Bordeaux 2005: Union des Grand Crus, Beijing (Part 1)
29th November 2008
A large, enthusiastic gathering assembled for this year’s UGC Beijing tasting - showcasing the fabled 2005 vintage - at the Swissotel, Dongsishitiao.
The Bordeaux chateaux owners we spoke with all reported a great deal of interest in the 05 vintage as well as having to field some penetrating questions (rather than the usual inquiries they’ve come to expect in China as to price and, well, price…).
Even with the Hilton Food & Wine Experience taking place the same day, this was far the larger crowd-drawer; and involved the odd moment of determination just to get around even a sample of the wines.
But we did manage to taste all of the Sauternes/Barsacs on offer. A follow-up post on the 2005 reds can be read in Part 2.
Here’s what we tasted (click on links for full tasting notes):
Chateau Suduiraut, Sauternes 2005
Chateau Coutet, Sauternes 2005
Chateau La Tour Blanche, Sauternes 2005
Chateau Rayne-Vigneau, Sauternes 2005
Château Doisy-Daëne, Barsac 2005
Chateau Guiraud, Sauternes 2005
Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Sauternes 2005
Chateau de Fargues, Sauternes 2005
The 2005 Sauternes/Barsac vintage is clearly super-rich and many of these wines will need considerable ageing before they become approachable really.
Stand-out wines included Suduiraut, Climens, Coutet and La Tour Blanche (we expect Doisy-Daene to be very good too).
The very good 2004 vintage showed better this time last year, but it is still too early to say which will come out on top; and there’s a good chance both the 2004 and 2005 vintages will be impressive in the long term.
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[...] Part 1 we covered all of the Sauternes/Barsacs on offer. In this post we turn to what reds we could get [...]
Pingback by Dragon Phoenix Wine Blog » Bordeaux 2005: Union des Grand Crus, Beijing (Part 2) — December 18, 2008 @ 4:42 am
[...] face in China. For most Chinese consumers France essentially means Bordydeaux and the buzz at the Beijing Union des Grand Crus tasting was palpable. The French are also supported by Sopexa in China, the organization which [...]
Pingback by Part 3: Confessions of a Chinese Wine Consultant — March 27, 2009 @ 6:46 am
[...] face in China. For most Chinese consumers France essentially means Bordeaux and the buzz at the Beijing Union des Grand Crus tasting was palpable. The French are also supported by Sopexa in China, the organization which [...]
Pingback by Part 3: Confessions of a Chinese Wine Consultant : Wine Blog Reviews — March 28, 2009 @ 7:56 am