Originally posted 12-02-02
Finally got around to typing up some notes on the 00 Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting at VinExpo.
Just a brief comment about the wines. The 2000 vintage does indeed look like the real deal so long as one likes their Bordeaux ripe. The consistency of the level of ripeness really was quite amazing and it seems one would have had to gone out of their way to make a bad wine, though there are still those that like to employ too much oak for my tastes.
I tasted about 30 wines and wrote notes on about 20 of them. As has been discussed earlier in the threads about the poor showing of the Pichon Lalande, there are reports that the wines may have been excessively chilled the night before the tasting and that may have affected the way some of the wines showed. That said, of the wines I tried, I found most of them to be quite enjoyable. Additionally, this tasting is usually held I believe in January and the extra three months in bottle would certainly have an effect on how these wines would show.
Cheers,
Brad
2000 Chteau Pape Clment- Pessac-Lognan
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot
Open and ebullient nose, full of Graves earth, sweet black fruit, chocolaty oak and licorice. Full and intense with a rich mouthfeel. While quite ripe and luscious, the wine never loses its sense of place. No doubting this is a Pessac. A/A-.
2000 Chteau Smith Haut Lafitte- Pessac-Lognan
55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc
Lots of toast on the nose and palate, but theres nice black fruit and mineral under all the oak. That said, while pleasant, this showed a bit pedestrian in relation to many of the other wines tasted. A nice wine, but nothing to get too excited about. Low A-.
2000 Chteau Beau-Sjour Bcot- Saint- Emilion
70% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon
Smoky, charred oak dominates the nose and palate. Theres sweet black currants lurking underneath, but its having a bit of an effort trying to be seen. Fairly plush in the mouth, though the wine becomes a little short in the mid and back of the palate. More oak was used than was needed, but time should round it out better than its showing now and the wine does have some pleasant qualities. Solid B+.
2000 Chteau Canon- Saint- Emilion
65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon
A sexy nose of violets, ripe black currants, spice and toast. Silky on the palate, though it lacks a little depth. Plenty of ripe black fruit, spicy wood, cocoa and wet, black earth. Becomes chewy on the finish. Low A-.
2000 Chteau Canon-la-Gaffelire- Saint- Emilion
50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Restrained on the nose, though swirling brings up some black fruit and charred oak. Shows nicely on the palate, though perhaps a little too similar to many others here today as it has the usual ripe black fruit, mineral, charred, spicy oak with a touch of licorice, but I find its not distinguishing itself at this time. Certainly a solid effort and a delicious wine and better than the 99, but the 99 version really stood out from the pack. A-.
2000 Chteau Figeac- Saint- Emilion
30% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine stands out today, but for the wrong reasons. Wheres the precocious fruit that virtually all the other 2000s exhibit? Herb flavors dominate and the wine lacks depth. Like the Canon-la-Gaffelire, I find the 99 version of Figeac to be more exciting and enjoyable based on this sample. B+.
2000 Chteau La Couspade- Saint- Emilion
70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc
Fairly non-descript. Some nice black fruit with a bit of a heavy hit of charred oak. Pleasant, if somewhat boring. B+.
2000 Chteau Pavie- Saint- Emilion
Clearly the Pamela Anderson wine of the tasting. Its a full-throttle effort that leaves nothing to the imagination. It flaunts its ample virtues in a sexy, yet slightly slutty, fashion. The nose attacks you like the bevy of perfume girls at Bloomingdales, but here, at least, the aromas are alluring. Intensely rich plum and sweet black currant aromas pour out of the glass and are joined by violet, spice and chocolate. Massive and expansive on the palate with firm tannins, but the sweetness and depth of the fruit is keeping the tannins in check. A true hedonists wine that makes you feel a little guilty for enjoying it so much. Solid A.
2000 Chteau Troplong Mondot- Saint-Emilion
80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc
A very seductive and decadent wine on the nose and palate. It shows great weight and presence with rich n sweet black fruits, spicy wood and cocoa. Expansive across the palate with a lingering, sweet finish. One of the stars of the show. Low A.
2000 Chteau Clinet- Pomerol
85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc
A sweet, but somewhat restrained nose. Actually, restrained would be good way to describe the wine overall, especially following the pumped up a notch Troplong Mondot and Pavie. The wine shows more elegance and silkiness at the expense of weight and extract. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, just different. It still possesses the vintages ripe black fruit, with more of a blackberry edge, licorice, and spicy, chocolaty oak. Quit nice. Low A-.
