AndyK
July 27, 2020, 9:38pm
21
Never tasted it, but man, what a polarizing wine…
JL 100
Mark_Y
July 27, 2020, 10:14pm
22
Suckling only gave this 100?? so it’s just above avg then…
As you point out, it is a matter of taste, and we have long disagreed on several if not most wines. This wine perhaps, the one we disagree about most.
I think the 14.5% question is interesting. In the eleven years of its cellaring, the wine has shown no sign of aging. It remains primary and monolithic, exactly what I have expected, given my initial primeur note. My guess is that the wine (which I suspect is higher than 14.5%) is never going to be any more interesting, just a softer blob.
I am racking my brains trying to think of a dry very high alcohol wine that I have seen develop over time. Perhaps one or two Quintarellis, but not much else. So while I agree with Jeff that wines should be viewed holistically, I cannot see that high alcohol does anything except arrest and even obliterate the ability to age into a wine of complexity. In the case of the Cos, the parts were never there.
My palate is closer to yours than Jeffs I think, and I also think high alcohol is a sign of a flawed wine, but as regards 14.5% alcohol, let me just point out – 2010 Vieux Chateau Certan, 14.5% alcohol, 2015 Vieux Chateau Certan, 14.6% alcohol. Is it your belief that high alcohol will obliterate the complexity and aging ability of these wines?
Good question, Marcus. VCC is basically my favorite Bordeaux, but in both those vintages especially the 2010, I bought far less than usual. Instead I bought a ton of 2014 because the alcohol was in check, and I loved its style. I did open the 2015 recently, and barely noticed the elevated alcohol. Call it the exception that proves the rule.
As you point out, it is a matter of taste, and we have long disagreed on several if not most wines. This wine perhaps, the one we disagree about most.
I think the 14.5% question is interesting. In the eleven years of its cellaring, the wine has shown no sign of aging. It remains primary and monolithic, exactly what I have expected, given my initial primeur note. My guess is that the wine (which I suspect is higher than 14.5%) is never going to be any more interesting, just a softer blob.
I am racking my brains trying to think of a dry very high alcohol wine that I have seen develop over time. Perhaps one or two Quintarellis, but not much else. So while I agree with Jeff that wines should be viewed holistically, I cannot see that high alcohol does anything except arrest and even obliterate the ability to age into a wine of complexity. In the case of the Cos, the parts were never there.
My palate is closer to yours than Jeffs I think, and I also think high alcohol is a sign of a flawed wine, but as regards 14.5% alcohol, let me just point out – 2010 Vieux Chateau Certan, 14.5% alcohol, 2015 Vieux Chateau Certan, 14.6% alcohol. Is it your belief that high alcohol will obliterate the complexity and aging ability of these wines?
Good question, Marcus. VCC is basically my favorite Bordeaux, but in both those vintages especially the 2010, I bought far less than usual. Instead I bought a ton of 2014 because the alcohol was in check, and I loved its style. I did open the 2015 recently, and barely noticed the elevated alcohol. Call it the exception that proves the rule.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s not just COS that crosses 14%. VCC, Ducru, Leoville Las Cases, Figeac, Cheval Blanc, Haut Brion, LMHB, Petrus, La Conseillante, Angelus, Haut Bailly, Pichon Lalande, Pichon Baron, Palmer, Lynch Bages, Montrose, Latour and many others are in the club. Chateau Margaux hit 13.9 with their 2019.
Wine is about balance, not the numbers.
I was thinking of you when I mentioned the 100 point scores from some critics. I decided not to score this, because for me a wine that I don’t want to finish my first glass let alone pour a second, must by definition score less than eighty points.
This is why those of us who do score those wines keep getting hate mail complaining, “Just look at the CT average!!!”
Do what I do…pass on '09
I learned my lesson after La Bon Pasteur