The 2009 Gazin has been uncorked....

[JimHow]

Hey, it's our 21st birthday celebration, it's time to live a little....

[Blanquito]

Ooh, do tell. I have 6 of those. My guess it is in it’s too early for the Blanquito palate, putting it squarely in the prime How drinking window.

[stefan]

I bet it cost more than my 1998 Gazin by a factor of three.

[JimHow]

Alcoholic, volatile, a roller coaster. Started off bitter and tart, with decanting it evolved into Pomerol chocolate on the nose and palate. Showed depth, but then the 14.5% alcohol came back to flirt this wine with disaster. This is a classic, classic RMP/Jeff Leve kind of wine. If you love Parkerized, heavy alcohol, modernized efforts, this is for you. I have three bottles left, and will drink one every five years. The 1990 and 1998 Gazin are heads and tails over this. This wine will age 50 years but the 14.5% alcohol will hover over this wine to the end. Rating: 92 points.

[Nicklasss]

Looks like it needs lot of time. Or will never be classical stuff.

I had an excellent half bottle of 2010 Chateau Guiraud. Classical balance between sugar, power, roasted botrytis, fruits, oak, freshness and length.

[Blanquito]

This doesn’t sound good.

[JimHow]

It just needs a couple blanquitos. The alcohol is evident though.

[Comte Flaneur]

I find the 1998 Gazin still to be really bolshy. Sorry you had a bad experience Jim with the 2009. An over-rated vintage.

[OrlandoRobert]

I have no clue what I popped a 2005 Gazin last year. Circle back in ten years!

[Claudius2]

Jim
I’m confused.
Surely 92 points is a very good if not excellent wine.
Jeff Leve gave it 95 by the way and I have drunk the 08 but not 09 and it was a little alcoholic but overall a nice wine in an unabashed more modern style. I bought a few but have to admit it was not much like the 1990 which I glugged down many years ago by the case - an auction bargain at about $A36 each (about USD25 at the time). I think it was 13,5%.
Anyway my real question is what hope do you have for it?
The alcohol isn’t going away but will it come into balance?

[JimHow]

Indeed, Mark, I meant to make that point. It still is a 92 point wine. But it is punching well below where it should be. It's a very tannic wine.

[stefan]

In general, I love 2009 Bordeaux but have reservations about 2010 as your description of the problems with Gazin apply to others I have tasted. I imagine many will be outstanding eventually, but I find many undrinkable now.

[AKR]

Thanks for the update; I have not tried 'recent' vintages

[DavidG]

Indeed, Mark, I meant to make that point. It still is a 92 point wine. But it is punching well below where it should be. It's a very tannic wine.

In a word: Gesundheit?

[Gerry M.]

Thank goodness I only have one bottle. I'm thinking I'll let this rest for another 10 years.

[marcs]

John Gilman review of 2009 Gazin when it came out:

The 2009 Gazin is overripe and not particularly successful in this vintage. The bouquet is a blend of black raspberries and blackberry syrup, bitter chocolate, coffee grounds, mud and raw oak. On the palate the wine is deep, dark and dense, with muddy soil tones, coarse tannins and a bitter finish from some uncovered wood that may or may not eventually recede into the body of the wine. Not particularly pleasant fare, and hard to imagine a good time for drinking this wine. 77-79 points

[JimHow]

Interesting, thanks for posting. What struck me is what a different beast this was from those great Gazins of the past, especially that 1990, which is one of my all time great Bordeaux wine experiences.

[Musigny 151]

First of all Happy 21st Birthday.
Not in the least bit surprised by this, and I doubt whether you will see much improvement. Occasionally I will see some hope with a 14.5% wine but it had better have some semblance of balance in its youth. If it all shows is oak and fruit and you are hit with a separated plank of alcohol, age will not make for an integrated wine.

[Blanquito]

If it all shows is oak and fruit and you are hit with a separated plank of alcohol...

This sounds like a working definition of Parker’s wine nirvana.

[Nicklasss]

The only Chateau Gazin i kinda liked a bit, was that 1964 that MichaelP brought to Montréal in 2003.

The 2017 at Montréal UGC tasting last year, let me exactly like your impression forvthat 2009 Jim. But never i would rate it above 90. I thought like 84 was more fair.

Anyway, i never bought any Gazin, and that shouldn't change in the coming years.

[Blanquito]

So Jim, if holding any 2009 Gazin (and 2010, in my case), would you recommend dumping these (assuming (a) someone already has too much wine/plenty of wine, (b) has an easy and ready means to sell, and (c) would at least get their money back)?

I know you don't/haven't sold wine, but I have some wine headed to auction right now so it would be easy to add in. But maybe you think these are worth holding to see what 15 years in the cellar will do?

[marcs]

First of all Happy 21st Birthday.
Not in the least bit surprised by this, and I doubt whether you will see much improvement. Occasionally I will see some hope with a 14.5% wine but it had better have some semblance of balance in its youth. If it all shows is oak and fruit and you are hit with a separated plank of alcohol, age will not make for an integrated wine.

I share your prejudice, but 2009 Trotanoy is 14.3 and 2015 VCC is 14.6. I have invested in them so hope they will come around.

[JimHow]

Boy, good question, Patrick, I think Musigny-151 might unfortunately be right about these wines, I just think they are what they are, with that high alcohol. I mean, again, they aren't swill, I did give it 92 points for a reason, I just expected a lot more, and I think I have just idealized Gazin from memories of the way it once was, kind of like we keep swirling the glass, hoping beyond hope that today's Gruaud Larose is going to resurrect the glory of those 1980s vintages, but it just doesn't materialize.

[marcs]

So Jim, if holding any 2009 Gazin (and 2010, in my case), would you recommend dumping these (assuming (a) someone already has too much wine/plenty of wine, (b) has an easy and ready means to sell, and (c) would at least get their money back)?

I know you don't/haven't sold wine, but I have some wine headed to auction right now so it would be easy to add in. But maybe you think these are worth holding to see what 15 years in the cellar will do?

I don't think this is a problem wines age out of. Being facile and having a lot of candied sweet fruit when they are young, that can be aged out of. But not a fundamental imbalance.

[marcs]

Boy, good question, Patrick, I think Musigny-151 might unfortunately be right about these wines, I just think they are what they are, with that high alcohol. I mean, again, they aren't swill, I did give it 92 points for a reason, I just expected a lot more, and I think I have just idealized Gazin from memories of the way it once was, kind of like we keep swirling the glass, hoping beyond hope that today's gruaud Larose is going to resurrect the glory of those 1980s vintages, but it just doesn't materialize.

Hey, lay off Gruaud. Did you see my TNs over the past couple of months on 2004 and 2015? Really good stuff. I think at this point Gruaud might be underrated.

[JimHow]

Wow! I hope you are right, Marcus, Gruaud was one of my favorites!

[Blanquito]

Ok, I popped a half bottle of the 2009 Gazin last night to help decide... Jim’s note captures the wine well, especially the ample and fairly hard tannins. But I got glimpses of some nice fruit and I didn’t find the alcohol excessive compared to some other 09 Right Bankers. Based on this showing, I decided to hold my 09 and 10 Gazins, but these seem to be wines that will need a lot of time.