The wine was great — red, white, and sweet Bordeaux from the acclaimed 2005 vintage — but the best part of the evening was hobnobbing with a real blue blood! Yes, that’s me with Stephan von Neipperg, Count of the Holy Roman Empire and managing director at Canon-la-Gaffelière, one of the producers at a giant tasting a few weeks ago. As a happy coincidence, his Saint Emilion landed in my top five.
For my tasting report on the good, the bad, and the infantile of the 2005 Bordeaux, click here for more:
I can’t say I was able to taste all of the 120-plus wines being poured that rainy San Francisco evening. And since I was one of the few tasters spitting, I hope I wasn’t the only person focusing on a short list. Otherwise utter drunkenness would have ensued — and in front of royalty! How sick and wrong! So I elbowed my way toward the tables of 30 châteaux I recognize and drink regularly, especially the expensive ones, since I was trying to make the best of my $90 admission.
Overall, my take is that the hype around this young vintage is well deserved. More importantly, the wines we loved most tasted really different from one another, leaving me with the impression that in Bordeaux, even the untitled producers are still striving to make wine that expresses the unique place it comes from.
The Bad
“There’s a, like, blank spot in the middle of my palate!”
That’s how I put it to my friend after tasting Haut Bailly’s release, which was also handicapped by a reserved nose, weak black fruit, and a tannic, dry finish. This Graves was our least favorite of the evening, and we were happy not to be tempted to spend the roughly $90-120 per bottle it costs to reserve it on the futures market. (All of the prices quoted here, actually, are futures, since the major chateaux aren’t releasing their 2005s until this fall.) C-
Château Clinet (Pomerol, $115-120)
Here was another expensive clunker in our book. “Simple, not moved. Light-to-medium bodied, sweet and simple.” C
The Good
Château Rauzan-Ségla ($125-165): “Huge nose of sweet fruits, cinnamon, other spices. Soft velvety Margaux. Cherry. Extra long finish, with all kinds of queer (in a good way) flavors, like minerals, peat, cement, etc. Medium bodied.” B+
Château Pichon-Longueville (Pauillac, $135-215): “Really great nose: complex, rose petals, earth, smoke, asphalt. Great balance on the palate, feminine but medium-to-full bodied. Finish good.” B+
Château Angélus ($295-450): “This Saint Emilion, so very different from wines made across river in upper Medoc! Soft, sweet, red fruit. Lovely nose of vanilla and cherry. Endless finish.” B
The Early
These wines struck me as delicious, but perhaps a bit closed because they’re so young.
Château Phelan-Segur (Saint-Estèphe, $37-80): “Very floral nose. Rose petals and violets, tiny bit of green pepper on the palate. Plus the regular cassis and blackberry fruit. Extra long finish. Medium bodied, a little tannic, but classy — cooler climate?” B/B+
Château Léoville Barton (Saint-Julien, $150-250): “Dark color, smoky nose, pencil. Good fruit, tannic, full-bodied. Better, longer, finish than its neighbor LaGrange.” B/B+
The Others
Château LaGrange (Saint Julien, $31-70): Big fruit on nose, pure fruit core, tannic and earthy. Medium-to-full-bodied, liked.” B
Château Lynch-Bages (Pauillac, $88-160): “Best mouthfeel so far. Clean, fruity. Big cherry fruit on nose, ready to drink, medium bodied.” B
Château Léoville-Poyferré (Saint-Julien, $100-170): “I collect. But this sample struck me as medium-bodied, with a fruitcake-sweet nose. Lighter and softer on the palate than expected. Young? Bottle variation?” B/B-
Château Pape-Clément (Pessac-Leognan, $190-250): “Smokey, green pepper nose. Power, pure fruit on palate, blueberries, blackberry. Good finish.” B-
