Chronicle 178: some 2012 Pomerols. Clos Haut Peyraguey, Sauternes, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007. Doisy Védrines 1947 and Nieport Port 1912

Some 2012 Pomerols: Clos l'Eglise, La Conseillante, Duo de la Conseillante, La Grave, Hosanna, Lafleur Pétrus, Latour, Petrus, Providence, Trotanoy, Clos Haut Peyraguey, Sauternes, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 Two bottles to celebrate with: Doisy Védrines 1947 and Nieport Port 1912 Two videos on corks to watch on www.quarin.com Chronicle 178 (22 December 2014) Some 2012 Pomerols The 2012 vintage is generally tender and charming, quite different from the more serious, dense 2011. Apart from this question of style, the weakness of certain 2012's will be their thinness or even fluidity, while some 2011's tend to fail by being too austere and cold. The 2012's will be drunk before the 2011's. Regarding Pomerol wines, my scores are often the same, while allowing for the stylistic differences mentioned above. La Grave 15 // 87 Logo on the cork: LA Decanted. Dark color. Pretty nose that is fruity, ripe, fresh and pure. Fruity on the palate, it is caressing and tender, very pleasant. Soft tannin. Best to decant it to make it better. 2018-2028 Latour 15,75 // 89 Logo on the cork: CB Decanted. Lovely dark colour. Fruity nose with a creamy hint. Tender, silky, fruity and flavoursome on the palate with medium body and fine tannins. More intense on the finish than in the middle. 2018-2030 Providence 16 // 90 Logo on the cork: JL Decanted. Lovely dark colour. Ripe, fruity nose with hints of undergrowth and ink. Very soft mouthfeel with taste, medium body and very silky texture. Fragrant finish without an ounce of tannin. 2018-2035 Hosanna 16,25 // 91 Logo on the cork: JL Decanted. Dark color. Elegant nose that is fruity, ripe and a little discrete. Luscious on the palate with an elegant feel, building flavour after the mid-palate. Sappy on the finish with taste and elegant tannins. 2018-2035 Lafleur Pétrus 16,75 // 93 Logo on the cork: JL Decanted. Lovely dark colour. Elegant, fruity and fresh on the nose. Hint of cedar. Delicious on the palate with a striking silky texture, developing medium body, but with lots of taste, moving towards a vigorous finish with elegant tannins. Burgundy style. 2020-2035. Trotanoy 16,75 // 93 Logo on the cork: MS Decanted. Lovely dark colour. Fruity, ripe nose that is even multilayered. Soft and flavoursome on the palate, elegantly rich and supple, growing flavour and fragrant on the finish. It's very good. 2020-2035. Petrus 17,5 // 95 Logo on the cork: CD Lovely dark, intense colour. Elegant nose that is pure and fruity with a subtle hint of blackberry jelly. More intense undecanted than decanted. Pretty, smooth attack. Full and very fragrant on the mid-palate. It develops to become richly supple with meticulous tannic structure. The finish is melting and very juicy with good length. It's very good. Aesthetes will notice the freshness and the sparkling fruit of this Merlot varietal that was aged only half in new wood. Note that I preferred this wine undecanted on the palate rather than decanted, when it loses some of the sparkle in its taste. Inquisitive connoisseurs should taste this. 2020-2040. Clos l'Eglise 17,5 // 95 Decanted. What an achievement! Elegant and pure on the nose with violets and ripe fruit. Richly supple on the attack, rich development, powerful, great breeding, this wine melts on the palate and persists with hints of liquorice in a long finish with notes of violets. It's superb. Taste it now or wait until 2018 and up to 2040. Duo de la Conseillante 16 // 90 Decanted. Very fruity and fresh on the nose. Brilliant burst of flavour on the palate, developing to become caressing with medium body and scarcely noticeable tannins on the finish. There's no doubt that la Conseillante's young vines change everything about this terroir in such an astonishing way. Taste the Duo 2010 ( 16,25 // 91). 2018-2030. La Conseillante 17 // 94 Decanted. Very refined wine with violets on a very fragrant nose. Smooth on the palate with a meticulous feel. It has taste, enough body and lovely flavoursome length full of charm. Elegant tannins. Absolutely must be decanted. 2018-2035. ______________________________ Clos Haut Peyraguey 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 The Pauly family sold Clos Haut Peyraguey to Bernard Magrez in December 2012. Martine Pauly had improved the estate enormously, building on her parents' work. Her commitment to making sweet white wines from naturally occurring noble rotted grapes with no chaptalisation and without relying on cryoextraction completely changed the style of this wine. It took on a silkier, more ethereal texture and became rich, but not heavy. For the example, I cited the proportion of residual sugar per litre in my comments. This was just to point out again that while I assess red wines according to the quality of their tannin, I evaluate great sweet whites by the quality of their sweetness. The effect of botrytis is to make the perception of sweetness more ethereal. This is quite different from what somebody not familiar with this effect might think, when they see the quantity of sugar left in the wine. I hope Bernard Magrez will continue to strive to achieve the beauty of what has been done hitherto, and will give this estate the financial support, if not the comfort, it deserves. 