So this just happened. My husband Eddie told me that we have at least six bottles of 2000 Bordeaux that he was pulling from our cellar to drink. Oh boy, one more reason I made the best choice ever in marrying this guy. Anyway, being the anal compulsive that I am I logged into my Wine Spectator account to see if these wines were ready to drink, in their opinion.
To me, anything over ten years old is plenty of age on a Bordeaux, and it’s hard to wait longer anyway! I looked up all six and each had not only maintained a 90+ score, five had doubled in price when sold at auction. All were noted to drink from 2010 to 2023. Now sounded good to me. These are the six:
CHÂTEAU DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU
CHÂTEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE LALANDE
CHÂTEAU RAUZAN-GASSIES
CHÂTEAU MARGAUX
CHÂTEAU MONTROSE
CHÂTEAU PONTET-CANET
Now this could be a six-part series of one-bottle posts, if I can drink them with a notepad, pen and little distraction. Chances are some will be served at dinner parties when I’ll only be able to simply enjoy. You just have to check back to see…
And now to start, we opened our first:
2000 CHÂTEAU DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU
Tasting Notes
Color: Beautiful garnet color stretching out to show a bit of brown (due to age) on the edge.
Bouquet: Right off the bat we found the wine more “multi-dimensional” and “complex” than a younger Bordeaux, stateside or import. I noted aromas of plum, blackberry, blueberry, toasted French bread, dried leaves, dark chocolate, green peppercorn and chocolate-covered biscuit.
Flavor: A perfect balance of fruit and spice. Starting with a fresh bowl of red, blue and black fruit, smoke, char and medium tannins that provided a lengthy finish. My husband remarked that there were no bitter qualities and that the mouthfeel was velvety. We lingered over the bottle and noted that after 15 minutes in the glass the bouquet and flavor had developed even further with darker deeper notes, more earth and that same tannin backing off a bit quicker – still doing the job – but allowing for a even longer finish.
96 Eve pts.
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From Wine Spectator (online)
St.-Julien 2000
Score: 94
Release Price $105
Current Auction Price $204
Country France
Region Bordeaux
Issue Web Only – 2016
Tasting Note: This has mature hints, but there’s great focus as the cedar, bay and leather notes race along with, rather than pull away from, the core of fig and blackberry fruit flavors. The long, bittersweet cocoa—dusted finish provides a solid bass line.–Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2023. –JM
Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com
