Bordeaux Futures 2005: sixth report

Château Mouton RothschildThe growths of the Margaux appellation Haut-Médoc growths (second part)Sixth report (April 7, 2006)Château MOUTON ROTHSCHILD 96My best score given to this cru since I have been tasting it as a Future (1988). After the success of 2004, Mr Dhalluin confirms the more precise style given to the cru. Mouton has never seemed to me to resemble itself as much as in this 2005. It stands out for two aspects: - the purity of construction - the accentuation of its particular taste, made up of more southern than northern accents. As is the case for Margaux or Lafite, it has a normal degree of alcohol due to a very high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (85%) plus 1% Cabernet Franc and 14% Merlot. 13.1° alcohol – 18% press wine – selection: 64%. The colour is very lovely, and the nose is great, fresh and fruity, with a spicy base, very typical of Mouton and creamy like a Pomerol (and it is not due to the degree of alcohol). It is the finest Mouton nose that I have encountered. Entry is superb, ravishing and mellow. The wine develops flavourful, juicy, with a tenderness unknown until now. Smoothly, always pulpy, it advances sappy, becoming firmer at the finish, but retaining exemplary fat. Very, very lovely, deep finish, without an ounce of rigidity and always very, very mellow. And there you have the difference with other wines (Latour and Montrose)! A great bottle of Mouton. MARGAUX GROWTHSThe success of the appellation can be explained by the fact that Margaux was not touched by the two storms which hit Saint-Estèphe and Pauillac at the beginning of September. I will add a reflection about the style of these wines next week.ALTER EGO Margaux 89 - 91 There is in the nose and entry (not the finish) of this wine something in common with Palmer 2002: mellowness, pulp, suavity. Rounded, it ends long and sappy. Very easy to drink. 14.2° alcohol. Blend: 57% merlot and 43% cabernet sauvignon. BEL AIR MARQUIS D’ALIGRE Margaux 85 Crimson colour of normal intensity. Discreet, fruity, fresh nose. Fruity, agreeable wine, but without the flesh and depth of the vintage, from which it has not taken benefit. BELLEVUE DE TAYAC Margaux 88My best score given to this wine as a future. This cru belongs to Mr Thunevin. Black colour. Intense nose of toast and very ripe blackcurrant. Very creamy. Very, very lovely wine which offers both density and a fresh dimension which is very pleasant. It is dense but not heavy. Lovely length with fleshy, mellow tannins. BOYD CANTENAC Margaux Cru Classé 86 - 87 As is the case for Pouget, the nose is pure and very fruity. The mouth, more structured, offers lots of taste and delicate tannins. Normal length, ending with a trace of acidity. BRANE CANTENAC Margaux Cru Classé 92 Great colour. Great nose of tar, spices, very ripe fruit and also vanilla. The wine enters the mouth with great delicacy in the sense of touch. Very floral, very fruity, very suave and fine in mid-mouth, it fades delicately and ends with a great, sapid, complex length. I have known it more ethereal and supple, in 2000, but never with so viscous a touch. Great length. CANTENAC BROWN Margaux Cru Classé 87 - 88 Great colour. Beautiful nose: pure, intense, fruity and mellow. Its lovely neatness is a true pleasure. Superb ample entry, developing with a juicy, rounded body. A long finish with well integrated tannins. A success. CLOS MARGALAINE Margaux 85 Intense dark colour. Nice creamy nose of ripe fruit. Tender, very pleasant mouth, with good corpulence. Very well integrated tannins. It will be very agreeable to drink young. D’ANGLUDET Margaux 89 - 91My best score given to this wine as a future. Ben Sichel took a gamble and harvested the Merlot early, on September 7th. From this harvest, he has drawn very lovely aromas. For substance, he harvested the Cabernet Sauvignon very late, finishing on October 12th. May I remind you that d’Angludet is machine-harvested. The flexibility of this tool allowed him to be independent of the harvesters’ goodwill. The wine has a black colour and a discreet, fruity, mellow, spicy nose with a note of blackcurrant and a hint of alcohol. The mouth is beautiful, very, very suave and full. The tannins are present and firm. The finish is very lovely and long. A highly constructed wine. D’ARSAC Margaux 85 - 86My best score given to this wine as a future. Here is the vintage from the château which I have tasted the best. Coloured, aromatic, it offers good density in the mouth and the most coated tannins that I know. Lovely length. D’ISSAN Margaux Cru Classé 92My best score given to this wine as a future. Black colour and a dense nose of bilberry (huckleberry). Magnificent, ample, suave entry. From then on, the wine takes on an unprecedented corpulence on the estate. No harshness, only the taste prevails. Well integrated tannins. Great length. Difficult to spit out. DAUZAC Margaux Cru Classé 88My best score given to this wine as a future. Very lovely colour. Beautiful complex nose of nicely