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My Bordeaux: The new millennium
Eight extraordinary Bordeaux wines from the vintages 2000, considered one of the greatest in the past 100 years, and 2001, which wasn’t bad either.
The new millennium began with a vintage – 2000 – which has been considered one of the greatest of the past 100 years. Compared to the distant past, technical and agronomical advances have made Bordeaux more “ready”, compared to what they were, less biting and austere. The wine is now more concentrated, thicker, and the tannins are more rounded. This makes it more in line with the tastes across the lake and the concept of the “palate as a guide to quality” which Robert Parker has been professing over the past 30 years and that has orientated certain technical choices in a decisive way.
Will these wines age as well as those of a century ago? We will only know in 50 years or more but there is no reason to draw any conclusions now.
I am well aware that this view will not necessarily be totally and unconditionally accepted by those who have drawn up various vintage quality classifications. However, over the decades, aside from variables that can be controlled regarding the proper conservation of a wine (temperature, absence of light, vibrations, transport and alike) and those which cannot be foreseen (a bad cork), I have found that after tasting hundreds (if not thousands) of Bordeaux vintage wines, the conclusions of certain “vintage almanacs” have not always held up. Years that were initially defined as “hard” and not perfectly balanced, and were thus given medium-to-low ratings, have over time relaxed splendidly and have, in many cases, surpassed the more “famous” vintages which received fantastic reviews at the time because they were, in fact, immediate, accessible and easy to evaluate positively (this was especially true above all for hot years which were rare in the past and produced wines with more body, higher alcohol levels, more structure and so on).
Pauillac Cinquième Grand Cru Classé 2001 Château Linch Bages
94/100 - € 150
This is a cinqueieme cru and one of the most outrageous mistakes in classification never corrected in the history of Bordeaux. A lively, luminous and intense red color with light aromas of tobacco, small fruit and suffused spice. The elegant and harmonious mouthfeel with thick but not scratching tannins and a full body. Decidedly perspectival.
Saint Julien Deuxième Grand Cru Classé 2001 Château Leovilles Las Cases
95/100 - € 220
A Saint Julien “king” despite being classified deuxieme cru. A lively red color with a nice chromatic density, transparent and bright without being too concentrated. The aromas range from graphite to bramble berries, above all blackberry and blueberry, while a suffused balsamic note upholds a bouquet that with breathing become more complex. The mouthfeel has energy to burn and is silky with very great elegance and exuberant youth.
Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2000 Château La Gaffeliere
93/100 - € 120
An intense, dense and concentrated red color but with notes of transparency. The bouquet has explosive notes of red fruit, cherry and sweet licorice. The mouthfeel is almost rounded, broad, very bold and wrapping with very fine and rounded tannins. Pure velvet.
Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2000 Château Figeac
95/100 - € 220
A thick ruby color with an excellent chromatic concentration and a few luminous reflections. The aroma expands and alternates scents of crushed violet, Vignola Durone cherry, red prunes and blackberry. The warm mouthfeel is vigorous, not too dry, soft and caressing, upheld by a lovely freshness and very flavorful tannins. A decidedly gourmand wine.
Saint Estephe Deuxième Grand Cru Classé 2000 Château Cos D’Estournel
95/100 - € 250
Another monarch despite being a deuxieme cru and undoubtedly the “king” of Saint Estephe. A very lively, bright and impressive red color with no signs of degrading. The aroma has acute notes of cherry and blueberry on an exquisite background of tanned leather. There are sensations of dark spice (black pepper and juniper) as well as a note of tar. The mouthfeel is decidedly austere with a very solid structure. Perspectival as few others (it will last, always improving, for decades) and it gives the impression of being an aristocratic as few other wines are. An extraordinary vintage.
Pessac Leognan Premier Grand Cru Classé 2001 Château Haut Brion
96/100 - € 480
One of the wines with the longest lifespan around. It already has an “unnatural”, very lively red color with some purple reflections showing its brazen youth even after almost 20 years. The first aromas are recognizable ones of sweet tobacco, smoky hints, fine leather and wild berries. The mouthfeel is very taut, with a lively and surprising energy, rich and almost redundant in its austere and upright texture. The finish is very long.
Margaux Premier Grand Cru Classé 2000 Château Margaux
99/100 - € 1200
An intense, red color with a nice concentration. The year, for the Rive Gauche, was an historic one. The phrasing bouquet promises spectacular things: it is intense, bold, with an almost aggressive balsamic sensation on a spectacular background of dark and red berries, with distinct ferrous and hematic notes that recall the Syrah. The mouthfeel is extraordinarily relaxed, with an amazing acidic-tannic balance and an endless persistence. A drape of precious cloths, despite its brazen youth.
Pauillac Premier Grand Cru Classé 2000 Château Lafite Rothschild
100/100 - € 2000
A fiery red color with luminous reflections. A legendary wine from an historic year. There are no words to describe the complexity of the aromas, free from any pyrazine notes, with scents of laurel and those of ripe cherry, blackberry and blueberry jam, tanned leather and a balsa wood. The mouthfeel is wonderfully and indecently stimulating, saturating, full and rich almost beyond imagination unless you taste it with great focus trying to, often uselessly, to resist the greed of the sip itself. An endless persistence.
