Remo invited Christian and me for dinner in early June, serving three Bordeaux double-blind.
Vieux Château Certan Pomerol 2001
Thanks to Remo. A blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. This continues to evolve nicely, but I am increasingly convinced the 2004 (among recent vintages, the one this probably best compares to), is the more serious wine. Plummy purple-ruby, minor ruby-red rim. Soft metal top note to plum and blackcurrant. Fruity, quite pretty for such a young VCC. Fair enough body. Nicely, if softly, tannic. Medium-plus length. My favourite wine of the night, if possibly for no other reason than that it was the only pristine bottle. Not a bad effort in this gastronomically-styled vintage. Rating: 90+/91(+?)
Château Troplong Mondot St. Emilion 1995
Thanks to Remo. Another bottle from unknown storage (eBay auction again?), not bad, but clearly not pristine. Blacker ruby than the 2001 VCC. Nice stony minerality. A touch of ink to relatively tight fruit (that never opened up, but oxidized in the open bottle instead). Some tobacco and what seemed Cabernet Franc leafiness. Medium-plus body. The 13.9% alcohol integrates well, as did the oak. Medium length. Some stale asparagus with airing, and it only got worse (especially when I retasted it the next day). More than half of the bottle was left by the end of the night (more stew...). Rating: N/R
Château Angélus St. Emilion 1995
Thanks to Remo. Again from unknown storage (eBay auction?), but this, I am sure, was slightly corked. What a pity, one of my favourite Angélus vintages – probably my second-favourite of the nineties. Plummy ruby. Soft lead pencil, slightly burnt top note, slightly boaty if not cardboardy oak – all I am sure due to TCA. Nice little Cabernet Franc leafiness to increasingly more subtle and finesseful fruit, nobler tobacco with airing, too. Nice body. Medium-plus length. As both Christian and Remo said, one could tell this would have been the wine of the night despite the TCA taint (by the end of the evening, Remo agreed on the cork taint, whereas Christian, who knows the wine as well as I do, and basically agreed the bottle was underperforming, was not convinced). Rating: N/R
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
