Monday, October 24, 2011

Chateau Grand Vin De Leoville Las Cases 1996 wine review by (PB)


Intense black cherry to the rim.

Bouquet--Dried fruit with slight prune notes with sweet floral, red fruit with a maple/cocoa and then peppermint presence. I was astounded!

Palate--Thickish, satiny dried dark fruit, black cherry, superior, young and amazing!

The 3rd wine served to me blind by (NW) of this blog and I was so spell bound by what I was smelling that I almost lost consciousness. Every swirl of the glass revealed yet another fragrance. My notes do not do this wine justice.

Having no categories and certainly no experience with a wine of this caliber the dried fruit, first made me think Amarone! But this was no Amarone. The texture, the elegance, the wowing presence then lead me to my closest experience to such a wine which for me meant Brunello. But this was no Brunello.

This wine has made me a believer in Brodeaux. Explanation--in what sounds down right heretical in the world of wine, my experience to some upper tier Bordeaux of the Classified growths has greatly disappointed me over the years of my study.

From Haut Brion, Batailley, a 1975 Leoville LasCases that was stored poorly and a few more, my view of Bordeaux has been that they are overpriced, over-hyped wines that sell at greatly inflated prices because of good marketing, their history and the ignorance of the rich who can afford them. Give me a good California Cabernet for my money. But now this.

This could mean the end to any illusion of retirement I may have been working toward. (NW's)wife paid $175 for this in 2003 but think more along the lines of $350 now. What a wine, and a memory. Bordeaux I believe! Thanks (NW). Thanks Spin!

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