WTNs: 2001 St. Émilion mini-horizontal + Kiwi SB & Nairac

2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 13.0%
Vibrant aromas of guava, capsicum and citrus. Refreshing acidity, exuberant fruit. Delivers the Kiwi SB experience with zest, but somehow my interest in this kind of wine has been declining over the last year or two and I find myself craving less primary thrills. Maybe I just haven’t been broadening my supplier base.

2001 Château Larmande St. Émilion 13.5%
Aromas of cassis, coffee and vanilla. Good structure, alcohol well-integrated, tannins still quite lively. Bitter finish. Improves with food. All in all, nothing special.

2001 Château Barde Haut St. Émilion 13.5%
Funky animal nose with leather, cassis and vanilla. Overly acidic at first but becomes more balanced with food. As with previous, good structure, alcohol well-integrated, tannins still quite lively. Nice enough but, again, nothing special.

2001 Château Faugères St. Émilion 13.5%
Aromas of cassis, coffee and vanilla. Also good structure with well-integrated alcohol, still quite tannic. This was the table’s favorite but, again, I found it nothing special.

2001 Château Nairac Barsac 13.0% 375 ml
Characteristic nose of clover honey, botrytis and apricot. Perfect acid/sweetness balance and delicious mouth feel. Delivers the sauternes experience with aplomb and directness but without a millimeter of deviation from the Platonic ideal.

A great time was had by all but a great wine was had by none. If a liquid needs to be more than an adequate expression in order to claim cellar space and passage through the gullet, these St. Émilions simply did not deliver. Not merlot’s finest hour.

[David M. Bueker]

I was going to say I liked your notes, but they are really "nothing special."

Seriously, I have read some reports that 2001 was a better vintage on the right bank, but I prefer the structure of the left bank wines.

I was going to say I liked your notes, but they are really "nothing special."

Feeling lukewarm is a harder sensation to articulate than loving or hating!

Seems like you opened some pretty mediocre wines. Want to drink better stuff? Open better wine! Don't blame the vintage.

I liked the Barde Haut a bit better than you, but the Faugeres less.

Matt, drinking only Cheval Blanc these days?

Seems like you opened some pretty mediocre wines. Want to drink better stuff? Open better wine! Don't blame the vintage.

Where, exactly, did I blame the vintage?

[James Roscoe]

What's wrong with okay wines that go well with a wide variety of foods? Assuming these are all reasonably priced, I don't know what the problem is. Probably should have drunk them all two years ago. None of these wines are made for the long-haul. I have tasted the '05 version of Château Faugères and found it quite palatable.

David was blaming the vintage, not you Oswaldo. I have had a number of good '01 right bank wines, although not in a while. I'm still letting them mature.

2001 Château Barde Haut St. Émilion 13.5%
Funky animal nose with leather, cassis and vanilla. Overly acidic at first but becomes more balanced with food. As with previous, good structure, alcohol well-integrated, tannins still quite lively. Nice enough but, again, nothing special.

This is the first notes I have ever seen on Ch Barde Haut. Someone just gave me a bottle of the '05. I snooped around on th internet and it doesn's seem like an inexpensive wine. Hopefully the '05 will show better than your '01 but don't really know when to open it.
Walt

2001 Château Barde Haut St. Émilion 13.5%
Funky animal nose with leather, cassis and vanilla. Overly acidic at first but becomes more balanced with food. As with previous, good structure, alcohol well-integrated, tannins still quite lively. Nice enough but, again, nothing special.

This is the first notes I have ever seen on Ch Barde Haut. Someone just gave me a bottle of the '05. I snooped around on th internet and it doesn's seem like an inexpensive wine. Hopefully the '05 will show better than your '01 but don't really know when to open it.
Walt

The 97 Barde Haut was my favorite young Bordeaux at the turn of the century (makes me feel ancient to write that). When it stopped giving me pleasure around 2002, I sought advice on WLDG about how to distinguish wines that are already over the hill from those that are closed. Dale responded (he's had a fair amount of experience with Barde Haut), and that's how I very slowly joined the message board world. I still have two bottles of the 97 left and will open one sometime soon because I never resolved the issue to my satisfaction (perhaps I just didn't want to accept that it was over!) and, surely, it is no longer closed, if it ever was. In any case, no other vintage of BH has ever given me as much pleasure (I have tried 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2004). Ownership changed around 2000 or so. I got a case of 04s and have been consistently disappointed by them. Hope your 05 turns out to be excellent, though perhaps it has shut down by now.

[Jenise]

Feeling lukewarm is a harder sensation to articulate than loving or hating!

That's why God created the word "Eh". Or that's why God whispered into Jeff Grossman's ear which in turn inspired me to use it. Same thing. Anyway, saves a lot of writing.

