Good to read all your reports!
How would you guys rate the '14 vintage in line with the last 20 years? I know it can not match years like '9 and '10 but how much is it up compared to other (weaker) vintages?
I was at the SF tasting too; agreed that GPL was showing the best out of all the reds. Pape Clement blanc was really shockingly good. Surprised that there’s no love for the exoticism of the Le Bon Pasteur (yes Michel Rolland, etc etc)
That’s very kind of you Mike, thank you. With reflection, I agree. I believe my reasoning for the Giraud Sauternes ranking so highly for me was its refreshing acidity and liveliness at the end of a very long tasting!
Barry! Of Course, it was a pleasure to meet you two, hope to do so again.
Yes, but not overly so. I drank so many Cali syrahs and Cabs over the past years I tend to need good black fruit to balance any funk. I don’t like too much wooly wet-dog. Fortunately the G Larose was fantastic, with a nice core of black fruit tempered by some earthy must. It was my ideal balance of those two though. Not too much extracted fruit and not too stanky. Some may prefer even more barnyard than I do, though.
I feel like I tasted different wines from everyone else.
Talbot was good, still had some of the characteristic funk but the surprise for me was Gruaud-Larose, which to me has become a different wine from what it was. Used to be bretty and funky so I asked the guy pouring, who happened to be from the winery, and he said they really made big changes in 2008, replanting many plots and changing the vinification, doing plot by plot and then blending. They also got Rolland to consult and replanted a lot of the vines. It’s now far more Napa-like than it used to be, with clean fruit. Not bad, but not the same as it was in the 1990s.
Overall I liked Pauillac.
Elsewhere some wines were a little hollow, some just not overly impressive, like Cantemerle, which can be good in some years, and I bought futures in 1996 and 2000, because it was cheap as hell then but today it’s around $40 and I wonder why.
The Sauternes were mostly sweet, honeyed, cloying, and lacking sufficient acidity and botrytis. Good because I have a sweet tooth, but mostly just sweet, like some Australian sweet wines. Maybe I’m just used to Tokaji-aszu with balancing acidity, but overall these had wood and honey, but little botrytis and no citrus clean-up. Not nearly as good as 2001 for example.
But I got to taste with the likes of Karen MacNeil, so thin I was afraid she’d blow away, Doug Frost, totally lacking any pretense and just a regular guy, Lou Kapscandy, in his own bubble, and lots of other notables so I kept my thoughts to myself in case I was wrong. Because I thought things like the Latour-Martillac had flavors of green beans that had become a little moldy, Leoville Barton was even woodier and more tomatoey than the woody, tomatoey Langoa Barton, les Carmes Haut Brion had so much acetone I thought it was flammable, Citran had a weird fishy note, and the sweet Chateau de Fargues was gluey and woody and unpleasant.
Some were pretty good though - Guiraud as always, and Haut Peyraguey, which was one of the few sweet that actually had some identifiable botrytis. Chantegrive had a really nice white with lemon and pineapple tartness. All really nice.
For reds, Pichon Baron was ripe, tart, tasty, long and typified what I thought was the best of Pauillac, which again, to me was the best region overall. Talbot was still kind of old-school and quite good, and Poujeaux, usually cited as an example of a good value, really was. I think it’s a bit overrated sometimes but it was quite nice this time around, ready to drink and probably good for a few years.
Mixed results for me. I wouldn’t buy blindly. Some wines were OK, some basically sucked, it was far better than last year overall, but finally I was happy to come home and open something else.
Finally got around to putting my notes in CT. Overall, this was an enjoyable, promising vintage. Probably a little easier to taste than the last UGC I attended (2010 vintage). I quite liked a number of the wines, and if I was a little younger, I’d be stocking up on several, particularly at the relatively attractive pricing these are at compared to some other “good” vintages.
2014 Château Branaire-Ducru - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (1/27/2017)
First taste of the day. Nice dark fruit, quite tasty, fairly structure, good acidity, a nice start. (91 pts.)
2014 Château Gruaud Larose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (1/27/2017)
Very nice, medium intensity, brighter dark red fruit, excellent acidity, fine structure, more elegant. Quite tasty already, earlier drinker? (92 pts.)
2014 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (1/27/2017)
Dark garnet, nearly opaque, nice deep dark fruit, hint of a violet streak, medium tannins but not too grippy. Very nice. (93 pts.)
2014 Château Talbot - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (1/27/2017)
Nice, slightly brooding dark fruit, quite structured, good acidity, tight finish. (91 pts.)
2014 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (1/27/2017)
Rich and intense, nice silky tannins, more forward, dark fruit, maybe higher alcohol than some other 14s? Very nice, earlier drinker, crowd-pleaser. (92 pts.)
2014 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (1/27/2017)
Opaque deep garnet color, beautiful dark fruit, has a great combination of power and restraint, with good acidity and fine, but persistent tannins. Gorgeous wine. Unspittable. (94 pts.)
2014 Château Lynch-Bages - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (1/27/2017)
Similar to the Pichon Baron, though more forward and not quite the depth and structure; very pretty, has depth but elegance, brighter violet red fruit, good acidity, fine tannins. (92 pts.)
2014 Château Brane-Cantenac - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (1/27/2017)
A lighter bodied wine, pleasant medium dark red fruit, good balance, earlier drinker. (89 pts.)
2014 Château Cantenac Brown - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (1/27/2017)
Nearly opaque, very nice medium dark red fruit, misses a gear of intensity and depth, but nicely elegant with good fine structure. (91 pts.)
2014 Château Giscours - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (1/27/2017)
Bright red fruit, bit lighter body, medium intensity but lacks some depth and complexity. (87 pts.)
