OK, this is it. The day we’ve been waiting for since first confirming this amazing schedule with our well-connected friends in Bordeaux. After a quick croissant and joltingly strong cup off coffee its time to wage war on the classified growths…

The day starts soon enough in St. Estephe. Nothing like 9:30 barrel samples at Montrose! Jean-Bernard Delmas (ex-Haut Brion) recently emerged from retirement to help this top chateau refine their wines even further. They were good already, they’re even better now. These 2008’s exhibit a rounder feel on the palate and sweet tannins (also a theme of the 2008 vintage) that we hadn’t seen before. Though there may be a slight sacrifice in the overt power of Montrose (sorry old-timers, this ain’t the 1990) the wine is all the better for it. The technical director at the chateau said they were looking to produce a smoother style of Montrose. What? Come again? Montrose saying they want to be “smooth”? Love it. Check out the Montrose we have in stock.

Now off to Cos d’Estournel. Lots happening here with major renovations at the chateau and the recent re-vamping of the cellar. OMG, we haven’t seen a cuvier like this in, like, ever. Tons of bling fermenting stuff. State of the art, out of this world. Perhaps the only chateau where the winery itself was more wow than the barrel cellar. These guys are serious. Some quick hellos with JG Prats and then onto the wines. The 2008 Cos is one of the most powerful wines of the vintage, yet exudes a polish and refinement so indicative of the vintage. A deceptive wine because it wears its extraction well, we loved it. Hope it is value-priced. Also worth a mention were the Pagodes de Cos and their La Goulee Medoc, both potentially memorable wines for the money. Check out the Cos d’Estournel, Pagodes de Cos, and La Goulee we have in stock.

Mmm…Lafite. Lafite Rothschild next up to the plate. Charles Chevallier was a little hesitant to get on camera because of the whole language thing but we did settle in and taste Carruades, Duhart and the big dog. Let the big dog eat! What a grand terroir nugget! Talk about textbook, this one really showed the classic lead pencil and cassis flavors of Lafite, and looks to have outstanding potential. While we bristle a little bit at the numbers thing it looks like a shoe-in for some mid-90s scores from the pundits. Carruades and Duhart also showed well. Price will be the only potential issue with this first growth that has a profound world following. Check out the Lafite Rotschild and Duhart Milon we have in stock.

On to Mouton. No grand chateau here, just grand dirt. Philippe Dhalluin has worked some serious magic here since showing up in 2006 and making one of the wines of that vintage. We tasted the whole shootin’ match here, including d’Armailhac (very good), Clerc Milon (outstanding), Le Petit Mouton (no longer a melange of Pauillac vineyards but in fact a true second wine of Mouton) and Mouton itself. While not the powerhouse that was 2006, the 2008 Mouton is still an outstanding, full-bodied beautiful wine, loaded with the classic Mouton array of exotic spices, sweet tannins and a solid core of Cabernet fruit. This one should also get some love from the pundits. As we were leaving we were treated to a guest appearance by the Baroness Philippine de Rothschild herself. She’s a truly magnetic figure, the entire room stopping and staring, including yours truly. Unfortunately, no face time on camera with her but we did get some great vineyard shots! See what Mouton, d’Armailhac, and Clerc Milon we have in stock.

Next, Tristen’s Alamo, Pichon Lalande. Lots going on here as the chateau recently enlisted the services of Hubert de Bouard of Chateau Angelus to help with the wine. Pichon Lalande is one of the most beautiful chateaux in Bordeaux, with a grand terrace overlooking Latour, Pichon Baron and others, with a great view of the river. As for the wines, mixed signals here. La Bernadotte, their Haut-Medoc bottling, was quite good, Hubert’s signature fruitiness really coming to the fore. Reserve de la Comtesse was just fine, pricing will dictate if the wine is a value or not. But the flagship bottling sent mixed signals. The wine definitely exhibited more fruit and concentration than Pichons of the past, but we did miss some of the signature terroir from the Grand Vin, namely that compelling herbaceous streak that, in ripe vintages (except for 1990 and 2005), runs sweet, giving the wine an extra layer in the glass. A second tasting of the wine at a negoce a few days later was better, and since we are dealing with ultra-young barrel samples we’ll reserve judgement on the positive side since the wine does exhibit the fruit and balance to prove outstanding. See the Pichon Lalande and La Bernadotte we have in stock.