ripe fruit. A note of tar. One of the loveliest ever smelt as a future. What a mouth: lovely, dense, hyperfruity, harmonious and ample. The finish is beautiful, sappy and, at the same time, tannic. A great success for the estate. DEYREM VALENTIN Margaux 87 The wine is very suave and very fruity, delicious and strong at the same time. It ends spicy, fruity and tannic at the finish. A Margaux with a strong style, but also sappy. Maturing will tell us more. DU TERTRE Margaux Cru Classé 88 - 89My best score given to wine as a future. Great colour. Great nose of Cabernet Franc and cherry. The pulp and the fruit are so luscious that the mouth is terribly sexy. Here is the densest Du Tertre that I know. It has a lovely length, more aromatic than corpulent. Good work. DURFORT VIVENS Margaux Cru Classé 87 - 89 Intense crimson colour. Discreet nose, still quite crude, like the mouth. Certainly the wine possesses body and volume, but its tannins do not seem to be as ready as those of other wines at the same age. I mean that it has not been made to be drunk so young. On the other hand, the tannic grain is quite refined. It is the densest Durfort Vivens that I have tasted, even if it is not at the same stage of development as its neighbours. FERRIÈRE Margaux Cru Classé 86 A wine of intense colour. The nose is fruity, intense, fresh and mellow. One of the most mellow ever seen here. On the other hand, this wine has tannins which are immediately present from entry. In this, it does not fit in with the other Margaux wines of the vintage. It even ends austere. Medium length. GISCOURS Margaux Cru Classé 91My best score given to this wine as a future. Great colour. A great complex nose of tar, flowers, fruit and cherry. The fat on entry is superb, in the middle as well, and then the wine fades on the palate. It is perhaps less sappy than the 2000 but still very, very charming. Very lovely length. HAUT BRETON LARIGAUDIÈRE Margaux 87My best score given to this wine as a future. It has the darkest colour ever seen here. The mouth is delicious, so suave and soft. The wine0 refreshes the palate and all the while it reveals itself as hedonistic. The finish is beautiful, mellow and deep. A must-have from the estate. Delicious. KIRWAN Margaux Cru Classé To be tasted again. LA TOUR DE MONS Margaux 84 Lovely colour and a somewhat lively nose which could be slightly more mellow. I regret that the mouth does not have more flesh and more precision in taste and tannic texture. Medium length. LABEGORCE Margaux 87 - 88My best score given to this wine as a future. The fat is superb and unprecedented. The construction is classic with plenty of taste and one of the most delicate tannins ever seen here. Lots of fruit. Lovely finish. LABEGORCE ZEDE Margaux 87 - 88My best score given to this wine as a future. A highly coloured wine. Under the new management, the nose is different. It is less aromatic and not as fresh. Oh, the Belgian grape-pickers are no longer there! When they were there, the harvest took place (no waiting allowed). Actually, the mouth is fat, very, very fruity, slightly less aromatic but fat and long. This fat evokes the best successes of the appellation. LASCOMBES Margaux Cru Classé Having tasted this wine twice differently, I am waiting for another tasting. MALESCOT SAINT EXUPÉRY Margaux Cru Classé 89 Beautiful dark colour. Lovely pure, neat, mellow nose with more cocoa than freshness. Tender, very fruity and agreeable mouth. The wine does not have the fresh, aromatic brilliance of other Margaux in mid-mouth. Long finish. I was hoping for more fullness. MAROJALLIA Margaux 89 - 91 Lovely colour. Lovely slightly spicy nose. The mouth reveals itself rounded with the charm and the fat that the cru knows how to offer. In addition, I find it more aromatic this year. Lovely strong length with a trace of woodiness which should fade during maturing. MARQUIS DE TERME Margaux Cru Classé 90 My best score given to this wine as a future. Highly coloured and very fresh and also floral at the nose. The wine is remarkably fruity in the mouth and has great finesse of touch. Ascendant in the mouth, rich, it ends long, flavourful and almost floral, despite a note of alcohol. It evokes the Margaux style so much that it is incredible! MONBRISON Margaux 89My best score given to this wine as a future. I have never seen this so dark. A beautiful nose, smelling of flowers and roses. With this vintage, will this wine reclaim the glory of the 88, 89 and 90 vintages? The body is dense, the touch refined, the fat juicy, the tannin enveloped and the finish long and perfumed. A great Monbrison. To be watched during maturing. MONGRAVEY Margaux 87 - 88Hardly 3000 bottles of this wine are produced by Mr and Mrs Bernaleau in Arsac. A nice work in an elegant style. Lovely intense crimson colour. Pure and fruity nose. Beautiful ample entry. Then the wine develops, very, very flavourful, silky and fat, towards a long spicy finish. Very, very lovely length. A great success for the year. PALMER Margaux Cru Classé 95 My