Best Bordeaux I've had in yonks

S

Saina Nieminen

Saina Nieminen
Ch“teau Tire Pé DieM 2009 - c.14-15euros; 13% abv; 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc & 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; biodynamic.
This is quite a wonderful wine in all respects except for it being bottled under plastic "cork". Ripe but refreshing, red fruited aromas. If ever a Bordeaux could be called Burgundian, this is it. Crisp, but sweet red fruit, tangy, lively and refreshing. Wonderful stuff. When served blind I thought this was one of the top Beaujolais like Foillard (parlour games be damned).

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originally posted by Otto Nieminen:
If ever a Bordeaux could be called Burgundian, this is it.
Click to expand...
Is that a good thing?

Hmmmmm.

I was lucky enough to have some '64 Haut Bailly last night, Otto, that you probably would have liked. Full of bretty goodness and minerality.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Otto Nieminen:
If ever a Bordeaux could be called Burgundian, this is it.
Click to expand...
Is that a good thing?

Hmmmmm.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think it is, if you don't take me to mean it absolutely literally. I think the red fruited, wonderful perfume and elegance of a "Burgundian" wine is never a bad thing. And if I get this wine mixed up with a good Gamay that surely says more about my prowess in parlour games than anything else.
 
And for once, Joe is in the wrong camp :-)

70 La Fleur Petrus, 85 L'Arrosee, 47 Guillot - what exactly is wrong with these?

I am not including any Ausone, which is deceptively Burgundian, but not really.
 
originally posted by Otto Nieminen:
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Otto Nieminen:
If ever a Bordeaux could be called Burgundian, this is it.
Click to expand...
Is that a good thing?

Hmmmmm.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think it is, if you don't take me to mean it absolutely literally. I think the red fruited, wonderful perfume and elegance of a "Burgundian" wine is never a bad thing. And if I get this wine mixed up with a good Gamay that surely says more about my prowess in parlour games than anything else.
Click to expand...

and a different kind of complexity - one that is commonly associated with monovarietal media (even though the wine in question may not be of single variety)
 
I got a few bottles of the 07 at the extremely reasonable price of $8 each a while back. I opened one at the time and my memory of it was isn't so much "Burgundian" as pure and unadorned. I imagine the 07 is bit more austere than than 09. Not particularly perfumed or complex, but utterly without pretense and pleasant to drink. I remember definite "Bordeaux grapes" character to the aromas and palate though, just not in the current classed growth style. I should try another one.
 
I had one of the '07's a while back and I was throughly impressed. I too found the aromas and palate to be quite Bordeaux in character, or to what I wish Bordeaux to be. It was the kind of experience that made me look for and at value Bordeaux all over again and Sideways be damned, it was a very nice Merlot.
 
originally posted by JasonA:
I had one of the '07's a while back and I was throughly impressed. I too found the aromas and palate to be quite Bordeaux in character, or to what I wish Bordeaux to be. It was the kind of experience that made me look for and at value Bordeaux all over again and Sideways be damned, it was a very nice Merlot.
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Workingmans Bordeaux, as if from before when the suits and consultants took over.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
and a different kind of complexity - one that is commonly associated with monovarietal media (even though the wine in question may not be of single variety)
Click to expand...

Although with 80% merlot, it is a lot easier to approach 'Burgundian' types of elegance than if it were 80% cabernet sauvignon.
 
Today, the importer who has his offices just above my bookshop, came by at lunch with more blind samples for me to taste. The first that he poured seemed much like the DieM he poured me yesterday, except it seemed more rich and had tobacco aromas - much more like Merlot dominated Bordeaux than my impression yesterday. And of course, you all know the punch-line already: it was the same wine. Though blind tastes can be fun on occasion, I really prefer to drink knowing what I am drinking so that I can put the wine into the context I have of that area.

So perhaps my thought of it being "burgundian" (lower case might be appropriate here so you don't take it too literally) were misguided.

He also served me a couple others from Tire Pé. First up was the Tire Pé 2008 which, if I understood, is kind of like a 1st wine for most Ch“teaux. Mostly Merlot with a dash of Cab Sauv mixed in; darker fruit profile, lovely savouriness, more normal in style than the DieM but still a style of Bordeaux that I have no trouble with (i.e. it is crisp, refreshing and not obviously oaky).

Then was a Tire Pé La Côte 2007 which was all nasty, bitter oak. The most "normal" Bordeaux of the three (at least in comparison to what I have tasted in recent years), and one that I would not like to drink again.

He also had open a wine that I expected to like from what I have read, Ch. de Jaugaret 2007, a cultish St. Julien that Eric Asimov and other good people like. I had expected something unique and fascinating. Instead it smelled like oak. It was very thick and meaty in texture. Maybe I am too hasty in damning it, but I didn't see many redeeming features in it. Does Jaugaret really turn around so drastically with age?
 
Last night I did go and try another of the 07 DieM's. Cool dark blue fruits, minimum wood influence, medium weight and density. Comes across as a bit light in the context of Bordeaux. It seemed to liven up after a couple hours of air. The comparison that came to mind was some styles of Loire Cab Francs.

I also have two bottles of the malbec, I don't know what to expect or when might be a good time to try one. My inclination is to wait as I think they might be closed down at the moment.
 
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