Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Usually by the end of March each year we are gathering for our annual convention.
Last year we were able to salvage our 20 year streak of annual conventions by getting a DC gathering in before things shut down for good and we had to cancel the France trip.
I'm getting optimistic that we'll be able to do our 21st convention in 2021, just pushed back to the fall.
In the meantime, in my capacity as kind and benevolent dictAtor of BWE, I hereby order all BWEers to uncork at least one special wine during the month of March, and post your notes here, in honor of "BWE Month," March 2021.

Great idea, Jim. I guess you mean a special BORDEAUX wine, yes?

Yes, everyone must drink one special Bordeaux in March, and make a big deal out of it!

Speaking of the March dinner.

The problem I have with this edict is that my "special" Bordeaux stash is limited. Any "special" Bordeaux we drink this month is one we won't be able to share with our BWE friends when the social suffocation ends.
I am taking this as a blanket dispensation.

Looking over my collection, where most of it isn't ready to open, I selected 2010 Chateau d'Armailhac as my BWE 21 ans wine.
Dad's 92nd birthday is this month so I might take the opportunity to open something else special too.

Well done, RC, that would be a perfect BWE wine celebration. I haven’t decided in my choice yet.

I front ran this thread last night popping a bottle 1996 Chateau Leoville-Lascases. Only problem was that it was corked

I went to one of my storage facilities this weekend and dug out a few things with the result that I have a 1997 Chateau Haut-Brion standing up for consumption this month. The last two were a veritable treat.

Now we are in the spirit!

We can always shoot for a Zoom towards the latter half of the month, as well, although I don’t think the BWE Month special wine occasion should be limited to then.

Great idea Jim it has been too long since the last one...hopefully the last lockdown zoom? Fingers crossed, touch wood...

On deck tonight then
1981 Cos d'Estournel with a backup 1998 Leoville LasCases on the bench ready to come on if the Cos disappoints

Mmmmm, those are BWE kind-of-wines, Jacques!
Very well done indeed.

Too sad, a 1996 Chateau Léoville Las Cases corked. But a 1997 Chateau Haut Brion should be ok to ease the pain.

The 1998 LLC is excellent.

A 2010 Armailhac is surely something that my lips would like to touch.

Yes, all wines I would like to have with other BWEers, but unfortunately, seeing each other once or twice a year is not enough to do so.

I will try to select something nice too.

Comte Flaneur wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 8:18 pm I front ran this thread last night popping a bottle 1996 Chateau Leoville-Lascases. Only problem was that it was corked

I went to one of my storage facilities this weekend and dug out a few things with the result that I have a 1997 Chateau Haut-Brion standing up for consumption this month. The last two were a veritable treat.

I feel your pain to an extent, Ian. Opened a 1979 Las Cases last night and it too was corked.

As far as the special wine goes, I have a few in mind. Still may do that 98 VCC if we are able to get that Zoom together.

In accordance with the BD's directive, I have decanted a 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste for tonight's dinner of grilled lamb chops. I'm excited to see how this wine is at age 25 1/2. The first few bottles were really great, but I have not had one for probably 7-8 years. When I pulled the cork, it showed absolutely no stain on the sides; not sure I've ever seen one that clean on an aged wine. I will report on the results later.

1995 Grand Puy Lacoste - so this was quite the wine experience. Decanted for 3+ hours, this wine was still somewhat tight, though you could get a good sense of what it was all about. Even though I decanted this wine a few hours ahead of drinking, it is still a very young wine. I got a lot of tannins that need to resolve themselves. So I would say this wine is at least 10 years from "peak." If you have well stored bottles of this wine, do not have them for lunch tomorrow! It is an excellent wine, but years short of being at its best.

I know that GPL has been a controversial wine on this site over the years. Might I suggest there is nothing controversial about the 1995 vintage.

You are the man, Jon, the 1995 GPL is the greatest vintage ever for that estate, in my humble opinion. A very worthy BWE Month wine! Well done.

I won't have access to my cellar until April

My special bottle for BWE Month was the one that I popped for our zoom call:

2005 Pichon Baron Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Decanted 4 hours. Dark red to rim. Cassis, cherry, leather on the nose. Full body, well-balanced on the high-ish acid side, still plenty of tannins left but not intrusive, ripe fruit, no real tertiary complexity yet, medium-long finish. Excellent now, should improve with age as it develops complexity.

Been drinking a number of youngish/adolescent Bordelately. Other bottles opened so far this month, all were special in their own way, not a bad one in the lot:
2014 Sociando
2010 Beychevelle
2015 Cantemerle
2014 Giscours
2009 Meyney

2005 PB is a worthy BWE wine of the month, David. Timmy, I extend a dictator dispensation to allow consumption of special Bordeaux bottle into April.

