WTN: Life is a cabernet: I'm just so PC these days

[Jenise]

In which cabernet is a component:

2003 Château Pontet-Canet Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend
Decanted for two hours. Dark garnet color. On the nose and palate there are secondary nuances among the dark, ripe/juicy fruits but on the human scale of maturity it has a sense of being unfinished, like a young adult who needs to quit partying and and settle down.

2004 Château Picque Caillou Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend
This one's not unfinished. Pnp'd and drunk over two-three hours. A great upside surprise compared to prior bottles over the years which came across as entry-level simpletons. Not now: mature Bordeaux nose of old books and bandaids with baked fruit and lightly roasted coffee beans. Easily our favorite of the two.

[David M. Bueker]

I opened a bottle of that 2003 Pontet Canet in 2019, and it seemed like it had years to go until it was going to be ready. Apparently that was correct.

[Jenise]

I remember your note, and of course you were correct. And it may, in fact, never not be just a bit too ripe for our tastes.

[David M. Bueker]

See my note on the 2003 Duhart-Milon. I am getting more tolerant, likely because the entire paradigm has shifted.

[Jenise]

I get it. Your D-M has more in common with the '03 du Tertre we opened last week--not old school Bordeaux per se but a very charming wine nonetheless. By comparison, at this stage of life the Pontet's a clunker.