2009 Château Tour des Termes Saint-Estephe Cru Bourgeois

Well, tonight is a bit of a retread, but one that I think is worthwhile as I first reviewed the 2009 Château Tour des Termes Saint-Estephe when it was just released back in 2012 (you can see that review here) and back then I mentioned I'd put the remaining bottles in the cellar and see how they matured.  Well tonight I was looking for a nice Bordeaux to enjoy with dinner and I happened upon a bottle and I thought, why not see how the last few years have treated this blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from a classic vintage?

The wine is a lovely deep purple color in the glass, with bright ruby along the edges, belying the Cabernet in the blend.  The nose is a rich display of ripe black fruit with distinctly floral overtones that present an earthy richness so characteristic of a nice left bank Bordeaux.  The taste is refreshingly fruit forward with a burst of black cherry, plum and strawberry that transitions to some spicy pepper notes midpalate.  The tannins have definitely matured in the past 5 years or so, resulting in complex structure on the long, smooth and very dry finish.

Last time I rated this wine based on it's youth, but today I'd rate this wine a solid 8.5 as it's just starting to hit its stride.  This wine would be ideal with a variety of roasts and chop, rich classic French dishes and seafood.  Tonight I'm enjoying this wine with a more subdued dinner of oven roasted chicken breast served with mashed potatoes and some grilled asparagus.  Cheers!

2009 Chateau Grand Tayac Margaux

Well, it's Saturday night, time for a nice bottle of Bordeaux, and tonight its the king of Bordeaux, a Margaux from the stellar 2009 vintage, the 2009 Chateau Grand Tayac Margaux.  I recently bought a few bottles of this wine from Wines Till Sold Out, so why not try it?  This Margaux is a blend of classic Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon (70%), Merlot (27%) and Petit Verdot (3%).

The wine is a lovely deep garnet color in the glass, with an almost inky black center.  The nose presents aromas of blackberry, cassis and mint with just a hint of earthy overtones.  The taste is a lovely fruit forward blast of ripe cherry and plum that transitions effortlessly to some earthy flavors of oak and limestone midpalate.  The tannins are still a bit tightly wound, but the finish is just lovely, earthy, long and dry, just as a nice Margaux should be!

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, it's drinking well now, but could use a few more years in the cellar.  It was also an excellent value at about $30!  Tonight I am enjoying this classic French wine with a quintessential American meal of a rare grilled Angus ribeye, baked potato and steamed broccoli, yum!  A nice Bordeaux is always a pleasure to drink with steak, but this one would also pair well with some aged cheeses or charcuterie.  Sante!

1997 I Balzini White Label Super Tuscan Blend

All right!  It's the first Saturday of the month, and you know what that means, Cellar Saturday!  That day of the month where I raid the cellar for something a little more mature or out of the ordinary to taste and share with all of you.  Tonight it's a relatively recent acquisition, as I just bought a 4-year vertical of this wine from Wines Till Sold Out, and tonight I've opened the oldest, the 1997 I Balzini White Label Super Tuscan, a blend of Sangiovese (50%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), two varietals that I know age quite well.  Given its age, I opened this wine and decanted it about an hour before tasting, so here goes nothing!

The wine is an inky, deep purple color in the glass with some ruby around the edges.  The nose is very earthy, with quite a bit of smoke, oak and cedar over a layer of leather and black pepper.  The taste is surprisingly fruit forward with rich flavors of blackberry and plum at the outset that quickly transitions to some stark mineral notes of limestone and iron midpalate.  The tannins are quite mellow after nearly two decades but they still give nice structure to the smooth and very dry finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's drinking quite nicely, but I believe it's somewhat on the downhill side of its life.  As for pairings, it would be very nice with a wide variety of steaks or spicy Italian dishes, but tonight I've gone the other direction and am enjoying it with a grilled wild Alaskan salmon steak served over a bed of baby greens with all sorts of picnic sides, including corn on the cob, cole slaw and potato salad with a bit of fresh dill.  The fruit of the wine and mild acidity offer a great complement to the rich fattiness of the salmon, the perfect summer fare!  Salut!

2009 Chateau Guillou Montagne Saint-Emilion

So tonight I've decided to go on a bit of a culinary adventure, what with it being the start of the weekend and all.  In any case I've decided to try my hand at a bit of French cooking, and what better to go with French food than a nice French wine?  So tonight I've opened a bottle of the 2009 Chateau Guillou Montagne Saint-Emilion, from a great Bordeaux vintage.

