WTN: 2005 Ch. Pipeau and a rant!

This is my second bottle of this wine and it was decanted 7 hrs. before consumption. There is a bit of sweet and sour cherries but the tannins are still dominant with some astringency in the finish. Not very enjoyable at this time but that is said by a devout Cal. Cab. lover. I can not imagine this wine ever becoming deeply interesting/complex as the fruit is lacking. Do I really have to get to the $40-60 Bordeaux level to find reds that have some intensity. A few months ago I opened a 2000 Ch. Leoville Poyferre and a 2003 of the same with lots of air time for a wine loving friend down at deer camp and was very disappointed in both. Where I expected LUSH fruit or at least interesting complexity, I got screaming tannins and tart fruit. While I have had a few very enjoyable Bordeaux ( 2000 Bard Haut, 2000 Clos L'Eglise,2000 Moulin St. George) I have been mostly disappointed. I am very hopefull of the 2009 Bard Haut I have on futures. In most cases I should probably stick to Cal. Cabs.

Do I really have to get to the $40-60 Bordeaux level to find reds that have some intensity.

What is our definition of "intensity"? From what I gather from your post, being "devout Cal. Cab lover", the dominance of sweet ripe fruit and potentially big wines with high level of alcohol in your wines is a must in order to be intense? Somehow you may have barked against the wrong tree with the Leoville Poyferre and the 2005 Pipeau. I've had both 2000 and 2003 Poyferre and at this stage of the wines, fruit will likely be sorely lacking, especially for a "devout Cal Cab lover". To a degree, even when I feel at some future point in time that these wines have reached full drinking maturity, I doubt if the level of fruit at that point will ever be in the same abundant level as a big Cali Cab.

Given the Bordeaux Right Bank wines that you mentioned that you like, that area of Merlot-dominated Bordeaux would probably be your best bet if you still want to keep trying wines from the region. There are a lot of more modern-styled wines from the Right Bank that you might like. I've recently had a very fruit-forward 2001 Ch. Faugeres that was, imho, very Califronia to my taste. Peby Faugeres and newer vintages of Le Bon Pasteur may also appeal to you. I would even caution you to tread very lightly on wines that I consider straddling the middle with younger vintages, examples would be Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Pape Clement.

Given the Bordeaux Right Bank wines that you mentioned that you like, that area of Merlot-dominated Bordeaux would probably be your best bet if you still want to keep trying wines from the region. There are a lot of more modern-styled wines from the Right Bank that you might like. I've recently had a very fruit-forward 2001 Ch. Faugeres that was, imho, very Califronia to my taste.

That is just the sort of Bordeaux which I dislike, though unfortunately the trend seems to be in that direction in the quest for Parker and WS points. Why try to make high alcoholic black currant cordial when other parts of the world can do it better and when the true Bordeaux style can be uniquely delicious in a savoury and harmonious manner?

Given the Bordeaux Right Bank wines that you mentioned that you like, that area of Merlot-dominated Bordeaux would probably be your best bet if you still want to keep trying wines from the region. There are a lot of more modern-styled wines from the Right Bank that you might like. I've recently had a very fruit-forward 2001 Ch. Faugeres that was, imho, very Califronia to my taste.

That is just the sort of Bordeaux which I dislike, though unfortunately the trend seems to be in that direction in the quest for Parker and WS points. Why try to make high alcoholic black currant cordial when other parts of the world can do it better and when the true Bordeaux style can be uniquely delicious in a savoury and harmonious manner?

Not my most prefered Bordeaux, too, Tim.
But I think I can answer your subsequent question in 3 or 4 characters: $$$+$ !!!

I think part of the problem is that you're expecting a few hours in decanter to replicate years of bottle age. I wouldn't dream of drinking 2000 or 2003 Poyferre right now, they just aren't going to be ready. I'm not familiar with 05 Pipeau, but my guess is that almost any 05 Bordeaux is going to be in a very bad stage right now, to overgeneralize I'd say this is probably the worst time to be drinking 05 Bordeaux.

I find that Bordeaux gives you something early on and then shuts down within 9-12 months after release. Again a generalization.

The wine to drink now would be a 1990 Poyferre. If you don't want to shell out the $300 to buy that then you'll have to wait another 10ish years till your 2000s and 2003s are drinking well. That's what collecting Bordeaux is all about. It requires more patience than California cabs.

It's like tasting short ribs after they've been slow-cooking for 15 minutes and saying you don't like short ribs because they're too tough.

Matt, I believe you have hit the nail on the head. I do have the the ability to cellar wine with some degree of patience
( I'm slowly going thru my 1986 Gruaud LaRose,terribily tough until recently) but mostly because my older reds are in another cellar 50 miles away that I do not visit often. I should move all my young Bordeaux at home to this cellar and pick up some older wines that are more ready to drink. I guess I have been trying to rush that drinking window! Yep, 5 year old Cal. Cabs. have little similarity with even the most fruit-forward 5 year old Cabernet-based Bordeaux.

I believe that every Bordeaux collector should have their cellar 50 miles away.

I believe that every Bordeaux collector should have their cellar 50 miles away.

I hear ya!

I believe that every Bordeaux collector should have their cellar 50 miles away.

My alternative: have a cellar filled with other wines that you can drink while waiting for those (&^&*&^*&#$^#&$^#*&&%#^& Bordeaux to round into shape (you hear me, '86 Gruaud-Larose?)

Mark Lipton