WTN: Two Bordeaux, one Douro

• 2005 Château Gressier Grand Poujeaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Moulis en Médoc (2/2/2009)
  21,70€; 13,5% abv; Cru Bourgeois Supérieur; 50% Cab Sauv, 50% Merlot. Dark red. The fruit is very ripe, but that isn't the first thing that caught my attention. Rather it was the uncommon balance despite the ripeness that did! I tend to prefer my Claret on the elegant, thin end of the spectrum where the green/herbaceous aspects are obvious and though this does have slight Cabernet herbaceousness, these aromas are in the background and a sweet, dark toned fruitiness is to the fore. Yet it is a refreshing rather than an overpoweringly fruity smell, so I enjoy it - especially because the oak is used with a very light hand. Full bodied, deep, juicy tannins, quite high acidity for what is obviously a warm year wine. Not a classically proportioned Claret, but a very enjoyable one nonetheless.
• 2000 Caves Messias Tinta Barroca Douro Quinta do Cachão - Portugal, Douro (1/31/2009)
  15% abv yet doesn't seem like it. A very attractive, lifted scent of dried flowers, some peach and plum. It is still a fruit forward scent but there are some aged aspects to it that provide complexity. Full bodied, sweet fruit, slightly warming but not as strong alcohol as the label would suggest. In addition to the floral notes, there is a strong taste of liquorice. Long. A good time to be drinking it.
• 2001 Château Preuillac - France, Bordeaux, Médoc (1/31/2009)
  21,50€; 12,5% abv; 60% Merlot, 40% Cab Sauv. Lots of coconut oak; the wine itself is in a more elegant style with pleasantly greenish/herbaceous notes and lighter body, so the strong oakiness creates a jarring dissonance to the whole. I do not think there is anything wrong with a light Claret so I can imagine this would have been a very attractive wine except that those in charge seemed to want to make the wine something it wasn't by nature. The end result is something that seems filled up by cosmetic surgery.

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