Thanks for the notes--I have the 01 Barde Haut. Also another vintage, but I can't recall which, none of which I've tried but several references to various vintages of BH on this board made me think I was missing something. I know Covert's a fan of Barde Haut, and probably the 97 vintage which you praise since that was his major indoctrination into Bordeaux worship.

[David M. Bueker]

David was blaming the vintage, not you Oswaldo.

Blaming the vintage? Umm...no. I was expressing a preference for the left bank wines, as is usually the case for me. I can only think of one vintage (1998) where i truly prefer the right bank wines. I actually own a number of right bank wines from 2001, and they are very drinkable & enjoyable, but I would never call them exciting. More than anything else I was having a little fun with Oswaldo's "nothing special" phrase (hence the in my comment).

Walt, I have a few bottles of the '05 BH, and plan on opening first in 3-5 years to check. My guess is they are closed now. CT has a community window of 2012-2026, I think the latter year is quite optimistic based on previous vintages. '98 was a big vintage on RB, but I plan on drinking my lone '98 BH within next few years.

Barde Haut is definitely a modern styled Bordeaux*, though not an over the top steroid monster. It's just important to accept that, and not expect it to turn into a ringer for a Figeac or Canon. I can quite enjoy drinking the modernistas right after release in the smaller vintages or at age 10-15 in the bigger vintages. But even then I'm planning on a big steak. IMHO, If you wait a long time to try and get classic claret without any apparent oak, you'll probably end up with wood tannins in a disjointed wne. Just my $.02

* I believe Rolland has consulted since before current ownership. However, I'm not totally sure he did on 2005. I know that the same owners have Haut Bergey, and stopped using him for the 2005 there. Still modern, but reportedly dialed back a notch.

Walt, I have a few bottles of the '05 BH, and plan on opening first in 3-5 years to check. My guess is they are closed now. CT has a community window of 2012-2026, I think the latter year is quite optimistic based on previous vintages. '98 was a big vintage on RB, but I plan on drinking my lone '98 BH within next few years.

Barde Haut is definitely a modern styled Bordeaux*, though not an over the top steroid monster. It's just important to accept that, and not expect it to turn into a ringer for a Figeac or Canon. I can quite enjoy drinking the modernistas right after release in the smaller vintages or at age 10-15 in the bigger vintages. But even then I'm planning on a big steak. IMHO, If you wait a long time to try and get classic claret without any apparent oak, you'll probably end up with wood tannins in a disjointed wne. Just my $.02

* I believe Rolland has consulted since before current ownership. However, I'm not totally sure he did on 2005. I know that the same owners have Haut Bergey, and stopped using him for the 2005 there. Still modern, but reportedly dialed back a notch.

Dale,
Thanks, I will wait 5-6 years. Using Rolland as a consultant is enough to keep me from purchasing. Still, was a nice gift.
Walt

[David M. Bueker]

Using Rolland as a consultant is enough to keep me from purchasing.

I know that the knee-jerk reaction is that every wine Rolland is involved in is overoaked/overripe crap, but that's just not true. Some of the wines he consults on are fantastic Bordeaux (e.g. Pontet Canet, Leoville Poyferre), even if they are richer that in the past. I happen to like what he did with the folks at Haut Bergey, even if I prefer what they have done now that he's no longer working with them (they do appear to have dialed it back just a bit as Dale said - though 2005 is a very structured vintage, so perhaps it's just the vintage talking). It's all about striking a balance, and in many cases that balance is there. I have not tasted recent vintages of Barde Haut, so I won't comment on the specific wine.

Using Rolland as a consultant is enough to keep me from purchasing.

I know that the knee-jerk reaction is that every wine Rolland is involved in is overoaked/overripe crap, but that's just not true. Some of the wines he consults on are fantastic Bordeaux (e.g. Pontet Canet, Leoville Poyferre), even if they are richer that in the past. I happen to like what he did with the folks at Haut Bergey, even if I prefer what they have done now that he's no longer working with them (they do appear to have dialed it back just a bit as Dale said - though 2005 is a very structured vintage, so perhaps it's just the vintage talking). It's all about striking a balance, and in many cases that balance is there. I have not tasted recent vintages of Barde Haut, so I won't comment on the specific wine.

There are exceptions to every rule but ripe grapes, high alcohol and huge fruit is just not something I will buy and this seems to be Rolland's style. I have heard him say that in interviews. I look at alcohol % and try never to buy over 14%. I also tend to not buy warm climate wines from lower elevations such as Australia, West Coast and So America, again there are exceptions. I consider Rolland and RP as cast in the same mold and have same preferences. Does not make them bad people, just people who promote and try to direct wines in a direction I do not enjoy. I will give them credit for cleaning up wineries but the style that gets high marks is a style I do not like and do not buy. I understand I am probably in the minority.
Walt

[David M. Bueker]

Well I am not a fan of high alcohol either, but not all the ROlland cunsultancies end up with high-alcohol fruit bombs.

'Nuff said on this topic, since nobody is ever convinced one way or the other.