Ending the year with an aged Bordeaux

Over the past year, I have been slowly working through a case of 1996 Château Lanessan. This Cru Bourgeois class Bordeaux from Haut-Médoc is produced by the Bouteiller family. The 1996 vintage is generally considered very successful for left bank wines, especially those from Médoc and Graves. All wines based in Cabernet Sauvignon are supposed to have excellent aging potential.

The grape varietals going into Château Lanessan is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Francs and 5% Petit Verdot. At age 11, this wine has shed most of its baby fat and the secondary aromas has come together nicely. In 2006, Janice Robinson commented here that the prime drinking window of 1996 Lanessan is around 2008 to 2018. I will definetely spread out the consumption of the rest of my holdings to see if it matches Ms. Robinson's prediction.

This is the 7th bottle I have consumed from the case, and it is the best tasting bottle so far. We drank it over a 3 day period without any decanting and the best showing is the second day, though I should point out that it still held up well on the 3rd day.

ABV: 12.5%, Price: $20

Tasting notes:

Nose: Very perfumed notes of leather, tobacco, plum and lead pencil.

Color: Dark garnet core and slighty dusty rim.

Palate: Very balanced mouth feel. Not a fruit bomb but still has lively flavor of red fruits. Nice secondary aromas of olive, earth, leather and oak round out the back of the palate. Tannins already quite soft but the acidity is still sufficient to keep things interesting.

Body: Medium, classic claret style.

Finish: The worst part of this wine is the finish. It is quite clipped (medium at best) even though there are notes of earth, leather and some fruit. At times, there is also streaks of bitterness observed.

Comment:

The 96 Lanessan may be in the middle of its prime drinking window at the time of writing. Uneducated guess is that it will provide good drinking for the next 5 years with proper cellaring.

Pre-Thanksgiving sip: 2000 Les Calèches de Lanessan

The turkey is marinating nicely in the fridge and the prep work for most of the side dishes is completed. Oh, it will be an interesting but hectic day tomorrow.

But for now, as a pre-Thanksgiving sip, (or just to unwind before the big day), we decided to go French and open a bottle 2000 Les Calèches de Lanessan, the second wine of Château Lanessan.

Château Lanessan, owned by Domaines Bouteiller, has been producing this second label since 1999. Les Calèches de Lanessan is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Francs and 5% Petit-Verdot. It is aged for 18 months in 30-50% new French oak barrels before bottling.

This wine is made in an early accessible and easy-drinking style and meant to be consumed within seven years of the harvest. One interesting fact about Les Calèches de Lanessan is the label bears a different carriage for every vintage. For the 2000 vintage, the label is the “Le Tonneau” (or “The Barrel”).

ABV: 12.5%. Price: $11.

Tasting notes:

Color: Dark Garnet, almost purple.

Nose: Classic Bordeaux, cassis, toasty oak and a little bit of olive after 30 minutes of decanting.

Palate: Fairly fruit forward dominated by sour cherry and cassis with notes of pepper at the back palate. Very balanced but still a bit tannic.

Body: A little bit thin, medium weight at best.

Finish: Not very long. Notes of dark fruits, pepper and earth.

Comment:
2000 is a great vintage for Bordeaux when wines from the lowest appellations to the best châteaus achieve good to excellent quality. Les Calèches de Lanessan demonstrated that even a second label from a Cru Bourgeois producer can be really good. Although not as concentrated as its big brother, Les Calèches de Lanessan is very well made and exhibits a good QPR value.

That said, for the highly touted 2005 vintage, Les Calèches de Lanessan should be a decent drink. As a future reference, the importer of the 2000 vintage is Regal Wine Imports, Inc in Marlton NJ.

St. Emilion vs. Lalande de Pomerol

I took advantage of the recent Wine Library free shipping sale and tasted these two wines from the right bank of Bordeaux, Château Sansonnet Grand Cru and Château La Fleur de Boüard, both from the 2003 vintage. Drinking these two young wines side by side was an interesting experiment, being that although Michel Rolland is the consultant oenologist for both of these 2 estates, Sansonnet is considered a modern wine while La Fleur de Boüard belongs to the old school Bordeaux.

Some background information about these 2 producers:

Château Sansonnet is situated to the east of the town of Saint-Emilion, entirely upon the highest part of the slope consisting of clayey-limestone soil over a rock subsoil. It was bought by Prosper Robin in 1982 from Viscountess de Montaudon, the daughter of General de Coutard. Château Sansonnet is currently owned by Patrick d’Aulan and family who runs Edonia wines. Sansonnet produces a wine which has body and a lovely ruby color, it is aged in oak barrels for 2 years before being bottled at the château.