2000 Chteau Gazin- Pomerol
85% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc
A touch of volatility on the nose with more of a red fruit character than the usual black fruit Ive largely experienced today, with espresso and herb. Rather stern and ungenerous in the fruit department. Its got plenty of wood tannins, though. There is some fruit lurking underneath it all, but its one of the leaner wines of the day and isnt supporting the oak well at this moment. Low B+.
2000 Chteau Prieur-Lichine- Margaux
55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc & Petit Verdot
A good effort, but fairly non-descript. The usual for the day, sweet black fruit, spicy wood. Pretty good intensity and with ripe tannins. A-/B+.
2000 Chteau Gruaud Larose- Saint-Julien
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc
A gorgeous, open nose bursting with brilliant black fruit, herb and iron aromas. Full-bodied, expansive with big, chewy tannins, this wine is simply chock full of goodies. Like flavors as aromas with a touch of licorice. Really sumptuous stuff and the best Gruaud, to my tastes, since the 82. A.
2000 Chteau Lagrange- Saint-Julien
76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot
One of the less endowed wines of the day, though theres a nice feminine quality about it. More berryish in character with an enjoyable raspberry streak, sweet wood and mineral. Quite nice and probably their best effort since the 95. A-/B+.
2000 Chteau Loville Poyferr- Saint Julien
64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% ?
A distinctive and interesting nose that showed a sweaty and meaty component along with the ripe black fruit and toasty oak. Ive been a little on the fence with this estate and cant really make up my mind whether I really enjoy these wines as theyve ramped up the amount of oak their wines see since the mid-90s. Theres plenty of fruit here, but the oak gives it a bit of a milk shake feel. Wood tannins come up on the finish and make it rather coarse. Still, there is enough fruit here to handle the wood and it is fairly young, so Ill give it the benefit of the doubt for now. Low A-.
2000 Chteau Talbot- Saint-Julien
Never been much of a fan of Talbot as Ive generally found them a little more herbal than I prefer and dont particularly find it exciting on the palate. Theyve turned in a solid effort here thanks to the ripeness of the vintage, but I again feel they suffer in the interesting category when compared to its peers. Classic Talbot profile of black fruit, herb with a touch of funk. Tannins are quite firm. A-/B+.
2000 Chteau Clerc Milon- Pauillac
67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot
Closed aromatically. A bit light in the fruit department. Earthy, with tobacco and more charred wood than was needed. Pleasant, but nothing to raise ones pulse. B+.
2000 Chteau dArmailhac- Pauillac
58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot
Perhaps a badly shocked bottle? Shows rather coarsely on the palate with chewy wood tannins. Pretty tight on the nose and palate. There is some underlying fruit, but its deeply buried. B+/B.
2000 Chteau Lynch-Bages- Pauillac
A beautiful sweet nose of ripe fruit, meat, mineral and tobacco. Absolutely sublime on the palate. Expansive and intense, the wine truly envelopes the mouth and leaves one saying wow after the long finish has run its course. Like flavors as aromas and though youthful, the wine is surprisingly integrated. Really terrific stuff here and one of the wines of the show. Solid A.
2000 Chteau Pichon-Longueville Baron- Pauillac
Subdued, but theres a pleasing underlying intensity to the wine. Ripe black fruit framed by toasty oak and herb flavors. Though enjoyable, it seems a little too much like its on auto-pilot. A nice foundation, but at this stage its somewhat unexciting. A-.
2000 Chteau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande- Pauillac
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Franc
A surprising strong herbal component to the nose with a touch of volatility. Swirling brings up some black fruit and graphite, though the greenness is omnipresent. Subdued in the mouth with a disappointing greenness to the fruit. Rather firm and it shows a touch of austerity. Tasted three different bottles with similar results. A real disappointment given the estate, the vintage and the hype. B+.
2000 Chteau Pontet-Canet- Pauillac
64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
A powerhouse nose of sweet black fruit, toasty oak, mineral and light herbs. Quite rich and loaded with glycerin. Intense with like flavors as aromas. Shows a really strong structure with somewhat brutish tannins. A tremendous effort by the estate and even better than their remarkable 96. A.
2000 Chteau Lafon-Rochet- Saint-Estphe
As powerful a wine as the Pontet-Canet, but it doesnt quite have the same depth or richness as that wine. Its a coarser, more rustic wine and sports both red and black fruit. Some nice spicy cedar and black earth round things out. A full-throttle wine and a comparative bargain. Solid A-.
