for years),
-d'Issan (primary but terrific),
-Giscours (lovely, slightly over-shadowed by the d'Issan),
-Bernadotte (really coming together, great value at $14 back in the day)
-Bellefont-Belcier (lush and ready, but too much oak still for me)
-Barde Haut (delicious and it will improve; not at the same level as the 2005 though)
-Lanessan (surprisingly open and much sweeter than the 1996)
-Fontenil (good and open, if a bit dull right now)

[Houndsong]

The dregs of this bested a 2000 Lilian Ladouys. The latter is a few years behind in development. Merlot funk nose and more acidity than the Martinens. Less sweet but seeming bigger nonetheless. The Martinens (or at least this bottle) is a profound midget.

[rjsussex]

Boyd Cantenac and Moulin de la Rose (tiny St Julien rated by Clive Coates) last tasted some months ago - neither quite ready, both very promising, old-fashioned.

Chasse Speen rather looser knit than I'd hoped; Potensac very variable (as others on this board have found), at best rather stern and lean.

2 recommended seconds: Moulin Riche and Baron de Brane - both archetypal terroir-wines, the Margaux at peak, the St Julien lots of life left.

Richard