2005 Boudreaux Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Washington
This is a very cool winery, it's completely underground and off the grid. (And I have an appointment there tomorrow afternoon.) Proprietor Rob Newsome is a Bordeaux lover from New Orleans, hence his playful winery name. His aspirations show in what he makes, too. The wines are complex with higher acidity than is typical up here. This 05 is aging well (lots of secondary nuances from maturing, which not all WA wines get) and perfectly at peak. Juicy bing cherry fruit with graphite and leather, integrated oak and relaxed tannins. Bright and mouth-filling. Will push the 'drink latest' date out to 2020.
2000 Château Bellegrave Pomerol Red Bordeaux Blend
Showing some age in a very beautiful way right now--this is why we age Bordeaux. Warm fruit, spice and a little smoke on the finish.
2001 Moulin de Duhart Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend
Light, not much fruit or complexity. It's best day is past.
2001 Château du Tertre Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend
Unmistakable-y Bordeaux mature nose. Initial funk subsides quickly, but for the first hour a lack of apparent acidity makes the fruit taste overly ripe and oppressive. Things come into better balance by the end of a second hour--decant future bottles in advance!!--but this was better a year ago.
2001 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend
PnP. If you own this wine, this is what you've been waiting for: it's drinking PERFECTLY right now. Warm red and black fruits, graphite and tobacco are laced with leather and other secondary nuances--long and tidy finish.
And back to Washington:
2004 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red Mountain Red Bordeaux Blend
Well, here's a lesson. I opened this wine and thought "Ugh, tired." Stale, wan, yuck. And set it aside. Husband didn't dump it as I'd intended we do, however, it ended up in the fridge. I retasted two days later and was surprised to find it drinkable. Had a short glass, but it wasn't suitable for what I had going on food wise and again, husband vacuvinned it and put it back in the fridge. Another week went by before I remembered it was there. I figured "oh surely it's dead now." It wasn't, and in fact it was not only quite alive it was every bit the excellent aged wine I expected to encounter when I first opened the bottle! Whoda thunk it.