Finally got around to typing up some notes on the 00 Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting at VinExpo.
Just a brief comment about the wines. The 2000 vintage does indeed look like the real deal so long as one likes their Bordeaux ripe. The consistency of the level of ripeness really was quite amazing and it seems one would have had to gone out of their way to make a bad wine, though there are still those that like to employ too much oak for my tastes.
I tasted about 30 wines and wrote notes on about 20 of them. As has been discussed earlier in the threads about the poor showing of the Pichon Lalande, there are reports that the wines may have been excessively chilled the night before the tasting and that may have affected the way some of the wines showed. That said, of the wines I tried, I found most of them to be quite enjoyable. Additionally, this tasting is usually held I believe in January and the extra three months in bottle would certainly have an effect on how these wines would show.
Cheers,
Brad
2000 Chteau Pape Clment- Pessac-Lognan
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot
Open and ebullient nose, full of Graves earth, sweet black fruit, chocolaty oak and licorice. Full and intense with a rich mouthfeel. While quite ripe and luscious, the wine never loses its sense of place. No doubting this is a Pessac. A/A-.
2000 Chteau Smith Haut Lafitte- Pessac-Lognan
55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc
Lots of toast on the nose and palate, but theres nice black fruit and mineral under all the oak. That said, while pleasant, this showed a bit pedestrian in relation to many of the other wines tasted. A nice wine, but nothing to get too excited about. Low A-.
2000 Chteau Beau-Sjour Bcot- Saint- Emilion
70% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon
Smoky, charred oak dominates the nose and palate. Theres sweet black currants lurking underneath, but its having a bit of an effort trying to be seen. Fairly plush in the mouth, though the wine becomes a little short in the mid and back of the palate. More oak was used than was needed, but time should round it out better than its showing now and the wine does have some pleasant qualities. Solid B+.
2000 Chteau Canon- Saint- Emilion
65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon
A sexy nose of violets, ripe black currants, spice and toast. Silky on the palate, though it lacks a little depth. Plenty of ripe black fruit, spicy wood, cocoa and wet, black earth. Becomes chewy on the finish. Low A-.
2000 Chteau Canon-la-Gaffelire- Saint- Emilion
50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Restrained on the nose, though swirling brings up some black fruit and charred oak. Shows nicely on the palate, though perhaps a little too similar to many others here today as it has the usual ripe black fruit, mineral, charred, spicy oak with a touch of licorice, but I find its not distinguishing itself at this time. Certainly a solid effort and a delicious wine and better than the 99, but the 99 version really stood out from the pack. A-.
2000 Chteau Figeac- Saint- Emilion
30% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine stands out today, but for the wrong reasons. Wheres the precocious fruit that virtually all the other 2000s exhibit? Herb flavors dominate and the wine lacks depth. Like the Canon-la-Gaffelire, I find the 99 version of Figeac to be more exciting and enjoyable based on this sample. B+.
2000 Chteau La Couspade- Saint- Emilion
70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc
Fairly non-descript. Some nice black fruit with a bit of a heavy hit of charred oak. Pleasant, if somewhat boring. B+.
2000 Chteau Pavie- Saint- Emilion
Clearly the Pamela Anderson wine of the tasting. Its a full-throttle effort that leaves nothing to the imagination. It flaunts its ample virtues in a sexy, yet slightly slutty, fashion. The nose attacks you like the bevy of perfume girls at Bloomingdales, but here, at least, the aromas are alluring. Intensely rich plum and sweet black currant aromas pour out of the glass and are joined by violet, spice and chocolate. Massive and expansive on the palate with firm tannins, but the sweetness and depth of the fruit is keeping the tannins in check. A true hedonists wine that makes you feel a little guilty for enjoying it so much. Solid A.
2000 Chteau Troplong Mondot- Saint-Emilion
80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc
A very seductive and decadent wine on the nose and palate. It shows great weight and presence with rich n sweet black fruits, spicy wood and cocoa. Expansive across the palate with a lingering, sweet finish. One of the stars of the show. Low A.
2000 Chteau Clinet- Pomerol
85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc
A sweet, but somewhat restrained nose. Actually, restrained would be good way to describe the wine overall, especially following the pumped up a notch Troplong Mondot and Pavie. The wine shows more elegance and silkiness at the expense of weight and extract. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, just different. It still possesses the vintages ripe black fruit, with more of a blackberry edge, licorice, and spicy, chocolaty oak. Quit nice. Low A-.