1966 Montrose

Only Bordeaux can do this, age for half a century and get more interesting, complex and subtle. Still has that kernel of tight St. Estèphe cassis fruit. Lively tannins and bright acidity keep it fresh and lively.

Bravo! Bravo! A true BWE Month wine, Stu.
Very well done indeed.

A horrendous Mouton Baronne Phillipe, not just dead but decomposing. A very good Haut Bailly 1975 and a Domaine de Chevalier 1981 also quite lovely.

I am humbled by the effort of my beloved BWEers, you have answered the call....

Long live BWE!

JimHow wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 12:52 am I am humbled by the effort of my beloved BWEers, you have answered the call....

Long live BWE!

And still 2 weeks on march to envoy good and great Bordeaux

JeanFred

Oui oui!

I plan to open a 1979 Belair St Emilion tomorrow in honor of March is BWE Month.

That should be very interesting, Patrick, a true BWE choice.
As I've mentioned here, the last 1979 I've had was the Gruaud Larose that Tom and Gail brought to my house a couple years ago, which may have been my wine of the year.

Blanquito wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 2:14 am I plan to open a 1979 Belair St Emilion tomorrow in honor of March is BWE Month.

That is devotion!

I may be a little late to this party but I brought a few representative wines of a recent dinner. First is a 1998 Canon la Gaffliere. This was surprisingly the most closed of the three wines I’m posting about even after being decanted for an hour or two it really needed the whole evening to open up beautifully in the nose and the mouth and later on Angelus a run for it’s money. Second is a 1998 Château Angelus. This was double counted about an hour before the dinner. It had a surprising eucalyptus spice to the nose that everyone who drank it said it reminded them of Heitz Martha’s Vineyard. It was phenomenal from the get go and was probably the favorite of the Reds for this evening. I still to this day am grateful for Robert Parker for introducing me to Angelus in the 1989/1990 vintages. Lastly was the star of the evening-1988 Ch D’Yquem. Magnificent! Golden color, rich nose and mouth of pear, caramel, honey. A great ending and a nice evening to celebrate the slow opening of a favorite restaurant.

That is a trifecta of greatness in BWE Month, Harry, you are a great and much appreciated BWEer.

Two of my favorite Bdx there Harry, well done!

1990 Pichon Baron - my entry for the BWE March tasting:

Based on this showing at its apogee, and showing plenty of evolution. A thrilling wine. A ripe vintage with so much going on with dark black cherry fruits with leathery notes emerging; rich lascivious cerise cassis slightly dominating the wafting lux cigar and cedar aromas, but this is heady stuff which nevertheless holds it all together better than Leoville Lascases and Lynch Bages in this vintage (which lean too salacious imho). Based on this bottle I will drink my remaining half dozen over the next decade.

1990 Pichon Baron - my entry for the BWE March tasting:

Based on this showing at its apogee, and showing plenty of evolution. A thrilling wine. A ripe vintage with so much going on with dark black cherry fruits with leathery notes emerging; rich lascivious cerise cassis slightly dominating the wafting lux cigar and cedar aromas, but this is heady stuff which nevertheless holds it all together better than Leoville Lascases and Lynch Bages in this vintage (which lean too salacious imho). Based on this bottle I will drink my remaining half dozen over the next decade.

A BWE legend drinking a BWE legend in BWE Month in the great city of London.

Well done. Very well done indeed.

Better late than never. Until today I really didn't have a chance to open anything memorable.

Today, with the nice Temps in the low 60's I grilled some steaks over the coals and popped the 1st of 3 bottles from a recent auction lot of 1985 Ch Leoville Barton. Really enjoyable with the tannins pretty much resolved. Forrest floor, some cigar notes and some bramble fruit highlights. Damn, this just gets better the longer its around. This still has a few more years left in it before it fades. This is right in my wheelhouse and will probably drink the other two within 5 years.

Mmmm, my favorite Leoville Barton, from the heart of the golden decades of the 1980s.
Now that's some great BWE month drinking....
We are drinking well this month!

Anyone who is "Cordier Funk" or brett averse should avert their eyes now.
Leather and barnyard dominate the nose at first, with cherry and plum taking over after a few minutes in the glass. More earthy than fruit-driven, this is still a bit of a beast as I would expect from Saint-Estephe in 1986. In short, a BWE wine.

Wow! A Montrose! From 1986! A beast of a wine, indeed, a "BWE-kind-of-wine," worthy of the celebration that is... March 2021, aka "BWE Month." Thank you Tommy!