Part IIId refers to St. Emilion and Pomerol. Here are our notes:
2004 Château Angélus, St. Emilion
Appearance: deep purple.
Nose: very ripe black and red fruits with complex savoury quality (oak, spice, pencil shavings etc.). Lovely oak in particular.
Palate: marked ripe fruit, excellent medium chewy tannins, fine medium acidity and impressive concentration for the 2004 vintage. Superb length.
Conclusion: 50% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine spends somewhere between 18-22 months in new oak. It certainly has the fruit to withstand that kind of treatment. This was extremely good, although we’re not sure many would be willing to fork out for Angélus.
Rating: 18.5/20 [possible 19/20]
2004 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple-red.
Nose: delicate nose with ripe red and black fruits. Not too extracted. Good oak.
Palate: well put together, featuring good fruit, nice closely-knit medium tannins, good acidity and encouraging length.
Conclusion: 55% merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, anything like 80-100% of the wine can see new oak for various periods depending on the vintage. Stephan von Neipperg was very informative, explaining that for this wine he has at his disposal particularly old Cabernet Franc (including vines that survived a significant frost in 1956).
Rating: 18/20
2004 Clos Fourtet, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple-red.
Nose: mineral, metallic first nose with ripe fruit coming in later. Non-intrusive oak.
Palate: nice acidity here, ripe medium tannins. Well-integrated.
Conclusion: 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, the wine sees 80% new oak for an unspecified period. This was well-made.
Rating: 17.5/20
2004 Château Figeac, St. Emilion
Appearance: darkish purple-red.
Nose: lovely ripe dark fruits (blackcurrant, blackberry, black plum) with good oak.
Palate: more high-quality dark fruits, but angular and with bigger tannins than expected. Concentrated, with good length.
Conclusion: 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot, this wine sees 100% new oak. It’s impressive and seemed to have good concentration.
Rating: 18/20
2004 Château Grand Mayne, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple.
Nose: delicate berry fruits, then greater red and black plum fruit coming through. Integrated oak.
Palate: good fruit, ripe tannins which are larger than expected and take a while to come through. Good length here too.
Conclusion: 75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine spends between 14-18 months in 80% new oak. Good stuff.
Rating: 17.5/20
2004 Château Troplong Mondot, St. Emilion
Appearance: deep purple-red.
Nose: dark fruits, leather and tobacco (from the oak).
Palate: large chunky tannins with decent acidity and excellent fruit. Good length.
Conclusion: 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine spends up to a year in 70% new oak and then a further year in old barrels. It is very young at present, but could be very impressive with significant ageing.
Rating: 18.5/20
2004 Château Clinet, Pomerol
Appearance: medium purple-red.
Nose: tight first nose, metallic. Seems closed right now.
Palate: again more tight fruit and seems too young to assess at the moment (perhaps this bottle is atypical).
Conclusion: 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine sees new oak for an unspecified period. But this bottle was too closed to give an initial response really.
Rating: tentative 17.5/20
2004 Château Angélus, St. Emilion
Appearance: deep purple.
Nose: very ripe black and red fruits with complex savoury quality (oak, spice, pencil shavings etc.). Lovely oak in particular.
Palate: marked ripe fruit, excellent medium chewy tannins, fine medium acidity and impressive concentration for the 2004 vintage. Superb length.
Conclusion: 50% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine spends somewhere between 18-22 months in new oak. It certainly has the fruit to withstand that kind of treatment. This was extremely good, although we’re not sure many would be willing to fork out for Angélus.
Rating: 18.5/20 [possible 19/20]
2004 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple-red.
Nose: delicate nose with ripe red and black fruits. Not too extracted. Good oak.
Palate: well put together, featuring good fruit, nice closely-knit medium tannins, good acidity and encouraging length.
Conclusion: 55% merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, anything like 80-100% of the wine can see new oak for various periods depending on the vintage. Stephan von Neipperg was very informative, explaining that for this wine he has at his disposal particularly old Cabernet Franc (including vines that survived a significant frost in 1956).
Rating: 18/20
2004 Clos Fourtet, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple-red.
Nose: mineral, metallic first nose with ripe fruit coming in later. Non-intrusive oak.
Palate: nice acidity here, ripe medium tannins. Well-integrated.
Conclusion: 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, the wine sees 80% new oak for an unspecified period. This was well-made.
Rating: 17.5/20
2004 Château Figeac, St. Emilion
Appearance: darkish purple-red.
Nose: lovely ripe dark fruits (blackcurrant, blackberry, black plum) with good oak.
Palate: more high-quality dark fruits, but angular and with bigger tannins than expected. Concentrated, with good length.
Conclusion: 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot, this wine sees 100% new oak. It’s impressive and seemed to have good concentration.
Rating: 18/20
2004 Château Grand Mayne, St. Emilion
Appearance: medium purple.
Nose: delicate berry fruits, then greater red and black plum fruit coming through. Integrated oak.
Palate: good fruit, ripe tannins which are larger than expected and take a while to come through. Good length here too.
Conclusion: 75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine spends between 14-18 months in 80% new oak. Good stuff.
Rating: 17.5/20
2004 Château Troplong Mondot, St. Emilion
Appearance: deep purple-red.
Nose: dark fruits, leather and tobacco (from the oak).
Palate: large chunky tannins with decent acidity and excellent fruit. Good length.
Conclusion: 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine spends up to a year in 70% new oak and then a further year in old barrels. It is very young at present, but could be very impressive with significant ageing.
Rating: 18.5/20
2004 Château Clinet, Pomerol
Appearance: medium purple-red.
Nose: tight first nose, metallic. Seems closed right now.
Palate: again more tight fruit and seems too young to assess at the moment (perhaps this bottle is atypical).
Conclusion: 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine sees new oak for an unspecified period. But this bottle was too closed to give an initial response really.
Rating: tentative 17.5/20
Labels: 2004, Angelus, Canon-la-Gaffeliere, Clinet, Clos Fourtet, Featured Tastings, Figeac, Grand Mayne, Pomerol, red, St. Emilion, Troplong Mondot, Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux
posted by Wine Dragon
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