Petit-Figeac, 2015

Price: $40-$50
AOC: Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux
Varietal: 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc 

Second wine of Chateau Figeac

Color: Dark Ruby, a little amber at rim
Aroma: Matured right bank! some perfume, focused sweet red fruit, a little flower   
Palate: concentrated red fruit, cedar wood, tobacco, a little perfume, very fine and a little astringent tannin adds structure and suggests the wine will improve if given more cellaring time. Proper acidity, savory, intoxicating and powerful, enjoyed it a lot but have opened the bottle too early!

      

Chateau La Vieille Cure, 2004

Price: $30-40

AOC: Fronsac, Bordeaux

Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Color: Opaque, dark purple, little orange at the rim

Aroma: It definitely needs time to aerate~Sweet! a "medium to full body" aroma, not an elegant, light bodied, and penetrating aroma like pinot, but a typical aroma from matured merlot. stewed red fruit jam, seductive, very good

Palate: 13 years of aging, flavor is concentrated and bold, matured, medium to full body, medium+, fine tannin (still shows some potential for cellaring for few more years, but totally fine to drink now) , tea leaf, earthy, sweet stewed red fruit dominant, a typical, matured right bank Bordeaux, irresistible for me, can't beat the value for the price. (needs time to aerate).  

Chateau Puygueraud, 2012

Price: $10-20
AOC: Francs - Côtes-de-Bordeaux, Bordeaux
Variety: 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec

Color: Dark ruby, a little deep violet
Aroma: pretty opened already right after opening, red fruit and vanilla, sense some alcohol, intensity is not particularly high
Palate: can taste firm red fruit and a little black fruit right after opening, however the sweetness faded pretty quickly, so do not decant this wine for too long (<30 mins), even just enjoy it from the pour without decanting is fine. Firm and clear acidity, some tobacco, some vanilla from oak and on the palate it somehow shows a buttery feeling which I am not a fan of, feel like this wine has too much oak in it, medium+ body,  little and fine tannin, and still can sense the alcohol, feel like 2012 is not a powerful vintage, the 14% alcohol and oak is too much for this wine. It needs more fruit and sweetness to balance the wine. Have tasted the 2009 vintage before which is much more enjoyable. 
Second day tasting: Half bottle of the wine was stored in the fridge with vacuvin pump, surprisingly on the second day, the wine becomes round and soft, the buttery mouth feeling is gone, tannin shows up and can taste red fruit from Merlot! There is even some fragrant(perfume) shows up in the aroma, starting to feel confused regarding how long to decant the wine.

Chateau Grand Corbin-Despagne, 2004

AOC: Grand Cru Classes, Sanit-Emilion, Bordeaux
Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Color: Ruby, very little amber color at the rim, early maturing
Aroma: The part I enjoy most, some merlot perfume, a little mineral feel, sweet red fruit, a little wood and smoke, Aroma is good, medium intensity
Palate: pretty standard Bordeaux, need decanting, definitely not a big structure wine,  a little red fruit sweetness(concentrated fruitness), wood, a little mineral feel , a little acidity, a little bit dry, medium+ tannin, medium+ body, elegant side, not my favorite, not a big wine but an easy drinking one. A wine more enjoyable smelling than tasting.    

Chateau Barde-Haut, 2004

Price: $40-50
AOC: Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, Bordeaux
Variety: 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc

Color: orange, amber color at the rim, its almost matured, can drink now

Aorma: very clear, quite mature bordeaux merlot aroma, merlot perfume, a little meaty hint, ripe red fruit!

Palate: the mid palate is almost empty right after opening, after two hours of decanting, ripe merlot fruitness came out (the fruitness concentration is very good consider that 2004 is not a powerful vintage, longer decanting is also ok), red fruit, tea leaf and some tobacco, tannin is integrated and moderate, acidity is integrated and balanced. just a little of every thing in harmony. This is a balanced and matured right bank bordeaux I enjoyed a lot!

   

Chateau Franc Couplet, 2010

Price: $10-20
AOC: Bordeaux Superieur, Bordeaux
Variety: 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon

Color: Dark Ruby red to purple

Aroma: black currant, licorice, clear black fruit aroma, ripe red fruit aroma comes in after proper decanting, a touch of vanilla, fragrant! 

Palate: black fruit dominant, clear licorice, tobacco, very little mineral, adequate red fruit, well-balanced, firm tannin, a good example of Bordeaux blend, perfect for a wine under $15!     

Chateau Grand Village, 2009

(based on memory)

The same owner as Chateau Lafleur. The same techniques making wine and managing vineyard are applied here.

AOC: Bordeaux Superieur, Bordeaux

Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Aroma: powerful, can tell the wine is from a very good vintage, clear earthy and licorice(?) aroma

Palate: both earthy and fruity, very clear licorice(?) palate. Although the fruitness and acidity is there, the wine is a little too thick for me, it is more on the earthy side. A quality wine but not a favorite one.   

