On the Road with the Grape Guy

Bordeaux 2025 : The Tasting at OenoConseil Consulting

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(Jan. 29, 2025) … Here we are again at a consultant's tasting. They lined up a whole bunch of bottles for us, and we were off to the races. This was our last day in Bordeaux, and I must say it was a tough last day as we had already been to two wineries earlier in the day and were now looking at another hundred or so wines before the day ended. Funny enough, our post-mortem of the trip discussed more breaks and free time, especially on the weekends. Just a word to the wise, if you are planning any such kind of trip. You will notice something that has not been, nor will be, on many future tastings, Cru Bourgeois wines - this was the most we saw in any one sitting; these are wines from the Medoc regions. To see a little more on Cru Bourgeois wines you can see this article (A Quick Look at the Medoc) or this one on Vignobles de Larose (Vignobles de Larose Tasting).

Scoring is my typical three-star ranking that I did for the entire trip: Good/Better/Best … as mentioned, there were close to 100 wines tasted today. The top wines received notes; the lower tier, just a score. Let’s get right to it:

LES BLANC ...

(Two Stars)
Château Rayne Vigneau 2022 "Grand Vin Blanc Sec"

(One Star)
Château Fage 2023 Graves de Vayres Blanc
Château Goudichaud 2023 Graves de Vayres Blanc
Château Goudichaud 2023 Graves de Vayres Blanc "Héritage"

LES ROUGE ...

(Two Stars)
Château Bellegrave du Poujeau 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Haut Medoc    
Good fruit with decent acidity - easy drinking.

Château Haut-Marbuzet 2022 Saint Estephe    
Sweet cherry fruit with a nice smooth and easy drinking palate - good tannins and acidity.

Château La Bridane 2022 Saint Julien    
Nice ripe fruit: black cherry and mocha - easy drinking.

Chateau La Croix de Pez 2022 Saint Estephe    
Happy to report there is some fruit and a little coffee on the finish.

Chateau Senilhac 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Haut Medoc
(previous note on site)

        
(One Star)
Ailes de Paloumey 2022 Haut Medoc        
CH. La Tour de By Héritage Marc Pagès 2022 Medoc        
Château Beau Secret 2022 Haut Medoc        
Château Beauvillage 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Medoc        
Château Brondeau 2022 Bordeaux Superieur        
Château Cissac 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Haut Medoc        
Château du Moulin Rouge 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Haut Medoc        
Château Fage 2022 Graves de Vayres Rouge        
Château Finegrave 2022 Saint Julien        
Château Fonréaud 2022 Listrac Medoc    
Château Goudichaud 2022 Graves de Vayres Rouge "Héritage"        
Château Haut Barrail 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Medoc        
Château Haut Maurac 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Medoc        
Château La Fon du Berger 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Haut Medoc        
Château La Tour de By 2022 Medoc        
Chateau La Valiere 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Medoc        
Château Lamothe Vincent 2022 Bordeaux Superieur "Grand Rossignol"        
Château Lamothe Vincent 2022 Bordeaux Superieur "Héritage"        
Château Le Crock 2022 Saint Estephe - Cru Bourgeois        
Château Les Gravilles 2022 Haut Medoc (Renaissance)        
Chateau Les Trois Canons 2022 Saint Julien        
Château Lestage 2022 Listrac Medoc        
Château Paloumey 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Haut Medoc        
Château Perin d'Hoge 2022 Bordeaux Superieur        
Château Petit Puch 2022 Graves de Vayres Rouge        
Château Pontey 2022 Cru Bourgeois - Medoc        
Château Tournefeuille 2022 Lalande de Pomerol        
Château Tournefeuille 2022 Lalande de Pomerol "La Cure"        
GJ de Château Grand Jean 2022 Bordeaux Superieur        
Mas de la Mona 2022 Lalande de Pomerol "Chardonnay"         

LES SWEET ...        

(Two Stars)
Château Liot 2023 Sauternes    
Light florality, lighter in flavour, almost delicate - pure and fresh.

(One Star)
Château Haut-Bergeron 2023 Sauternes
Château Rayne Vigneau 2023 Sauternes

Bordeaux 2025 : The Tasting at Hubert de Bouard Consulting

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(Jan. 21, 2025) … We are here at another consultant tasting. This one is organized into Left and Right bank wines for us … plus there are a few white wines we tasted at the end just to cleanse our palate – including a Chardonnay (?), I have some comments about that one.