best score given to this wine as a future. Beautiful dark colour. The nose is lovely: delicate, fresh, floral, fruity and deep. Oooh, what an entry! This meticulous, silky, very, very pulpy wine melts on the palate and develops dense. After mid-mouth, it takes on a stronger dimension and ends long, inviting and ultra-enveloped in its tannin. This is not exaggerating, as Palmer is never rough. A great wine. Blend: 40% merlot, 53% cabernet sauvignon and 7% petit verdot. PAVILLON ROUGE Margaux 91 Beautiful colour and, especially, a lovely nose: fresh and fruity, which is a change. The magic comes from the fact that, even if there is a high degree of alcohol, this wine remains very, very fresh in the taste. Strong and rounded, it ends very aromatic and sappy, with a trace of alcohol nevertheless. One of the best Pavillon Rouge. Blend: 48% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. POUGET Margaux 86 A very fruity wine, purer than in the past, which presents itself fresh in the mouth. Medium corpulence. Soft tannins. Easy to drink young. PRIEURE LICHINE Margaux Cru Classé 89 - 91 Great colour. Lots of fruit at the nose and, once again, a note of tar (a sign of high concentration). I have never had from this wine such a strong impression of fruit liqueur. A delicate fat circulates in the mouth, and the wine ends long, very, very fruity and almost never tannic. RAUZAN GASSIES Margaux Cru Classé 86 - 87 I am faced here with the densest Rauzan Gassies that I have ever tasted. It is fat and ample. Nevertheless, it still presents notes which are rather too tannic at the finish. But, watch out, as time will do its work. RAUZAN SEGLA Margaux Cru Classé 94 My best score given to this wine as a future. Since 2002, this wine seems to me to be incredible! I am amazed. The colour, the nose of blackcurrant and bilberry (huckleberry), and above all, above all, that density in the mouth which remains contained and retains a very great refinement in this wine. The greatest ever seen here. It only goes to show that the concentration of a grand cru is not done with roundedness. Very great fruity, floral length. In 2005, Rauzan Segla bought a parcel of old wines of Petit verdot from the château Bel Air Marquis d'Aligre. These grappes making up 5% of the blending, give the beautiful profile. Blend: 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, 31% Merlot. Alcohol: 13°. Yield: 39 hl/ha SIRAN Margaux 87My best score given to this wine as a future. This wine is definitively better than the 2004. In 2005, the fat and the fruit win over the tannins of the past which I used to judge austere. Very lovely coated finish. Very good work. TOUR DE BESSAN Margaux 83 An agreeable, rounded wine which lacks precision at the finish. Medium length. HAUT-MÉDOC GROWTHS (Second part)BARATEAU Haut-Médoc 86 A coloured and very fruity wine. In the mouth, the density is noticeable from the first moments. The wine develops very, very fruity, aromatic, with a note of wood at the finish and a fleshy tannin. Lovely length. BELLEGRAVE Haut-Médoc 86 Intense dark crimson red. Nice nose of fruit and a hint of cocoa. The mouth is elongated, with a normal body and a finish of fruity, cocoa, flavourful tannins. A touch of acidity. CAMENSAC Haut-Médoc 87 Dark red. Good intensity. Crimson. Rather lively nose. In the mouth, the wine develops rounded with lots of fruit and taste in mid-mouth. A finish with tannins which are present but flavourful. Lovely length. CANTEMERLE Haut-Médoc 85 Beautiful dark crimson red colour. Discreet nose. The acidity of the finish makes me think of an early harvest. Slightly austere tannins. CITRAN Haut-Médoc 85 Intense dark red. Discreet nose. The mouth begins tender with a medium body and ends with coated tannins. Medium length. LA LAGUNE Haut-Médoc 89My best score given to this wine as a future. The sapidity of this wine is remarkable! For the first time, it offers more body than usual. The beginning of a new age! LA TOUR CARNET Haut-Médoc 89 Highly coloured, rather aromatic and mellow at the nose, this wine immediately shows the signature Magrez. Very lovely ample entry. The middle is fat but somewhat dull as far as aromas and fruitiness go. Tannins are present. Lovely, slightly firm length. Maturing might reveal it. VILLEGEORGE Haut-Médoc 83 The substance is somewhat crude. The wine would gain if it had more precision and graciousness. Maturing will show how it turns out. SOCIANDO MALLET Haut-Médoc : not tasted yet. PESSAC-LÉOGNAN GROWTHSI have just tasted them a second time today. The success of this appellation is confirmed. Nevertheless, there exist differences in style due to the harvest dates. I will give you all the details in a report next week. ___________________________ There is a break in the reports for the week-end. The next report will be published on Monday, April 10th, 2006. Have a nice week-end. Jean-Marc Quarin

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Bordeaux Futures 2005: sixth report

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