WTN: 2005 Ch. Thebot Bordeaux Superieur

Recommended by Decanter as a good basic Bordeaux. $14 at Arlington wines in Kensington (Ca....a small suburb of Berkeley).

Very light tannins....smooth, no tannic bite. Somewhat low acid, too. Palate shows plum, earth, and a hint of bell pepper...but just a hint. Not a profound wine, and my friend John Chandler complained there was no "Bordeaux Funk," but I thought this bottle showed more typicite than the hot and fruity 2003 Dassault this weekend. (The Dassault was still more interesting, just not very Bordeaux-ish) Nice daily quaffer-probably better with food.

85 points.

this property is quite consistent - and yes - typical. i usually buy them and drink them up. they might be a bit cheaper here.

Recommended by Decanter as a good basic Bordeaux. $14 at Arlington wines in Kensington (Ca....a small suburb of Berkeley).

Very light tannins....smooth, no tannic bite. Somewhat low acid, too. Palate shows plum, earth, and a hint of bell pepper...but just a hint. Not a profound wine, and my friend John Chandler complained there was no "Bordeaux Funk," but I thought this bottle showed more typicite than the hot and fruity 2003 Dassault this weekend. (The Dassault was still more interesting, just not very Bordeaux-ish) Nice daily quaffer-probably better with food.

85 points.

I can't drink this stuff anymore. Had the one you mention and a bunch of other $10 - $15 bottles of so-called Bordeaux, which Sherry-Lehnann sells by the case as 'Unsung Heroes". Thought they could get my wife and me through the week and save me some money so that we could enjoy a good bottle on Saturday night. At first they were okay, but more and more we are dumping them down the drain on Thursday and Friday and replacing them with a quality cru bourgeois, so I am ending up adding $12 to my bottles rather than saving money.

Well, covert, I was buying some better stuff at this shop, and he said "Hey, try this cheapie;" so I figured what the heck! After drinking too much Napa Merlot at even double this price over the past few weeks....I'll still go for the Thebot.

It was pretty thin and soft for the vintage, but my palate is not as experienced as yours so I still find it drinkable. At least it didn't burn my throat.

Well, covert, I was buying some better stuff at this shop, and he said "Hey, try this cheapie;" so I figured what the heck! After drinking too much Napa Merlot at even double this price over the past few weeks....I'll still go for the Thebot.

It was pretty thin and soft for the vintage, but my palate is not as experienced as yours so I still find it drinkable. At least it didn't burn my throat.

I think your reading of it shows that your palate is at least as experienced as mine. It would be drinkable if there were not alternatives. Heck, I would probably go for a sheep if I were on a desert island with only it for 6 months or so. But you can buy cru bourgeios for pretty cheap prices if you look around.

And I have been drinking the Thebot variety of wines for about three years now. Maybe in a couple of years you could get sick of the genre, also.

Heck, I would probably go for a sheep if I were on a desert island with only it for 6 months or so.

But of course - pre-sale lamb accompanied by a decent claret (I assume that is what you meant)

Or did you mean that you'd have a baaaad case of 'I love ewe'?

And I have been drinking the Thebot variety of wines for about three years now. Maybe in a couple of years you could get sick of the genre, also.

Nah. Just need to win the lottery so I can buy tons more 2001 Angelus and 1999 L'Evangile.

Or did you mean that you'd have a baaaad case of 'I love ewe'?

They say you can't tell the difference with eyes closed and a nose plug. Not sure of the certification of "they" though.

I went ahead and drank a bottle of 2003 Thebot last night. I decided not to toss any more unsung heroes down the drain unless they tasted like Drano. I am wondering if Thebot gained the Superieur appellation recently, because my bottle said only Bordeaux. It was okay. My wife tolerated it better than I did.

This morning I got to thinking about Madam Lalou Bize-Leroy’s cellar inscription: ‘Qui sait déguster ne boit plus jamais de vins mais goûte des secrets.’ (He who knows how to taste never again drinks wine but tastes its secrets.’) What secret does Thebot reveal?

I related a secret that I thought 1999 Calon Segur bespoke, about the nobility of a rustic struggle to make more with less, and how when you add a feminine element to that struggle, you enjoy a sense of sex if you are a man—and sometimes, I suppose, if you are a woman (I can certainly identify with the thrill that the sinewy arms of Portia de Rossi must give Ellen DeGeneres, and Portia almost sounds like a wine.) But Thebot did not tell me anything. My problem? Possibly. So I am asking rather than bloviating.

Can't deny that there is nothin exciting about the Thebot. It doesn't "say anything" really...but then, neither do the goopy merlots that are so porty and so over the top with fruit and alcohol that they are almost undrinkable!

So...the soft, herbal, ok...I will say it...blandness....of Thebot is almost refreshing.

Can't deny that there is nothin exciting about the Thebot. It doesn't "say anything" really...but then, neither do the goopy merlots that are so porty and so over the top with fruit and alcohol that they are almost undrinkable!

So...the soft, herbal, ok...I will say it...blandness....of Thebot is almost refreshing.

Now that you mention it, I did appreciate the lack of residual sugar which would be a lot more prevalent in almost any comparable wine from Australia, the US or South Africa.