I’m back! I have been swamped with tasting’s and having far too much fun. Today was my final day in the Medoc. I have tasted every major and countless minor wines from the Left Bank. Tomorrow, I’m in Pessac Leognan. Lunch at Haut Bailly and dinner at La Mission Haut Brion is making me jealous and I am the one going! For now, let’s look at the stunning 2009 St. Estephe wines that are both candidates for 100 Pt status! Chateau Cos d’Estournel and Chateau Montrose.
There are numerous great wines produced in 2009 from the Medoc and several at very expensive prices. But my focus at the moment is on sharing impressions of what I have been tasting which is 2009 St. Estephe wines.
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I’ve tasted a lot of 2008 wines as well as older vintages. Like I said last year, there are numerous 08’s worth looking at for price and quality.
PS… It so incredibly hot in Bordeaux at the moment. It must have been close to 100 degrees today.
2009 Cos d’Estournel is midnight black, with dark purple accents. The wine smells like a basket of fresh picked blackberries and blueberries with fresh ground spice, coffee, incense, smoke, licorice, and black raspberry liqueur. This powerful Bordeaux wine coats every inch, nook and cranny of your tongue, cheeks, gums and palate with fresh, pure essences of black and blue fruit complicated with chocolate and kirsch. The seamless finish lasts over :60 seconds! I tasted this wine 3 times with similar results. 99/100 Pts
Jean-Guillaume Prats in a discussion on the wine explained the role of the new cellars in producing the wine, “Gravity cellars allow for a complete non intervention in making their Bordeaux wine. This allows for the purest possible expression of the fruit grown in the gravelly rock terroir. The wine is always moved by gravity is never touched by human hands.”
The wine is expensive. For most people, the thought is paying $300 for 2009 Cos D’Estournel is out of the question. That is a perfectly reasonable point of view. Having finished tasting every major property and a plethora of smaller estates in the Medoc, if you are not planning on buying Latour, Margaux or Haut Brion in this vintage, if you desire to own what will be a reference point wine from 2009, this is the wine to buy. I can also share this little known fact, not much 2009 COS was sold to America. Other countries took larger shares. I have no idea what is going to happen in 2011 when the wine is released, but based on the quality, if you can afford it. It is worth considering.
2009 Les Pagodes de Cos is a scaled down version of Cos d’Estournel. It lacks the intensity and completeness, but at a fraction of the price, it offers some of what makes COS sublime in 2009. Dark berries, floral, spice and chocolate aromatics fill your glass. The long finish ends with waves of ripe, dark, fresh berries and spice. 91-93 Pts
2009 Le Crock is another great 2009 selling for a fair price. Located not far from Cos d’Estournel, the wine is filled with ripe berries, rocks and spice. Round in texture, the wine finishes with ripe, beefy, dark cherries and earthy flavors. This is one of the better value wines of the vintage. 89/91 Pts
2009 Haut Beausejour is another value play form the vintage. From a terroir located close to Phelan Segur, this is a supple style of wine and should drink well early. 88/90 Pts
2009 Montrose is dark purple in color. Aromatics of earth, rocks, coco and dark berries are easy to find. Full bodied and massive in concentration, along with a wall of polished tannins, the wine finishes with a long mouth filling expression of espresso beans and ripe, fresh picked dark berries. This could be the longest lived wine of the vintage. It will take decades to develop. This is the biggest wine, from the Medoc in 2009. 95/97 Pts.
2009 Ormes de Pez opens with floral and sweet berry aromas. Full bodied and lush, the wine ends with sweet ripe berries. 91/93 Pts
2009 de Pez starts off with Chocolate, blackberries and earthy aromas. Rich, sweet, ripe and round, the wine ends with dark berries, cassis and coco. 89/91 Pts
2009 Tronquoy Lalande sports fresh, ripe berries, licorice and earthy aromatics. Soft and approachable, the wine ends in fresh, chocolate covered blackberry flavors. 90/92 Pts
