Wine Tasting – 2007 Bordeauxs

We were lucky enough to be invited to a fantastic wine tasting this past week at our favorite wine purveyor, The Austin Wine Merchant. I’m going to get right down to business and give you the skinny on the tasting. We tasted a total of eight 2007 Bordeaux wines, but I am only going to report on six as I ran out of room for notes on my envelope. Besides, I don’t claim to be a sommelier, so taking notes on eight wines is a real stretch for me.

The first one was a lovely Chateaux Carbonnieux Blanc. A white Graves made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon that had a slight hint of grapefruit and grass with a touch of peach and a clean finish. The retail price of this wine is $50.00, which takes it out of my everyday wine buying category.

Next, we tasted the Chateaux Carbonnieux Rouge which is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. This vineyard is not only the oldest, but it is the largest classified growths of Graves situated in the heart of the appellation, Pessac-Leognan. To me, this was classic Bordeaux berries with a tobacco finish. This bottle retails for $37.50 and has a 13% alcohol.

The third bottle was one of my favorites — Chateau D’Aiguilhe. This is a lovely Bordeaux that reminded me of a bowl of cherries. It has a 14% alcohol and retails for $32.50, which is why I picked up a case of this one. If you want to read more on this bottle go to www.neipperg.com.

The fourth bottle was another fine wine – Château La Grave a Pomerol Trigant de Boisset from Jean-Pierre Moveix. This wine was another one of my favorites of the tasting. It showed plenty of fruit, a great mouth feel, and a wonderful finish. This one came in at 14% alcohol and a retail price of $37.50.

The fifth worked best for me, but of course, it was one of the most expensive one we had that evening. Chateau Haut-Bailly, Grand Cru Classe de Graves. It was absolutely AWESOME and will get better with a little more time. The Bailly is also from Pessac-Leognan. This bottle had lots of complexity, fruit and a wonderful mouth feel. This one cam in at a lower alcohol level – 12.5% and retails for $75.00 a bottle. Pretty pricey, but damn worth it for a special occasion.

The last, but not least, was Domaine de Chevalier rouge, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. This one was a pretty heavy with definitive tannins. It retails for $50.00 and would most likely last in your cellar for as long as you want.

Like I said in the beginning, we were lucky enough to be included in this tasting as these wines are not something we drink daily, but if you have a little extra cash around and can pick up a couple of these to hold on to for a special occasion, I would highly recommend it.

Check out these related posts:

1. The first tasting — Smooth vs. Bold wines
2. Speed tasting at the Wine Bloggers Conference
3. Tasting Cupcake Vineyards’ Award Winning Wine with Winemaker Adam Richardson
4. Tasting Cornerstone 2004 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
5. La Poule Blanche 2008 and Chateauneuf du Pape Les Cailloux 2008, Blanc