Blind Tasting Reports

St Emilion and Pomerol

April 6 -- held at La Conseillante

Today at La Conseillante is the UGC-Bordeaux blind tasting.  Pomerol appellation has submitted 8 wines.  St Emilion has 20 wines in the flight.

These wines were tasted in the late morning, under very good conditions, as the weather was good, and La Conseillante did a fine job controlling temperatures and ensuring a pleasant environment.  Only one sample was questionable, and a second was taken from a different bottle to be sure.

The nature of Blind Tastings is much different than writing notes where the wines have time to be evaluated in traditional circumstances -- decanted, perhaps with food, and in conviviality.  In other words, at their ideal best.

So a Blind Tasting is part exhibition, and only reflects this sample at this moment in time, in context of many other samples.  Still, it is possible to extract some trends about the appellations, and in the end it is always surprising to see the results. 

You will see my notes are more full where the wine shows well, and are sketchy, and at times pithy when they do not.  I offer no scores for blind tastings, but have called out preferred wines in the box above, and shown them in Bold below.  And towards the end of the tasting, when the count nears 25-30 wines, I think it is harder for wines to differentiate themselves in the time allotted, so you could say that those near the end have to be better than good to really break through. 

For instance, in this morning tasting, the sample for Chateau Canon was towards the end and emerged as a mid-pack wine.  Whereas in the afternoon, in a blind tasting with much tougher competition, it emerged near the top.  And La Gaffeliere suffered a similar fate, but turned in a strong showing in the afternoon session.  So while I am confident in my summary of the appellations, the individual results will always vary, and do reflect personal preferences as well as my own limitations as a taster.  Check these against other fine tasters like Jane Anson, Isak Litwar, and Panos Kakaviatios... where there are common results on specific wines, you are likely to find something very nice indeed!

Summary: 

These are by and large very intense, complex and well balanced wines.  Not presenting themselves as excessively hot as was the obvious issue to me in 09, so there is a higher level overall of balance, ripeness, and complexity to offset the higher alcohol. The issue is one of extracted tannins -- whether from skin or oak or both. Many are very drying at the finish, so how will they integrate, and over what sort of timeline will the wines develop.  I think long lived. 

Conversations with two different winemakers indicate that a very dry, tannic finish is undesirable, and that the wine will have difficulty recovering.  It can come from over extraction whether by intent or accident.  The skins push too much tannin into the wine, and in this case with higher alcohol the seeds themselves can be vulnerable to extraction beyond intent.  One winemaker in Pomerol guards against this by stopping the pump over after about 40% sugar has fermented. Whether that is the right benchmark is a judgment call beyond my skill to advise, but tasting these one senses that an even lighter touch on remontage or pigeage would have been beneficial.

As a group, these were better, and more disciplined than 09, even if there might be a couple from 09 to beat their 10s.  This vintage can also be described as more serious than 08, a vintage that to my tastes is very successful on the Right Bank, with more agreeable Merlot qualities that do not push out the boundaries of extraction and alcohol.  Which you will prefer depends on your appreciation for power and assertiveness over elegance and approachability.

Notes and impressions from the blind tasting (wine names appended after the fact, and actuallly after the 2nd St Emilion tasting later in the day, so there was no knowledge of wines which were present in both tastings.  You will see when those are posted, the results changed).

Pomerol

1. 1.Gazin. 
   

Lovely perfume, holding interest.  Generous in the mouth, a touch hot mid palate.  A touch drying on the long finish.  Possibly a little extracted.  But a very nice start.

2. 2.La Croix de Gay
   

A bit closed. Where is the nose. Juicy then drying.  Very much like a barrel.  Blue stain on wood.  I'm not getting it this time.

3. 3.Petit-Village
   

Red roses. Plums. Nice texture. Mid length finish. Agreeable.

4. 4.Clinet.
   

Blueberries. Dark aromas, deep color.  Fullish. Very long finish, with no evidence of heat.  Well done.  Best of the first flight. 

5. 5.La Pointe.
   

Very blue.  Full bodied. One dimensional but a nice plane.  Medium finish.

6. 6.La Conseillante
   

Another tannic-dominated finish, is this the fashion of the vintage, or a point-in-time issue, or is this going to be a problem?  The wine is lovely otherwise in every way, but I am curious about the drying quality on the finish. 

7. 7.Beauregard
   

Red fruit nose.  Beautiful wine.  No flaws.  Not as long as some in Graves but very nice today.  So very dry at the end again.  And not the echo return like some of the best wines.  Friendlier?

8. 8.La Cabanne
   

Flush with fruit.  Not overpowering. The long finish comes back. Ok!

St Emilion.

1. 1.Canon La Gaffeliére.  Red fruit expression.  Short
   

2. 2.Franc-Mayne.  Drier than 1. A bit hot.  Would like to try again in 30 days
   

3. 3.Larcis Ducasse.  Blue.  Some oak.  Merlot. Expansive palate and profile, some Cab Fr taking things sideways and in a good manner.  Just more interesting frankly.  Long and juicy ending.
   

4. 4.Beau-Séjour Bécot.  Plenty of lovely fruit. Full.  Ripe.  Medium finish.  Not drying.  Good!
   

5. 5.La Couspade.  Very pretty nose.  Dark deep blue fruit.  This is fantastic.  Very long. Best finish so far. 
   

6. 6.Trottevielle.  Sour.  Dry.  hot.  Fail. Unfortunate.  It’s probably me.
   

7. 7.Figeac.  Better. Very nice wine.  Long finish, not as complex as some but good balance.
   

8. 8.Dassault.  Bottle sample issue.  Prune?  Soft and terrible.  Two samples both not good.
   

9. 9.Pavie-Macquin.  Wonderfully aromatic.  Medium full, good balance.  A touch shorter.  Overall nice. 
   

10. 10.La Dominique.  Not pleasing nose.  Full bodied.  Dry.  Can't separate my tongue from the upper palate.  Surprising.
    

11. 11.Grand Mayne.  Some of these aromas are just not working for me this flight.  Too dry and hot.
    

12. 12.Berliquet.  Ah, OK, one to salvage the flight.  Full well balanced, complexity.  Very nice finish.  One of the best of the day. 
    

13. 13.Troplong Mondot.  Blue and black.  Vanilla.  It is oaky.  Simple and a touch dry.  Modern.  A case where I prefer the 08.
    

14. 14.Larmande.  Complex and mineral.  Expressive, long and generous.  Very nice. And very long.  Great wine.
    

15. 15.Clos Fortet.  Aromas fail.  Very dry.  Also strongly prefer the 08 and 09.
    

16. 16.Canon.  Hollow in the middle, very good finish.  Long. Better than some.
    

17. 17.La Tour Figeac.  Blue modern style wine.  Lacking some complexity
    

18. 18.Balestard La Tonnelle.  Beef?  BBQ?  Ready for brisket. 
    

19. 19.La Gaffeliere.  Not pleasing nose.  Short and gone. 
    

20. 20.Cap de Mourlin.  Incorrect. Over and out.