2005 Château Troplong Mondot, France, Saint Emilion, Wine Review

In a really special place right now. Fantastic. This is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with black cherries, cherries, slight chocolate, tobacco, leather and slight funk. Full bodied. Velvety texture. On the palate, this is vibrant but also showing layering and complexity. Flavors of black cherries and cherries with underlying earthiness. Some chocolate on the finish. This is at peak but should drink well for another decade. Great on its own as it is contemplative, but will work great with roasted fowl, meat or even vegetables.

Grade:

A+

Score:

Vintage:

2005

Current Price:

$325.00USD

2001 Château Troplong Mondot, France, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Wine Review

Vintage:

2001

Score:

Grade:

A-

At peak. Purple/ruby in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has nice cherries with some cassis and cigar box. On the palate, some complexity. Nice texture. Juicy cherries with some cassis and underlying slight cocoa dust and tobacco. Nice finish. This is about as good as this wine will be. Reasonably food friendly for medium and heavier foods.

Cheval Blanc: The “First Growth” of the Right Bank

When the wines of Bordeaux were classified in 1855 all of the wines were from the Left Bank of the Gironde River. In fact, with the exception of Haut Brion, which is from Graves, all of the wines classified were from the Medoc. Since that time, the winemaking areas of Bordeaux have greatly expanded. Some of the best wines in Bordeaux are now made on the Right Bank including some of the most expensive wines in the entire world. While there is no official classification system for all of Bordeaux, there can be no doubt that if such a system was implemented today, at least a few Right Bank wineries would make the list. Perhaps no winery deserves the mythical first growth of the Right Bank title more than Cheval Blanc. In fact, the wines of Saint Émilion, a commune on the Right Bank, were ranked in 1955 and Cheval Blanc was one of two that received the highest rank of Premier Grand Cru Classé (A). Those rankings were redone in 1969, 1986, and 1996 and most recently in 2006 (although that ranking is the subject of an ongoing legal dispute not relevant to Cheval Blanc) and Cheval Blanc has remained a First Growth in every subsequent ranking.

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2005 Château Fleur Cardinale, France, Bordeaux, Saint Emilion, Wine Review

Vintage:

2005

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$100.00USD

Gorgeous showing for this wine. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is wonderful with black cherries, chocolate, spice, cherries and slight funk. Full bodied. Lush texture. On the palate, this is just about at maturity. Plenty of vibrant fruit; cherries and black cherries but also starting to show some depth and complexity. No hurry though. This should drink well for another ten to twenty years. Nice on its own, but better with food. Lamb would be a good match.

2005 Château Pavie, France, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Wine Review

Vintage:

2005

Score:

Grade:

A+

Current Price:

$500.00USD

This wine was controversial on release due to its ripeness and size. At age 16, it is still a big wine but starting to settle down a bit. Just a bit. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose has black raspberries, black cherries, toast, spice, black pepper and leather. Full bodied. Wonderful velvety/jammy texture. On the palate, this is delicious. Firm tannins. Lots of black raspberry and cassis, some blueberries with spice and underlying leather. It certainly may be atypical from St.

2008 Château La Confession, France, Bortdeaux, Saint Emilion, Wine Review

Vintage:

2008

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$86.00USD

This is a blend of 66% Merlot and 34% Cabernet Franc. It is consistently a great value in Right Bank Bordeaux and in good vintages (such as 2008) it often out performs the vintage. Purple in color with some ruby swirls, opaque and bright. The nose has black cherries, cherries, coffee, slight chocolate and cigar box. Full bodied. Medium tannins. On the palate, this is approaching peak. Some complexity and depth. Flavors of black cherries, cherries, spice, chocolate and char. Good finish. This will be better with food. It should work great with Lamb. Drink over the next ten years.

2005 Château Troplong Mondot, France, Saint Emilion, Wine Review

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