On a rainy Wednesday night our Bordeaux group gathered at Mortons for a look at some “midtier” 2000 claret. I arrived a few minutes early, to discover I was last to arrive. A couple of Champagnes awated:
2007 Calliope Champagne
Taut, crisp, lemon and green apple, a little brioche. B+ (I initially wrote B but revisited with my salad)
NV Bereche Rose Champagne
Red cherry and strawberry, chalky, fine mousse, B+
On to the reds (I had a chopped salad, but reverted to Champagne with that, later my filet was a welcome contrast to the young Bordeaux)
(notes jotted on phone on train home and combined withmemory next day, a spilled glass of water took out my notes)
First St Julien flight
2000 Ch. Beychevelle
Herby, funky barnyard (well within my tolerance, not some others), black currant and plum, nice balance. B+/A-
2000 Clos du Marquis
Tart, tannic, needs time. B
2nd St Julien flight
2000 Ch. Talbot
Doesn’t much resemble the Cordier Talbots of old, but nice midmodern Claret. Maybe most ready to drink (I had double-decanted it and the Beychevelle about noon) though still young. Dark fruits, sandalwood. A-/B+
2000 Ch. Gruaud Larose
A bit glossy, very ripe, this also doesn’t resemble it’s older versions. Big, powerful, a little earth.B
Margaux flight
2000 Ch. Rauzan Segla
I thought this was very good though very young. Berries, cocoa, quite tannic but the tannins are comparatively smooth. B+/A-
2000 Ch. Brane Cantenac
Most muted of night, wasn’t getting much. A repour later was a bit more expressive - some cigarbox/cedar, red fruit, but still tannic.B
2000 Alter Ego de Palmer
Plums, herbs, tannin. B
Pauillac Flight with a bonus
2000 Ch. Pichon Baron
Young and powerful (double-decanted night before!), big cassis fruit, some leather and forest floor. This will be a beaut. A-
2000 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste
This wasn’t able to be decanted in advance, for me pretty brutal tannin. Started coming around a bit at end- clearly a nice wine underneath, albeit in a masculine style. Black-fruited, for drinking now B/B-, but I’d love to revisit in 10 (or 20) years.
There was also a blind wine- very herby (guesses included Loire Cab Franc and Figeac) , a bit of gritty tannins, a little stern. 2000 La Rose Brisson (St Emilion)
We did our usual 3/2/1 voting. Pichon Baron and Talbot were top vote getters (16 and 14 points respectively). I think the other totals were Rauzan Segla 4, Beychevelle 4, Gruaud 2, GPL 2,
Clos du Marquis 1
Overall I think that the wines showed lots of promise, but there was nothing that I thought at its best now. If you do try, be sure to give air.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.