Notes from a recent Commanderie de Bordeaux event featuring Ch. Leoville Poyferre.
2009 Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Nature Cuvée Starck – pale, clean and crisp, this wine was made without dosage or malolactic fermentation. Very clean and showing some complexity now. One third chardonnay, and the rest pinot meunier and pinot noir. Peach and honeysuckle hints. Excellent.
2015 Ch. La Clarte de Haut Brion – a blend of : 25% sauv blanc and ;75% Semillon, this jointly made wine (Haut Brion and La Mission co-project), it had an unusual sweet nose with some bread and peach notes, and it finished with good length.
2015 Dom, de Chevalier Blanc – exceptional citrus nose (lime) and white fruit, a pleasant oily mouth feel and very good length. 70/30 sauv blanc/Semillon and for me the better wine.
Served with a killer game terrine with venison, foie gras, pistachio and chanterelles.
The first flight of reds was accompanied by a ‘crown’ pasta filled with braised Wagyu beef and roasted porcini.
Leoville Poyferre:
1996 – darkest wine, with great depth of fruit in nose and on palate, a long finish and a fir bit of remaining tannin. Nice cedar in the nose.
1995 – lighter colour and weight and softer tannins – a more developed brother to the 1996.
1986 – still lots of tannin in this wine (pretty much unapproachable for some years after bottling) but they have mellowed and the nose had a mint and oak profile. Good wine.
1982 – my clear favourite – excellent nose of anise, cedar and tobacco hints, complex and a clear best nose of flight. In the mouth the wine was complex and had excellent length. It makes me wonder if it might even vie with my favourite Bordeaux, the La Mission….
Next flight was served with a very tasty saddle of lamb.
2005 – superb wine with delicious blackcurrant nose, big fruit and only slightly softened tannins. One for the cellar.
2003 – a tad lighter with excellent sweet fruit. Good solid showing but not up to the level of the 2005
2002 – similar in most aspects to the 2003 but with high acidity. Good nose but not as exciting on palate as the previous wine. Decent, though.
2000 – medium colour, and showing a cornucopia of interesting aromas – olive, blackberry, cocoa, and some tobacco and oriental spice at the end. My favourite of flight.
And finally a dessert wine that was my wine of the night:
1975 Ch. De Fargues Sauternes – getting very dark – coppery amber, and the nose was superb – sweet coconut and apricot, almost like marmalade , and the wine wasn’t overly sweet. Viscous feel but very well balanced. It has been quite a few years since I had the 1975 Yquem, but I wonder if this wouldn’t be in that league – if anyone has had that wine in recent years I’d appreciate the comments. The De Fargues exceeded any expectations I had for it.