Ch. Leoville Barton '99 / Saint Julien

I went to a wine festival, "world wine and cheese festival," @ Daimaru Tokyo (next to Tokyo station). There are 200 kinds of free tasting wine, some charged tasting wine, and many kinds of free tasting cheese.   Also these products are all on sales (some wine is more than 10% off), and can be shipped to your home.

There are many varieties of wine from all over the world, so I was so excited and tasted so many kinds....

At the charged tasting booth, I found one of the Grands Crus Classe Bordeaux! Yeah, let's taste it!!

Ch. Leoville Barton '99 / Saint Julien (Second Cru)

Dark ruby color with orange at the edge.  Aroma of cassis and blackberries (a bit dried not fresh one) with powerful bouquet of cider, pencil, leather, clove, ciger, truffle and leaf mold.  The tannin was rich , so the texture was a bit tannic at the first.  As time went, the tannin became round and silky.  The wine I had seems at the mid to latter peak.  If I describe it as human, this wine is like "mid to old gentleman." Well, it's in good mean.  It was wonderful wine in the fact.

There are three "Ch. Leoville ～" in Second cru classe of Medoc, Bordeaux; Leoville Las Cases, Leoville Poyferre, and Leoville Barton.  These wineries used to be one winery "Ch. Leoville," whose history began in 1638.  The wine of Ch. Leoville was high quality, thus evaluated and famous as "the vast and great vineyard."  In 1826, the Barton family owned 1/4 of the vast Leoville vineyard, and the history of Ch. Leoville Barton began.        

Its grape varieties is 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 8% Cabernet Franc.  The wine is bottled after 18 months aging in 50% new oak barrel.

The wine of Ch. Leoville Barton is usually very classic Bordeaux style.  The quality is high, but it's a little minor as comparing with the other "Leoville"s; thus, the cost performance is high.


This wine is available at this online shop;

This site has an English page as well (at the bottom of this site, there is an "English" link), but they ship only within Japan.


日本語ブログはこちら：
http://amys-wine.blogspot.jp/2013/04/ch-leoville-barton.html


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Ch. Lynch-Bages 2001/Pauillac

 Ch. Lynch-Bages 2001/Pauillac (Cinquiemes Cru)

The color was garnet with orange color at the edge, but little darker than 2001 Ch. d'Almailhac.  Powerful and rich aroma and bouquet of ripped blackberry, cassis, and blueberry with hint of leather, tobacco, leaf mold, nutmeg, clove, and coffee.  Silky texture with flavor of condensed fruit, rich tannin, and soft acidity.  It's been aged for 12years but still young,, so I thought this wine just reached the beginning of its peak.

The grape varieties of 2001 vintage are 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot.

Ch. Lynch-Bages is ranked as "Cinquiemes Cru (5th);" however, many wine reviewers ranks it as the second cru.  Thus, the price is a bit pricy as Cinquiemes cru, especially for its great vintage such as 2000, 2005, and 2009.  The price may increase in the future, so it may be better to buy now.


This wine is available at this online shop;

This site has an English page as well (at the bottom of this site, there is an "English" link), but they ship only within Japan.


日本語ブログはこちら：
http://amys-wine.blogspot.jp/2013/02/ch-lynch-bages.html


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Ch. d'Armailhac 2001/Pauillac

Ch. d'Armailhac 2001/Pauillac (Cinquiemes Cru)

The color was garnet with orange color at the edge.  Powerful and complex aroma and bouquet of blackberry, blueberry, cassis, raisin, and dried plum with some hint of leather, cider, sage, nutmeg, clove, coffee, tobacco, cigar, truffle, and leaf mold. Very smooth texture, and well-balanced acidity and tannin.  This 12 years-aged wine is just at the peak, so should drink now.

I like young Bordeaux but prefer such an aged one because of this wonderful complexity.        

The winery, Chaterau d'Armailhac, is owned by Baron de Rothschild, which is also owner of Ch. Mouton Rothschild.  The grape varieties is 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot.  CH. d'Armailhac wine is usually soft texture and able to enjoy its young vintage.  I tasted 2009 before and enjoyed its youthful flavor very much.

CH. d'Armailhac has been improved the quality and rated high; thus, though the cost performance is very high now, it may become pricy near future.            

This wine is available at this online shop;

This site has an English page as well (at the bottom of this site, there is an "English" link), but they ship only within Japan.


日本語ブログはこちら：
http://amys-wine.blogspot.jp/2013/02/chd.html


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Ch. Beychevelle '01/AOC Saint Julien

Ch. Beychevelle '01/AOC Saint Julien (Quatriemes Crus)

At the first, the bouquet was mainly roast, vanilla, earth, and woods.  After 30min, full of aroma like cassis, cherries, and dried fruits.  The tannin was rich but soft texture, well balanced with the fruit flavor.  Aged for 11 years, seemingly it's in the peak of this wine. So wonderful.  I enjoyed well-aged Bordeaux very much!

The history of Ch. Beychevelle began in 17th century.  The vineyard was ruined after the French Revolution, but it was restored by the new owner (a banker in Paris).  The current owner is Grands Millesime de France (join-stock association of GMF and Suntory).

The grape varieties of this vintage is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, and 7% Petit Verdot, aging in oak barrels (55% new with the rest in 1-year-old barrel).

Hmm...wonderful experience for me to drink such a great aged Bordeaux.  Truly great wine!  
   
This wine is available at this online shop;

This site has an English page as well (at the bottom of this site, there is an "English" link), but they ship only within Japan.

日本語ブログはこちら：
http://amys-wine.blogspot.jp/2012/12/ch-beychevelle.html


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Ch. du Tertre '04/AOC Margaux

Ch. du Tertre '04/AOC Margaux (Cinquiemes Crus)

Very elegant! Aroma and bouquet of cassis, blackberries, cocoa, licorice, and vanilla.  Rich flavor of berry-like fruits and rich but silky tannin.  The acidity and minerals made this wine very elegant.  Reasonable finish.

The winery, Chateau du Tertre, is AC Margaux of Bordeaux and located on hill ("Tertre" means "hill" in French) in the commune Arsac.   Before 1960, the condition of the chateau's vinyard was terrible.  In 1961 Phillippe Gasqueton, the owner of Ch. Calon Segur at the time, acquired the ownership of this winery and made great effort to restore the vineyard and Chateau.  After his death in 1995, the winery was sold to the owner of the Ch. Giscours.  The new owner renewed the vineyard and Chateau; in the result, the quality of "Chateau du Tertle" improved dramatically.

Elegant style with rich fruit aroma.  It may mariage with roasted beef:)

This wine is available at this online shop;

This site has an English page as well (at the bottom of this site, there is an "English" link), but they ship only within Japan.


日本語ブログはこちら：
http://amys-wine.blogspot.jp/2012/12/ch-du-tertre.html


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