Claret

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Not in my (short) dictionary... But it received good comments in August 2002by wine taster Rogov "Darkening now, but still showing good integration between now well integrated tannins, wood and fruits. On the first attack plum and black cherry compote, these followed by somewhat powerful overtones of licorice and earthiness. Drinking well now but not meant for much longer cellaring. Drink up. Score 88".

Your price seems pretty OK. hth Anders

Claret is the English term for Bordeaux. I personally tend to use it more for rather classically-styled Bordeaux rather than fruitbomb modern styled ones. But that's just me.

I've never heard of Haut-Simard. But Claude Maziere owns Ch. Simard, a St. Emilion (must be large, as there's alot of it!) that tends to release about a dozen years after vintage. My experience is there's a lot of bottle variation. I was recently told that Maziere is related to the Vauthier family (Ausone).

1990 was an excellent fruit-forward vintage, many lesser properties overachieved. Please let us know what you thought!

Yes.

Yes, definitely.

With rare exceptions (mostly cheap wines marketed to those who know little about wine) almost all red table wines are made bone dry.

However, don't mix up sweetness (the opposite of dryness) with fruitiness. Wines can be bone dry and still show lots of fruit. Depending on the particular Bordeaux Chateau and depending on the vintage, the amount of fruit can vary very greatly. If you had one that you felt was "dry as dust," my guess is that it was not only dry, but also lacking in fruit. It may have been that lack of fruit that you perceived as "dry as dust."

I don't know the wine specifically, but it's apparently a relatively minor Chateau in St. Emilion. Although 1990 was an excellent vintage, it's unlikely that a minor Chateau will have a very long life, and it's probably a good idea not to hold it long.

That's around $30 US? Again, without knowing the wine, it's very hard to comment on its value. It doesn't seem terribly unreasonable, but I don't think I'd personally be willing to spend that much on a Chateau I've never heard of.

Salut/Hi interested,

Just a thought, before you ask here, a very quick google will give you a lot of information.

I typed Chateau Haut Simard into French Google and got several references, including this one.

They sell it at €29, so your £17 is a fair price. For a 15 year old wine, a lot depends upon how it was stocked.

le/on Tue, 26 Jul 2005 15:05:10 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

My feeling is that you should pass YOUR judgement on it and tell us what YOU think!

Humph. The estate isn't in the VERY top rank (implied IMO by the use of the word "supreme"). In fact it's not really in the second rank IMO. However it IS unusual to find clarets with that kind of bottle age outside the auctions. I don't know where you live - though your quotation of a price in sterling implies the British Isles. If you care to search through Sotheby's and Christies (UK on both counts) wine auctions you will see not only that many prestigious wines are sold, some with many more years under their belt.

English word for a red Bordeaux, dates from the days before bottles when the wine was imported in barrels, and was very pale in colour - almost rosé. They still make a wine in the area called "Clairet" but it's not of great merit.

Absolutely as are nearly all reds from France. However you may be confusing "dry" (as in without any residual sugar) with "tannic", which dries out the sides of the mouth, like strong tea or banana peel.

See ads as quoted. An honest price. A "supreme red bordeaux" (which wouldn't in fact be ready for drinking IMO) from 1990 could easily cost in excess of £200 a bottle, so don't expect too much. However a minor St Emilion with 15 years bottle age should be pretty tasty served with a nicely roast leg of lamb. Decant 1/2 hour to 1 hour depending upon the air space between the wine and the cork.

Laithwaites (yes I also did a Google.co.uk search) are pretty respectable, so I'd expect the wine to have been well stocked at least. However, you might like to tell them (from me) that calling a minor St Emilion "Supreme" is a little like using that epithet to describe a Toyota Camra!! I'd reserve it for a Lamborghini or a top Porsch.

Many thanks for the responses. I will get back with a brief report in about a week's time.

Or a Pentax Camry. ;-)

Salut/Hi Ken Blake,

le/on Thu, 28 Jul 2005 08:53:11 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

Yeah (;-)) That too.

Or a Chevy Camera. ;-)

Oh jeez, if you're going to indulge in this nonsense at least spell the name right! The Chevy is a _Camaro_. Even we Ford guys know that. ;^/

Tom S

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I did wait for someone not getting the fun of it all...!! Anders