2009 Pauillac Vintage A full report from First Growth to Fifth Growth!

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The 2009 Pauillac Vintage is very successful. The wines have a unique style, combining freshness, ripeness, concentration, purity and opulent textures. Interestingly some chateaux that we usually don’t consider, made outstanding wines in this vintage.

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2009 d’Armahillac shows ample, fresh black berry oak, cassis and boysenberry notes. The long finish is concentrated with ripe, dark berries. This is finest wine I have ever tasted from this property. 90/93 Pts

2009 Clerc Milon with its cassis, oak, caramel and ripe dark berry scented perfume, is inviting. This full bodied wine ends with fresh boysenberries, cassis and spice. This lighter style of Pauillac has not always been my favorite, due to lack of concentration. 2009 is a big step forward. This is a very nice wine. 91/93 Pts

2009 Grand Puy Lacoste is ruby colored. The open nose of jammy dark berries, cassis, herbs and coffee is easy to find. The wine ends with fresh, cassis and black cherry flavors. This is a nice style of Grand Puy Lacoste, but the wine lacks the depth and concentration found in the top vintages like 82, 90, 96, 00 & 05. Interestingly, Grand Puy Lacoste is difficult to pronounce in Chinese. To make it easier for the market, the win known as the “Crocodile Wine” in Asia, due to the association with the Lacoste name and the bottle and the logo used by sportswear company. 91/93 Pts

2009 Haut Batailey is light ruby in color. Notes of black berry and cedar notes are easy to find in the perfume. Medium bodied, with a short, albeit ripe, cassis finish. 87/89 Pts

2009 Lafite is inky deep ruby in color. Cassis, plums, cedar, lead pencil, fennel, coffee and cedar pop from the glass. The elegantly textured wine melts in your mouth. This is intense, pure and supple. The tannins are ripe and round. The wine finishes with exotic ripe plums and chocolate covered dark cherries. 97-99 Pts

2009 Latour is inky black in color. The exotic nose of perfectly ripe berries, flowers, dark berries, coffee, truffle, fudge, boysenberry, anise, vanilla, lead pencil and assorted dark berry liqueurs is powerful, complex and intense. The wine is full bodied, concentrated and mouth coating. The long, fresh, finish is viscous, opulent and silky. Everything is in harmony with this probably perfect wine. The seamless finish lasts more than :60! 99/100 Pts

 


2009 Les Forts de Latour is packed with boysenberry, blackberry, minerals and chocolate scents. Full bodied ad rich, this round textured wine is another second wine that is better than many previous vintages of Latour! 91/93 Pts

2009 Pauillac is wine of sublime quality for a third wine! This crowd pleasing, fresh, ripe, full bodied wine will drink well early. Not much of this wine is made, but it’s a very nice, easy drinking stylish Pauillac. 88/90 Pts

2009 Lynch Bages is deep ruby in color. Powerful aromatics of dark raspberry, cassis, cedar, smoke and jammy berries are easy to finish. This exciting style of Lynch Bages is ripe, with round tannins and ample concentration of flavor. The wine ends with a juicy mouth full of fresh, licorice and dark berries. This is the best Lynch Bages since the dynamic duo of 89 & 90. 96/96 Pts

2009 Mouton is inky with purple and blue tints. Blackberry, cassis, cedar, lead pencil, spice and coffee make a potent perfume. The wine is flamboyant, opulent and expressive. With refined tannins, this concentrated, silky wine ends with dark fruit and cassis flavors. 96-98 Pts

2009 Pichon Baron is deep ruby in color with notes of black raspberry, flowers, spice, mocha and coffee. The round textured wine finishes with freshness, elegant dark plums and spicy chocolate. I like the style of the wine, but it did not offer the level of power and concentration found in previous great vintages. 93-95 Pts

2009 Pichon Lalande, offers dark, blackberries, cassis, chocolate, plums, mocha and coffee scents. The wine is a very suave, sexy style of Pichon, which at its best, combines pairs elegance, freshness and silky fruit. 96-98 Pts

2009 Pontet Canet is midnight black with blue and purple accents. Fresh ripe, berries, licorice, cassis, spice and oak explode from the glass. I almost needed a napkin. To wipe off the residue, there was so much going on. This packed and stacked, full bodied and concentrated win is so shy wall flower. It grabs your attention and keeps it there! Power, balance and harmony, with a long intense finish that is filled with perfectly ripe, black and blue fruit, juicy plums, jammy berries and a liqueur of berry finish. This wine lasts more than :60! This is the best wine Tesseron has ever produced. While expensive for people used to paying $25, I get it. But this wine cannot be compared to his earlier efforts. 2009 Pontet Canet is stunning and a wine Pauillac lovers should have in their cellars. 97/98 Pts

2 Comments

  1. Bruno DELMAS on

    I had the 2009 PONTET CANET last week and I fully agree with you. It is a huge and fully balanced wine, and as every 2009 I had, already so nice to taste…

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