Merci Alex!
I loved reading your story..

Great report, Alex! I can testify on a few wines.. 2002 and 2005 Lafaurie-Peyraguey. I had the opportunity to taste these two earlier this year as I visited the estate. Clos Haut Peyraguey is one of my favourites growths. And it's so obviously undervalued! Suduiraut is running on all cylinders since...

Good discussion and nice report, Chris! Thanks a lot.. And thanks for your recommendation on 2007 Pichon Baron which, quite surprisingly, I never tested to this day! From my recent experiences to Bordeaux, I very much agree with your analysis of the 2007 vintage. Visiting chateaux these days means g...

These guys are quite famous here (in Switzerland) for their surrealist sense of humour..

Thanks Alex..

I've heard that Chateau & Estates, the by-far-biggest importer of Bdx into the US, took a complete pass on '08 futures. To my view, this is a serious strategic mistake made by US importers. Prices in € are down by 30% in average from the 2007 level while 2008's quality is excellent to outstandi...

The blend is very similar Jon. Langoa: 70% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc Léoville: 73% C-S, 23% M, 4% C-F. Production process at both properties are under supervision of Barton's Technical Director Michel Raoult. Vinification and aging (50% in new oak barrels for 20 months) ar...

You're certainly right Claudius.
Nevertheless, I think Houndsong's point was more about the differences between the two Barton where crop management and vinification are almost similar, rather than the Léovilles which, as you mentioned, are indeed managed totally separately.

Thanks William..
I was wondering if it was worth to contact them for a project I'm currently working on.

Alain

One thing is sure: $600 is way too much.. even for classified grape juice as mentioned by Stefan! There are certainly a number of nice lefties in 2006. But to my view, the best of 2006 probably comes from the Right Bank which offers an outstanding number of truly excellent wines for less than 1/10th...

Hi Alex, Last January we had both wines at a "1989 - 20th anniversary" blind tasting with a group of friends where each of us came along with a few bottles. Both Léovilles (Las Cases and Barton) where among the best wines that night. Langoa was much appreciated even though it lacked a bit ...

I was wondering if some of you have any experience with a multi-disciplinary wine site called Snooth.com?
I never heard of it before but apparently it seems to be quite popular in the US?

Thanks and cheers,

Alain

Congrats, Harry!
I'm very impressed by the preview on your site. You've done an incredible work..

Looking forward in reading this masterpiece!

Cheers,
Alain

I completly missed the Squires board dispute as I don't go there anymore. But I've read Jim's posts here and found the whole story pretty sad.. and boring! As long as Parker has any influence on the world of wine - and for sure he still has a huge one - there will be a significant amount of people w...

Never had the 2005.. The 2004 Les Grands Chênes was quite controversial.. so terribly woody. As we say in French, it was pure plank juice..

Recently we had a lot of pleasure with a 1989 Beaucastel. This bottle seemed to be at least 10 years younger than its real age!
My only concern is thinking how old I'll be when my CNDP 2005, 2006 or 2007 will reach their maturing stage..

Hi Steve, Last Friday was my brother's birthday and we experienced 1999 Mouton and 1999 Lafite side by side :D . Mouton currently seems quite nice and forward with smooth integrated tannins, though it doesn't really "explode" on the palate. Lafite has layers of complexity and a deeper stru...

Steve, It is widely accepted that i.e. bluefin tuna have been severely overfished, with some stocks at risk of collapse. I went through an article published last week by Reuters which confirms what I already know for a couple of years. It clearly corroborates the critical situation of the Atlantic a...

The worldwide Sushi hype in the last 10 years is causing great damage to the ocean. Since 1995, the volume taken out of the sea for kind of fishes commonly used for the preparation of Sushi is up by.. 80% ! This rate is simply unsustainable on the long term. Another fact is that the average size of ...

AlexR wrote:2008 Latour is going for 110 euros a bottle (price to négociants).

I heard of 140€ / bottle to négociants for Latour?

Rieslingfan wrote:You guys are missing half the fun - misinterpret RP then get the human shields to mock you in a 15 page thread on RP's site.

This kind of reminds me something..

Thanks for reporting Stephan!
Nice memories as I owned a couple of bottles of 1985 La Lagune but was much too impatient and opened them both a long time ago..

Who said there where no great wines but only great bottles?

RP's correct sentence makes much more sense to me now..

Claudius, To my view, 2001, 2004, 2006 (and 2008?) are good to excellent on the Right Bank (no generalizations though!). But 2002 is much more a Left rather than a Right Bank success.. As for 2003, I recall Château Le Pin (Pomerol) didn't even produce one single bottle as they considered quality to ...

Sorry.. Does RB mean Right Bank??? According to my own tastings, 2003 on the Right Bank is not (always) that exciting :?: Last week-end I attended to a blind tasting on the "2003 in France" theme. 38 wines were reassessed and the clear winners (Bordeaux speaking) were on the Left Bank (Soc...

Hi David.. I'll try to be around "BWE II" more often ;) Hi Alch, nice to see you around here! To my view, Cabernet Sauvignon had problems to ripen properly in 1998. Therefore Left Bank wines are sometimes tight and closed with a slight greenish tannin feel. But a number of good properties ...

Hi Harry, Nice to read from you again! How's your book on CNDP going?? If I remember well, you came along to Paris in June 2006 to meet a number of BWE members and you shared a bottle of 98 L'Evangile at "Laurent" with us. At that time I found it potentially very good but tight and closed....

I'm just back home from Bordeaux where I've been visiting 16 properties in 5 days. Last Thursday at Château Lafleur and Château Ausone were memorable moments. The château owners are generally willing to spend time with people like us at this moment of the year as they are not specially under pressur...

My first post on BWE :D is to thank Alex for his invitation at the "L'Orléans" restaurant. By the way, this typical French Brasserie should be on the books for anyone visiting Bordeaux. The food is excellent and the wine list is extensive with very studied and reasonable prices. A hot reco...