Tasting Notes (Feb. 14): Bor--d'oh!

I was all ready to post my notes last weekend--early, by my recent standards--when an incredibly painful back spasm put me in bed for three days straight. So I'm only now getting back in the swing of things, just in time for the next tasting. Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men . . . .

1. Chateau Guiraud "G" 2006 ($15.99/bottle)
Essentially (if not legally) a dry Sauternes, this wine offers a complex nose of kiwi, lemon, muskmelon, brioche, and honey and flavors of creamy citrus, bread, and fresh herbs. The smooth, medium body is defined by a nice balance between crispness and roundess, with just the faintest touch of sweetness.

2. Chateau Gloria 2004 (St. Julien; $24.99/bottle)
The nose knows on this wine. Still shiny-new and very tight, the flavor begrudgingly yields some dark berry with hints of tar and leather, all sheathed in a cloak of youthful tannin. But the aroma offers a glimpse of what this wine may be in 5-10 years, with a balanced, rich array of sweet black currants, blackberry, earth, clove, and tar.

3. Chateau Lagrange 2004 (St. Julien; $34.99/bottle)
This wine, like the Gloria, needs time, though it doesn't keep quite so much in reserve. An interesting nose of cherry, toasty oak, and stewed tomatoes with peppers gives way to flavors of black cherry, tangy new leather, tar, and earth. Reasonably smooth for a young wine.

4. Chateau Beychevelle 2004 (St. Julien; $39.99/bottle)
Now we're getting into some wines that--while no doubt themselves still young and worthy of 10+ years of cellaring--have enough ripe fruit, balance, and depth to be enjoyable now, especially with a few hours of decanting (if you can plan ahead). The nose on this medium-full-bodied red is rich, ripe, and well-integrated, suggestive of black currant, black cherry, oak, and sweet spice. On the palate, shining through a curtain of assertive tannins, come sweet, bright red and purple fruits, toasty oak, and a cocoa-laced finish.

5. Chateau Bourgneuf 2004 (Pomerol; $39.99/bottle)
This merlot-based blend (whereas the others are mostly cabernet) offers a nose of blackberry, black cherry, pungent earth, and sweet spice and flavors of ripe black fruit infused with pepper, licorice, earth, and toasty spice. As with all the wines in this lineup, assertive tannins suggest aging potential, though with some decanting and a juicy steak there's nothing to stop one from enjoying this wine right now.

6. Clos du Marquis 2002 (St. Julien; $49.99/bottle)
Predictably, the wine that's two years older than the others (and from comparable vintages) is also the smoothest one of the bunch, with a nice, velvety texture that goes a long way toward ameliorating the still-brawny tannins. Aromas and flavors of plum, blackberry, peppery spice, black licorice, and leather make for a complex and enjoyable glass of wine right now, though cellaring for 5-10 or more years would no doubt yield an even smoother, more complex Bordeaux experience.

7. Chateau d'Yquem 2001 (Sauternes; $299.99/375 ml bottle)
Yes, you read the price right. Chateau d'Yquem is France's most legendary dessert wine, and this bottle is from what is universally considered to be a stellar vintage. And you can tell. Just smelling the super-rich, concentrated nose of honey, baked pineapple, minerals, candied lemon, and a whole field of honeysuckle is, all by itself, an intense and pleasurable experience. The flavors are just as astounding, with impossibly dense lemon syrup, apricot preserves, smoke, and herb flavors. The very long finish turns floral after about a minute. As one might expect, this wine has an almost syrupy consistency on the palate, though there's enough acidity to keep things in something like balance. (If I am to be totally honest, though, I think the still-expensive but much more affordable Royal Tokaji Wine Company 5 puttonyos from the Jan. 3 tasting has as much depth and sweetness as the Yquem and better acidity, creating an overall ethereal, transcendent quality that this Sauternes doesn't quite achieve. If that makes me an iconoclast, then so be it.)