WineLovers Discussion Group

I opened the first bottle of a case of 2009 Bard-Haut St. Emilion Bordeaux this evening with London broil and was impressed. Very dark purple in color, the nose reminded me of a good Wa. State Bordeaux blend, kinda lean and muted and nice, but the flavors after 5 hrs. of decant were more like a Cal. Cab. There was some decent cassis flavors but the tannins were still a little tough on the finish. The tannins did smooth out over time but I'll try to keep my hands off of the rest until 2015 by putting them in my off-site storage 20 miles away! (abv of 14.6) Given past preformance this wine has a huge upside potential.

I can't help wondering why you bother with a St.Émilion which smells as if from Washington state and tastes like a Cali Cab when, on your side of the Altantic, the real thing is so readily available .

It seems like the Right Bank is devolving rapidly into international style wines, doesn't it. I now avoid the "lesser" right bank Bordeaux because they taste like California Fruit Bombs. This is based on my limited experience, of course, and is a generalization!