Products tagged with 'th2'

2005 Chateau Bellevue - St. Emilion

The first bottle of 2005 Bellevue that I tasted had a maderized, oxidized nose that was off-putting. This note is from a second bottle. This second bottle showed absolutely no trace of oxidation, but did offer plenty of crushed, chalky minerality, notes o...

2009 Chateau Chapelle La Mission Haut Brion Pessac

The second wine, the 2009 La Chapelle de la Mission, is essentially an equal part blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with slightly more Cabernet Franc that came in at 14.2% natural alcohol. It reveals an extraordinary meaty nose displaying hints of vo...

2005 Chateau Clos de Sarpe St. Emilion

Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2005 Clos de Sarpe has an absolute blockbuster nose of liquid licorice, violets, Chinese five spice and chocolate box with nuances of smoked meats, cigar box, cast iron pan and Marmite toast—really incredible intensity! The...

2005 Chateau Croix Labrie St. Emilion

As most vintages of this small garagiste estate tend to be, the 2005 Croix de Labrie is truly sumptuous stuff. Made from 100% Merlot (only 300 cases produced), it possesses an inky/purple color to the rim as well as a nose that smells like blueberry and b...

2009 Chateau D'Issan - Margaux

A strong effort from proprietor Emmanuel Cruse, d’Issan’s 2009 was fashioned from minuscule yields of 18 hectoliters per hectare, and its 13.7% natural alcohol set a record at this estate. Composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, it exhibits a c...

2015 Chateau Domaine de Chevalier - Pessac

It has wonderful focus and class. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin, very complex with lightly peppered black fruit. What marks this Domaine de Chevalier is the reserve and precision on the finish, a wine that is holding something back for...

2009 Chateau Domaine de Chevalier - Pessac

In late 2011, I had the last bottle in my cellar of the 1970 Domaine de Chevalier. Much to my surprise, it was still holding on to life and remained gorgeously complex in that ethereal Graves style. The 2009, one of the finest Domaine de Chevaliers yet pr...

2015 Chateau Feytit Clinet - Pomerol

The 2015 Feytit Clinet is composed of 94% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc and aged for 15 months in 70% new and 30% one-year-old French oak barrels. Deep garnet-purple in color, it has a lovely nose of crème de cassis, preserved plums and wild blueberries wi...

2010 Chateau Giscours - Margaux

Tasted at the Château Giscours vertical, the 2010 Château Giscours is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Merlot picked between September 27 and October 14. I contrasted this directly against the superb 2009, but I still maintain that this has the u...

2005 Chateau La Confession - St. Emilion

Opaque purple, with a sweet blue and blackberry perfume intertwined with licorice and graphite, the 2005 La Confession exhibits massive concentration and extraction, but this full-bodied wine pulls back from being over-the-top because of intrinsic freshne...

2005 Chateau La Fleur Morange - St. Emilion

Produced from 21 hectoliters per hectare, the 2005 La Fleur Morange, amazingly, achieved a natural alcohol content of 15%. The brilliant Claude Gros is the consulting oenologist for this cuvee, a 350-case garagiste offering. It boasts a saturated black/pu...

2009 Chateau Le Dome - St. Emilion

One of the most distinctive wines made in Bordeaux, Le Dome has one of the highest percentages of Cabernet Franc of any claret I can think of. Composed of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot, it exhibits a certain delicacy and elegance (due to the Cabernet ...

2005 Chateau Monbousquet - St. Emilion

From a less than noble terroir in Saint-Sulpice de Faleyrens, Gerard Perse has accomplished miraculous things at Monbousquet. Prior to his acquisition of this property in the mid-nineties, this wine tasted like watered-down Beaujolais, but Perse has turne...

2009 Chateau Montrose - St. Estephe

Jean Bernard Delmas' goal was to find perfect equilibrium between freshness and concentration, given its incredible opulence and the voluptuous character this vintage offered. That's what this wine has in abundance. With an astounding dense purple color, ...

2005 Chateau Pavie - St. Emilion

Gerard Perse believes this is the greatest Pavie he's made to date, although certainly I would argue that list includes the 2000, as well as the 2009 and 2010, among his superstars. This wine, which I had both in the 2005 horizontal report in the Wine Adv...

2009 Chateau Pavie Macquin - St. Emilion

(14.5% alcohol; 3.39 pH): Bright ruby-red. Enticing nose offers fragrant floral and red berry aromas lifted by aromatic wood and mineral notes. Bright, fresh and juicy, with concentrated red berry, tobacco and delicately herbal flavors showing notewort...

2008 Chateau Providence - Pomerol

2005 Chateau Vieux Ch Certan Pomerol

A stunning effort from Alexander Thienpont, the 2005 Vieux Chateau Certan (a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc) reveals an inky/blue/purple color along with a rich, sumptuous perfume of black olives, lavender, roasted herbs, licorice, pain grille...