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This Week's Tasting
Fall for Bordeaux
September 14, 2022
Six wines to enjoy this season.
 | Federal WineLine Wednesday, September 14, 5 - 6:30 Fall for Bordeaux Six wines to enjoy this season
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Napa Cabernets got their inspiration from Bordeaux. Its wine became famous through its export to England, where they called it claret. They are blends, mainly of Cabernet and Merlot. Today's provide a lot of flavor at a very moderate price. Bordeaux is somewhat lighter, leaner, and more evocative than domestic cabernets.
This tasting will focus on wines that deliver a lot of class and flavor for the money.
Ch Dauzac is a classed growth Margaux estate. Their D de Dauzac comes partly from purchased grapes and has the style of the grand vin, a silky smooth combination of equal parts Cabernet and Merlot. Nicely fleshed, the ideal what the English call lunch claret.
Petit Paveil, the second wine of the Margaux Cru Bourgeois exceptional Ch Paveil de Luze. It dates from the 17th century and has been in the same family for 150 years. It is a more restrained and elegant vein, a wine of finesse and purity.
The 2018 Ch. Roquebrune was so good that I thought it was a Pomerol. It comes from just across a small stream from Pomerol's Ch de Sales in the lower rent Lalande de Pomerol. Perhaps because it is from the voluptuous 2018 vintage, it flowed across the tongue with the extra dimension of heady and evocative sour cherry & plum fruit that has made Pomerol Merlots so sought after. What difference does a stream make? Little in the mouth; $15 - $20 on the price tag. We have a limited quantity, but the equally good 2019 Is just behind
2016 is classic. If less voluptuous, its wines are more regal and more classic than 2015, richer than 2017. They are now coming into their own
We will have two from the Haut Medoc
Ch. Peyrabon is a Cru Bourgeois. Predominantly cabernet has a delicate elegance and clean tannic structure that drinks now with decanting but also improves a few years. Finesse is over breadth here,
Listrac is the home of the Haut Medoc's lusty full throttle re cabernet-based reds. Fourcas Dupre is a good example, full rich and tannic. It also will repay aging
Rqoquebrune's neighbor in Pomerol is Ch de Sales. Here, Merlot provides the richness, some Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc the definition, in this classic Bordeaux chateau that has been in one family for five centuries. 2019 is a very fine Bordeaux vintage.
Red
2019 D de Dauzac (Bordeaux); Color: very dark; Aroma: soft, nicely heady, very dense, light fresh; Mouth: thick clean rounded, very well balanced, rounded full, a classic claret with an excellent marriage of cab & Merlot; Very Good 18.99; Case, 15.99
2018 Petit Paveil (Bordeaux); Color: very dark; Aroma: heady & rich, dense, heady rich, nicely intense, nice edge, evocative; Mouth: juicy, rounded classic claret, fresh, clean, bright finish, rounded; Very Good Plus 19.99; Case, 16.99
2018 Ch de Roquebrune (Lalande de Pomerol); Color: very dark black opaque; Aroma: sweet cherry, heady ripe intense deep, sweet red currant fruit; Mouth: clean rather fine edge, juicy, fine tannins, savory & saline, mouth-filling and succulent without weight; Very Good - Excellent 21.99; Case, 18.99
2016 Ch Peyrabon (Haut Medoc); Color: very dark; Aroma: spicy, light pretty, rather fine, spicy, heady, elegant; Mouth: clean, lean r pretty, bright acid pure; Very Good Plus 28.99; Case, 24.99
2016 Fourcas Dupre (Listrac); Color: Dark Ruby; Aroma: Clean, very rich, and pretty, with light notes of wood spice, cherry & tobacco; Mouth, Medium body Clean herbal fine very rich, firm tannins, red cherry & mineral on the finish Very Good Plus 26.99; Case, 22.99
2019 Ch de Sales Pomerol “a deep garnet-purple color, rolling effortlessly out of the glass with impressively intense baked cherries, plum preserves, and fruitcake scents with nuances of potpourri, licorice, chocolate box, and fragrant earth. The medium to full-bodied palate is chock-full of ripe, seductive black fruit preserves, framed by rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and perfumed.” – Wine Advocate late September arrival $45, case $35
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- Len Rothenberg
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