The wine is a lovely ruby color in the glass with great clarity. The nose is very nice with a bit of ripe fruit, pomegranate, ripe plum, and a good bit of barnyard around a base of oak and smoke. The taste is very interesting with a bit of sweet cherry and a hint of cotton candy up front that effortlessly transitions to some oak, leather and dusty limestone mid palate. The finish is quite nice with a bit of pepper and lovely tannins supporting a long, dry finish. 

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8 as it's a great example of the wine and the vintage that I found at a value price of just $18!  Tonight I'm enjoying this with some Moules Marinieres, a delicious dish of mussels in a white wine sauce seasoned with shallots, tarragon and thyme, along with some wonderful croutons to maximize your enjoyment of the sauce!  So warm and delicious for such a bitter cold evening!

2009 Chateau du Pin Bordeaux

Tonight I am coming to you from Elkhart, Indiana, the RV capital of the world, and nothing says RV like a nice 2009 Bordeaux!  I just came back from a lovely dinner with my Chairman at the Vine here in Elkhart (if you are ever in the area I highly recommend it).  We had the salmon special, grilled with a Tuscan cream sauce, delicious!  And now I'm back at the hotel ready for a glass of wine.  This one the Chateau du Pin Bordeaux from the stellar 2009 vintage that is really starting to drink very well now.

The color is very nice, rich ruby edging toward a deep purple in the center.  The nose is quite nice with rich ripe fruit, blackberries, cherry, plum and cassis that suggests a very fruit forward wine.  The taste is fruit forward but subdued, with cool red fruit up front that transitions to some nice minerality, dusty limestone and dried herbs midpalate that is so typical of a young Bordeaux.  The tannins are rather mellow, but still supportive of a long dry finish that is classic for the Gironde.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's a very nice example of a standard Bordeaux from a strong vintage, and it was a pretty good value as well as I recall this one was about $15.  Although I'm having this after dinner, it would pair quite nicely with some lamb chops grilled with sage, or some braised short ribs with some lovely root vegetables that are just coming into season with the autumn weather.  The fruit of the wine really would be a nice foil to the strong and savory flavors of a big meat dish.  Cheers!

2009 Mayne Durege Bordeaux

So tonight I've decided to have dinner in as I've been walking all around Prague today, from the Vysehrad to the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, then up to Patrin Park, all the way up the hill to the gardens and the observatory, so after walking miles and up and down about 500 feet of elevation, I figured I needed a night in with a bottle of Bordeaux.  And for this my final Prague blog post, I've opened a bottle of 2009 Mayne Durege Bordeaux, let's hope it's good!

The color seems somewhat light, but then again it's now quite dark out, so who knows?  The nose is actually quote nice, with hints of cherries and ripe berries overlaid with a aromas of leather and smoke.  The taste is nice, but it didn't quite live up to the expectations brought about by the pleasant nose.  It had some nice ripe fruit on the outset that transitioned to some strong minerality midpalate.  The tannins were somewhat subdued leading to a more abbreviated and lackluster, but still very dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a 7, it was a nice effort, and another incredible value at 90 Kc, or about $5.  Tonight I am pairing this with the ultimate standby for carry out, Chinese food!  Tonight I have some stir fried noodles with chicken and a Thai spicy sauce.  The wine actually pairs well with this, as the more subdued fruit notes tend to balance the spice, while the dry finish counteracts the heaviness of the dish.  Na zdraví!

2009 Château Tour des Termes Saint-Estephe Cru Bourgeois

So tonight I've decided to open up another young Bordeaux from the super terrific happy hour 2009 vintage!  I've opened a bottle of Château des Termes Saint-Estephe, which depending on my rusty interpretation of the French label is a smaller estate that's been owned and operated by the same family for 5 generations.  Also based on my translation, the wine possesses the structure of a much bigger Saint-Estephe, but with the fruit of a much softer wine - their secret, equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot!  Looks like that four years of high school French is still paying off!

