Having a well-stocked cellar during lockdown is an undeniable plus. Not going out means doing some fun tasting at home!
Couhins-Lurton - Pessac-Léognan - 2008 (White)
Very clear and precise aromas of apples, lemon and stone - no oak at all. The attack is fresh and focused too, clean apple and pear, with a slightly more waxy middle section and a long, very refined finish, mostly lemon but with a hint of sea-spray right at the end. Excellent stuff - which proved to me again that a screw-cap does not prevent a wine from ageing well.
We tasted the next three in the order of my notes, then simultaneously:
Sociando-Mallet - Haut-Médoc - 2001
Same as usual! The blackberry aromas were perhaps a little more present than the pencil shavings this time. In the mouth, very charming, the blackcurrant and plum flavours are well brought-up and elegant, getting the tastebuds ready for the streak of raspberry that comes next and the finish is still long and fresh.
Pontet-Canet - Pauillac - 2003
Unlike the others, this was decanted five hours before tasting - and it really needed more. Cigar box and cassis on the nose, much deeper than the others. On the palate, much bigger and denser than the other wines - this is a heavyweight: rich, thick and jammy cassis, unfurling slowly on the tongue, with hints of liquorice and leather, perhaps more forest fruits in the middle section, then a reasonably long finish. Much more reticent than the last bottle tried.
Brane-Cantenac - Margaux - 2000
Coming after the PC 03, this was like a colour photo compared to black and white. The aromas were zinging all over the place - blackcurrants, spring flowers, raspberries, wet stone, pencil shavings, a bit of earth, then back to the blackcurrants. Amazing stuff, one of the most expressive bouquets for months. The taste is along similar lines - red cherry at first, then blackcurrant, then a bit of blackberry, then it zooms off to the four corners of the palate in the middle section with added redcurrant and raspberry, like a starburst, but without ever losing control - this is no Rolland creation - the sweetness of the fruit, still quite primary, is tempered by the dusty Margaux elegance and poise. As for the finish, it’s quintessentially Margaux. La classe!
Our first impression was pretty clear - the Brane was on another level. Trying the three glasses together however favoured the S-M, because it had a beguiling touch and a freshness that were really appealing, but did not favour the Pontet-Canet at all. The latter did OK on its own, but faced with the other two, it tasted monolithic and even a little clumsy. Pitting the Brane against the S-M, a glass in each hand, was more interesting - the S-M’s lithe, sensual body allowed it to defend itself admirably, but the smorgasbord of flavours meant that the Brane was never in any real danger.
I wouldn’t have guessed that the Pontet-C was a 2003, there were no pinched flavours or burnt fruit, but on the basis of this bottle it needed another five years at least.
In terms of value, the Sociando-Mallet was the clear winner, costing half the price of the other two - and this proved to me, again, that this is the equivalent of at least a 3rd Growth.
But glory to the winner - Brane-Cantenac 2000 is a lovely wine, certainly in my top three Margaux in 2000.