Matt Richman organized a pretty comprehensive look at (mostly) Left Bank Bordeaux last night. We had a private room at Frank's Steakhouse. Flights ranged from 2 to 4. Good night. Overall I thought some nice wines, but nothing compelled me to go to winesearcher this AM (ok, I might check out that Cos). For my tastes I think I like the other vintage currently on the market, the 2001, a bit better. I noted where I remember the 2001; only the '02 Cos exceeded it's '01 mate.
Flight One- Graves and Right Bank:
Pape Clement Dense and powerful, some oak but integrated. Lots of earth and a little tobacco. I prefer 2001 of this. A-/B+ (voted Wine Of The Flight)
Haut Brion More violets than the berry fruit, somewhat tannic and reticent. Hard to judge. Probably a B but as it's my favorite house a B+
Troplong Mondot Crushed berries and kirsch on the nose. A bit tough and somewhat flat on finish. I prefer 2001 of this. B-
Smith Haut Lafitte Oaky, thick tasting. A rather strange minty aftertaste. C+
Flight Two -Margaux Big Boys
Ch. Margaux Very perfumed nose at first, but it closes down after a while. Rich cassis fruit. Lots of ripe tannins. A- (group voted wine of the flight, I voted for 2nd fave of night)
Palmer Fresh acidity, red berry fruit and flowers on nose. B
Flight Three: St. Julien, the Leovilles:
Leoville Barton Dense blackcurrant fruit, good but with slightly clipped finish. I prefer 2001 of this. B
Leoville Las Cases Exotic spicy nose, but straightforward (and rather boring ) on palate. B-
Leoville Poyferre Fruit (cassis) forward, good dose of toasty oak. Good, but I prefer
2001 of this. B/B+(my tripe was served with this course, actually went best with a heldover glass of Margaux, certainly a combination I've never tried before!)
Flight Four - St. Julien #2:
Lagrange Big dark fruit, plenty of structure, a bit tight,needs time. Equal quality to the 2001 for my tastes. B+
Branaire Ducru Forward, black plum fruit, medium-bodied. B
Flight Five - Pauillac #1 :
Pontet Canet Pretty valiant effort in big company. Medium-bodied, sweet fruit. B
Mouton-Rothschild A spicy exotic nose, all sandalwood and perfumed fruits. Nice on palate, but not quite as spicy. A-/B+
Latour A little reticent at first, but opens into a rich dark full wine. Powerful but balanced, my WOTN. Group WOTN & WOTF. A-
Lafite-Rothschild Tight and not showing much, though I sense a dense brooding wine back there. After an hour in glass nose totally shuts down. Impossible to grade.
We had this flight with our food. Decent meat, though my strip steak was underseasoned.
Flight Six- Pauillac #2
Pichon Baron Lots of dark fruit, but a bit short. I prefer 2001 of this. B/B-
Grand Puy Lacoste Nose starts off pleasantly herbal with a hint of green pepper, but the bellpepper grows and morphs into a bellpepper/asparagus stew. I prefer
2001 of this. C+Pichon Lalande Dark red fruit, some slightly grating tannins. My WOTF, but no QPR here! B
Lynch Bages Also a little green on the nose, but instead of morphing into asparagus just fades away. Not a lot of there there. B-/C+
Flight Seven- St. Estephe and environs
Sociando Mallet Dark berry and cassis fruit, some herbal notes. Nice. B
Montrose Tannic and not very friendly. Some dark fruit behind the tannins. I prefer 2001 of this.B-/C+
Cos D'Estournel Sweet, ripe, and out there. Deep base of blackcurrant and blackberry fruit with enticing notes of leadpencil and coffee. I like this better than the 2001. A-
Flight Eight- lesser Margaux
Giscours Good acidity, clean fruit, a little short. B-
Lascombes Medium-bodied, some leather over dark berry fruit. Group and my WOTF B
Malescot St. Exupery Not getting a lot there, but it might just be my palate at this point. B-
There was a very nice rich 2002 Climens, but I didn' take notes.
Nice night. Thanks to Matt Richman for organizing. Frank's was nice room, though I found the food acceptable rather than enticing. At one point early in evening I heard some joking that I couldn't understand at other end of table. When I went to men's room, I got it.There was a talking advertisement- a plastic bas relief of a busty woman saying "hey big boy,are you happy to see me?", "is it cold in here?". Strangely, an ad for the Sci-Fi channel. Seemed more college bar than steakhouse to me, but I guess you get your revenue where you can( place seems to function as much as a bar as a steakhouse).
Matt did some vote tabulation: Wine of the night (1st got 3 points, 2nd 2, 3rd 1): Latour (31) Margaux (9) Palmer (8) Pape Clement (6) Cos D'Estournel (5) Leoville Barton (5) Haut Brion (4) Mouton (4) Lafite (3) Smith Haut Lafitte (1)
Non First Growth WOTN (one vote per person): Palmer (5) Cos D'Estournel (4) Leoville Barton (1) Pape Clement (1)
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.