Bordeaux 2015 Value Tasting

A small group of local Bordeaux wine lovers has established an annual tradition of tasting the most recently available vintage of red Bordeaux to find value purchases for regular drinking.

The tasting leader examines the new (local) releases each year with two criteria in mind: the wines must be less than $40 (with some lee-way) and must be high-scoring (from a variety of wine reviews such as Decanter and the Wine Advocate). This year’s tasting of the 2015 vintage included ten wines, although two wines were eliminated before the main tasting.

Each taster was greeted upon arrival with the traditional glass of last year’s top selection, Château Capbern 2014 in this case, and the session quickly got underway.

All wines are tasted blind and in random order. Each participant makes notes and scores and ranks each wine. The scores from all participants for each wine are collected, the average score determined, and the wines ranked. The wines, and prices, are revealed.

This tasting was followed by some sweets and a brilliant Sauternes, with much thanks to the host for the night! (Reception wine, Sauternes, and excluded wines are displayed above.)

Below are my notes and rankings on the wines in the order tasted, and the group rankings. The group ranking is first, with my ranking in brackets. There was a significant correlation across all tasters for each of the wines.

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  #8 (#6) Château La Dauphine, Fronsac, $31.50 – reticent rich meaty aroma; quite young; may have development potential.
• #4 (#5) Château Trianon, Saint-Émilion, $40.00 – sensuous aroma; plush and silky and nicely balanced; good early drinking, but will it last?; light in the mouth compared to some of the others.
• #7 (#7) Château La Lauzette, Haut-Médoc, $21.00 – touch of mocha richness in the aroma, not as nuanced as the other wines; good value at this price?
• #6 (#8) Château La Garde, Pessoc-Léognan, $35.00 – reticent woody aroma; fleshy and fruity mouthfeel; did not inspire me.
• #2 (#4) Château D’Aiguilhe, Castillon, $38.50 – delicious deep fruit aroma which carries over into the mouth; is it even Bordeaux?; not quite elegant enough for my top choice.
• #5 (#3) Château Capbern, Saint-Estèphe, $33.60 – silky smooth and wonderful (a good follow-up to last year’s winner),
• #1 (#2) Clos Lunelles, Castillon, $43.00 – mocha and chocolate on the nose; heavy, thick mouthfeel.
• #3 (#1) Clos Marsalette, Pessac-Léognan, $39.00 – huge fruit; wonderful nose and mouth; layers of flavours which I believe will develop with some more time.