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Bordeaux 2000
The rating of Bordeaux 2000 involves three separate tastings: (1)
From the barrel samples in Bordeaux in December 2001. (2) The tasting I
had organized at Valentino restaurant, Santa Monica, on March 21, 2003,
with wines that were shipped soon after bottling. (3) A recent tasting
organized by my friend Steven Contursi at Five Feet restaurant in
Laguna Beach on March 3, 2004.
There are a few basic points to note about the 2000 vintage: There is
almost no bad wine made in the entire Bordeaux region! The wines have a
seamless character which is quite remarkable. They have very good
acidity, ripe tannins and show excellent balance. Does it deserve all
the accolades it is getting? Perhaps, but someday we need to compare it
against the classic 1996 on the left bank and the equally classic and
seamless 1998 on the right bank, before we make the final judgment.
My notes for the three tastings combined are given
below
| Wine |
Comments |
Score |
| Ausone |
Purity of the fruit, leathery,
complex, incredible balance and length, one of the greats of this
vintage |
***** |
| Cheval Blanc |
Black, beautifully made wine,
extraordinarily rich and fat, seductive, unusually open at this
stage. It will evolve into a great wine |
***** |
| Haut Brion |
Unusually open at the barrel tasting
and in the 2nd tasting, with a typically chocolate and mocha
undertones in the bouquet, somewhat closed up in the 3rd tasting,
but great depth of fruit, and elegance. Very long term |
***** |
| La Mission Haut Brion |
Cassis nose, lush and exotic, great
balance, one of the best young Bordeaux, and a favorite of the
crowd at the 2nd tasting. Closing up at the 3rd. Great future |
***** |
| Lafite |
Fragrant, a classic Lafite with
superb balance, depth of fruit and length, not opened yet. This
wine is like their extraordinary 1996 but with softer tannins. Very
long-term |
***** |
| Latour |
Unusually open and round, and very
approachable for Latour at this early stage. A big, and fruity wine
with silky texture and quite a bit of sweetness in the finish. A
great, if untypical, Latour. |
***** |
| Margaux |
At the barrel tasting, and at the 2nd
and 3rd tasting, I had almost identical words to describe this
extraordinary wine: elegant--ethereal--long length--long-term--a
great wine in the making ! |
***** |
| Petrus |
One of the most massive Petrus I had
tasted out of the barrel. But with all that incredible power it
also shows that much acidity and tannins. Showed the same character
in the 2nd tasting. Fantastic balance. One of the great wines of
this vintage * see story below |
***** |
| Pichon Lalande |
One of the most beautiful and
attractive wines of this vintage as confirmed in each of the three
tasting. A wine of great finesse and elegance and an extraordinary
length. It is right in the foot-steps of their 1982 which, in my
book, is as good as the 1st growths (you have to test this out in a
blind tasting, as I have done, many times) |
***** |
| Angelus |
Almost black, hugely intense fruit
with excellent balance, powerful but not over-powering, great style |
**** |
| Cos d'Estournel |
Almost black, quite lean at the
barrel tasting and in the 1st tasting, opened up a bit in the 2nd
tasting. A classic seamless Cos with great elegance and a great
future |
**** |
| Figeac |
Deeply perfumed, dark, great acidity
/ fruit balance with elegance, a hallmark of Figeac. It seemed a
bit held back at the barrel tasting and the 2nd tasting but in the
3rd tasting it was opening up into a glorious wine with great
future |
**** |
| Hosanna |
More lean at the 2nd tasting compared
to the 1st ; leathery, but with explosive-jammy nose, loads of
fruit and tannins. Originally the vineyards of Ch. Certan Giraud
but now that it is under the hands of Christian Moueix it is
destined to be a star in his incredible arsenal |
**** |
| L' Evangile |
Cedar and cassis on the nose,
beautifully structured, leathery but with massive amounts of fruit
underneath, superbly made Pomerol. |
**** |
| La Mondotte |
Though typically massive, this wine
in 2000 shows much more elegance thanks to soft tannins and a
lovely balanced structure. Long term |
**** |
| Le Pin |
"Exotic" and "funky" were some of the
adjectives used by the tasters to describe this wine. Tons of fruit
with tobacco and black fruit on the nose. |
**** |
| L'Eglise Clinet |
Classically elegant Pomerol--almost
Burgundy-like. Incredible balance of fruit and tannins. Almost as
great as their fantastic 1998 but not quite there. |
**** |
| Leoville Barton |
Closed up, and on the lean side, at
both the 2nd and 3rd tasting compared to the opulence it showed at
the barrel tasting. But it has great balance and finesse that we
have come to expect from this great property. Long term. |
**** |
| Leoville Lascases |
A massive, dark, thick, cabernet,
with a Pauillac-like nose, very little St. Julien character and
quite tannic |
**** |
| Lynch Bages |
Classic Pauillac with lots of soft
tannins and a beautiful, almost jammy, nose, complex and elegant |
**** |
| Montrose |
This is a deceptive Montrose because
it is so elegant and enjoyable at this stage. But there is a
massive amount of fruit underneath the tannic and silky exterior.
