Wine Capital Partners

Random Selection of Our Tasting Notes

Below are some of our tasting notes.

We will change the list from time to time as we taste new wines. 

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64 Durfort-Vivens (4.5L – import label said 9 pints) – Imported by Schieffelin NY. Big gold label (seems not used anymore), good color and capsule, level just under the bottom of neck, solid cork removed cleanly.  Not the best lighting in the restaurant but looked a good medium red with hints of lightening throughout as well as slight small particulates / cloudiness throughout. Good nose of initially a little barnyard but that blew off and nice blackberry and black cherry, pencil lead. Bordeaux alright. Very nice flavor profile, clean but slightly rustic, very solid and enjoyable sweetish mid-palette, fresh, bright with cherry, raspberry, hints of chocolate, tannins still going strong but balanced just right with fruit and acidity. A little complexity but a somewhat fast fading finish. Not exactly a watery finish, but just one that goes quick. I took off a couple points for the short finish. 89

This was a birthday celebration on August 31, 2013 with a group of good friends after attending a University of Michigan football game (Michigan won) in Ann Arbor. The group know and appreciate fine wine. Everyone loved it and generally agreed with my TNs.

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89 Conseillante (22 January 09 in New York) - medium red and a touch of very fine sediment making it just a bit cloudy. Rich nose of chocolate, smoke and cherry. Big, rich, very concentrated fruit, tons of chunks of black fruits packed in, thick almost syrupy, with a very long sweet unending finish. An hour later, even bigger, richer, absolutely huge, but still maintains finesse and complexity. How do they get so much fruit packed into a single swig? Full on tonight and a beautiful wine. 97

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70 Conseillante (22 January 09 in New York) - medium red with touches of brown tints, clear. Wow, a nose that jumps over 1m away with tons of blackberry and blueberry. Big, rich, classic pencil lead, very blueberry fruity, smooth, very spicy, smoke, pear, apple, cherry, chocolate, nice complementary complexities, good balance except for a soft and somewhat watery and fading finish. Elegant. 93
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59 Magdelaine (22 January 09 in New York)(Armand Roux, Bercut Vandervoort) - light prune color and very cloudy. Rich nose lots of black fruits. Initially quite acidic, but big and rich with lots of concentrated raspberry and blackberry, some strawberry, some subtle complexity, touches of old wine dust and petrol. Increased concentration and viscosity over an hour. Nice two minute finish with strong but soft tannins. 92

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90 Conterno Fantino Vigna Del Gris Barolo (March 09 in Dubai) – bn, not very red, lots of brown/orange tints throughout, lots of visible fine dust sediment. Big nose that jumped right out with cherry, bubblegum, raspberry, bacon, water, clean fruit. Big, thick, rich, round and full, tons of spices, wet flint stone, super tannic with initially sharp but smooth-ending tannins for a long and very chewy thick and very cherry with oak finish. An hour later still no typical Barolo tar but plum, watermelon, caraway, sesame and still the very long tannic thick cherry finish. Nice overall but needs more time and a bit simple. 90

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00 Figeac – January 2011 – I had purchased this bottle about two years ago online in France, had it shipped to my sister in Lyon (they have excellent storage conditions there) and then in my checked baggage to Dubai about a year ago. So there’s certainly some travel history in this bottle’s life. Back in the day (2003 to be specific), I bought 6 bottles in San Francisco and they have been resting there ever since. Having generally liked Figeac over the years, I’ve been wondering the past couple years if I should buy more, even though the critics had scored it very low 90s (until Bob’s rescore of 85 last summer) and when will they be ready?

Medium dark red, almost blood, touches of maroon and very light brown tint throughout, clean but opaque. Rich nose with lots of oak and cherry, blueberry, red delicious apple and hints of cooked mushroom and lychee. Smooth, a touch high alcohol, green apple and acidic finish. Decent quality, lots of rich cherry and blueberry syrup upfront, sweet orange, touches of green pepper, soft tannins that remain firm throughout, some complexities. Delicate but longish blueberry finish. This has classic Bordeaux flavors and a decent level of balance, but a bit too early. Best to wait another +5 years. Nice but nothing special, so I will not be buying more, but certainly not as bad as Bob thinks. 90 

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05 Monbousquet - This is my third try of this wine, all purchased at Carefour in Lyon for about e29 each. The first time I thought it might be good, had promise, but was hard to confirm. The second time was a disappointment, as I recall because it didn’t give much and was disjointed. I figured this third try would be the final decision.

