What I Tasted on My Spring Break - SPEC's Liquors

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www.specsonline.com Try tasting over 800 young red Bordeaux wines in one week. The term “toothstaining” was invented to describe these wines. They also stain the tongue and gums and even the fingers where they hold the stem of the wine glass (not to mention the clothes). Over the course of each day, aggressive, young tannins and fruity acidity sear the palate. And even if you are a consistent and conscientious spitter, the alcohol, via sub-lingual absorption, will take its toll. Much of this sort of tasting is done in crowded rooms or special event tents while standing up. This is hardly an opportunity to get to know a particular wine; it is more like the vinous equivalent of "Hey there. Come here often Can-Ibuy-you-one"… and about as much fun. So why do it These tastings allow me to form at least an initial impression of what's coming down the pipeline regarding The author Bear Dalton & Ch. Margaux Director Paul Pontalllier. specific wines and the vintage as a whole, and perhaps avoid some costly mistakes. <strong>What</strong> do I look for when forming that first impression of these relative babies First and foremost, fruit. If the wines have enough fruit, they have a chance. If they don't show any fruit at this age, it won’t develop later - so the wines aren't worth further consideration. After fruit, I look for balance, depth of flavor, and concentration. Even at this early age, a good wine will show where it's headed. If all the elements are in balance when young, the wines will generally stay balanced as they develop. If the flavors are rich and concentrated enough, the wine will continue to taste deep and satisfying instead of prematurely becoming a washed out shell of its early potential. I look for wines that show some complexity and nuance (in Bordeaux— spice, pepper, tobacco, tea, leather, herbs, minerals, cedar, etc.) and for wines that demonstrate the structure (a combination of tannin, extract, color, alcohol, and acidity) that will allow them to age. And finally, I look for the wine to taste of its appellation and its fore-runners. A good Pauillac wine should bear a resemblance to other good Pauillacs from the same vintage and a strong family resemblance to other vintages from the same chateau. On my most recent trip to Bordeaux, I took tasting notes on over 800 wines— more than half of which were barrel samples from the 2003 vintage. Looking at the wines by region shows many of the strengths and weaknesses of the 2003 vintage. As I noted earlier, many of the wines from the Merlot-dominated areas of St. Emilion and especially Pomerol were frankly disappointing. I tasted very few Pomerols that I thought were worth considering. We bought le Bon Pasteur and Vieux Ch. Certan. We will buy Petrus (which I have not tasted but I have heard good reports from those who have). In St. Emilion, Cheval Blanc made excellent but not outstanding wine. Ausone (on the other side of the village) made a wine many are classing in the top wines of the vintage. I thought it was excellent but not in the very top class. There are a number of excellent St. Emilions (Angelus, Canon La Gaffeliere, Pavie, Pavie Decesse, Pavie MacQuin, etc.) but they are mostly located on soils with better water retention further away from Pomerol. Other less fancy right bank appellations such as Lalande de Pomerol, the Cotes de Castillon, and the Cotes de Francs did better with many lower-priced, very interesting wines that should appeal to the regular Bordeaux drinker (as opposed to the trophy hunting collector). Look for Puygueraud, the Georges Cuvee de Ch. Puygueraud (with its high percentage of Malbec), La Prade, La Rousselle, La Fleur St. Georges, La Fleur de Bouard, Ch. d’Aguilhe, Ampelia, and Cap de Faugeres. The Graves area (especially Pessac Leognan) made many fine and excellent and even a couple of potentially outstanding dry red and white wines in 2003. For reds, look at all the wines from the Haut Brion estates as well as Pape Clement, Domaine de Chevalier, Haut Bailly, Smith Haut Lafitte, Carbonnieux, Haut Bergey, and Clos Marsalette. All of these wines are at least fine and many of them are excellent. Haut Brion is Outstanding and La Mission and Pape Clement could get there. For dry whites Haut Brion Blanc was outstanding and Laville Haut Brion, <strong>What</strong> About... THE 2002s 2002 was a vintage that required a severe selection to be made of the wines to buy and offer to our customers. Where the terroir was good there was great potential for high quality wine. Where great terroir was lacking, the wines showed it. Top terroir can be found in a number of subappellations in Bordeaux so there are fine 2002s from all over the Bordelaise map. The style of 2002 is elegant, balanced claret with more weight and intensity and better overall quality than 1999. These wines are not blockbusters but they offer tremendous