Wowwy Wow! It's Wednesday. It's a little late in the day to be posting this but I was up in Healdsburg and Napa for most of the day! Ahhh! Wine Country.
As promised here is the first of two tasting notes on some super good Bordeaux's.
After much searching, I finally was able to get my hands on a couple premier grand crus from the Bordeaux region of France. This is one of those bottles, well a half bottle to be exact. It's a 375ml, which is a half bottle so the price that I will reveal below reflects that.
Chateau Pavie is a "right bank" Premier grand cru classe B wine from the Saint-Emillion region of France. It lies just southeast of the village of St. Emillion. The wine is comprised of roughly 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. By law Bordeaux red wine must contain 1 or more of the following grapes, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec (yes the French did it first), Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the two major grapes while the rest are used in smaller amounts for blending.
1999 Chateau Pavie, Bordeaux Blend, Saint-Emillion, Bordeaux
consumed Monday, December 20, 2010, with family, Retail $72.99
Upon releasing this wine from its prison, I recall that, in fact, in 1999 I was just a Junior in High School and had never even thought about drinking wine. I was just a punk kid haha. I snap back to the bottle in hand, I pour it into the decanter to let the thing breathe. I mean it's been locked away for 11 years.
This is possibly one of the main reasons I love wine. This wine, this wine, was just so splendid. Layer after layer revealing deep intense aromas. Once you figured out one smell something else would come out in punch you in the face, it was that intense. The new aromas were subtle at first but once I focused on the smell it came out in a big way. The first aromas that came to mind were pepper, raspberry, and earth. Earth is hard to explain but it was as if I could smell the soil, fresh soil and stone. As a secondary note, I began to smell the ever slightest bit of licorice and a bit of leather. After an additional hour of the wine beginning opened a started to get a slight chocolate note. Near the end I swear I was starting to get a little eucalyptus or mint on the nose and at that point I decided to actually taste the wine and enjoy it!
The mouth feel was brilliant. The wine was so vibrant on the tongue, just lovely. Bright red fruit, a little spice, and leather which lingered through the retro nasal (after taste) pleasantly. I swear I was tasting that wine for the rest of the night even after it was gone. I was also surprised that the wine was still pretty tannic, meaning it can probably age even further and continue to develop in the bottle. The wine also had beautiful color, opaque blood red. and a more orange burgundy color at the edge of the glass. Just an awesome wine, I cannot wait to visit France!
******
Next week, 1999 Chateau Haut-Brion!
No comments:
Post a Comment