WTN: 2001 Bordeaux at La Fonda Del Sol

Matt organized a group for a look at 2001 Bordeaux last night. We met at La Fonda Del Sol - a good time was had. We started with a tasty tomato bread, then I had octopus, and then the group had the whole "Not James" Suckling pig menu.

I really liked 2001 white Bordeaux, but my recent PremOx rate with them is worse than with white Burgs, so I was happy Josh brought a blind starter without limiting himself. Tight and a bit muted, this needs some time. Big, nice mouthfeel, good length. Everyone is on Chardonnay, and I'm thinking GC Chablis. It is the 2006 Colin-Morey Corton Charlemagne, I'm surprised as it's more focused and less obviously ripe than other 06s I've have recently B+

On to the reds. I think majority had been doubledecanted earlier in day. They were bagged, split into Left and Right Banks, and then randomly numbered. Single blind, we knew the wines, except one ringer..I was perfect re Right Bank (as were many people), terrible guessing Left.

Flight #1 (Right)
Red #1 - Balanced, fresh, black plum and berry, earth, smooth tannins. My WOTN (for the record, when we voted I knew what RB wines were). A-
Red #2 - huge, kirschy, oaky, B-/C+

Flight #2 (Right)
Red #3-ripe, macerated cherries, creme de cassis, big and modern but better balanced than #2. B
Red #4- We're thinking this is an offbottle. Lifted nose, lots of oak, pruney. C-

I guessed
#1 Trotanoy
#2 - Pavie
#3 Valandraud
#4 Peby Faugeres
and those were correct

we then moved to the
Flight #3 (Left)
Red #5 -coffee, cassis, big, balanced. My #2 wine of night. I guessed Cos, though Matt's guess of P-Baron seemed good. A-/B+
Red #6- higher acids, oak needs to integrate, a little funk, I think liked more than most. I thought Lagrange or Barton. B
Red #7- soft, a bit short, not showing a lot. ? B-

Flight #4 (Left)
Red #8- Sweet, oaky, a bit slutty, I thought this might be the Pape Clement (no). B/B-
Red #9- oak, sweet fruit, soft tannins, several people thought the ringer, seemed reasonable B-/C+
Red #10- dark fruit, soft tannins, very ready, herby. Lagrange? B

Flight #5  (Left)
Red #11- Fresh, ripe fruit, balanced acidity, good length, I like this and guessed LLC. Just missed being in my top 3. B+/A-
Red #12- Young, funky, good length, I liked more than table. Gruaud? B+
Red #13- Plush, long, modern. My #3. Pichon Baron or Montrose? A-/B+

Never came up with a definitive list, every time I filled in a few it seemed that other wines didn't fit in. So then we unveiled:

Red #5- Pichon Baron
Red #6- Lagrange
Red #7- Montrose
Red #8- Cos d'Estournel
Red #9- 2001 Plumpjack
Red #10- Gruaud-Larose
Red #11- Leoville Las Cases
Red #12- Leoville Barton
Red #13- Pape Clement 

I was surprised at the Pape, it seemed more balanced than last time I tried. Also surprised at the Montrose, which I remember liking a lot at release. Overall a good batch of wines.

We had 2 stickies to finish:
2001 de Malle- surprisingly developed, honey, pineapple and apricot, some good acidity, not very long. B

2001 La Tour Blanche (375)
Floral, fresh, lively,. B+

Fun night, thanks to Matt for organizing.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Looking at recent notes on Cellar Tracker, there seems to be some indication that the de Malle might just be in an awkward stage - what do you think Dale? I'm curious as I've got some in the cellar.

Nice notes, Dale.

Your tasting corroborates some recent impressions I've had of the 2001's: surprisingly ready to go! I've open half-bottles of Sociando-Mallet, GPL and Branaire-Ducru recently that were all open for business (if not showing the complexities of full maturity)... Not a vintage for old bones, but "useful" while we await Bordeaux 2000.

2001 BORDEAUX AT 10 YEARS SERVED BLIND - La Fonda del Sol, NYC (5/31/2011)

Served single blind in paper bags. We served the right bank in 2 flights then revealed them. The left bank we didn't reveal until after voting for WOTN.