2000 Chteau Gazin- Pomerol
85% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc
A touch of volatility on the nose with more of a red fruit character than the usual black fruit Ive largely experienced today, with espresso and herb. Rather stern and ungenerous in the fruit department. Its got plenty of wood tannins, though. There is some fruit lurking underneath it all, but its one of the leaner wines of the day and isnt supporting the oak well at this moment. Low B+.
2000 Chteau Prieur-Lichine- Margaux
55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc & Petit Verdot
A good effort, but fairly non-descript. The usual for the day, sweet black fruit, spicy wood. Pretty good intensity and with ripe tannins. A-/B+.
2000 Chteau Gruaud Larose- Saint-Julien
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc
A gorgeous, open nose bursting with brilliant black fruit, herb and iron aromas. Full-bodied, expansive with big, chewy tannins, this wine is simply chock full of goodies. Like flavors as aromas with a touch of licorice. Really sumptuous stuff and the best Gruaud, to my tastes, since the 82. A.
2000 Chteau Lagrange- Saint-Julien
76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot
One of the less endowed wines of the day, though theres a nice feminine quality about it. More berryish in character with an enjoyable raspberry streak, sweet wood and mineral. Quite nice and probably their best effort since the 95. A-/B+.
2000 Chteau Loville Poyferr- Saint Julien
64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% ?
A distinctive and interesting nose that showed a sweaty and meaty component along with the ripe black fruit and toasty oak. Ive been a little on the fence with this estate and cant really make up my mind whether I really enjoy these wines as theyve ramped up the amount of oak their wines see since the mid-90s. Theres plenty of fruit here, but the oak gives it a bit of a milk shake feel. Wood tannins come up on the finish and make it rather coarse. Still, there is enough fruit here to handle the wood and it is fairly young, so Ill give it the benefit of the doubt for now. Low A-.
2000 Chteau Talbot- Saint-Julien
Never been much of a fan of Talbot as Ive generally found them a little more herbal than I prefer and dont particularly find it exciting on the palate. Theyve turned in a solid effort here thanks to the ripeness of the vintage, but I again feel they suffer in the interesting category when compared to its peers. Classic Talbot profile of black fruit, herb with a touch of funk. Tannins are quite firm. A-/B+.
2000 Chteau Clerc Milon- Pauillac
67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot
Closed aromatically. A bit light in the fruit department. Earthy, with tobacco and more charred wood than was needed. Pleasant, but nothing to raise ones pulse. B+.
2000 Chteau dArmailhac- Pauillac
58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot
Perhaps a badly shocked bottle? Shows rather coarsely on the palate with chewy wood tannins. Pretty tight on the nose and palate. There is some underlying fruit, but its deeply buried. B+/B.
2000 Chteau Lynch-Bages- Pauillac
A beautiful sweet nose of ripe fruit, meat, mineral and tobacco. Absolutely sublime on the palate. Expansive and intense, the wine truly envelopes the mouth and leaves one saying wow after the long finish has run its course. Like flavors as aromas and though youthful, the wine is surprisingly integrated. Really terrific stuff here and one of the wines of the show. Solid A.
2000 Chteau Pichon-Longueville Baron- Pauillac
Subdued, but theres a pleasing underlying intensity to the wine. Ripe black fruit framed by toasty oak and herb flavors. Though enjoyable, it seems a little too much like its on auto-pilot. A nice foundation, but at this stage its somewhat unexciting. A-.
2000 Chteau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande- Pauillac
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Franc
A surprising strong herbal component to the nose with a touch of volatility. Swirling brings up some black fruit and graphite, though the greenness is omnipresent. Subdued in the mouth with a disappointing greenness to the fruit. Rather firm and it shows a touch of austerity. Tasted three different bottles with similar results. A real disappointment given the estate, the vintage and the hype. B+.
2000 Chteau Pontet-Canet- Pauillac
64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
A powerhouse nose of sweet black fruit, toasty oak, mineral and light herbs. Quite rich and loaded with glycerin. Intense with like flavors as aromas. Shows a really strong structure with somewhat brutish tannins. A tremendous effort by the estate and even better than their remarkable 96. A.
2000 Chteau Lafon-Rochet- Saint-Estphe
As powerful a wine as the Pontet-Canet, but it doesnt quite have the same depth or richness as that wine. Its a coarser, more rustic wine and sports both red and black fruit. Some nice spicy cedar and black earth round things out. A full-throttle wine and a comparative bargain. Solid A-.