Graves, Bordeaux

Château La Mission Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2017

Getting ready to leave France, so let's go out with a bang! It is time for some Merlot on this #MerlotThursday.

Dark ruby in color with a reddish rim.

Fruity nose of black currants, black plums, black cherries, tobacco, cedar, light vegetables, licorice, chocolates, coffee and light peppercorn.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with black currants, cherries, plums, light oak, spices, chocolates, licorice, light vegetables, black pepper, tobacco leaf, earth and black tea.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This 8 year old Merlot based blend is still very young. In most vintages, it is a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend, but in the 2017 vintage it was a little different.

Spicy and entertaining. Well balanced and complex, but a little tight and restraint right now. Much earthier than I expected it to be.

Needs 5 years in the bottle to mature properly, and will continue to age nicely in the next 20 years.

A good food wine right now, that will pair nicely with a big piece of steak.

A blend of 56% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Cabernet Franc. Aged in (70% New) French oak barrels for 18 months.

14% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$450.
— 9 days ago

Dave, Jose and 21 others liked this

Château L'Evangile

Pomerol Red Bordeaux Blend 2006

Presented to me double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core and rust colored rim; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some signs of light sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and drying fruits: lightly stewed blackberries, black cherry, plums, tobacco, dried green herbs, old fine wood, vanilla and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long.

Initial conclusions: this could be Tempranillo, Malbec, Merlot (or based blend), or Zinfandel-based blend from Spain, Argentina, France or the United States. However, the staining was a bit much unless there was a lot of PS in the blend so I eliminated Zinfandel. I also didn’t think this was purple enough for Malbec. This left me with Tempranillo or Merlot and I felt that this leaned more towards its structure than fruit so I was leaning Spain or France with 15-20 years of age and from a solar vintage. Ultimately, I chose Tempranillo, from Spain, Rioja, Gran Reserva from 2006…from a quality producer like C.V.N.E. Yeah, I can see Pomerol. Shoot. This is stuff and ready to drink now and will drink well through 2032+.
— 16 days ago

Dave, Daniel and 18 others liked this
Somm David T

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Menthol notes usually gets me to Pomerol.
Jay Kline

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@Somm David T noted. Menthol is typical something I get from a number of Bordeaux varieties (and blends thereof), and sometimes old wines in general.
Somm David T

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Blind tasting is never easy. A really good golf swing might be easier. 😂

Château Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2016

From magnum. Slightly deeper ruby , thin ruby rim . Quite a lot more dense and darker fruits , cassis , violet , red plum , blackberry, warm earth . On the palate this is denser and more tannic , more body , dark cassis , summer fruits , violets , hedgerow fruits . Hugely elegant and long , balanced and refined . Mineral and earthy but bright and vivacious . Again shows pretty similar to last year , more dense, intense and bigger boned than La Mission , but still supremely refined and balanced . Come back in 10 -15 years , and will surely show well for another 15-20 — 7 days ago

Jay, Scott@Mister and 19 others liked this

Château Rieussec

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2001

Really expressive and dynamic. great light and bright fruit. Lemon, honey and electric acidity — a month ago

Rick K
with Rick
Shay, Jay and 13 others liked this

Château Lascombes

Margaux Merlot Blend 2018

Dark ruby in color with a reddish rim.

Beautiful nose of blackberries, black currants, plums, tobacco, cedar, leather, vanilla, licorice, chocolates, herbs, earth, Mediterranean spices and peppercorn.

Full-bodied and elegant with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with black plums, cooked cherries, currants, light cedar, earth, herbs, chocolates, peppercorn, tobacco leaf and black tea.

This Second Growth Margaux is delicious. Nicely balanced and elegant. Fruit forward and complex. Rich, but not extracted.

This 7 year old Cabernet Sauvignon based blend is starting to drink beautifully right now, and will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 20 years. Would be nice to revisit it in 5 years. Has good potential to become a 94+ point wine.

Good by itself as a sipping wine or with food. Loved the complexity on the nose.

A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

93 points.

$110.
— 20 days ago

Daniel, Rick and 19 others liked this

Château d'Armailhac

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2016

I thought this was a little thin. But certainly clean and bright — 19 hours ago

Veronika, jesus and 4 others liked this

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2014

Liquid gold with age or without! 2014 en double magnum 💛 — 15 days ago

Dave, jesus and 17 others liked this

Château Haut-Brion

Graves Red Bordeaux Blend 2000

3hrs of decanting Jeb Dunnuck is right on its hitting the perfect drinking window — 20 days ago

Joe, Ron and 8 others liked this

Château Calon-Ségur

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2015

It's time for my #FridayCabernetfix.

Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish, cloudy rim.

Red fruits on the nose with light oak, tobacco leaf, herbs, earth and light chocolates notes.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with black currants, black plums, cooked cherries, herbs, light vegetables, earth, dark chocolates and peppercorn.

Nice finish with round tannins and tangy raspberries.

This 10 year old Cabernet Sauvignon from Saint Estephe is starting to drink beautifully now, but still feels young.

Needs a couple of hours to open up properly, and will continue to age nicely in the next 10 to 15 years. Showing good potential to become a 94+ point wine in 10 years.

Rich, but not extracted. Soft and elegant. Fruity and complex. Nicely balanced and interesting.

Good by itself as a sipping wine, and will pair nicely with food too.

A blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. Aged in all New French oak barrels for 20 months.

13.5% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$180.
— 8 days ago

Dave, Daniel and 16 others liked this

Château Mouton Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2014

The richest and the best of the bunch. Mouton-esc tannins ie silky smooth. — 19 hours ago

Veronika, jesus and 2 others liked this