Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

pomilion

A lot of what Gilman writes resonates with me, but at the same time he somehow seems to try too hard to be the anti-Parker. But more often than not I am on the same page. Here's an earlier thread on Gilman: http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5361&p=40936&hilit=gi...

pomilion

Great friendship with Ginsburg and her husband. For all his sarcasm and divisiveness on the bench he was quite a nice man in person. The Daily Show made a lot of hay pointing out Scalia's profound double standard, but it was telling to me how fond of him the Daily Show folks seemed to be of him per...

pomilion

Hmm. If it's like C-l-G I should give it a try. I saw some at a local store today but the price was very high compared to what everyone is seeing. C-l-G usually has a bit more cab franc and is sometimes a little more exotic and spicy, but they are both incredibly well made, modern-styled wines. I d...

pomilion

Haven't had the '11 but would love to try it based on the '12. '11 as a vintage was pretty dreadful based on the UGC tasting I attended so I haven't sought any '11s out. As a more modern-styled wine in recent vintages, Fleur Cardinale reminds me at times of Canon La Gaffeliere at slightly more than ...

pomilion

Big fan of the 2005 and 2010, tried the '12 last night. Terrific wine and a great value ($35), went back and bought a case and a half this morning. Modern-styled to be sure, but balanced and delicious.

pomilion

2005 and 2009 are both great. I have a couple cases of the '05, and on Jim's and others' suggestions I got a case of the '09. As Jim notes, it is a modern-styled wine.

pomilion

I've quite enjoyed a few vintages of Roc de Cambes. Fairly modern-styled, sort of a Tertre Roteboeuf, Jr. (Francois Mitjavile owns both). Seems to me not too long ago it was $30-40 a bottle, depending on the vintage, now it's gotten too expensive, imo, for what it is. Another less expensive ($18-25)...

pomilion

So that's it, huh? He Who Shall Remain Nameless is all done? Or is He just all done doing his comprehensive Bordeaux notes? Jeff Leve told me He's gonna be doing something on the 2005 vintage. I didn't really notice any big goodbye or anything in the Advocate, but then again, I haven't been doing m...

pomilion

Lovely wine Nic, a bit burgundian as you say. Haven't tasted it in a few years, will have to pull mine from storage and give it a go. Sounds like it's drinking beautifully now. I'm a big fan of TR in general, have a decent number of vintages socked away. It's gotten expensive, but the lack of sky-hi...

pomilion

The 2005 Angelus was my WOTN at the UGC tasting back in early 2007. For my tastes this isn't something I would drink every night, but I thought it was stunning at the time. I've been dipping into many 2005s, but not the bigger guns yet. Also my favorite at the Los Angeles UGC that vintage. Yes it w...

pomilion

I've never read anything by John Gilman, is he good? He's an entertaining writer. In terms of taste he wants to be seen as the anti-Parker. I often don't agree with his preferences, but he's colorful and not boring... The one rather big issue I have with him is that he's so eager to establish a nam...

pomilion

I walked away thinking this will be a very solid vintage...I know they have to promote their wines but.... I would like to get others interpretations There are some okay, drinkable wines, but to interest me they would have to be discounted at least 50-70% off 2009/2010 prices, which they aren't (mo...

pomilion

Having been to eight of the past nine UGC tastings (for the '03, '04, '05, '06, '08, '09, '10 and '11 vintages), my impression is that '11 is a very weak vintage, the worst of the UGCs I've been to (though '07 which I missed might have been at the same level qualitatively). There wasn't a single win...

pomilion

As Jeff acknowledges, I think it's a matter of style/taste preference. Personally I have a slight preference overall for 2009 as well, but both vintages are qualitatively phenomenal, as is 2005 which has become slightly underappreciated in all the (well-deserved) attention paid to '09 and '10 (St. E...

pomilion

Just got my 2010 Cantemerle as well, courtesy of BWE enablement... Very excited to see how this develops, I thought it was incredibly promising when I tried it 3-4 weeks ago -- terrific in absolute terms but also a great value in today's hyper-inflated bordeaux market.

pomilion

AlohaArtakaHoundsong wrote: It must be hard to stay in the decanter upside-down. Is it frozen?

