NEW BORDEAUX RELEASES FROM MARGAUX

With the Bordeaux 2006 Vintage release coming up on Sunday October 3rd at the BC Liquor Stores, I thought I’d mention a few Bordeaux examples I tasted this week. I have very little experience trying young wines which clearly are meant for longevity and I’m impressed by those practiced enough to be able to predict a very youthful wine’s future path. There’s something quite painful about tasting good Bordeaux before they’ve been able to blossom (1. the level of tannin, and 2. the guilt with knowing the bottle wont be enjoyed in 15+ years when it should be).

Château Palmer ‘06 - Margaux, Bordeaux
Very tight and compact, yet very concentrated and already exhibiting a fantastic length. Dark and rich purple fruit, spiced vanilla and hints of peppermint. Huge wooly and mouth drying tannins. Very wound up and waiting to bloom. I would love to try it again when things have rounded out and it would be more enjoyable. I see this as an option for someone who is looking to buy a big-name Bordeaux for a special occasion now (birth of a child/wedding) for drinking 20+ years down the road but doesn’t want to spend $899-$999 on a First Growth (Mouton, Latour, Lafite, or Margaux) This will be one of the wines on offer at the release on Oct 3rd for $329.

Alter Ego de Palmer ‘06 - Margaux, Bordeaux
Château Palmer makes a second label called the Alter Ego de Palmer which comes from the same vineyards yet often with higher Merlot content and meant to be drunk earlier. I found the ‘06 had more red fruit characters (cherry and plum) with a dusty mineraly character and still lots of spicy oak. The fine powdery tannins are still aggressive and it definitely needs a few years to round out. This wine should retail around $79.99 for if you want to cellar some well made Bordeaux but DON’T WANT TO PAY $300+ FOR CHATEAU PALMER!)

Château d‘Angludet  ‘06 - Margaux, Bordeaux
For something slightly more value driven (still around $54), I recommend keeping a lookout for the Ch d’Angludet. Again, very tightly wound up and packed with fine grained tannin - slightly more fruit focused - concentrated purple fruit and licorice. We tried some past vintages and the ‘01 (from a magnum) had evolved beautifully - although still young, it showed awesome fruit with tons of complexities surfacing.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT…

Alvear Fino - Montilla, Spain
I just retasted the Alvear Fino which can be found on the BCLDB shelves with new branding (replacing the old white papered style label). The freshness and brightness was amazing and it showed a fantastic creamy honeydew melon character that I didn’t find so obvious on the older bottlings. Look for the brand new packaging as it will guarantee it hasn’t been sitting on the shelves for a couple years - still at the great price of $15.49. Here are my previous tasting notes from an older bottle.

2 Responses: