What I Tasted on My Spring Break - SPEC's Liquors

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Try tasting over 800 young red Bordeaux
wines in one week. The term “toothstaining”
was invented to describe these
wines. They also stain the tongue and
gums and even the fingers where they hold
the stem of the wine glass (not to mention
the clothes). Over the course of each day,
aggressive, young tannins and fruity acidity
sear the palate. And even if you are a
consistent and conscientious spitter, the
alcohol, via sub-lingual absorption, will
take its toll. Much of this sort of tasting is
done in crowded rooms or special event
tents while standing up. This is hardly an
opportunity to get to know a particular
wine; it is more like the vinous equivalent
of "Hey there. Come here often Can-Ibuy-you-one"…
and about as much fun.
So why do it These tastings allow me to
form at least an initial impression of what's
coming down the pipeline regarding
The author Bear Dalton & Ch. Margaux
Director Paul Pontalllier.
specific wines and the vintage as a whole,
and perhaps avoid some costly mistakes.
<strong>What</strong> do I look for when forming that first
impression of these relative babies First
and foremost, fruit. If the wines have
enough fruit, they have a chance. If they
don't show any fruit at this age, it won’t
develop later - so the wines aren't worth
further consideration. After fruit, I look for
balance, depth of flavor, and concentration.
Even at this early age, a good wine will show
where it's headed. If all the elements are in
balance when young, the wines will generally
stay balanced as they develop. If the flavors
are rich and concentrated enough, the wine
will continue to taste deep and satisfying
instead of prematurely becoming a washed
out shell of its early potential.
I look for wines that show some
complexity and nuance (in Bordeaux—
spice, pepper, tobacco, tea, leather, herbs,
minerals, cedar, etc.) and for wines that
demonstrate the structure (a combination of
tannin, extract, color, alcohol, and acidity)
that will allow them to age. And finally, I
look for the wine to taste of its appellation
and its fore-runners. A good Pauillac wine
should bear a resemblance to other good
Pauillacs from the same vintage and a strong
family resemblance to other vintages from
the same chateau.
On my most recent trip to Bordeaux, I took tasting notes on over 800 wines—
more than half of which were barrel samples from the 2003 vintage. Looking at the
wines by region shows many of the strengths and weaknesses of the 2003 vintage.
As I noted earlier, many of the wines from the Merlot-dominated areas of St.
Emilion and especially Pomerol were frankly disappointing. I tasted very few
Pomerols that I thought were worth considering. We bought le Bon Pasteur and Vieux Ch.
Certan. We will buy Petrus (which I have not tasted but I have heard good reports from those
who have). In St. Emilion, Cheval Blanc made excellent but not outstanding wine. Ausone (on the other side of the
village) made a wine many are classing in the top wines of the vintage. I thought it was excellent but not in the very
top class. There are a number of excellent St. Emilions (Angelus, Canon La Gaffeliere, Pavie, Pavie Decesse, Pavie
MacQuin, etc.) but they are mostly located on soils with better water retention further away from Pomerol.
Other less fancy right bank appellations such as Lalande de Pomerol, the Cotes de Castillon, and the Cotes de Francs
did better with many lower-priced, very interesting wines that should appeal to the regular Bordeaux drinker (as
opposed to the trophy hunting collector). Look for Puygueraud, the Georges Cuvee de Ch. Puygueraud (with its high
percentage of Malbec), La Prade, La Rousselle, La Fleur St. Georges, La Fleur de Bouard, Ch. d’Aguilhe, Ampelia, and
Cap de Faugeres.
The Graves area (especially Pessac Leognan) made many fine and excellent and even a couple of potentially outstanding
dry red and white wines in 2003. For reds, look at all the wines from the Haut Brion estates as well as Pape Clement,
Domaine de Chevalier, Haut Bailly, Smith Haut Lafitte, Carbonnieux, Haut Bergey, and Clos Marsalette. All of these wines
are at least fine and many of them are excellent. Haut Brion is Outstanding and La Mission and Pape Clement could get
there. For dry whites Haut Brion Blanc was outstanding and Laville Haut Brion,
<strong>What</strong> About...
THE 2002s
2002 was a vintage that required a severe
selection to be made of the wines to buy
and offer to our customers. Where the
terroir was good there was great potential
for high quality wine. Where great terroir
was lacking, the wines showed it. Top
terroir can be found in a number of subappellations
in Bordeaux so there are fine
2002s from all over the Bordelaise map.
The style of 2002 is elegant, balanced claret
with more weight and intensity and better
overall quality than 1999. These wines are
not blockbusters but they offer tremendous
pleasure and they will excel at the table.
The top part of the vintage is truly
excellent.
In St. Emilion and Pomerol, two of the
best wines came from near neighbors
Cheval Blanc and Vieux Ch. Certan. Both
use a very high (for their appellations)
percentage of Cabernet Franc with the
more usual Merlot and both vineyards
contain a lot of gravel. The result is a more
elegant, balanced wine than many of their
neighbors produce. Other top St. Emilion
properties with high levels of Cabernet
Franc include Angelus and Canon la
Gafelliere. Both are well worth seeking out.
In the Graves region, The Haut Brion wines performed at their usual
high level as did Smith Haut Lafitte and Pape Clement, Haut Brion
was outstanding and La Mission not far behind.
In the Medoc, all the first growths made excellent to even
outstanding wines. Latour and Lafite were favorites with Margaux
right behind and Mouton just following Margaux. All the second
growths showed well with Ducru Beaucaillou and Rauzan Segla
making very elegant wines. Leovilles Barton and Poyferre both are
excellent with ample fruit and a fine balance. The Pauillac Pichons
(Baron and Lalande) are quite different
though both are excellent. Pichon Baron is
big and rich while Lalande has a lovely
almost ethereal character and a more
elegant style. Lynch Bages is like Pichon
Baron. Palmer is big and juicy with an
almost California richness. In St. Estephe,
Montrose is excellent and the 2002 Cos
d’Estournel was, until I tasted the 2003,
the best Cos I can remember tasting.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN TO YOU
Because we tasted all the wines before
buying them to offer to you, I am able to
endorse almost everything on our 2003
and 2002 futures lists to be worth
considering. The only wines that I bought
that I don’t personally think are worth the
money are wines that got great press or
extremely high scores from The Wine
Spectator or Robert Parker. You can see
from the scores on the price grid where
the Spectator, Parker, Steve Tanzer, and I
agreed and disagreed.
<strong>What</strong> does this mean for the average
Bordeaux afficianado Basically that with
2003, the whole market has moved up a
bit in price (yet again) and that some
formerly affordable, formerly available
wines have become more expensive and
more scarce. There is now a larger than
ever disconnect between the prices of the
most sought after wines and the prices of
the standards. Even so, the dedicated
claret drinker can still find plenty of wines
that offer good drinking at fair prices, as
well as some that are out-right bargains.
Due to the high prices of the 2000s and
the 2003s, the beautiful 1999s look like
even better bargains than they already did,
the just arriving 2001s look better than
ever, and the remaining 2002 futures
suddenly seem down-right cheap.