Perfect balance. A great future. |
**** |
| Mouton Rothschild |
A puzzling wine because it is
unusually closed up. I didn't do the barrel tasting but at both the
2nd and 3rd tasting it showed the typical cedar nose and a highly
focused character of a great Mouton, but without much of the
mid-palate or length. It will need time |
**** |
| Pichon Baron |
Very dense, tannic and a bit
monolithic. Like many Pauillacs it is a bit closed now but it has
always been typically a slow developer |
**** |
| Rauzan Segla |
Decidedly one of the best Rauzans
made in some time, with beautiful perfume of violets, round,
balanced with gentle acidity, typifying the 2000 vintage, and an
excellent long finish |
**** |
| Trotanoy |
Great intensity of fruit, with power
second only to Petrus but also excellent acidity and tannins. Not
as structured as the 1998 but with almost the same quality. |
**** |
| Vieux Chateau Certan |
Very fragrant bouquet, quite exotic,
very elegant and balanced and a shade below the superb 1998 |
**** |
| Calon Segur |
Round, beautifully balanced, lovely
wine, will need time to develop |
*** |
| Canon La Gaffeliere |
Deep color, beautifully made wine,
upfront fruit, open and almost ready to drink |
*** |
| Clos l' Eglise |
Black, round, opulent, over-ripe, and
high alcohol. It can definitely be called "hedonistic". Quite ready
to drink. |
*** |
| Ducru Beaucaillou |
Somewhat lighter style than the other
2000 Bordeaux, but a more typical St. Julien. Elegant with a lovely
sweetness in the flavor. |
*** |
| Grand Puy Lacoste |
Typical of many Pauillacs, a tougher
style, very lean, but with good concentration and a sweet finish |
*** |
| La Conseillante |
A typical La Conseillante: jammy,
overripe, almost liqueur-like, with a very complex nose. For early
drinking, however |
*** |
| Pavie |
Very different, stylistically, from
the rest, seeming to bear no connection to the other St. Emilion we
tasted, or, for that matter, to any of the other Bordeaux. It could
easily be one of those California cabernets or the " International
" style wines which are dark in color, over-ripe, highly alcoholic,
straightforward and upfront. At the end, everyone who was there
asked "what's all the fuss about this wine ?" |
*** |
| Valandraud |
Undertones of wood in the nose and
flavor, but a lighter style with a lot of elegance |
*** |
* I tasted Petrus out of the barrels, along with several right bank
wines, for the first time in December 2001at Christian Moueix’s cellar.
I was with my friend William Jones and we were astonished how
incredibly good these wines were. But we were also surprised that these
wines-- Pomerols, generally-- didn’t get as high a rating from the
professional journalists as they deserved. Moueix was naturally quite
upset by that. So when I returned, I told whoever would listen, to make
sure to buy Petrus, Trotanoy, and, particularly Hosanna, the new wine
from Moueix. Not only were they stunning but the prices offered at that
time were not that high. I was planning to write a short article on
this subject only to find that Parker who had written about the
Pomerols in mid 2001 decided to make a quick second trip to Bordeaux
and came back with many of the ratings increased! I called my co-taster
and said “Bill, you won’t believe this but we’ve been scooped--by none
other than Parker”!
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