Château La Fleur de Boüard is owned by Hubert and Corinne de Boüard de Laforest, a husband and wife team, who are also the co-owner of Château Angélus. The grapes are source from 2 vineyards at Néac and Lalande de Pomerol. Both blocks contain clay-sand topsoil, and gravelly subsoil. This wine is aged in 80 to 90% new French oak barrels for 18-24 months before bottling. Château Sansonnet tasting notes: Color: Dark ruby. Nose: Upon opening, a pleasant whiff of black berry and earth. As it airs out after 1-2 hours, it turns very floral combined with strong showing of oak and red fruit. Palate: Smooth! Supported by the continuous delivery of black and red berries and medium tannins. As wine warms, there is also a hint of chocolate. Body: Medium. Actually it is leaner compared to the La Fleur de Boüard.

Château Sansonnet tasting notes:

Color: Dark ruby.

Nose: Upon opening, a pleasant whiff of black berry and earth. As it airs out after 1-2 hours, it turns very floral combined with strong showing of oak and red fruit.

Palate: Smooth! Supported by the continuous delivery of black and red berries and medium tannins. As wine warms, there is also a hint of chocolate.

Body: Medium. Actually it is leaner compared to the La Fleur de Boüard.

Finish: About 20-30 seconds. Nice berries and chocolate finish.

Château La Fleur de Boüard tasting notes:
Color: Dark Ruby

Nose: Strong espresso, oak and muted fruited upon opening. As wine airs out, roasted meat and plum begin to show.

Palate: Lush dark fruit coats the mouth, interlaced with sweet oak and tobacco. Tight tannins throughout.

Body: Medium to full.

Finish: About 30-40 second. Fine tannins supported by coffee and dark fruit notes.

Comments:

For under $25, both wines are a steal! The Sansonnet is slightly more approachable at time of drinking than the La Fleur de Boüard. Mid term cellaring will definitely benefit both of them. As far as food pairing goes, the la Fleur de Boüard definitely needs food more than the Sansonnet. All in all, these 2 wines are too young to drink at 2007 but the are delicious indeed. Standing side-by-side, Sansonnet is more elegant and subtle while La Fleur de Boüard is inviting and expressive.

Paired with grilled lamp chop and mint jelly, what a delicious combination

1997 Mouton Rothschild

This wine was a gift from my wife's cousin. We drank this Mouton over 2 hours at a family gathering. This bottle was double decanted 3 hours prior to drinking.

Price paid: ???

Tasting Notes:

Color: Deep purple with narrow rim

Nose: Very closed upon opening the bottle. Only showed smoke and hint of fruit. After 3 hours of decanting, it yields tobacco, lead pencil and currant. Approaching the 5th hour, a nice floral aroma scent (although I could not place the scent) was detected.

Palate: After 10 years, this wine just steps into the drinking window. The wine is still a little bit disjointed. Loads of currant, tobacco and leather. Very balanced and structured.

Body: Full but it was not as full as I had imagined. I thought it was thin for a 1st growth.

Finish: 30-40 seconds. Not an amazing finish in any event but nonetheless pleasant. Mostly currant and cedar with a hint of leather.

Comments: While there was no other first growth Bordeaux as comparison at the time of consumption, this wine did not really wow any of us. Maybe it is because the 97 vintage is really so so; maybe this bottle was not stored properly; maybe we did not decant long enough. Who knows? One thing we were certain: 97 Mouton was a nice drink at year 10 and it could still improve slightly with proper cellaring, but it was not worth $180 at time of writing.

2004 Chateau Turcaud Entre-Deux-Mers

The property of Chateau Turcaud is located in the Gironde area, in the heart of the “ Entre-deux-mers” (Between two seas), only 30 kilometers from Bordeaux and 20 kilometers from Saint Emilion.

This producer makes 5 wines:

2 whites (Entre deux mers ,Bordeaux Blanc "Cuvée Bois")

2 reds (Bordeaux Rouge, Bordeaux supérieur "Cuvée majeure")

1 rose (Bordeaux rosé)

Of all these 5 wines, only the Entre-deux-mers and the Bordeaux Rouge are readily availble in this country.

Price paid: $9.99

The Entre-Deux-Mers SEC is composed of 50% sauvignon, 45 % sémillon, 5% muscadelle. Imported by Petit Pois Corp., NJ.

Tasting notes:

Nose: Sweet green apple, grapefruit and slightly floral notes.

Palate: The green apple nose follow throughs on the palette. As it warms up, pear and more concentrated citrus flavor is more evident.

Body: Light but good mouthfeel.

Finish: Crisp and clean. Short to medium finish. A slightly bitter aftertaste though not off-putting.

Comment: Excellent as both sipping or food wine. Had it with roasted cod with dill sauce; great match. Refigrated over night, the wine still holds well and developed a much rounder body.