pleasure and they will excel at the table. The top part of the vintage is truly excellent. In St. Emilion and Pomerol, two of the best wines came from near neighbors Cheval Blanc and Vieux Ch. Certan. Both use a very high (for their appellations) percentage of Cabernet Franc with the more usual Merlot and both vineyards contain a lot of gravel. The result is a more elegant, balanced wine than many of their neighbors produce. Other top St. Emilion properties with high levels of Cabernet Franc include Angelus and Canon la Gafelliere. Both are well worth seeking out. In the Graves region, The Haut Brion wines performed at their usual high level as did Smith Haut Lafitte and Pape Clement, Haut Brion was outstanding and La Mission not far behind. In the Medoc, all the first growths made excellent to even outstanding wines. Latour and Lafite were favorites with Margaux right behind and Mouton just following Margaux. All the second growths showed well with Ducru Beaucaillou and Rauzan Segla making very elegant wines. Leovilles Barton and Poyferre both are excellent with ample fruit and a fine balance. The Pauillac Pichons (Baron and Lalande) are quite different though both are excellent. Pichon Baron is big and rich while Lalande has a lovely almost ethereal character and a more elegant style. Lynch Bages is like Pichon Baron. Palmer is big and juicy with an almost California richness. In St. Estephe, Montrose is excellent and the 2002 Cos d’Estournel was, until I tasted the 2003, the best Cos I can remember tasting. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN TO YOU Because we tasted all the wines before buying them to offer to you, I am able to endorse almost everything on our 2003 and 2002 futures lists to be worth considering. The only wines that I bought that I don’t personally think are worth the money are wines that got great press or extremely high scores from The Wine Spectator or Robert Parker. You can see from the scores on the price grid where the Spectator, Parker, Steve Tanzer, and I agreed and disagreed. <strong>What</strong> does this mean for the average Bordeaux afficianado Basically that with 2003, the whole market has moved up a bit in price (yet again) and that some formerly affordable, formerly available wines have become more expensive and more scarce. There is now a larger than ever disconnect between the prices of the most sought after wines and the prices of the standards. Even so, the dedicated claret drinker can still find plenty of wines that offer good drinking at fair prices, as well as some that are out-right bargains. Due to the high prices of the 2000s and the 2003s, the beautiful 1999s look like even better bargains than they already did, the just arriving 2001s look better than ever, and the remaining 2002 futures suddenly seem down-right cheap.
(continued from p. 4) Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, and Carbonnieux were all excellent. Incidentally, Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux (a 100% Sauvignon Blanc white grown at Margaux but carrying a simple Bordeaux appellation) was also excellent. The Medoc is the sub-region of Bordeaux that benefited most from the torrid weather. While the heat and the techniques needed to deal with it kept the crops small, the quality was exceptional as all the Cabernet Sauvignon and even all the Petite Verdot got fully ripe. All the properties that revealed their blends told me they used all the Petite Verdot that they had. The wines from the appellation of Margaux were a consistently high quality lot with noteworthy efforts from Ch. Margaux (outstanding and, along with Latour and Lafite, one of the three best wines of the vintage), Palmer, Rauzan Segla, Kirwan, and Pavillon Rouge. There is a gap where not many vines are grown between Margaux and St. Julien. When the vineyards start back up as the road rises into St. Julien, they continue on unbroken through Pauillac and St. Estephe into the Haut Medoc and Medoc appellations. It was here in these cooler more northern Medoc appellations that the heat did the most good. St. Julien made two really excellent Leovilles (Barton and Poyferre), an excellent Gruaud Larose and Talbot, and an excellent although decidedly new style of Ducru-Beaucaillou that more closely resembles Palmer than previous Ducrus. Pauillac turned out two outstanding wines—Lafite and Latour (the best wine of the vintage) as well as a potentially outstanding Mouton and excellent wines from both Pichons (Baron and Lalande), Les Forts de Latour, Lynch Bages, Grand Puy Lacoste, Clerc Milon, d’Armailhac, and Haut Batailley. Pontet Canet and Batailley were both at least fine. St. Estephe turned in brilliant efforts from both Cos d’Estournel and Montrose with Calon Segur not too far behind. These are the stars but don’t forget fine but much less hyped wines from Lafon Rochet, Cos Labory, de Pez, and les Ormes de Pez. The Haut Medoc turned in a potentially excellent Sociando Mallet and a