10/22/09

Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou, Saint Julien 1998

Ok, so I admit it.  Occasionally I like a Whopper w/ Cheese.  Once in a while I'get a kick out of some Asian kid's totally tricked out Honda Civic.  Sometimes I marvel at surgically constructed Double D's.  And sometimes I even enjoy 'Bordeaux'.

This wine was tasted blind along side Braised Lamb Shank and Great Northern Bean 'Risotto'.

Not as clear as I would expect from modern winemaking.  Garnet in color with some bricking and also some brighter pinkish hilights.

The nose has the crystaline fruit quality I associate with Napa Cab.  It has some cooler aroma's of tobacco and loam, but they are really deeply buried beneath bright cassis, mocha and spice.

The palate shocks somewhat.  I expect much more body and thickness based on the aroma.  The flavors have a decidedly cool edge with much more tobacco, cedar and rough dark earth tones.  There's the bitter chocolate dark soil character and general moodiness I associate with St. Estephe.  But the nose really says Napa Valley.  I'll let it rest for a minute.

The Napa qualities are still there with slick elevage type aromas jumping out of the glass, but as it breathes the bottom really fills out with bass-y & less ripe smells.  The palate has medium plus concentration but there's a hole in the middle.  The wine has good balance, ripeness and complexity, but the tannins are slightly rugged and its not totally knit.

Then comes the epiphany; if this is Napa, it's Dunn Howell Mtn.  But there's no olive aroma and there isn't a vintage that matches the body and evolution of this particular wine.  Then it must be bordeaux, and that really only leaves Saint Julien.  Rough dark aromas from Saint Estephe, and plush ripe fruit. Ducru it is!

I love Ducru for its exotic nature.  Spicy, ripe and brooding.  I'm not sure it's the classiest of juice, but I'm not the classiest of guys.  Hey, there's something to be said for Whoppers and Double D's.