Tastings by Michael

2009 Cos d’Estournel is a 2nd growth in the 1855 Classification. An outstanding Bordeaux wine, and one of my favourites. We decanted the wine around 3hrs prior to tasting (the Château recommends decanting wines made after 2000 at least two hours before tasting), it accompanied our Christmas dinner – Filet Wellington. The overall impression is that of a truly great Bordeaux, that is beginning to show its potential, is likely to be even much better in a few years time, and will last for many more years, or decades even.

Rubi color, light opacity. In the nose, it shows very complex, intense aromas of dark red fruit, blackberries, cassis, dark cherry, with notes of cigar box. On the palate, this wine comes on powerful, dry, medium acidity, round mouthfeel, silky but firm tannins. Wow, what a wine!

We truly loved this 2009 Cos d’Estournel. Will probably lock the other bottles away (we had opened two last night, to be sure not to have a bottle issue… but both were identical and truly great).

TBM 95 points.

1982 Bordeaux – Tasting (Overview) relates to an event that took place on 10 December 2022, from 16h (until about 23h) at Gasthof Sternen, Kloster Wettingen. Organised by Alexander Ulrich , great collector of mature Bordeaux wines. To warm up and prepare for the tasting, he served a 2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese of J. J. Prüm in Magnum bottle – a lovely Riesling, fresh and vibrant. This was followed by a 1994 Kaseler Kehrnagel Auslese, Patheiger – a golden Riesling with aromas of apricot, honey and caramel notes, the sweetness nicely compensated by the freshness coming from the acidity which is so typical for Riesling.

A detailed description of the Bordeaux wines can be found here.

Organization and Presentation of the Wines

The actual 1982 Bordeaux – Tasting (Overview) was organised in several flights. All wines were being served blind. 4 wines per flight, and Alexander had combined all except two of the flights by area, so we had Margaux, St. Estèphe, St. Julien and Pauillac, one flight of 2 St. Estèphe, 1 Margaux and 1 Haut Medoc, and the dinner flight which included the dinner wine, 2 St. Emilion and 1 “Pirate” – which turned out to be a Spanish wine from 1982.

All in all, we tasted 28 wines. Only 1 was flawed (corked), all others were without any defects – none of them was oxidised, luckily. However, a few wines were well past their peak, two apparently having been brought back from their grave. When tasting 40 year old wines, you are taking an adventurous route. Unless you had purchased all wines yourself en primeur and stored them at perfect conditions for their lifetime, you are likely to be faced with the effects of less-than-perfect storage. This means that some of the wines may not show as well as you would have expected them to. Obviously, when collecting wines, and purchasing at auctions, you will not know the condition of the wine. You can check the fill level, the clarity – but even if this is perfect, this does not give you a clue how the wine will have developed.

The positive surprises

Thus, there were a few surprises. I just want to name a few: Ch. Cantemerle showed quite nicely, with notes of chocolate, dried plum, a round mouthfeel and good length (TBM 91 pt.) Ch. Lascombes had notes of Cocoa, spices, was round and really long (TBM 92 pt.). Ch. Lagrange surprised with a freshness and nice dark fruit, cigar box and some leathery notes, and a long final (TBM 92 pt.). I could not believe that the Ch. La Lagune that we tasted were really from 1982 – I had the impression that it was at its peak, fresh, nice dark red fruit, very much alive and showing a wonderful presence (TBM 93 pt.).

Some Slight Disappointments

There were also some disappointments – one would have expected more. The reasons remain obscure, but probably have to do with conditions of storage. For instance, Ch. Cos d’Estournel was a bit flat, despite some nice notes of cocoa and leather. But it lacked the depth and strength that I am used to from Cos. TBM 88 pt. is well below what I would normally rate a Cos d’Estournel, according to my experience with other vintages. Ch. L’Angelus, normally a total Star from St. Emilion, also limped far back behind expectations. Rather flat, aromas not very pronounced, only medium length… disappointing TBM 87 pt. Ch. Pontet Canet also did not meet up with expectations, TBM 88 pt.

A big Surprise: the Pirate, no Surprise: GPL

The “pirate” – 1982 Torrès Gran Corona Riserva – showed extremely well. Expressive, round, soft and super long, this pure Cabernet Sauvignon surprised all of us. TBM 92 pt.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a great event. One always learns, getting to know how the wines develop over time. Tasting 40 year old Bordeaux is something that does not happen often, so this was much appreciated.

Knowing Alexander Ulrich, it is no surprise to find a Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste in the last flight, which showed truly great (TBM 91 pt.). But it was beaten by the “unknown” Bordeaux from a different vintage – supposed to be the same label as one of the other wines tasted. It turned out to be 1989 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste – a wine that came along in an appearance of a much younger wine. It was great, fruity, tannins still rather firm – a wine with a lot of potential ahead (TBM 93 pt.). “GPL Alex” as he dubs himself on Facebook organised a truly great event, many thanks for that.

2009 Château Palmer – what a fantastic wine! Truly one of the best wines I have ever tasted. This winery has a century-long history, always aiming at producing the very best wines. In 1855, Palmer was classified as a 3rd Growth – I would challenge that classification, based upon my own experience, and improve it to at least 2nd growth. Still a little behind Château Margaux, but not much.

The estate has 66 hectares, situated in the Margaux classification, overlooking the Gironde. The soil is gravelly, which means poor soil, unfit for agriculture, but great for vines. In 2009, the estate changed to biodynamic viticulture, so the 2009 Château Palmer is not yet biodynamically made. Composed of equal parts of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon and 52% Merlot, with a touch (7%) of Petit Verdot, this is a Bordeaux blend at its best.

Dark ruby colour, brilliant and pure. A pleasure to look at. In the nose, a glorious bouquet of complex aromas, round and pleasant. Dark berries, cherry, plum, blueberry, blackberry, a hint of vanilla… an overwhelmingly beautiful nose. On the palate, the dark fruit is confirmed, a fine acidity gives this wine a lively expression, voluptuous, intense and imposing the body of this wine, with tannins very well integrated, yet with room to melt a bit more, but already very sensual and pleasant. The finish is wonderful and almost endless. 2009 Château Palmer – what a great wine!

I’ll leave my other bottles develop a bit more in the cellar, because if anyone asks me “Why don’t you give 100 points for a wine that great?” my answer is “Because I would want to have the tannins a tiny little bit more melted and dissolved.” This wine still has great potential and will hold for another 20 years at least.

TBM 98 points.

2020 Château d’Aiguilhe is a wine from Côte de Castillon, Bordeaux, made by Stephan von Neipperg. The Neipperg is a winemaking family, since around 900 years… the elder brother, the Erbgraf von Neipperg, runs the winery in Schwaigern, Germany, which makes excellent wines (Lemberger, Pinot Noir, Riesling and others). Stephan von Neipperg purchased several wineries in Bordeaux, in particular Canon-La Gaffelière. The d’Aiguilhe was launched to have a more accessible, but great Bordeaux. It is made with 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc.

Dark rubi colour with slight violet reflexes. In the nose, dark red fruit – dark cherry in the first nose, but also blueberry and blue plum, hint of flowery notes and spices. On the palate, the wine is dry, medium acidity, tannins quite pronounced but velvety. Pleasant mouthfeel, good length. Great value for money.

TBM 89-90 points.