Back to the wines we tasted at the Bordeaux wine dinner, folks who attended wanted to know my favorite in the mix. Here was the prestigious line-up to "choose" amongst:
First Course: Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc 2003 (Pessac-Leognan)
Second Course: Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste 1997 (Paulliac)
Second Course: Chateau Lynch-Bages 1997 (Paulliac)
Third Course: Chateau L'Arrosee 1986 (St. Emilion)
Third Course: Chateau Cos d'Estournel 1986 (St. Estephe)
Fourth Course: Chateua Doisy-Vedrines 2000 (Barsac-Sauternes)
Not bad, eh?
You can see from this list that we had a few charges, if you will, among the reds. For example, the second and third courses were set up to allow us to sample wines from the same vintage, same appellation - followed by wines from same vintage but different appellations. What was so much fun was that each of the wines showed very differently from each other so you really could relish either the variation in styles Chateau to Chateau or in vintage years. I could write for days about their unique qualities. Truly, these were red wines to behold and when paired with the cuisine Chef meticulously prepared, they continued to deliver even more flavor and depth as you might expect.
But as so often is the case, it seems whatever is first in any given wine lineup gets lost. (There is probably scientific research that backs up my informal assessment accordingly.) After marinating in my experience for a few days, I knew for certain it was the Smith-Haut-Lafitte that I kept thinking about. There's just something so captivating about aged whites, particularly from regions that produce wines that can age. It's rich texture, still-singing acidity and solid core of fruit was just so appealing! Particularly delighting was the bruised apple meets cheese rind rusticity the wine delivered. You just can't get that kind of depth of tertiary nuance from a "fresh" wine. It is something magical that happens in the bottle when you can be patient enough to just... wait for it.
Do you enjoy white Bordeaux? Have you ever tasted an aged one?