2014 Château Kirwan - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (1/27/2017)
50% new oak, dark, nearly opaque, gorgeous medium depth, great flavor, has a lighter, nicely elegant quality, good overall balance. A refined, delicious wine, probably ready to drink on the earlier side of 5-10 years. (93 pts.)
2014 Château Rauzan-Ségla - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (1/27/2017)
Nice medium depth, fairly structured, almost a bit coarse through the finish. Needs time but shows good promise. (91 pts.)
2014 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (1/27/2017)
Medium body, quite tasty, deep red fruit, some medium structure, flavorful, refined, needs 5-10 years. (91 pts.)
2014 Château Canon - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (1/27/2017)
Very nice medium bright red/purple fruit, nice balance, good power but retains its elegance. Quite nice. (92 pts.)
2014 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (1/27/2017)
Quite dark, opaque deep red, intense deep red fruit, excellent acidity, silky tannins, more apparent oak than other 14s. A bit modern in style, with a little too much oak for my tastes. (91 pts.)
2014 Clos Fourtet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (1/27/2017)
Quite pretty, floral, bright violet/purple fruit, good acidity, moderate/medium structure, quite elegant. (91 pts.)
2014 Domaine de Chevalier - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (1/27/2017)
Dark, opaque, wow, deep, dark, brooding fruit, strong but refined structure, backward, secretive, could be an outstanding, long lived wine. A real transformation, based on previous vintages that have been much more forward. (93 pts.)
2014 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (1/27/2017)
Light nose, not showing much, nice medium intensity, but nowhere near the depth or complexity of the Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc. (89 pts.)
2014 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (1/27/2017)
Medium body, nice, clean, medium dark fruit, more forward and elegant, not quite as structured as some of the other 14s; very pretty, 10 year wine, just a bit simple and missing the layers and depth I expect from this house. (90 pts.)
2014 Château Pape Clément - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (1/27/2017)
Fairly dark, nearly opaque, nice medium intensity, bright, higher toned flavors but plenty of bass fruit, fairly structured; 10-15 year wine, seems fairly forward already. (93 pts.)
2014 Château Smith Haut Lafitte - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (1/27/2017)
Very structured, powerful tannins overwhelm the moderate, dark fruit, not sure where this will come into balance. Maybe just too young to judge, and this is a 30 year wine, but hard to read and not very enjoyable now. (88 pts.)
2014 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (1/27/2017)
Amazing nose just jumps out of the glass with some slight grassy notes but mostly floral fruit; nice palate intensity, very fresh, fabulous flavor and good acidity. 95% Sauvignon Blanc, and it shows this. Almost Dagueneau-like. (94 pts.)
2014 Château de Fargues - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (1/27/2017)
Very nice nose, with plenty of dried fruits signaling the good flavor complexity on the palate, not overly botrytized but just enough to provide adequate depth and flavor, moderate acidity but enough to create decent balance through the moderate finish. (92 pts.)
2014 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (1/27/2017)
Simple, lacks interest or depth. Adequate, but unremarkable, particularly in comparison to some vintages where this house can knock it out of the park. (85 pts.)
Excellent notes on many wines I bought from someone’s palate that is parallel to mine in many respects. Nice!!!
Bobby…half bottle of the kirwan at total swine $22
And Brown Cantenac…I’m liking this estate
Which location? Already in stock?
Pavlovian.
Now it’s gonna be Pavlovian: AG and the Suckles have released some updated ratings and many numbers are up.
Any suggestions on what to cut from this shopping list? Clearly, based on reports above, and my love for the Chateau, GPL will be staying on the list — all others are up for removal. 
2014 Beychevelle, St-Julien (Pre-Arrival) $79.99
2014 Cantemerle, Haut-Médoc (Pre-Arrival) $27.99
2014 Gloria, St-Julien (Pre-Arrival) $31.99
2014 Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac (Pre-Arrival) $59.99
2014 Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan (Pre-Arrival) $74.99
2014 La Mission Haut-Brion Rouge, Pessac-Léognan (Pre-Arrival) $209.99
2014 Lanessan, Haut-Médoc (Pre-Arrival) $14.99
2014 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien (Pre-Arrival) $69.99
2014 Pichon-Baron, Pauillac (Pre-Arrival) $99.99
2014 Pichon-Lalande, Pauillac (Pre-Arrival) $89.99
2014 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac (Pre-Arrival) $99.99
2014 Siran, Margaux (Pre-Arrival) $24.99
You are looking at this incorrectly, Brian.
The question is, “Any suggestions on what else to add to this shopping list?”
Brian, of those on your list, I really liked the GPL, Haut Bailly, Pichon Baron, and Leoville Barton when I tried them last month at the UGC tasting. And, it is not on your list, but the Talbot was also very good.
Thanks,
Ed
Are these updated scores publically available or only for subscribers? I don’t really personally care for the scores, but I’m already seeing prices going up and up and would like to buy before they continue to rise. In light of the weak euro, this price creep is making me unhappy.
PC was offering a lot of 2014 Bordeaux at great prices and with free storage. Oh, wait,…
Grabbed a 375 of the 2014 Chateau Brane-Cantenac from the Total Wine shelves today. Lots to like in this wine with its cool minty Cabernet feel to it and floral nose. Medium weight, crisp acidity, tannins moderate. Lean and more classic in structure. I’m guessing early maturer, say 8-10 years.
(89+ pts.)
Brian, I bought the GPL, Pichon Baron and Pichon Lalande. I was looking at the La Mission Haut Brion too, but didn’t pull the trigger. Then looked at it again for 2015, but the price rocketed up. I actually ended up buying the 2012 iteration (which I picked up at $195, but it is still available at about the same price as the 2014). Then Winex saw the price on the 2015 and their recommendation was to buy the 2012. That is an alternative for you to consider. I went long on 2014.