2000 Chateau La Prade, Bordeaux Cotes de Francs
I have no idea what's in this wine, but a perfumed nose of black cherry and raspberry with a sweet puff of powdered sugar suggests merlot, and an herbal overlay on the black cherries in the midpalate suggests cab franc. There's a wonderful dusty note (I love dust in red wine) that's in both the smell and the taste, and the tannins are mostly resolved. In the grand scheme of things it's a modest wine, but it's quite elegantly so and it's a joy to drink right now. Thanks, David B. It was nicely matched with our dinner of smoke-roasted tri-tip, celery-wheat pilaf and golden beets in horseradish butter. Only trouble was, it soon became evident that one bottle wasn't going to be quite enough, so I went to my cellar to fetch another modest wine with a merlot/cab franc profile so that we could compare the two wines during our meal. This one:
2000 Chateau Bois Noir, Bordeaux Superieur
I tasted this shortly after acquiring (from Garagiste, in a search for a good everyday Bordeaux) and found it overly herbaceous. That's mellowed considerably, however, now there's a dismaying hit of brett on the nose. That did mellow somewhat in the glass, but I question whether it dissipated entirely (Bob thought so) or we just got used to it (Jenise's vote). Otherwise, it's a big and burly wine that continues to be dominated by cab franc character. There are some chunky tannins here, too. It needs a couple more years to knit together but, especially with that brett, it will never be the complete package that the more ladylike La Prade is now.