2012 16 // 90 Pale yellow colour. Ripe white fruit on the nose. Melting, smooth and flavoursome on the palate with elegant aromas and very nicely balanced. Standard length. Enjoyable. Residual sugar: 125 g/l. 2015-2035 2011 17 // 94 Fruity, elegant nose with a lovely smell of pear and acacia. Melting on the palate with a feel of great breeding, multilayered taste of raisins and dates. Very nice elegantly roasted and flavoursome length. Residual sugar: 150 g/l. 2015-2050. 2010 18 // 96 Yellow color. A little discrete on the nose, but elegant and fruity with a lovely pear smell. Graceful, vigorous, big and melting on the palate, becoming multilayered and such a meticulous feel towards a long finish with hints of pear, mint and white fruit. It's delicious. Residual sugar: 130 g/l. 2015-2065. 2009 19 // 98 Logo on the cork: DF It's the first time I have found this wine at this level since it was bottled. It had some difficult times. Very elegant, complex and roasted on the nose. Hints of crystallised dates. Big on the attack, then the wine develops to become richly supple with a fantastic taste of crystallised raisins and dates. Always ethereal and yet powerful, it has a long sappy finish. Marvellous! Residual sugar: 135 g/l. Drink now and up to 2070. 2008 17 // 94 Logo on the cork : AL Elegant nose of very ripe white fruit. Melting, ethereal, flavoursome and fragrant on the palate, developing to become impossible to spit out because of its marvellous noble mouthfeel. Sheer delight! Residual sugar: 125 g/l. Drink now and up to 2040. 2007 To illustrate my recent publication on how the 2004's are evolving, which is not available yet in English, here are my comments on two bottles side by side, which didn't present the same way. However, they both have corks from the same supplier (AL). When the first one made me screw up my nose, I asked the Director, Anthony Defives, if I could taste a second. First bottle 15,5 // 88 Golden yellow, crystalline colour. Fruity nose, a little heavy. Very fruity and caressing on the palate, becoming fragrant on the finish, but without the ethereal, aromatic characteristics I found in the other vintages. 2007, however, is a very good year for Sauternes, so I had my doubts. Second bottle 16,5 // 92 Identical colour. Ripe fruit and spice on the nose. Slightly candied. Immediately ethereal, smooth and fragrant on the palate with that refined, melting mouthfeel characteristic of noble rot. Scarcely sweet on the finish, but it's very tasty. Residual sugar: 130 g/l. Drink now and up to 2035. ______________________________ Two bottles to celebrate with Doisy Vedrines 1947 18 // 96 Bottled by Cruse et Fils Frères. Orangey colour. Roasted and complex nose reminiscent of pumpkin jam with orange peel. Ethereal, subtle, melting and rich on the palate, developing to become very refined, moving to a grand flavoursome finale. Impossible to spit out. The best Doisy Vedrines I have ever tasted up to now. Drink now and up to 2030. Porto Neeport colheita 1912 19 // 98 Rosé colour. At first the nose smells of ethyl acetate, then quite unexpectedly it changes in the glass to more and more hints of walnut and coffee. Fascinating in the way it melts on the palate, for its silky feel and its extremely aromatic presence, becoming multilayered after the middle. It finishes long, but without the dryness you would normally expect from ethyl acetate (!!!) with very persistent hints of coffee, walnuts, cherry and raisins. It is impossible to spit out, and is in great shape in view of its age. To be enjoyed for another 15 to 25 years. Apart from the taste, the size and quality of the cork really caught my attention. Take a look at the video on my website. Thank you for your attention and have a great Christmas! I wish you some fine discussion around the Outsiders and the most successful great wines. The last Chronicle will be published at the end of December. Jean-Marc Quarin __________________________________________________ © Copyright 2014. This publication is the original work of Jean-Marc Quarin Sarl, 10 allée de Ginouilhac, Le Taillan-Médoc. France. - E-mail : jmquarin@quarin.com The news media and subscribing wine distributors, importers and retailers may use portions of this material (such as tasting notes, ratings or quotes) provided that it is not distorted, the proper wine and vintage are stated, www.quarin.com is given credit for the material utiliz ed, and Jean-Marc Quarin (JMQ) is shown as the Copyright holder.

2014 Chronicles

Chronicle 178: some 2012 Pomerols. Clos Haut Peyraguey, Sauternes, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007. Doisy Védrines 1947 and Nieport Port 1912

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