What you will find here is my typical three-star ranking, Good/Better/Best style … there were close to 70 wines tasted today. The top wines received notes; the lower tier, just a score. Let’s get right to it … or is that left to you? Whichever, let’s begin:

LEFT BANK 

TWO star wines ...
                    
Chateau Arnauld 2022 Haut Medoc
Have tried this wine in years past in Toronto and it is still a good bottle: complex and fruit forward with enough backing from the wood, tannins and acidity to make it appealing.    

Chateau Deyrem Valentin 2022 Margaux
Tasted before, liked it, tasted again, liked it even more ... chcolate and spice with good acidity and lots of black fruit    

Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse 2022 Pauillac
Good depth of character, nice fruit, drinkable, slightly smoky, acidity to balance; nice finish.    

Chateau Haut Beausejour 2022 Saint Estephe    
Dark cherries and plums, a little bit smoky with some cigar box adding depth - very approachable now.    

Chateau L'Eperon 2022 L'Esprit du L'Eperon        
Has a brightness and freshness that proves very drinkable; cherry and tobacco with a nice finish.

Chateau Laurence 2022 Petit Laurence        
Depth and some complexity; fruit matches up with the wood - this is a real charmer of a wine    

Chateau Meyney 2022 Saint Estephe
Nicely balanced with spice, acidity, dark fruit and smoke.    

Chateau Siran 2022 Margaux
Nice spicy character to this wine ... fruit is a little muted, but there is some jump on the palate that make it exciting.    

ONE star wines …

Chateau Charmail 2022 Haut Medoc
Chateau du Rosair 2022 Bordeaux Rouge
Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse 2022 Prelude
Chateau L'Eperon 2022 L'Eclat du Chateau L'Eperon Black Edition
Chateau Lamothe-Bergeron 2022 Haut Medoc
Chateau Larose-Trintaudon 2022 Haut Medoc
Chateau Laurence 2022 Bordeaux Superieur
Chateau Meyney 2022 Prieur de Meyney
Chateau Tour de Pez 2022 Saint Estephe
Chateau Tour des Termes 2022 Saint Estephe

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RIGHT BANK

THREE star wines ...
                    
Chateau la Fleur de Bouard 2022 Lalande de Pomerol 
Juicy and tasty - there is some real delicious dark fruit here backed by spice and some good acidity. Definitely purchase worthy, storage worthy and drink-worthy. I’ve done all those.    

TWO star wines ...
                    
Chateau la Fleur de Bouard 2022 Le Plus de la Fleur Bouard        
This is old vines Merlot - a little lean and one note with blueberry, blackberry and spice: but that note is tasty.    

Chateau Plain-Point 2022 Fronsac
Lots of deep rich black fruits - good spice and balancing acidity. Fronsac comes thru again, it’s a region to definitely look for – and the prices are very affordable.    

Chateau Thenac 2022 Bergerac
Good fruit with blackberry, black cherry and spice.    

Chateau Trianon 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru        
Juicy with dark fruits, silky tannins and smooth texture - good acidity balances it off nicely.    
                    

ONE star wines

Chateau Adaugusta 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru
Chateau de Carles 2022 Haut Carles (Fronsac)
Chateau la Croix Younan 2022 Icone de la Croix Younan
Chateau la Croix Younan    2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru
Chateau la Fleur de Bouard 2022 Le Lion de la Fleur Bouard - Lalande de Pomerol
Chateau Thenac 2022 Fleur de Thenac
Chateau Thenac 2022 La porte des neves de vin (1621)
Clos Bertineau 2022 IGP Atlantique

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WHITE WINES
        
TWO star wines ...
            
Chateau Plain Point 2022 Blanc
Ripe SB mixed with Semillon (?) the acidity is good with some bitterness and pith notes.    

ONE star wines ...

Chateau la Fleur de Bouard 2022 Chardonnay
Chardonnay planted in Bordeaux soil - is this sacrilegious? Will dogs start sleeping with cats? Will the earth explode? There is a nice spicy character to this wine, and the fruit is good. This is not the future of Bordeaux, but it certainly is interesting.

Chateau la Fleur de Bouard 2022 Sauvignon
Chateau Thenac 2022 Bergerac