WTN: NZ SB, Bdx AC, MSR

We had some friends and their pup over for dinner last night. Bones for the dogs, people had mushroom canapes, bouillibaise, and spinach followed by fruit salad and cheese. She's blanc-centric, he's rougophilic, so we had one of each:

2007 Cairnbrae "The Stones" Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough)
Nose of flowers and gooseberry, on the palate citrus fruit, gooseberry, with just a hint of SweetTarts. Nice medium-bodied SB, clean, fresh, glad to see it back on track after the so-so 2006. B+/B

2005 Ch. Mylord (Bordeaux AC)
Sweet dark plum fruit, a little green pepper. Fairly fruit forward, low-acid, not much in the way of tannins (or finish). OK for the $7 I paid, but tons of more interesting (and more clearly Bdx) claret out there. B-/C+

1997 von Othegraven Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Auslese
I was serving this as a dessert wine, based on my impression of '97 as low acid and fruit forward/sweet. Not really sweet enough to qualify, nice apple blossom nose with just a hint of diesel, off-dry on palate with apple butter and orange zest. It went ok with the cheese, but if I had really needed a dessert wine this would have been a disaster. Good. B

The people had almost as much fun as the dogs.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[Jenise]

Disappointing report on the Mylord--I am almost embarrassed to admit that I bought six, though have yet to taste one. I tried to find the Garagiste flyer to amuse you with, but I don't seem to have saved it. I do have their offer subsequent offer, the My Lady, which of course I also bought and which in fact might amuse you even more. (Believe me, I know Jon for the master hypemaster he is, but when the subject's Bordeaux it's usually hard for me to resist.)


Dear Friends,

I will say it again....”Oh My Lord”.

Nothing could have prepared us for the outpouring of interest in the 2005 Mylord. There was more interest in this item than anything we’ve ever offered – it took Niki three full days to do the invoices! I want to personally thank all of you for your support of this item and winery. The winery deserves your support as the people are old-school and first rate. They simply make great wine for the money and that’s what we enjoy passing on to you. That brings us to today...

When they found out how large the interest was in the Mylord, a very interesting proposition came up “What about our first growth wine?” Huh? What “first growth” wine? I thought the Mylord was the top wine? “Well, the Mylord is our top wine, except for the My Lady”. The My Lady? These people must be joking. In reality...they are definitely not joking.

The My Lady is their super-cuvee. If the Mylord is the third wine of Ausone, then the My Lady is their Ausone. This wine is given the supreme treatment. It was going through malolactic when Parker was around to taste so they couldn’t pull a proper sample. When told what Parker had said about the 2005 Mylord (and that I had a similar reaction, along with many of Bordeaux’s most famous names), they laughed and made it quite clear the My Lady is 2-3 times the wine. I’m not sure how that could be and I wasn't really interested in an unknown $50 Bordeaux. While I’m sure it was excellent, we would be just fine with the regular Mylord. “How about $16+” I was told? My reply was swift....”I’ll take everything”.

There’s nothing really to say about this wine. It’s the top 2005 wine of one of Bordeaux’s most consumer friendly properties, it’s their strictest selection, hand coddled to age with tannin, perfect, even gorgeous ripe 2005 fruit and the capacity to age for a number of years. This was made form the famous “draconian” selection and they are so proud of it, the wine is almost like a child. Only a few hundred cases were produced, which makes this not only one of Bordeaux’s rarest examples but most difficult to obtain. I would not be surprised if this receives an outrageous review once it is bottled...all for $16.87.

If you purchased the everyday miracle that was the 2005 Mylord, you will be amazed by the quality level of My Lady, especially for the price. It is the most ridiculously priced wine for the money I’ve seen in ages and it will best many classified growths from the vintage at $50+.

Well, it looks like some on CT liked it more than I did, hope you're closer to them!
The hype in the Milady piece is amusing even for Garagiste. The Ausone reference threw me, What was the connection? So I googled Mylord and Ausone, found their original Mylord offering:
http://www.garagistewine.com/arrivals/mylord-2005.html
I particularly liked the "once things are said and done, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is considered the highest scoring/lowest priced bottle of serious Bordeaux in the history of the Wine Advocate"
Did Parker ever give this a score? Who knows.