Pop and pour. Blood red, thick and opaque with very fine sediment throughout, touches of black and purple tints. Nose jumping out of the glass to over a meter away. Lots of cherry and oak, Bazooka bubblegum, sweet red fruits, kiwi and a hint of citrus (that was slightly confusing!). 

At first, very sweet and rich, thick, glycerin, slightly chewy tannins, longish sweet finish. But then with every few tastes, a quickly changing profile, in a disjointed wild way. After 30 minutes, sour cherry and sour apple. After 1.5 hours, thick crude oil, coffee and chocolate. After 2.5 hours, turpentine and a thin finish. After 3 hours, sweet again, with nice red fruit flavors and a solid finish. Very nice.

Quite a squirrelly vixen. Is this what BD means about 05s? The cheaper 05s I’ve had show it’s a good vintage, so I hope my more expensive 05s will not be like this when I get around to them. I don’t think I’ll be looking for any more 05 Monbousquet. Lots going on and plenty of “the right stuff”, so if it calms down, it’s could be a 95, if not, an 88?

8 October 10 – Dubai, with rabbit and garlic mashed potatoes.
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05 Ch. Lamarsalle (St Emilion) – August 2010 – Never heard of but bought at Dubai duty free for something like $25 to try more 05s (and all the “good stuff” is too $$$ to buy in Dubai). Quite light red color, light pink tints, reminds me of a cheap California pinot, clear, clean. Not much to the nose, except lots of oak, a little hint of bubblegum, and slight hints of cherry. Decent mouthfeel but thinning at the finish. Tons of tannin completely dominate this wine! Only hints of sweet bubblegum, iodine and cherry initially and then 3 hours later similar hints but now also hints of plum and blackberry. This may be one of the most harsh tannic wines I’ve had in years, with little fruit and little promise. Barely drinkable. So much for lesser estates producing nice wines in 05. 80 

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82 St Georges (St Emilion) - Had a wonderful dinner with 6 people at La Toque on 5 August 2010. http://latoque.com/

As guests of the chef, Ken Frank, we sat at the "chef's table" essentially in the kitchen, and had frequent visits from Ken. We had whatever tasting menu he created for us, and everything was delicious!

As background, there had been a birthday dinner for one of the La Toque guests a month prior at Pierre Gagnaier's in Paris (that's another story - but its about food not wine), and Ken and his wife were in attendance. As a result, Ken invited us to come to his restaurant in Napa.

http://www.pierre-gagnaire.com/index-fr.htm

We had a little wine pairing for the early courses, but then dove right into the 82 St Georges. As the saying goes, there are only "good bottles", and this was one of them. I was admittedly quite surprised of the quality as this is not really a producer known for being very good.  OK, I won't say it was great, but it was a very good Bordeaux, delivering rich strawberry and raspberry and cherry fruits, leather, a little pencil lead, and nice earthiness plus some decent degree of complexity. Certainly more than simple. Kind of a classic Bordeaux, even though not a any superstar. Basically a solid 89-91 pointer. Very nice, quite easy to drink.

And we drank. And drank. It lasted strong all evening, some 4 hours. We drank as much as we wanted. Then we shared with the entire kitchen staff. It was yummy and fun.

Why was it fun? Because it was a 6L.

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07 Roquehort Jurancon (December 2008 in Lyon) – clear, clean, bright yellow tints with lots of green tints. Bright acid, fresh, pineapple, grapefruit, a touch of effervescence, nice complexities, finishes with hazelnut and butter finish, slightly overly sticky finish (unbalanced for the rest of the flavours). Jurancon is the poor man’s sauternes (lighter) but still nice. 88
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05 Cantemerle (December 2008 in Lyon) – deep purple with lots of black, purple edges and fine cloudiness. Nose of bazooka bubblegum and sweet grapes. Richer, cleaner and finer than the 03, smooth, clean pure and fine fruit, not especially concentrated, but good black raspberry, black cherry, possible future complexities and could become quite elegant in 20 years but never a big wine. Could be quite good QPR? Also, 3 of 4 at dinner preferred the 05 over the 03. 89

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03 Cantemerle (December 2008 in Lyon) – deep red purple with pink tints and fine cloudiness. Light nose of flowers and fresh grapes. Medium weight but light and fruity with lots of strawberry, soft tannic finish with fresh acidity, a bit watery texture, good not the over cooked fruit of 03, not complex or thick. An hour later, touches of port (more typical of 03?), more concentrated fruit, watermelon, peach, prune. 87

