Bordeaux – Page 2 – Exact Wines

It may be rainy season in Seattle now, but our heads are still full of warm memories from our recent trip to Bordeaux. The weather was fantastic for most of our trip- sunny and hot, exactly what the growers needed (though the last few weeks have proven more challenging for them, unfortunately!). While the jury is still out on how the 2013 vintage will turn out, our 2013 trip was one for the record books.

Over 12 days, we visited 22 Chateaux, ate numerous meals lasting hours apiece, sampled many promising wines, enjoyed a few beautiful older bottles, and Christina attempted to try every possible preparation of foie gras. Our conclusion – the region of Bordeaux is an absolute gem – with a thriving metropolitan core reminiscent of a mini-Paris, with 10,000 Chateaux and 57 appelations in the surrounding area, we couldn’t stop snapping pictures and marveling over the fact that people live and work amidst this beautiful landscape every day.

We’ll be taking you through a day-by-day overview of the highlights written from our collective perspective. Here are a few quick highlights:

Bordeaux 2013 2779 — Chateau Haut-Brion.

The town of Sauternes was a beautiful surprise. — The town of Sauternes was a sweet surprise.

Christina in Bordeaux city. Don't let that McDonald's in the back fool you - the food in Bordeaux is fantastic! — Christina in Bordeaux city. Don’t let the Golden Arches in the back fool you – the food in Bordeaux is fantastic!

Next up, Krug makes its first appearance, and what’s up with that duck??

2001 Chateau D’Issan (Bordeaux – Margaux, France) – When our twins were born back in 2004, my wife gave me a case of wine to celebrate, with the idea that we would drink one bottle every year around their birthday, and hopefully toast ourselves to a job well done. I look forward to this tradition each year, and cooked a good steak dinner to enjoy this bottle with. Now that the kids have turned 9, we only have a few more years before we’ll need to buy more “birthday” wine!

The wine had a deep red color, and there was nice spicy red fruit on the nose. In the mouth, the combination of red/black fruits and subtle baking spices came through, with good acid keeping everything alive. The sweet red fruit followed through to a nice medium to medium-long finish. This was a better showing than the previous bottle 2-3 years ago, which was still somewhat closed in on itself. This bottle was open for business and will have a great future over the next 10+ years. (93pts.)

Cellar Gems are reviews of bottles aged in our cellar.