WCC 2000 BORDEAUX - Yono's, Albany (1/30/2025)
- 2000 Château Cantemerle - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Very classic left bank in its flavour profile; intense pencil lead/graphite and cedar flavours around red and dark fruit. It's medium weight, a lighter wine than the others in the flight and more understated. Still quite youthful with lots of freshness and energy to the fruit, a nice spine of acid beneath giving it good freshness, and some grainy tannin on the back end. Liked this a lot, guessed Médoc, pleasantly surprised to see this unveiled as Cantemerle as I always like these wines. - 2020 Château Meyney - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Didn't really care for this. Somewhat muted aromatically, a slightly roasted character to the fruit, and it feels a little soft and more extracted than I liked. Guessed this was a more modern Rollandized St. Emilion, surprised to see the reveal as Meyney and rather disappointed as I've loved the older Cordier-era bottlings from this estate. But this feels a lot more modern and heavier than those wines. - 2000 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Really liked this. Lovely aromatics; lots of earth and higher toned floral and faintly leafy/herbaceous elements adding complexity around a core of rich red and dark fruit. It's still very youthful on the palate where it shows less depth than the aromatics offer, and the tannin clamps down on the finish. Still, very enjoyable and got more interesting with time in the glass. I'd love to see how this evolves with more time. My #3 of the night.
- 2000 Château Talbot - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Plenty of rich black fruit here, but also a bit of bitter oakiness that pokes out on the back end. Went back to this a couple of times later in the evening, but the oak never really integrated and kept sticking out. - 2000 Château Lagrange (St. Julien) - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Not a great showing, and I was surprised to see this unveiled as Lagrange at the end of the night as I've usually liked those wines quite a bit more. Like the aromatics a lot, bright fruit, earth, and a light leathery note that adds interest without overwhelming. But on the palate it's a relative disappointment where there's plenty of dark fruit up front, and then it turns bitter, oaky, and rather tannic on the back end. - 2000 Château Branaire (Duluc-Ducru) - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Decanted at 2:30 PM. Initial taste showed plenty of rich, primary dark fruit, but lovely earthy and cedary accents around it. At dinner a few hours later, shows similarly with rich fruit, warm earthy and faintly leathery elements around the fruit, and lighter cedar and tobacco elements that emerge with more air. Still quite youthful with lots of richness to the fruit and plenty of tannic structure beneath. There's a lot of time ahead here, though this is still delicious with air. - 2000 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Powerhouse of a wine, still very youthful but love the depth and complexity here with layers of black fruit and various savoury earthy, cedary, and faintly smoky notes accenting the fruit. Still, it feels rather tightly wound and there's quite a bit of tannin apparent. My #4, just behind the Palmer.
- 2000 Château Haut-Batailley - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Really liked this; beautiful aromatics with an intensely vivid graphite/pencil lead scent, and more savoury tobacco, herbal, and earthy elements in the background. It's relatively medium weight on the palate with a core of red and black fruit that comes across fairly restrained and understated, more graphite and earthy savouriness that mirrors the aromatics, and still some grainy tannin on the back end. Despite the (relatively light) tannin, it feels more ready to drink than many of the others in the lineup. - 2000 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Huh, well I was surprised and more than a bit disappointed to see this revealed as '00 PLL. It has plenty of rich fruit, savoury earthiness, and oak relatively well integrated into the background here, but the flavours come across relatively simple without the depth I'd typically expect from PLL, and it feels a bit muddled on the palate without the clarity and freshness I typically find from PLL. Quite atypical for my experiences with this producer and very different from my last encounter with this wine. - 2000 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Just stellar, my wine of the night by some distance (and the group's WOTN as well). This is terrific, incredibly fragrant with layers of deep fruit, earth, graphite, cedar, and higher toned floral notes all coming together seamlessly on a full bodied frame. It's a big wine but it's impeccably balanced with bright acids underneath that give the fruit a sense of freshness and vibrancy and fine grained tannins on the back end. The whole package is really compelling, immensely enjoyable now though still quite youthful and with the stuffing and balance to suggest it has lots of time ahead.
- 2001 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Well this is just stellar and a nice reminder of how awesome so many of those '01 Sauternes are. Textbook, classic Sauternes flavours with a core of rich tropical fruit drizzled with honey, orange marmalade, and botrytis spices, intensely rich and sweet on the palate but remarkably fresh and lively at the same time thanks to a spine of acidity that gives it more energy and cut than I typically expect from many Sauternes.