Please allow me to thank the Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux, Balzac Communications, and especially Paul Wagner for a great New York City event today, at Cipriani 42. The turnout was one of the best in many years, due to their efforts and generosity. Every attendee seemed quite happy to be there. No wonder.
Rather than specific tasting notes, I can offer only my general impressions of the 2014 Bordeaux vintage.
The red wines, across Pessac-Leognan, St. Emilion, Pomerol, Margaux, St. Estephe, Pauillac, St. Julien, and Haut-Medoc, showed very well. Every single bottle would have graced and flattered the nicest dinner. They consistently offered an elegant, inviting balance of warm red and black fruits, round and ripe tannins, restrained earthiness, and lively acidity. Almost every wine seemed ready to drink over the short and medium term, fortunately devoid of obtrusive oak, hot alcoholic, or clumsy jam notes. Unlike in some other vintages, these Bordeaux tasted handmade and genuine, rather than artfully contrived or heavily over-extracted. Indeed, one wonders if this vintage will have the structure for very long-term aging. Who knows, or cares? Just enjoy.
The sweet wines from Barsac and Sauternes were also quite elegant, although without the rich botrytis, glycerin, and spice of landmark years like 2001. They too seemed more for earlier drinking than for old bones.
Gruaud Larose stood out for being almost animalistically funky, but in the old Cordier style.
Lynch Bages was unusually open and drinkable, at this early stage of life.
Pichon Baron was almost feminine in style, not your typical Pauillac bruiser.
Canon seemed a bit lean. It has yet to regain its stature of 1989 and 1990, in my view, and warrants a downgrade.
I was hoping to make this one but couldn’t make it happen this year. I was looking forward to trying this vintage and wearing my Berserker pin for the first time. I hope others who hit this one, or the tastings in other cities, chime in.
Excellent, on the GL, that’s the style that caused me to swoon over GL, Talbot and Meyney. I bought GL in 2014 and 2012. I may have some 2010. Have not tried any. The 2000 that I popped last year was outstanding. I did not buy the Pichon or Lynch as they were much higher price-points. Reputedly 2015 is a stand-out in 2015 but the notes seem quite rich for my palate.
One very discerning fellow New Yorker described the red wines as being remarkably middle of the road, with the right mix of everything in a Goldilocks-nirvana context, which is particularly complimentary, given how recently bottled Bordeaux can be tricky to enjoy.
Good to see you, Victor. Will try to get my notes up on my blog and cross post here, but may not have time until the weekend. Interesting vintage - not quite like any others I can think of, and in many cases the best performing wines were not necessarily my usual favorites from the UGC tastings.
Was at the FL tasting and GPL was our favorite of the night. I agree that the quality was very evenly distributed among the vast majority of wines and they seem like relatively “early” drinkers. That said, upon questioning almost every winemaker or owner there, they recommended waiting 10 years…
I went to the tasting in Philly on Sunday – here are thoughts on the wines I tasted (take the scores for what they are worth, a/k/a just helping me keep track of preferences):
The Pape Clements were rocking. Really thought both the white and the red had fine potential
St Julien in particular seemed to have great success, but quality spread across the appelations
The wines showed well in general – I have some bias as it is a birthyear for my daughter, but I will be planning a buying strategy after tasting.
Sauternes were solid and balanced – Coutet was the standout of the group for me
I agree with Victor’s take that this was a nicely balanced vintage. Lascombes and Clinet were the only ones that came across more prominently modern styled, and they were balanced with notes beyond primary fruit
It was the Pape Clement Blanc that blew me away at this tasting—I will post my detailed notes on 40 wines from the Toronto version of the event, hopefully tomorrow (just got back). It is an interesting vintage…I may be at first blush in Alan C’s camp vis-à-vis his comments.