Overall I thought the wines were very good. They tend to show modern and sweet when tasted in vertical, but didn't come off that way in the horizontal setting. A few still need time in bottle, but many of them are in their early drinking window.

My top 4 wines were very close.

I was initially hesitant to do this blind. I like double blind tasting, but the last time we did a horizontal double blind the group got caught up in guessing and I thought it took away from the rest of the experience. I ended up being glad we tasted them blind and will look to do more blind tastings in the future.

• 2006 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
  Steely, yeasty, bright clear. Not terribly powerful.
  B/B+
  

• 2001 Château Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Warm, soft but strong. Lots of black olive, herb, burnt oak. Long bitter espresso finish. Dense black tannins. Young but drinking fine. Very nice. My #3 of the night.
  A-
  
• 2001 Château Pavie - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  Bright, high toned, smooth, sweet. Somewhat lush with light black notes and some blueberry. Some acidic tannins and a cola finish. Modern. Easily identifiable as the Pavie.
  B+
  
  
• 2001 Valandraud - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  Stiff, acidic, hard tannins. Bright and high toned. Some black olive and herb. Long tight drying finish. Way too young. Score reserved.
  
• 2001 Château Péby Faugères - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  Flawed. NR (flawed)
  

• 2001 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Lovely nose. Rich smooth, a bit sweet. Well packaged. Some tobacco, herb. Very nice. Complex. Although I wasn't playing the guessing game, this immediately struck me as the Pichon Baron. My #2 of the night.
  A-
  
• 2001 Château Lagrange St. Julien - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  A little stiff with a weak mid-palate. Some sweetness inside. Broad but not focused. Young.
  B/B+
  
• 2001 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
  Bright with some tight acidic tannins. Some tar. Hard, young. Needs a lot of time. Score reserved.
  

• 2001 Château Cos d'Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
  Smooth, strong. A little hard and closed. Dark profile with espresso notes. A little awkward and angular. This is young. Hold.
  B/B+
  
• 2001 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Estate - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  I threw this in as a ringer to test the limits of the modern profile of the 2001 Bordeaux. Indeed it showed very modern next to the Bordeaux. Soft, lush, sweetish, jammy with baking spices. Lacks structure next to the Bordeaux. Suffered by the comparison, but I think it served its purpose--even modern leaning Bordeaux are not really Californian.
  B/B+
  
• 2001 Château Gruaud Larose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  Minty, herbal Burnt oak. Complex, broad. Lacking in muscle, but very nice, even delicate. Like it.
  B+/A-
  

• 2001 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  Strong, complete, well packaged. Dense, round with good complexity. A bit young. Just barely edged out and ended up my #4 of the night.
  A-
  
• 2001 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  Strong, a little sweet with tobacco and stone. Somewhat lush as well. Needs time.
  B+
  
• 2001 Château Pape Clément - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
  Lovely mint and herb. Well packaged. Dense, broad, balanced. Really nice. My WOTN.
  A-
  

• 2001 Château de Malle - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  Sweet with some secondary maturing characteristics just starting to develop (like caramel). Young but enjoyable.
  B++
  
• 2001 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  Primary. Sweet with some bubble gum, cotton candy. Glycerine, oil mouthfeel. Not sure this has budged in 10 years, even from 375ml. Hold.

WOTN voting results:
Trotanoy (18)
Pape Clement (15)
Pichon Baron (15)
Cos D'Estournel (3)
Valandraud (2)
Gruaud Larose (2)
Posted from CellarTracker

thanks Matt, nice notes.
Not sure re the de Malle- maybe a stage, maybe a bottle that was just advanced (cork? siorage should have been ok, but who knows before I bought), maybe just a fast maturing wine. In any case Matt seemed to find younger than I did.
Patrick, they were generally beginning to be approachable, but remember these had plenty of air. The Trotanoy and Gruaud were mine- double-decanted (with probably 45 minutes in decanter) at 10 AM, uncorked at 6:30, consumed 1-2 hours later.

I decanted the Montrose around 11am and left it in decanter for 3ish hours before re-canting it. Seemed like plenty of air, but not for Montrose I guess.