The tasting was divided into four region specific flights: Bordeaux; Chile/Washington State/Bolgheri; Napa/Sonoma; and Margaret River/Coonawarra/Barossa Valley. The Bordeaux flight is definitely a left-bank flight and largely drawn from the Medoc, the primary Cabernet Sauvignon space in the region. The characteristics of the Medoc and Graves have been detailed in previous posts. This particular flight was comprised of the following wines: 1967 Chateau Montrose (St. Estephe); 1998 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (Pauillac); 2003 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (St. Julien); 1996 Chateau d'Issan (Margaux); and 2003 Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion. Panelists notes are presented in this post.
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The 1967 Montrose (Parker 82 points) was the first wine tasted. It had notes of cedar, saddle leather, mint, must, and earth. It was less-than-mouthfilling with dusky tannins and a hollow finish. Ron Seigel (one of our panelists and someone who has probably drunk more old Bordeaux than anyone else in Orlando) reminded us that 1967 was a tough year in Bordeaux with lots of rain. He doubted whether any other wine from that vintage would have held up as long as the Montrose had.
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The next wine tasted in this flight was the 1998 Mouton (96 points Parker). This particular vintage was 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. Some pencil and graphite on the nose but this wine appeared to be in a closed phase. All of the blocks are in place to reward a future drinker. We placed this wine on the side to revisit later on in the tasting.
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The grapes are hand-picked and sorted in the vineyards. Batches are individually fermented (14 days) in stainless steel tanks with a 7-day maceration and twice daily pumping over. Malolactic fermentation occurs in concrete vats and the resultant wine is placed in new French oak barrels for 18 months.
The next wine up was the 2003 vintage from this estate. This vintage was a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot aged in 80% new oak and had been awarded a score of 96 by Parker. The wine had a tannin index of 80, alcohol of 13.28, acidity of 3.10, and pH of 3.8, characteristics which show excellent balance, according to the winery. On the nose hints of chocolate and clove and ripe fruit. On the palate this wine had a good feel, structure, and body with persistent soft tannins on the back end. Because of the heat in 2003, this wine had a Napa structure but without the jamminess and alcohol. Excellent finish. According to Russell, one of our panelists, this wine had the structure and body to be in the game for the long haul. @thewinebarn indicated that he was not getting as much on the palate as the nose was promising but was pleased with the acidity levels. This wine was eventually selected as the wine of the flight by the panelists.
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The 1996 vintage of the estate wine (89 Parker) was tasted in this flight. It was reminiscent of medicine and iodine and bell pepper. On the palate it tasted of wet mold, underripe fruit, and tannin. This was an unbalanced wine with massive drying out on the palate. Ron said that he would have expected more from a 1996 Margaux as that commune had great wines in that year.
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The final wine tasted in this flight was the 2003 La Mission Haut-Brion. For this vintage, the chateau began harvesting fruit on August 13th, the earliest start date ever. The Merlot harvest began on the 18th of August (the Merlot suffered, according to Jean-Philippe Delmas, Estate Manager) and the Cabernet Sauvignon on September 10th. The final composition of the blend was 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, and 9% Cabernet Franc.
This wine was previously tasted at the Masters of Wine La Mission Haut-Brion tasting in London. At that time I had characterized the wine as having good structure and a finish of intermediate length. The panel picked up pencil shavings and graphite on the nose but all in all felt that the nose was not saying much. Ron said that La Mission for him meant scorched earth, tobacco, and road tar and he was not picking up any of that This wine had more of a Napa feel along with little acid and a middling finish. The sentiment was that while the wine was disjointed at this time, it would mature into a more pleasing wine with patience.
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The first flight was a wonderful platform from which to launch the remainder of the tasting. Everyone was in excellent spirits, wine was flowing, and the give and take around the table was wondrous to behold. At that time I did not want to be elsewhere. One of the things to notice coming out of this tasting is that the Bordeaux drinkers were referring to the 2003 Bordeaux vintage as producing Napa-structured wines, thus revealing a little of the thought process that they have built up over time.
In my next post I will cover the AVAs of Columbia Valley and Walla Walla and then follow that up with the tasting of the second flight.
This wine was previously tasted at the Masters of Wine La Mission Haut-Brion tasting in London. At that time I had characterized the wine as having good structure and a finish of intermediate length. The panel picked up pencil shavings and graphite on the nose but all in all felt that the nose was not saying much. Ron said that La Mission for him meant scorched earth, tobacco, and road tar and he was not picking up any of that This wine had more of a Napa feel along with little acid and a middling finish. The sentiment was that while the wine was disjointed at this time, it would mature into a more pleasing wine with patience.
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The first flight was a wonderful platform from which to launch the remainder of the tasting. Everyone was in excellent spirits, wine was flowing, and the give and take around the table was wondrous to behold. At that time I did not want to be elsewhere. One of the things to notice coming out of this tasting is that the Bordeaux drinkers were referring to the 2003 Bordeaux vintage as producing Napa-structured wines, thus revealing a little of the thought process that they have built up over time.
In my next post I will cover the AVAs of Columbia Valley and Walla Walla and then follow that up with the tasting of the second flight.