No, it's just a new variation of the "slow-oxygenization" method.

pomilion

My wife and I drink a decent amount of rosé when the weather gets warmer. I'm sure we've had a few from Bordeaux, but nothing specific comes to mind at the moment. Mostly I think this is because of the first two factors mentioned in the blog -- most chateaux that produce rosés only do so from time t...

pomilion

Jim -- thanks for your notes and the enticing picture, you're making me thirsty! If you've had '05 Fleur Cardinale, how would you compare the two vintages? I loved the '05 on release and bought a bunch. Also, if you've had the '09 (which I haven't tried), how would that stack up vs. the '10 as well?

pomilion

We spend 5 days in Paris and have another 6 days to explore Loire or a combination of Loire/Beaune... Is 6 days in Loire way too much time to spend in the region?... Or would it make more sense to spend 3 days in Amboise get to see as much as possible in Loire and head over to Beaune or Dijon and e...

pomilion

California!

pomilion

Carlos, as you've not doubt noticed by now, a large contingent of some of the most lively, active posters here are at the BWE annual convention (in Washington DC this year), undoudbtably in full recovery mode when they're not actually imbibing and celebrating. Serious posting on the board plummets f...

pomilion

A touching remembrance, Jeff. She does seem to have been a special lady, and you were obviously touched by her friendship and generosity. A sad loss.

pomilion

Welcome to BWE Carlos -- great list.

pomilion

Chateau Vin wrote:Wishing everyone safe travel...Will be waiting for your reports and tasting notes...

Ditto, look forward to making it one of these years.

pomilion

Tried the 2010 the other day and was quite impressed, particularly for the price. Doubt this will ever completely shut down, and it should be drinking wonderfully by 6-8 years from now and maintain its form nicely for 20-25 years. Just cleaned out PJ's and look forward to enjoying this beauty over t...

pomilion

It's Parker's fetishization of commodities -- whether wine, cigars, restaurants, watches, motorcycles or what have you -- that disturbs me the most (and the "100 point" concept is the most extreme form imaginable of commodity fetishization), for two reasons. First, it demonstrably inflates...

pomilion

This dropped from His Holiness today: "I am also very excited to announce a new lifestyle magazine called "100 Points by Robert Parker." Separate and apart from TWA,it will accept non-wine related advertising.We are thrilled to be partnering/teaming with BURDA,a leading media house wi...

pomilion

Another interesting tidbit: Aldrin had also just had wine on the moon - another first! Parker probably wouldn't have approved, though -- it was Communion wine so no doubt a bit thin and watery for his taste...

pomilion

I've had several vintages of SHL at UGC, and frankly the young wines have been so endowed with charred oak I couldn't read the wine. SHL and Lascombes have been the 2 wines that have consistently been that way. But I have a few vintages of SHL in the cellar so......I thought I'd ask......has the oa...

pomilion

Parker has been wrong (or half wrong) about two different vintages in the past decade. 2003, at least on the right bank, has not turned out to be the phenomenal vintage he originally thought it was, and he has been majorly backpedaling on 2008 since initially proclaiming it a great vintage. He's loo...

pomilion

Yeah, totally agree... He's essentially saying, "I got here long before all of you worthless/lame/lying/self-promoting/lazy/valueless upstarts; I've been working at it for 35 years, have uncovered every nugget of wine insight available, and made shitloads of money doing it; so nobody coming aft...

pomilion

http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6826053161/m/9157028442 A few excerpts: "... I have essentially seen and heard it all. Yet it is extremely difficult to bite one's tongue and hold back comments when a vociferous minority are perpetrating nothing short of absolute sham on wine ...

pomilion

Parker had some credibility at one time. The Speculator has never been a useful source of information. It's really a shame. Parker had massive credibility and until 10-15 years ago was truly (at least in a lot of folks' opinions, including mine) a real consumer wine advocate. Even if you didn't tot...

pomilion

We rag on Parker constantly, how about giving the Speculator some (non) love? Just flipped through their issue on 2011 bordeaux while waiting in line at the wine shop. They rate it a solid if not spectacular vintage (a "91 point" vintage on both banks), BETTER than 2004, 2006 and 2008........

pomilion

I never know what to make of Jancis. Her tasting notes have this real shoot from the hip quality, like, eh, ummm, whatever, the ending on this seemed harsh, let's try the next one, OK, this is nice and sweet but not too sweet, on to the next one....she just bounces all over the place and doesn't se...

pomilion

Thanks Jon -- sounds like good advice, will open one in perhaps 5-6 years and see how it's doing.

pomilion

Hi DavidG, it feels like the crowd level may vary by vintage and city. Eveyone is pretty passionate about Bordeaux and the pourers are very knowledgeable, often the chateaux owner or wine maker (To give you a sense - the Cannon la Gaffeliere table was being served by Count Stefan von Neipperg ;-))....

pomilion

Jon -- thanks for the notes. I have a few bottles of the '06 -- do you have a guess about the optimal drinking window (I have 4 and would like to drink them over, say, a 10-year window). Thanks.

pomilion

I always enjoy the UGC tastings -- some vintages more than others, obviously -- notwithstanding the crowds and impersonality of the events. It's a great way to get an early snapshot of a vintage, compare how different regions fared, etc. Chatted with Jeff Leve briefly and ran into a few other folks ...

pomilion

Thanks for your notes Chateau Vin and jckba. Looking forward to the LA UGC on Friday. Not terribly excited about the vintage, but I always enjoy the UGC tastings -- have gone for every vintage save one (2007) since 2003.

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