But why Tris’ Alamo? We were looking for a hook-up with Gildas d’Ollone, the director of Pichon Lalande, in hopes of getting him in front of the camera seen as he is a pretty easy-going guy. But fates would have it that Gildas had to (wanted to?) have lunch with the assistant to the Sultan (is it a Sultan?) of Oman! Tris was officially dissed. Pouting, tail between the legs, we retreated from Pichon Lalande heads hung low. What does the Sultan have that we don’t…besides a jet and his own country?

Latour…where cabernet is king. And it’s no different this year, with cab making up 94% of the Grand Vin. The Latour people seemed to be in a good mood and two of the wines reflected their joy. Latour was spot-on, not the biggest ever, but a wine that should be considered in the upper echelon of Latours over the past 20 years. Following the pattern of the vintage, the wine has good color, dead right cassis fruit, good acidity and fairly sweet tannins given that it is Latour. Another shoo-in for a mid-90’s score to be sure…we dug it. Les Forts was a bit ass-backwards, not at its best today but oh well. As for Pauillac, Latour’s third wine of which we’d like to see a lot more of, it was a scrumptious, extracted bottle of left bank Merlot with a Cab kicker. Drinkable earlier and certainly no slouch, hopefully some cases will grace our shores. See what Latour et Les Forts de Latour we have available.

The 15 minute drive from Pauillac to Margaux seemed to last longer knowing we were on our way to hang with Paul Pontallier at Chateau Margaux. Always one of our favorites (both Paul and his wine) we were hoping we were in for a treat and we weren’t disappointed. Following a quick tour of the chai (Margaux’s chai always has that perfect cellar smell for some reason, maybe they pump it in…), we proceeded to the tasting room where both the man and the wines he oversees delivered..in spades. The 2008 Margaux is a knockout and for our tastes, maybe the wine of the vintage. That being said, it wasn’t all roses in Margaux, and a serious amount of work had to be done in the vineyard before the Indian summer arrived to take the fruit that was left to full maturity. An intense selection has resulted in a strumpet of a Margaux, with an enticing lead in by the second wine, Pavillon Rouge. Like the good ones, haunting, brimming with that purple florality and pinpoint precision, full bodied but schooled in dance, this is a Margaux lovers Margaux. A stunner. We also had a knock at the 2007 Margaux (juicy, supple) and the 2006 (powerful but oh-so silky, even at this stage). Check out the Margaux and Pavillon Rouge we have in stock.

Paul was in a good mood and chatting away so it was at Palmer’s expense that we were a little late. I wonder if they get that a lot, actually. “We’re at Margaux right now and running a bit long, but we’ll be right over”. We’re sure that Bernard DeLonge and Thomas Duroux would be sticking little pins in voodoo dolls of us if we didn’t sell so damn much of their wine. Anyway, count us in as real Palmer fans. But then again, who wouldn’t be a fan of the ’66, ’70, ’83, ’89 and so on? Ah, but enough reminiscing (cue the Little River Band), we were here to taste the 2008. It’s good…real good. This sample was a touch closed aromatically but delivered a dark, forceful blast of refined fruit that carried the weight and poise of the appellation, with the bones to sit in the cellar for a decade. Qualitatively it’s a step behind that great 2005 but certainly bumps heads with any other vintage of the decade and should be priced substantially lower. We’ll see…

Dinner that evening followed a tasting of about 50 small production 08’s (Clos St. Martin, La Confession, Clos Manou etc..) with a negociant friend. They brought more “interesting” wines out for the meal that included ’75 Beausejour Becot (good), ’75 Mouton (better) and ’88 Leoville Las Cases (a little bretty but no joke), 75 Suduiraut (really good). It was a fun evening with interesting conversation that finished at midnight. Tomorrow, Haut Brion, super seconds and UGC’s. Going to be another busy one.