The wine itself has a deep, inky purple color, and the nose is pure Bordeaux!  Smoky aromas of leather, oak and dark chocolate.  The taste is absolutely wonderful, with black pepper and spices surrounding rich ripe plum and black currants, transitioning to a bit of anise and then finishing with some remarkably well structured tannins and a long, dry finish comparable to many, much more highly acclaimed wines.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, which is pretty darn high for a 3-year-old Bordeaux!  It's a good value for what it is, but not for the under-a-sawbuck crowd, I bought this for $25 from Wines Till Sold Out, and plan on cellaring the remaining few bottles as they are likely to improved in a few years.  Tonight I am enjoying this bottle with a wonderful summer dinner of grilled pork chops with lemon pepper marinade, some sweet potato fries and steamed veggies, yum!

2009 Chateau Arnaud Saint-Estephe

I know I've been letting you down this month, letting work get in the way of important wine drinking, but that's all in the past now, as I am ready to get serious about my wine drinking for the rest of the month!  So tonight we are starting off with another of those "legendary" Bordeaux from the 2009 vintage, the Chateau Arnaud Saint-Estephe.  Most Bordeaux today seem to be from the other areas of the region, like Margaux, Medoc, Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, but there seem to be some areas that have almost been forgotten, like Saint-Julien and Saint-Estephe which comes from one of the northernmost areas of the left bank of the Gironde.

Popular or forgotten, I'll still enjoy them and tonight's example is no exception.  This wine is a full-bodied blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (30%) and Cabernet Franc (10%), with deep ruby color in the glass, with a classic, almost inky appearance at the first pour.  The nose is packed with red fruit and currants, with hints of leather, wood and mint.  There is a good bit of rich fruit on the first taste, with some savory herbs mid-palate, and well structured tannins for a smooth dry finish.

You know I love me some Bordeaux, and this one packs a nice punch!  Overall I would rate this one a solid 8 with some room to improve with a little maturity.  This one was another great wine I bought from my favorite online wine merchant, Wines Till Sold Out, and though a little pricier than usual, I still felt it was a great deal for only $21.  Tonight I am pairing it with a rare New York strip, a baked potato and some steamed veggies, a classic American meal meets France!

2009 Chateau La Tour de Bessan Margaux - Just a Tease!

What an exciting day yesterday!  You see, in early 2010 after hearing what a great vintage the 2009 Bordeaux was, I decided to go in with some colleagues to buy some futures!  My first ever experiment with wine futures, and believe me they are nothing like commodity futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange!  You see, wine futures don't involve leverage, speculation or warehouse receipts, it's a simple transaction really.  You get a somewhat better price than the currently available wine, and you pay that price up front and get your wine a year or two or three later.

The the financial analyst in my, said what a great deal!  Margaux from one of the best vintages in over a quarter century for $20 a bottle?  Sign me up!  So we did, and bought a futures case of the 2009 Chateau La Tour de Bessan Margaux, ordered and paid for in April 2010, and finally delivered in March of 2012!  So we succeeded in buying futures, and taking delivery (though I'll admit this is a horrible idea if you get high off instant gratification), and the bonus was that during the 2 years in the desert, I actually bought a few bottles of the 2005 Chateau La Tour de Bessan Margaux and it was outstanding (you can see my review of that vintage here: http://allaloneonaplanetfullofpeople.blogspot.com/2011/04/2005-chateau-la-tour-de-bessan-margaux.html and needless to say I really liked it, and the 2005 vintage is supposed to pale in comparison to the 2009.  And what incredible luck, as I was looking through the Bordeaux section of G. B. Russo's, where I ordered the futures, I noticed the 2005 vintage was marked down to the incredible price of $19.99!  I asked Dave Russo what the story was with such a steep markdown from the usual price of $44, and he said since everyone was waiting anxiously for the 2009 vintage, they just stopped buying the 2005.  Well load me up partner, I already know this is a wonderful Margaux, and for some $22 with tax, I'll take as much as I can!

So now I bet you're thinking, "Ok get on with it, where are the tasting notes?"  Well, that's where the tease comes in, you see this note was more about our successful experiment in Bordeaux futures, it's not really about the wine!  After all, you should know by now, 3 years isn't near enough time for a Margaux to mature!  Unfortunately you'll have to check back in 2015, by then this wonderful '09 Margaux should be just about ready to try.

Well, I started a little early since I couldn't wait, so here is a link to the review of the 2009 Chateau La Tour de Bessan Margaux, enjoy!