Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

salilb

Yes. I know 2001 Pape Clement. 2001 Pape Clement is a friend of mine. 2001 Pape Clement, sir, is no 2000 Pape Clement. I thought 2001 Pape Clement (like anything I've tasted from the estate from 2000 onwards) was a spoofed, oaked up atrocity that bore no resemblance to the great wines Pape Clement ...

salilb

I enjoy Jay Mcinerney's writing, wine and otherwise, including this article. In light of the Rudy K scandal and his past involvement with John Kapon and Acker, including an episode where Rudy was invited to independently inspect Eric Greenberg's wines offered for auction, the following stood out: W...

salilb

From a bottle with a fill into the mid shoulder, decanted an hour before serving. This is utterly stunning, everything I could expect from perfectly mature Bordeaux with amazing finesse and depth. There's an incredible scent that keeps building with air, and tremendous complexity here with layers of...

salilb

Old Beychevelle can be glorious. Opened two bottles of the '66 in the last few months, both outstanding. Sounds like I should look for some of the mid 80s vintages.

salilb

From a remarkably pristine bottle with a high shoulder fill. There's a touch of mustiness for the first few seconds and then a beautiful fragrance develops, combining all sorts of mature truffled, smoky, floral, cedary and other savoury elements into a scent that's hard to move away from. It's in th...

salilb

Worshipping at the altar of Morey St. Denis, Ian?

salilb

Nice lineup Ian. Old Cornas can be so good. Just had a bottle of the '85 Verset last night that was quite incredible.

Looking forward to opening some more of those when you're back in NY.

salilb

3. I can't make head or tale of his tasting notes without points (sorry, just had to keep this going). Without an ordinal ranking of the wines of any sort, this article is sadly incomplete. There must be winners and losers. Certain critics (for example one in Monkton) don't seem to be go with the w...

salilb

if only it had been Emmanuel Rouget

salilb

How many (or do any) producers in Bordeaux use indigenous/native yeasts?

salilb

Still very youthful with the fruit very fresh and rich, and some fine grained tannins lurking on the back end, but it's quite accessible now and certainly incredible to smell with a beautiful perfume combining savoury earth, tobacco, graphite and cedarwood aromas around a core of fresh dark fruits. ...

salilb

As the Hound says, the lower yields and the viticultural practices in 'modern' winemaking have had an influence - most estates these days are slashing yields for fewer but riper grapes with higher potential alcohol, and on top of that you have aggressive pruning in a lot of vineyards that are meant ...

salilb

Hart Davis Hart recently had 2002 Trotanoy at $55 and La Dominique at $35. Bought a bottle of the Trotanoy (we can open it some time) only, think they're sold out... but am keeping eyes open for deals like this at auction.

salilb

Awesome. Elegant, youthful cassis and dark fruited flavours tinged with exotic floral notes, tobacco and minerally elements with a faint green herbal edge that adds complexity. While it's certainly very young there's a sense of seamlessness and real polish here, fine grained tannins and bright acidi...

salilb

You break a 6-week fast with a Burgundy? (Cue Jim Mora: Burgundy? Burgundy!?) Jim is a better man than some of us thought he was. ;) FWIW, I opened a bottle of the 2001 Ursules for my NY blind tasting group earlier this month. Was absolutely outstanding, and wowed a number of people. Among Jadot's ...

salilb

I've had a handful of bottles from Ursules in the past, and it's one of the most reliable and reasonably priced Burgs out there with the capacity to age spectacularly well. One of my more memorable bottles last year was a jeroboam of the 1952 Jadot Clos des Ursules, which was still incredibly fresh ...

salilb

In short, utterly brilliant. Smoky, savoury earthy, floral and deep red and dark fruited scents lead into a palate that still feels incredibly primary and tannic, but at the same time shows incredible depth already. With time the tannin smooths out a little and it unravels further showing more herba...

salilb

Already bought a single bottle of both the Evangile and Trotanoy (at $55 for the latter, figured what the hell). Was wondering though how others' experiences may have been with other high end RBs; whether I should consider getting more, leaving them in the cellar for several more years or rushing to...

salilb

Was wondering if anyone here has recent thoughts/experience with the following 2002 Right bankers? Lafleur Trotanoy Evangile Conseillante? Have seen a few at remarkably low pricing lately ($55 for Trotanoy!), others high but more reasonable than other years - was wondering if this is just heavy vint...

salilb

1996 Rene Rostaing Cote-Rotie ‘La Landonne’ Very forward and plenty of sweet ripe fruit. I was quite excited to try this after it was announced as one of the wines for the dinner, as I’ve been very impressed with Rostaing’s 1991 Cote Blonde effort ( I’ll post this admission here, rather than during...

salilb

Ramon got together a great group for dinner at La Silhouette with a theme of older Northern Rhones. A really fun evening; great company and wines, and I was very impressed by the restaurant where the food was outstanding, there was ideal wine service and a great ambience that allowed us to really en...

