Grape Wine Journey

Do you know the 61 wines that are now the renowned 1855 Classification of Bordeaux, what was the basis on the classification?  It was strictly based on price!  It would be interesting to test if the quality and price are still in line with the classification these days.

Well, that was the basis of the horizontal tasting I joined this weekend.  It was a very small group, only 6 people and the instructor.

We were given 5 Parker scores in the beginning and at the end we were to guess what did Parker give to each wine.

We started with the 5^th growth and moving up the ladder to the 1^st growth:

Ch Grand Puy Lacoste, Pauillac (5^th Growth)

Ch Talbot, St Julien (4^th Growth)

Ch Giscours, Margaux (3^rd Growth)

Ch Rauzan Segla, Margaux (2^nd Growth)

Ch Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac (1^st Growth)

Ch Grand Puy Lascote was still young, the tannin was high with fresh fruit and leather.  The wine would still need to age a few more years to enjoy.

Ch Talbot was quite balance with soft tannin, with black fruit and leather.  It is ready to drink now but the length was not very long.

Ch Giscours, on the nose it showed blackcurrant, caramel, leather and on the palate it showed black fruit and spice.  The length was quite long and would pair well with red meat.

Ch Rauzan Segal, a disappointment for most of us.  The wine was still closed, not much on the nose and showed some spice on the palate.

Then the Mouton, a favorite in the Asian market ; it was truly a wine in its own class.  On the nose it still showed fresh fruit and on the palate there were black fruit and spice.  The tannin was very soft and silky,  a very well balanced wine.  This wine could be enjoyed now and with many years to reach its peak.

My favorite for the evening – Mouton and Giscours.

What about Parker ? Mouton and Grand Puy Lacoste; and when you compared the price  – almost a fifth of the Mouton.

So our conclusion, if the Grand Puy Lacoste will taste like the Mouton in 5 years time – then should stock up now !