Blind 2005 Bordeaux blends, or, Adrian tastes some Rolland wines

THE ROTATING DINNERS, VOL. 7: 2005 BORDEAUX BLENDS - Chicago, IL (12/12/2016)

Phil hosted this dinner at The Bristol; wines were served in flights of three, but I was unaware of the theme of each flight until the very end.
2009 Bubbles

• 2009 Mestres Cava Brut Nature Coquet Vintage - Spain, Cava
  Served double-blind. A hint of muscat on the nose. Sweet, with a few herbal notes as well (in the vein of Gewürztraminer). There’s decent acidity and minerality, but despite all that, this still comes off a little cloying. Simplistic on the palate. While good, not compelling. Didn’t come up with any good guesses as to what this was… (85 pts.)
• 2009 Argyle Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs Knudsen Vineyard Julia Lee’s Block - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
  Served double blind. A bit austere and the most restrained of the three starter wines. There’s a bit of a honeyed quality (without the sugar), or maybe a floral note to this wine. Not too deep and potent, and the acidity here wasn’t what I’d expect in a champagne, but I did guess that this was made from champenois grapes. (88 pts.)
• 2009 Pierre Gimonnet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Gastronome - France, Champagne
  Served double-blind. Clearly and easily identifiable as blanc de blancs champagne. Tart green apples, chalky minerality, and quite fresh. The palate’s fruit is a little ripe, and I suppose, with the benefit of hindsight, that reflects the vintage’s character a little bit. The finish shows a little bit of almondy bitterness. (90 pts.)

Mixers

• 2005 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta - Chile, Rapel Valley, Colchagua Valley
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). Based on the dirt here, I had this pegged as an old world wine (albeit not a very good one). Quite plummy, I thought the merlot showed quite prominently here. There’s quite a bit of oak; not too obtrusive, as well as a little bit of acid. Heavy tannin. I guessed some sort of modernist right-bank wine. (83 pts.)
• 2005 Andrew Will Sorella - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). The nose was quite volatile, and the alcohol seemed to waft up quite a bit here. There were some really pleasant notes of mint as well. A fair bit of acidity, this was a very fresh wine, and much more enjoyable drinking than the other wines in the flight. I guessed old-school American. (88 pts.)
• 2005 Capaia - South Africa, Coastal Region, Tygerberg, Philadelphia
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). The nose initially had a light faecal note which crescendoed with time, leading to much unpleasantness. There’s a lot of cheap oak on this, which coupled with the thin and vapid palate, makes it all the more of a crime. As for guessing what this was, I didn’t really bother… figured it was some sort of new world BS. (70 pts.)

Effin’ Merlot

• 2005 Havens Wine Cellars Bourriquot - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). Super stemmy and green, but with a very nice touch of florals on the nose. There’s a little hint of animale which was a little off-putting in this context. The palate is too mean and thin for my palate, showing lots of acid and tannin, and not much density. I guessed some sort of cabernet franc-heavy wine, but couldn’t pin down from where this could be. (85 pts.)
• 2005 San Giusto a Rentennano La Ricolma Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). My second favourite wine of the evening, even though I ended up guessing that this was a Loire cabernet franc (which in hindsight doesn’t make much sense, since it ought to have been fuller in body than this). Seems to be cut from the same cloth as the 2005 Havens Bourriquot. The nose has a touch of menthol, as well as some tart red fruit. The palate shows fairly light oak use, with a tilt towards the red end of the spectrum as well. Quite pretty, with some nice concentration here. (90 pts.)
• 2005 Secret de Cardinale - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). The odd one out in the flight, in that this was much darker and heavier than the other two wines. This showed some black cherry (and cough syrup), as well as fairly heavy oak use. Full-bodied and heavy, with chewy tannins. I guessed left bank. (88 pts.)

Uber Wines

• 2005 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). Heavy, black, and oaky, with quite a bit of ripe fruit. The palate and nose also showed a slight bit of leather, but the story of the day here was the massive quantities of black fruit. To balance it, there were some moderate acids, but not quite enough. I guessed that this was some sort of modernist Napa cabernet. (85 pts.)
• 2005 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor - Chile, Maipo Valley, Puente Alto
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). Plummy, overripe, and modern. Not pleasant, with a bit of roasted quality on the finish. Some of us thought this was the victim of bad storage (though this was bought on release and cellared since). Didn’t really bother to put down a guess on this wine. (70 pts.)
• 2005 Elderton Cabernet Sauvignon Ashmead Single Vineyard - Australia, South Australia, Barossa
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). My wine of the night. I picked up clear dill and coconut notes from American oak at first, which led me to conclude this was a bottle of Ridge; these notes eventually faded out. (This wine is actually raised in French hogsheads.) In any case, this was light and fresh, with good acids, and fruit that sat firmly in the red side of the spectrum. A cabernet very much to my taste. (90 pts.)

Peak 05

• 2005 Monteviejo Malbec Lindaflor - Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). The epitome of what is wrong with the so-called modernists. Correctly identified as purple goop. Disgusting. I feel bad for dumping this. Bad for the dump bucket, that is. (60 pts.)
• 2005 Reignac - France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). There was more than a little brett here on the nose, which coupled with the ripe fruit, make for a less-than-pleasant experience. Leathery and ripe, with some of the new oak still showing prominently. This is one of those wines which is held together by the sheer amount of stuff in a comical Katamari Damacy sort of way (that’s meant to be mildly perjorative, by the way). I guessed this was some kind of modernist Bordeaux. (80 pts.)
• 2005 Château Lascombes - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Served double-blind (but it was known this was a 2005 Bordeaux blend). To properly describe this wine, I have replaced all the adjectives in my original tasting note with “oaky”: Oaky and oaky, oaky and over-oaked. Oaky and oaky, an oaky bruiser of a wine. An oaky, heavy-oaked wine. I guessed oaky Bordeaux. So now that it’s clear how idiotic things are when there’s only oak everywhere, here’s the original note: dark and leathery; dense and over-extracted. Heavy and anonymous, a real bruiser of a wine. An uninspiring heavy-handed wine. I guessed modern Bordeaux. (70 pts.)

Ouch.

Some of those wines are the kind of stuff I like though!

Never imagined a tasting where an Elderton Cab would become the WOTN of a cabernet based tasting

+1

Odd line up…

After 2002, Lascombes dropped wine-making and went into the lumber business.

And this is why cellartracker scores are useless…

And that is why I buy wines lacking CellarTracker ratings.

My experiences last year with 2005 Lascombes and Reignac were identical.

That’s a pretty silly comment based on the OP and the scores given.

The infamous 05 Lascombes!

Although I haven’t had that vintage, I’m a little bit surprised about the Don Melchor. That’s supposed to be their “old world style” wine, so it presumably shouldn’t read modern. Maybe it was a hot year, or the bottles got cooked in shipment.

Reignac wins the flight! Reignac wins the flight!
I have three or four of these left and I fear that, for my palate, I’ll find them to taste similar to your experience.