Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend

Wow, underrated vintage this is drinking very young!

Beyond description. The 04 vintage is where it's at. Sure, 2005 was massive but so was the fruit. It was short lived in terms of aging. 2004 allowed for character and depth and flavor of fig, bright red fruit and spice. This wine has another half decade or more before it really comes alive. Honestly, it blew my mind.

Dr. P pulled this beauty out for the Bordeaux Blend Blind and it was a cautious showing. It opened with a stinky sock element that blew off, showed signs of blueberry and cedar greatness but also felt disjointed at times. Group’s 7th of 7, but my #3 for when it did seem right!

I Coravin-ed this bottle awhile ago. I put it back as it wasn’t drinking as I would have hoped. A couple of months later and it’s come around nicely. I been doing short term and longer term tests of Coravin bottles. As much as I love my Coravin, I am a little more skeptical of their research that states their bottles will hold up 9 years after their first Coravin. I believe the Coravin help develop this 04 a little sooner. It’s drinking nicely without food tonight. On the nose; dark currants, expresso, black olive tapenade, cedar, tobacco, sweet soft leather, vanilla, blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, baked black plum, plum, an array of blue fruit mix, light cinnamon, clove, medium spice, mocha chocolate, dark chocolate, stones, rich, moist black earth and dark decayed florals & fresh violets. The palate is medium full. The tannins are not quite 50% resolved. After it opens up with a half-hour in the glass, it’s like velvet in the mouth. The structure, tension, length and balance are starting to develop into a very good place. However, there are many, many years of aging to go. The fruits are ruby, ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, baked black plum and strawberries. Expresso, black olive tapenade, cedar, tobacco, sweet soft leather, tobacco, menthol, graphite, anise, vanilla, light cinnamon, clove, medium spice, mocha chocolate, dark chocolate, dry stems, crushed rocks with dry top soil, stones, rich, moist black earth, volcanic minerals, and dark decayed florals. The acidity is very good for what was deemed a ho-hum vintage. The long finish is; rich, ruby, gorgeous and lasts well over two minutes. I am enjoying it a lot tonight but will still wait another 10 years to open another. I believe at that point, it has all the potential to merit an outstanding score. When I tasted this at the UGC in Bordeaux fresh into bottle, I thought it was one of the top three wines of the day. In the right photo, you get a full sense where the wine gets it’s stoney & rich, dark earthiness.

Very youthful but powerful with dense fruit and pronounced oak. Long life ahead.

Ripe and sweet, but a bit watery compared to vintage of 2007.

Revisiting this splendid wine almost two years since my last tasting note and it is delivering above expectations for this undervalued Bordeaux vintage. The color is deep garnet almost black, the nose in enchanting with lairs of black current, cherries, cassis, coffee, dark chocolate and a touch of spice, the body is full round and delicious with velvet tannins and precise acidity, a true pleasure that continues with a delicious long finish. A wonderful wine. My score 93, drink to 2024 perhaps longer.

When I tasted this wine fresh at the UGC in Bordeaux, it was one of the wines of the day. However, I must confess it was one of over a hundred wines I tasted that day. This is my first taste of it since then. Being an 04, it will forever be overshadowed by the 05 vintage. The wine while evolving nicely is still a fairly long way from being ready. Right now, it needs food/grilled meat to bring it to a fuller life. The 04 is; dry blackberries, spiced black plum, dark cherries, violets, decayed floral bouquet, mocha chocolate, dry herbs, mint, menthol, strong leather, lots of graphite, tar, tobacco with ash, dry dark soil, dry pebbles, volcanic minerals, dry stems & big spice. The structure and tannins are still big. The fruit and earth are only beginning to come into balance and still need a lot of evolutionary work. The length is still somewhat austere but long. The acidity is a short of what is required. The finish is sticky big dry tannins, dry dark cassis, mocha chocolate, big spice, dry herbs but has it's pleasure. The 04 needs another 8-10 years before it delivers on any of it's early preconceived expectations. However, this wine has the potential to be much more than it has tonight.

ATG 4-08-2014

Very pretty wine. Nice fruit, fine tannins, moderate weight, clean finish. Nice to drink now.