Bordeaux Semi Vertical

I titled this a semi vertical because while we were tasting the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Bordeaux vintages, not all of the wines were from the same Chateau. In fact only two were from the same Chateau but we did have three from St. Estephe and two from St. Julien. George wanted to show the difference among the three vintages and hoped by staying in just the two areas we would be able distinguish them.

We had a big group for this tasting, too. Nancy wasn’t able to make it because of a business meeting but along with me there were sixteen other tasters. We had a good cross section of people, a former professional winemaker, some sophisticated tasters and some beginners. It’s great to have so many people so we can get a multitude of descriptions and yet you can get a consensus on which wine was liked the best.

2007 Chateau Andron Blanquet – A Cru Bourgeois from St. Estphe that had a dark garnet color. The nose was forward with dark, smokey fruit. There were a lot of tannins and very good acidity. The wine tasted of leather, tobacco, dark fruit and cedar. There was a long finish of flavor and tannin. Overall a very nice wine with a forward nose and lots of flavor if you aren’t shy with tannin. Or hold it for a few years and let the tannins drop out.

2006 Clos Du Marquis – This is a second label of Leoville Las Casse and is from St. Julien. It had a very dark garnet color and in the nose there was some floral and cedar notes. The flavor was leather and dark fruit with moderate grippy tannins and good acid. The finish on this wine was also fairly long.

2005 Clos Du Marquis – The one year old version of the previous wine. There was dark fruit with a hint of vegetal in the nose. In the mouth there was big flavor of ripe dark fruit and baking chocolate. Nice acidity and moderate t big tannins. The finish was long with just a little bitterness.

2007 Chateau Gruaud Larose – A second growth from St. Julien it had a dark garnet color. Initially the nose was barnyard stinky but that blew off after a bit leaving a restrained nose of dark fruit. There was good acid and very light tannins. I was surprised by how smooth the wine was and almost felt like something was missing after the tannin levels of the previous wines. There was a lot of fruit and some leather in the flavor and the finish was moderate length. This was the favorite wine of the group.

2006 Le Dame De Montrose – Back to St. Estephe this wine had a dark garnet color. The nose was rather restrained but there was a lot of flavor. Leather, tobacco, cedar and more. This was a big complex wine with a long finish.

2005 Chateau Lafond-Rochet – As the others, it also had a dark garnet color. There was a floral nose. This was another big wine with dark fruit and tobacco, moderate tannins and good acid. Very well balanced with a long finish. This was the second favorite wine of the group and my favorite.