There is a wonderful web site put up by Izak Litwar of Denmark. He appears appropriately obsessed with Bordeaux to offer trustworthy information. His site includes observations from his visits to Bordeaux during the last five harvest and a lot of tasting notes. Our interest is 2005 and he comes across with the goods - tasting notes on two wines already on our shores: Croix Mouton and Le Conseiller. Both are looking good. His note on Michel Rolland's Defi de Fontenil makes me think the more humble Ch. Fontenil might be worth tracking down as well.
Check it out: http://www.greatbordeauxwines.com/Bordeaux%202005.html
Sunday, December 31, 2006
David Peppercorn's bargin recommendations
David Peppercorn, MW has focused his professional career on the wines of Bordeaux. His Wines of Bordeaux was the second book I came across while starting to learn about the region. He continues to write about Bordeaux in the annual Wine Report series. His latest take on the 2005 wines is in the Autumn 2006 issue of the Quarterly Review of Wines. The article is now available on their web site:
http://www.qrw.com/06autumn/qrwaut06_bordeaux.htm
The article includes a list of 42 wines he deems bargains, many fall around the $20/btl mark.
Just what we like.
http://www.qrw.com/06autumn/qrwaut06_bordeaux.htm
The article includes a list of 42 wines he deems bargains, many fall around the $20/btl mark.
Just what we like.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
2005 Château du Gris
Another from Wine Library forum. Hope to have a bottle soon to try.
http://tv.winelibrary.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=19539&highlight=#19539
You'll have to scroll down to the post by Tom T.
http://tv.winelibrary.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=19539&highlight=#19539
You'll have to scroll down to the post by Tom T.
2005 Château Tour de Gillet
Not my note, but taken from another enthusiast on the Wine Library forum:
http://tv.winelibrary.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1460&highlight=2005
http://tv.winelibrary.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1460&highlight=2005
2005 Ch. Beaulieu "Comtes de Taste" Bordeaux Supérieur
Merry Christams! Poured this one Christmas Eve with a small pre-Christmas dinner of roasted chicken, stuffing and vegetable gratin. Decanted for 2 hours, dunk over 5.
Wow! Great Bordeaux. Red fruit on the nose and palate. Bracing acidity and tannins that are drying but do not assault your mouth. Like the 05 Mylord the acidity melts away with food, leaving the primary fruit flavors. Will be getting more. Paid $16/btl. At this price it will be fun to watch it evolve over the next few years.
Parker gave it 90-92. "The brilliant St.-Emilion consultant, Stephane Derenoncourt, fashions wines at this impeccably run Bordeaux Supérieur estate from a blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Like so many smaller chateaux in 2005, this unbelievable offering as well as fabulous bargain transcends its class. There are 6,600 cases of this 2005, which achieved 13% alcohol naturally. It offers a dense purple color as well as a sweet nose of melted chocolate, cassis, and a subtle hint of wood. Opulent, round, and medium to full-bodied, it is ideal for drinking over the next 5-6 years."
Back label says: This 25-acre vineyard, planted in clay and limestone soils, is situated in Salignac, 15 miles northeast of Bordeaux. It belongs to the Comtes de Tastes. Well-drained, south facing slopes explain the name: Beaulieu, i.e "beautiul place." Under the enlightened management of Count Guillaume de Tastes, ably assisted by Stephen Derenoncourt, cover cropping, "green-harvesting" and leaf pulling are the rule. Consequently, yields are very low for the appellation at less than two tons/acre, barley a bottle of wine per vine! The 20-year old vines include 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet. At 2,226 vines/acre, density is twice the average of most New World vineyards! The hand-harvested fruit undergoes a pre-fermentation, cold maceration after which the juice is slowly fermented and then macerated for as long as taste (Taste!) deems necessary. Malolactic takes place in barrel, all of which are new. The wine is then aged on its lees or 12 months, gaining additional richness, freshness and complexity. Enjoy it now and over the next 5-7 years.
The label suggest that this one is made for the export market. In The New France, Andrew Jefford calls this the "try-harder" property. Yes, they did and it works. Ordered 6 more - $14.60/btl. No brainer.
Wow! Great Bordeaux. Red fruit on the nose and palate. Bracing acidity and tannins that are drying but do not assault your mouth. Like the 05 Mylord the acidity melts away with food, leaving the primary fruit flavors. Will be getting more. Paid $16/btl. At this price it will be fun to watch it evolve over the next few years.
Parker gave it 90-92. "The brilliant St.-Emilion consultant, Stephane Derenoncourt, fashions wines at this impeccably run Bordeaux Supérieur estate from a blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Like so many smaller chateaux in 2005, this unbelievable offering as well as fabulous bargain transcends its class. There are 6,600 cases of this 2005, which achieved 13% alcohol naturally. It offers a dense purple color as well as a sweet nose of melted chocolate, cassis, and a subtle hint of wood. Opulent, round, and medium to full-bodied, it is ideal for drinking over the next 5-6 years."