fine to excellent La Bernadotte (from the wine making team at Pichon Lalande). This all is sure to be welcome news. The not so welcome news is that 2003 was a small vintage and, in order to make wines as good as they did, the chateaux making the best wines made severe selections with only the best juice making it into their grand vin. Some very high quality "second wines" (and a couple of third wines) were made but a fair amount of cru classe juice also was sold in bulk. All these factors add up to a short supply of 2003s. As always happens when demand outstrips supply, prices have gone up. Most chateaux have opened their 2003 wines (premiere traunche) at prices substantially higher than the current prices for the same 2002s. Some price increases were more than 100 percent. Spec's is so much more than a liquor store! Did you know that we have fully-stocked walk-in cigar humidors in over 15 of our Neighborhood stores, (and of course at our Downtown Superstore, located right inside the main entrance) You will be pleased at our selection and low prices. For your smoking enjoyment, Spec's offers a wide variety of quality cigars from around the world. Our humidors also maintain a great selection of cigar accessories such as personal humidors, hygrometers, humidifiers, lighters and cutters, and it's easy for us to put together gift baskets for any occasion with all the wonderful selections we have. And our Downtown Superstore is famous for the help, who actually enjoy helping! Whether you are new to the passionate world of cigars, or are already a discriminating cigar afficianado, our fully knowledgeable and experienced staff caters to you. For any cigar explanation, assistance or recommendation, they can assist you in acquiring the pefect cigar experience. Let our staff guide you through the many flavors, aromas, wraps and makes of our huge selection. You can call them at 713-526-8787 and ask for the Humidor. At Spec's, we carry all major brands of cigars, such as: Arturo Fuente (including Opus X, Don Carlos and Hemmingway); Diamond Crown (including VSG); Padron (including the 1964 Anniversario and 1926); Graycliff; Cusano (including the 18 Year and Exclusivo); Rocky Patel Vintage; Acid; Macanudo; Punch; Helix; Onix; CAO; Comancho; Baccaratt; Don Tomas, Romeo y Julieta; Cohiba (including XV); Las Cabrillas; Ramone Allones; La Aroma De Cuba; Montecristo; Hoya de Monterey; Saint "...our Downtown Superstore is famous for the help, who actually enjoy helping!" Luis Rey; Sancho Panza; El Rey Del Mundo; Partagas; Carlos Torano; Don Diego; H. Upmann; Butera; Don Juan; Bolivar; Te Amo; La Unica; Avo; Griffin and La Gloria Cubana. We also offer a complete line of miniature cigars and cigarillos as well as a wide variety of flavored cigars and all Dannemann products. Don't forget to ask about special discounts available with your Spec's Key, or you can look them up online at www.specsonline.com. It's definately worth a trip downtown to check out our famous and respected "Seconds Bin", for a special buy. These "seconds" are handrolled cigars that just didn't quite make the cut. Because they are hand rolled, they might be a tad under or over the cigar factory's weight requirements, or perhaps rolled a bit too short or too long. <strong>What</strong>ever the small descrepency, they are still a great quality cigar, and we are able to purchase them at great savings and pass it on to you. So no need to make a special stop at a cigar shop, when you can stop at Spec's and buy it all, for less! 713-526-8787 Yes the world has gone low-carb crazy. Now the wine industry has its first advertised low carbohydrate wines. Beaulieu Vineyards and Sterling have decided to change their labeling and show consumers a lighter side to their wines. How are these wines low-carb As a new ruling by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau, wines and malt beverages with less than 7 grams of carbohydrates per serving are now allowed to call themselves “low carbohydrate”. Also to be included in the new point of sale information offered by these wineries will be nutritional information on fat content, protein and caloric value per serving. How many of us knew that by drinking a single glass of Beaulieu Vineyards Coastal Chardonnay that we are consuming a mere 3 grams of carbohydrates Only 124 calories and 0 grams of fat as well! Dieters of the world unite around this epiphany! Spec’s offers the entire line of Beaulieu Coastal wines as well as Sterling Vintners labels. Come in, buy, and enjoy with less guilt! Beaulieu Vineyards Coastal Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, or Zinfandel 750ml EVERY DAY! $7.42 btl $82.65 case Sterling Vintners Chardonnay or Merlot 750ml EVERY DAY! $10.99 btl $123.12 case Sterling Vintners Cabernet 750ml EVERY DAY! $10.12 btl $121.44 case
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What I Tasted on My Spring Break - SPEC's Liquors

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