Chateau de la Riviere, 2010

AOC: Fronsac, Bordeaux
Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Aroma: 有點混雜不清, 果實味夾帶著earthy, 不是特別strong
Palate: 明顯的earthy merlot, 加上cabernet franc 那種herbal, tobacco的感覺, 明顯的minieral, 讓這支酒在味覺上蠻厚, 蠻雜的感覺, medium+ to full body, 果實甜味有但不是特別集中, 帶有一點苦味(黑巧克力?) 這支酒要讓我暫時跟fronsac說掰掰了嗎？

Chateau Fombrauge, 2010

AOC: Grand Cru Classe, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux

Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Aroma: intense Merlot 香水味! 香氣非常有深度跟穿透力, 光聞就知道是強力年份, 聞得出一些smoke 和 licorice

Palate: 剛打開時跟 Corbin 一樣, silky and very elegant, 味道內斂, 一喝就是高級酒的感覺, 醒完後red fruit, 和明顯的smoky and herbal出現, medium to full body, complexity高但中等 thickness, 蠻特別的, 非常好的 ripeness, 蠻甜的果實味, 算是一隻蠻強力的 saint-emilion, 有時喝多會有一種負擔感, 但又sweet又savory的感覺讓人忍不住想去喝, 不算the best, 但無疑問是一隻好喝的酒!

    

Chateau Quinault L'Enclos, 2012

AOC: Grand Cru Classe, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux

Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Aroma: 和06年那種很重的 Merlot 香水味不同, 淡淡的香水味加上 fresh, seductive red fruit aroma, 甚至有點花香的感覺, 香氣很誘人

Palate: Quinault Enclos 和 Corbin 都是右岸我很喜歡的三級酒莊, 和 Corbin 那種甜美的 fruit bomb 不同, Enclos 很講究purity, 純粹的口感加上 concentrated 的 red fruit, pure and juicy acidity, 再加上 tobacco, 味道不特別多, 但有濃縮感, 喝起來很 fresh, 就是讓人有種高雅的感覺, 沒有多餘的雜味, 喝 Enclos 讓人覺得是在喝一件精雕細琢的藝術品, 12年比起10年容易親近一些, 但味道的 concentration 還是比不上強力的10年

 

Chateau La Gatte "La Butte", 2010 V.V

Price: $10-20
AOC: Bordeaux Superieur, Bordeaux
Variety: 100% Merlot

會注意到這支酒, 是因為它是 100% V.V 的 Merlot 所釀造, 這在以 Blend 為主的 Bordeaux 是很少見的, Cuvee "La Butte" 的葡萄田就在 Chateau La Gatte (歷史可追朔至1646) 的後方, 葡萄 Merlot 栽種於 1958 年, 樹齡已接近 60 年, 這支酒常在盲飲中被誤認為有級數的 Saint-Emilion 和 Pomerol, 價錢是平易近人的 $15, 光是這些, 就非買不可

馬上開瓶!

Aroma: 剛打開一倒出來, 我馬上了解為何這支酒在盲飲時常被誤認為 Saint-Emilion, 因為它的香氣幾乎做到了右岸二級酒莊 Magdelaine 06年 和 三級酒莊 Quinault L'Enclos 06年 的程度, Intense 的 Merlot 黑果實香水味和 licorice, a classic bordeaux Merlot aroma, 以五分之一的價錢就做到了.
Palate: 對於想了解究竟什麼是 Saint-Emilion 以 Merlot 為主的 Blend 的人來說是一個 perfect example, 我終於有機會可以釐清究竟在 bordeaux blend 中, 什麼味道是來自於 Merlot, 什麼味道來自於 Cab, 這支有明顯的 Merlot 黑果實甜味 (black cherry or plum, 和 Cab 的 black currant 不一樣), herbal and licorice, 豐富柔軟的單寧, medium+ body, bordeaux Merlot 獨有的 savory, 一樣用 $15就做到了, 實在是超便宜的價錢, 但比起 Cab, structure 少了一些, 少了一些壯麗感, 會讓酒有一點像小品的感覺, 了解了 Cab 的魅力所在, 這支並不 silky, 有時會喝到 very little mineral, 不算 earthy, 下一步就是找一支 100% 的 bordeaux Cab 了.

                     

Chateau Magdelaine, 2006

AOC: Saint-Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Bordeaux
Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Aroma: fantastic red fruit aroma right after opening, very intense perfume
Palate: after decanting, fruit intensity is not particularly high, has both sweetness and acidity, clear licorice? savory, showed some matured wine traits already, tannin was very smooth already, a little sumptuous, but actually not my favorite, no spicy of merlot, not much sweetness of Merlot either, a balanced and savory wine.

Color: the rim showed beautyful amber color, close to matured status

Chateau Corbin, 2007

AOC: Grand Cru Classe, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux
Variety: Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Color: half amber and half violet, can cellar more time 
Aroma: quite intense red fruit, clear toasted oak (positive), quite elegant.  
Palate: slightly smooth, clear acidity (flavor like decayed cork, but acceptable, not corked), red fruit sweetness was there, medium body, acidity smoothed out after decanting, Merlot red fruit came out (very good Intensity at some point), very fine tannin, Corbin is one of my favorite right bank Bordeaux, must try 2009 again.