Back label says: This 25-acre vineyard, planted in clay and limestone soils, is situated in Salignac, 15 miles northeast of Bordeaux. It belongs to the Comtes de Tastes. Well-drained, south facing slopes explain the name: Beaulieu, i.e "beautiul place." Under the enlightened management of Count Guillaume de Tastes, ably assisted by Stephen Derenoncourt, cover cropping, "green-harvesting" and leaf pulling are the rule. Consequently, yields are very low for the appellation at less than two tons/acre, barley a bottle of wine per vine! The 20-year old vines include 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet. At 2,226 vines/acre, density is twice the average of most New World vineyards! The hand-harvested fruit undergoes a pre-fermentation, cold maceration after which the juice is slowly fermented and then macerated for as long as taste (Taste!) deems necessary. Malolactic takes place in barrel, all of which are new. The wine is then aged on its lees or 12 months, gaining additional richness, freshness and complexity. Enjoy it now and over the next 5-7 years.
The label suggest that this one is made for the export market. In The New France, Andrew Jefford calls this the "try-harder" property. Yes, they did and it works. Ordered 6 more - $14.60/btl. No brainer.
2005 Château Mylord Bordeaux AC
My first 05 Bordeaux. $9/btl. Opened, decanted out, then back into the bottle 2 hours before tasting, then drunk over 4 hours.
Great black-purple color, not opaque. Nice nose of black cherries. Light to medium bodied with acidity that seems a bit sour on it's own but disappears with food. The blackish fruit in the palate is not very strong. I could not detect any green or vegetal notes. Tannins are present but not objectionable. Might benefit from another year or two. Not sure the flavors would hold up much beyond that. Short finish. This must approximate the definition of "old world" wine. Not overpowering, but pleasant. Went well with roasted lamb and vegetable gratin but seemed thin on it’s own.
Robert Parker "Sleeper of the Vintage"
Other views: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=213326
Great black-purple color, not opaque. Nice nose of black cherries. Light to medium bodied with acidity that seems a bit sour on it's own but disappears with food. The blackish fruit in the palate is not very strong. I could not detect any green or vegetal notes. Tannins are present but not objectionable. Might benefit from another year or two. Not sure the flavors would hold up much beyond that. Short finish. This must approximate the definition of "old world" wine. Not overpowering, but pleasant. Went well with roasted lamb and vegetable gratin but seemed thin on it’s own.
Robert Parker "Sleeper of the Vintage"
Other views: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=213326
Welcome!
Another blog...
I've been a wine drinker and fan for almost ten years now. No systematic approach to it, just drinking things that look good and trying to figure out the ones I like. We drink a lot of red, and since it is a bottle every two or three nights, we try to keep it cheap. Over that time I've come to like numerous wines from France. They're a little more restrained than the fruit saturated reds from Australia and the US. I read, surf and track down $10 to $20 beauties from Minervois, Pic St. Loup, Corbières, St.-Chinian and others. There is an astonishing amount of good wine at reasonable prices coming out of these regions and reaching the US. The internet and interstate shipping have made it all readily available. Wines to drink, not to contemplate.
Along comes 2005 - reported to be the greatest vintage in some time across Europe. Burgundy, Germany, the Loire and Rhone valleys are all at their best. And then Bordeaux. I watched in May as prices for the wines sold as futures skyrocketed. I bought some, but I wasn't happy. I won't get them until 2008, and then I should hold them for around 10 years before drinking.
More reading and more surfing turned up lots of smaller properties that release their wines the year after the vintage. Now these were my kind of day-to-day wines. Ten to twenty dollars, made to drink now, and made in places I'd like to visit (and where I actually could visit). I'm so stoked by the first two I tried that I want to share. So here it is, a blog with my attempts at tasting notes on the wines I find and a place to catalog infomation I uncover that might lead to more good ones. Cheers
I've been a wine drinker and fan for almost ten years now. No systematic approach to it, just drinking things that look good and trying to figure out the ones I like. We drink a lot of red, and since it is a bottle every two or three nights, we try to keep it cheap. Over that time I've come to like numerous wines from France. They're a little more restrained than the fruit saturated reds from Australia and the US. I read, surf and track down $10 to $20 beauties from Minervois, Pic St. Loup, Corbières, St.-Chinian and others. There is an astonishing amount of good wine at reasonable prices coming out of these regions and reaching the US. The internet and interstate shipping have made it all readily available. Wines to drink, not to contemplate.
Along comes 2005 - reported to be the greatest vintage in some time across Europe. Burgundy, Germany, the Loire and Rhone valleys are all at their best. And then Bordeaux. I watched in May as prices for the wines sold as futures skyrocketed. I bought some, but I wasn't happy. I won't get them until 2008, and then I should hold them for around 10 years before drinking.
More reading and more surfing turned up lots of smaller properties that release their wines the year after the vintage. Now these were my kind of day-to-day wines. Ten to twenty dollars, made to drink now, and made in places I'd like to visit (and where I actually could visit). I'm so stoked by the first two I tried that I want to share. So here it is, a blog with my attempts at tasting notes on the wines I find and a place to catalog infomation I uncover that might lead to more good ones. Cheers
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