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99 Fombrauge (December 2008 in Lyon) – clear, plum/prune red with touches of brown and orange tints throughout. Sweet and sour nose of cherry juice and grape juice. Immediate pour: smooth, soft, good mouth feel weight, not a lot of fruit but interesting touches of leather, smoke and tea. Also overly acidic and disjointed, very jumpy complexity, all fading quite fast. [85] An hour later, sweet and spicy, medium bodied with blackberry and cherry, red cayenne pepper, chewy tannic finish that still fades quite fast. [88] Two hours later, simple but rich red fruits, with a chewy tannic but fast fading finish. That lack of finish makes me think its not going to cellar long very well, but it needs more time to settle down and balance more. Much better than plonk and a nice simple and enjoyable example of Bordeaux wine. 87

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05 Serilhan (January 2009 in Dubai) - clear, medium to light garnet red, pink and purple tints. Light nose of oak and blackberry that needed coaxing. Very clean and pure, smooth, lots of cherry and apple (!), touches of smoke and ham with a solid tannic finish of medium length. Nice but simple and a bit light and doesn’t seem likely to gain weight. A good one for the next few years but not to hold. 88

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05 Giscours (July 2009 in Dubai) – opened ala Francois 2.5 hours before pouring. Opaque, medium garnet red with hints of yellow/orange that makes it look a lot like blood. Nose of alcohol, blood, heat, roasted strawberry, black pepper, some chemical (formaldehyde?) that eventually blew off. Smooth, chewy, viscous, very concentrated and thick, smoke, meat, hints of coffee, overall balance of tannins and acid consistent but seems to lack fruit, some pepper spice in the finish.

2 hours, still tight and closed, some cherry now plus meat and blood.
5 hours, adds some coffee, cocoa, could this have an interesting future?
24 hours, a little better, still closed very thick and viscous but now smoke with touches of sweet cherry.

I think someone mentioned 05’s closing down and I think this is one too. Accordingly, 88 but based on its high concentration I’d guess it could be 91-92 in 10 years.

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62 Giscours (May 09 in Dubai) – very fine sediment, dark red-brown with lots of brown tints throughout. Nose first of alcohol and acid, which quickly blew off, then hints of raspberry, cherry and a very slight touch of smoke. Smooth and soft, nice mouth feel, spicy Cyan pepper finish, but not much fruit, too much acid and light on fruit. After 30-60 mins a little more balanced but still weak overall, green peppers, bubble gum, grapefruit (!), hints of meat fat. Lacks fruit, lacks balance, and lacks complexity. Disappointing as it was a great year and a good looking bottle. 86

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05 Monfort Bellevue (Medoc) - December 2010  from Dubai duty free (approx $20) - Medium red with purple and pink tints and a very light hint of brown, clear and bright. Nose of acetone and black fruits. Nice but light mouthfeel, smooth and light flavors with rustic (not clean or pure) blackfruits, prunes and hints of smoke. A bit watery, overly acidic and tannic, and too much oak, but for its lightness a correspondingly impressive 10 second finish. Not much here now and unlikely to improve. 84
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05 Ch. Maurac (Haut Medoc) – December 2010 – Repeating myself, this is another one I had never heard of but bought at the biggest liquor store in the UAE (not in Dubai) a few months ago for something like $25 to try more cheap 05s. But I am really starting to think the good 05s need to be expensive, but isn’t that counter to the vintage’s reputation? So far I think I’ve only found one 05 with real QPR.

Medium plum red, with dirty brown tints throughout and only slightly opaque. I have smelt barnyard many times, don’t mind it and have enjoyed some of those wines, especially the 66 Haut Brion, but this smells like human excrement! I think this is a first time for me. Plus some cooked cherries and popcorn. Soft, round with a touch of sweet fruit and soft tannins, it’s unbalanced with too much acid and a quick weak finish. Cucumber, touch of green vegetation, simple and without much fruit. Probably disappointing for even non-wine knowledable people. I’ve scored it without considering the poop. 82
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05 Ch. Blaignan (Medoc) – December 2010 – Another one I had never heard of but bought at the biggest liquor store in the UAE (not in Dubai) for something like $25 to try more 05s. Although I am starting to think good 05s need to be expensive? Opaque with muddy brownish shades and light purple and ruby tints. Nose of blood, raw beef, vanilla and oak like a furniture factory. Soft and round with good balance of light fruit, fresh acid and tannins. Some strawberry and raspberry with a touch of apple, and a plumy finish. Sounds good but despite the reasonable balance, actually quite flat, absolutely no complexity and a short finish. To top it off, a bit of an odd fishy flavor. Drinkable for anyone that doesn’t know good wine. 84
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M O R E   S O O N !
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Our Tasting Notes are also available at:

www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com