salilb

Out of curiosity Chris - no love for the 1985 Talbot? Just bought a couple of bottles at auction a few months ago, am waiting to check into them (as well as an 85 Rausan Segla). Had pretty high expectations, as I've really liked all the 85 Cordiers I've had...

salilb

Still some tannin lurking here, but it smooths out with a little while in the decanter. This is lovely to drink now, ripe red and dark fruits seasoned with tobacco, cedar and plenty of Cordier funk, finishing long and savoury. Last of a lot I bought from TCWC, wish I had more - but will have to keep...

salilb

Well they've been making really great wines for a while - maybe Arpy figured it out at last? :D No argument re. the longevity of Haut Bailly. Recently acquired 3 bottles of the 1966 H-B at auction, opened one this winter and it was astounding. Looking forward to the others. Fully agreed on the yield...

salilb

Nic How about Haut Bailly? That's another one of my favourite producers of claret - I haven't tasted anything younger than the '96 (have some 01s I do not plan to touch for a little while longer), but I've always found those wines remarkably finessed, elegant and seamless - the sort of claret I'd po...

salilb

Ian, I enjoyed the bottle we had at the 80s event though was not blown away by it. The one this past weekend was far better, and the complexity and finesse was on par with some of the better first growths I've had. What have your experiences been with the 1996? (Have seen some on the market recently...

salilb

1988 Château Pape Clément (France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan) Starts out with a powerful aroma of cigar smoke, gravelly earth, cedar and deep red fruited flavours upon opening, and it just builds and develops over a few hours in a decanter. There's great depth and balance, and an incredibly ...

salilb

Oh crap, the "Vins de Vienne" modernist trio? Gaillard used to make some nice wines once. Cuilleron occasionally gets something right, but good grief, the wines I've tasted from the trio are closer to CA Syrah than anything classical and Northern Rhone-ish. Sympathies over the wine Ramon, ...

salilb

Decanted a few hours in advance. Obviously incredibly young now but it's already quite compelling and showing a lot of complexity; there's a powerful fragrance of cedar wood and cigar smoke, and layers of dark fruited flavours, dried herbs, savoury earth and cedary elements on the palate. There's im...

salilb

Sturgeon's law applies to Cellartracker, like most other things. I find the bulk of info on CT generally useless, but tasting notes on wines/producers I'm interested in, particularly from people whose tastes/preferences I'm familiar with either personally or through wine boards are incredibly useful...

salilb

Not only is the 2003 SHL sucky, the 2001 is as spoofulated (I'm going to take my chance here and use that controversial "s" word) as they come. Wow. When would you say SHL went to the dark side? I recollect really liking their 98, haven't had anything more recent but would be a shame if t...

salilb

Love those 01 Prums. They are drinking so well now.

Appreciate the note on the 97 WS auslese, was considering opening a bottle soon.

salilb

Same here - have been fortunate to have the 66 Domaine de Chevalier and Calon Segur in the past few months; the DDC was excellent and the Calon was just sensational - one of my best aged Bordeaux experiences yet.

salilb

Very tertiary at first, all smoke, tobacco, leather and savoury tarry flavours that smell more like an old Barolo. Over a few hours in the decanter the fruit emerges and it gains more depth and nuance, all the while maintaining an ethereal, finessed palate presence. Wonderful wine that's still drink...

salilb

Yup, 07 is the latest release. I've found Poyeux more challenging to drink in its youth - Poyeux is more tannic and gritty, Bourg in contrast is much more polished and silken. The regular 'Clos' drinks quite nicely young. But all of them do need some air for their aromatics and depth to really emerg...

salilb

Rougeard is not a typical Saumur or Loire CF, and their Le Bourg bottling is something particularly distinctive that I wouldn't group alongside anything else in the region. If you have a chance, try one of them. But yes, the prices are getting sickening - as much as I like Rougeard, most of my Loire...

salilb

2007 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg Unfortunately getting more and more expensive each year (this year's release is around $120, right up there with many fine clarets). Yet I think this remains one of the world's truly great wines. My friend comments "Since when did they ma...

salilb

Lovely wines and great notes Ian. That 85 Cheval Blanc is a wine I've been particularly keen to hunt down.

Conseillante's one of those producers I've found frustratingly inconsistent, but in some vintages (82 and 89) the wines are extraordinary.

salilb

1978 Château La Lagune Seems a little bit past peak. The fruit's still there, though faded and dusty, and it's all about developed earthy, cedary and dried herb flavours at this stage. There's a little grainy tannin on the back end, bright acids that keep it fresh and while it's certainly pleasant,...

salilb

Nice lineup and notes Ian. I am a big fan of the vintage - not too badly priced in relation to most other Bordeaux (and I've found some nice bargains from 94 at auction), and as you say a very nice vintage for drinking while not profound. And as someone used to Loire Cab Franc, I don't have an issue...

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