Chateau Cambon la Pelouse 2003

Chateau Cambon la Pelouse 2003

Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux, France

Retail $20

The Wooden Guys would give it two thumbs up, if they had thumbs.

Night One

Like several for the moderately-priced bottles of '03 Bordeaux I have opened recently, this is coming to life, perhaps even peaking now. A year ago it was dead, but now it is showing a pleasant balance of fruit, blackberry and some raspberry, and more aged flavors of violets and cigar box. Tannins are soft and smooth. This has matured into a very pleasant bottle of wine at a bargain price, drinking at its peak right now. highly recommended as a bargain introduction to a great year for Bordeaux.

Night Two

A lot of the fruit is gone. Some minerality is showing through. Overall, though, it lacks the complexity of Night One. This is not a wine to hold a lot longer. Drink it now and enjoy it.

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2005 Château de Bellevue

Type Red
Producer Château de Bellevue
Variety Red Bordeaux Blend
Country France
Region Bordeaux
SubRegion Libournais
Appellation St. Émilion Grand Cru
Price $15 (375 ml) at



The Little Wooden Guy likes the wine, and the smaller bottle makes him feel bigger.

The color was incredibly dark, completely opaque but for the very edges, black with a purple tint.

The nose opened with blackcurrant and cedar, with a background aroma of vanilla cream, but very light, not overpowering wood-based vanilla.

On the palate, blackcurrant is the predominate fruit, along with some blackberry. Peppermint and eucalyptus appear on the mid-palate, lightly, behind more fruit, some cedar and vanilla, which grow toward a mid-length finish. Mouth feel is silky, with firm tannins and bright acids.

This is very nice wine, and sometimes a 375 is just the perfect size.






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1999 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière

Vintage: 1999
Type: Red
Producer: Château Canon-la-Gaffelière
Variety: Red Bordeaux Blend
Country: France
Region: Bordeaux
SubRegion: Libournais
Appellation: St. Émilion Grand Cru



The Wooden Guys are running to see if their store has any more of this wine.

Night One

The nose starts with blackcurrants and mulberry, pencil lead and green olives. This is a real snoot-full, the sort of wine you can forget to drink, it's so easy to get lost in the different layers of the nose.

Deep dark brooding fruit leads the palate, mulberry, blackberry and blackcurrant. A little bit of redcurrant brings some bright acidity to balance the silky sweet tannins. Pencil lead, a bit of dark earth, and a touch of cedar show up on the mid-palate. The finish is mid-length.

Night Two

On Night Two the fruit, on the nose, seems lighter. Some red fruit has joined the black, a little black cherry and raspberry dancing with blackcurrant and mulberry. Pencil lead, some dark loam, and some cedar round out the nose.

The palate, on the other hand, is still dark, brooding, silky, and wonderfully smooth. Blackcurrants and mulberry, a little bit of blackberry, pencil lead, and a bit of the crispy end of a prime rib. Tannins are silky smooth, bringing just a bit of leather to coat the sides of your cheeks and coat your teeth. The finish is long.

This is good wine, very good wine. I think I'm going to go buy some more.

Other ratings include a 92 from Robert Parker, 88 from Wine Spectator, and 90 from Stephen Tanzer, all in 2002. Of them all, I would have to say Parker, who noticed the graphite, meat and sweet tannins (isn't the definition of genius "anybody who agrees with me"?), gave the best prediction of long-term quality.






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2005 Waters Crest Campania Rosso

Type Red
Producer Waters Crest
Variety Red Bordeaux Blend (73% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Designation Campania Rosso
Country USA
Region New York
SubRegion Long Island
Appellation North Fork
Disclosure This was received as an unsolicited free sample.



The Little Wooden Guy dances a little jig for a nice surprise from Long Island.

Night One

The nose on this wine is quite pleasant. The opening aromas speak more of Bordeaux than California or Australia, more restrained than jammy, with layers of scent rather than an oak bucket full of jelly dumped on your head. It opens with a bit of tobacco (from the Cab Franc) and unsweetened chocolate, followed by raspberry, some blackberry, then a whole bunch of eucalyptus and a bit of peppermint.

The palate has cherries and raspberries, blackcurrants, tobacco leaf and black pepper. Some red cherry licorice and vanilla are on the mid-palate. Tannins are smooth and quite sweet. The finish is surprisingly long.

Night Two

Interesting. The nose lacks the complexity of Night One. Cherries and some blackcurrant are there, but the tobacco, raspberry, chocolate, and most of all eucalyptus, are all missing. There is, instead of all that, just a bit of vanilla.

On the palate, too, complexity is gone. On Night One this wine sang "Bordeaux" from the glass. On Night Two, though, the song is "Cal-i-fornia Here I Come." Cherries, plum and plum skin lead the attack. Cedar and vanilla, followed by brown sugar, follow on the mid-palate, with the tiniest background echo of tobacco from the Cabernet Franc. Mouth feel remains silky. Tannins are still very sweet. The finish is sweet and long. Drink this one soon. It is ready now, not years from now.

This wine really caught me by surprise. I admit, the Waters Crest wines are the first I ever had from Long Island, and I was not optimistic. Of course, the fact that they sent their wines to The Wooden Guys to review, rather than a site that only posts positive reviews, should have been a hint. On the other hand, wine is more than just juice, and every bottle is the winemaker's baby, and who looks at their own kid and says "she really ain't that cute"? Well let me tell you something, people, she's pretty darned cute. Will anybody confuse this for a 1982 first growth? No, of course not. But line it up blind with a 2001 third growth and darned near anything from Napa in the last ten years, and it will come in, at worst, second. Indeed, I would bet you most people would guess "two from Bordeaux, one from California." I think the mail order retail is under $40, and given the brown sugar and molasses mess you get in so many Cabernets in that price range, this is pretty darned good stuff.






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1998 Château de Fieuzal

Type Red
Producer Château de Fieuzal
Variety Red Bordeaux Blend
Country France
Region Bordeaux
SubRegion Graves
Appellation Pessac-Léognan



The Wooden Guys just love old Bordeaux. The fruit has faded. Back then wood was not as prevalent. Instead, it is like a trip to the flower shop. In a glass.

An older Bordeaux is a beautiful thing. The color was just starting to turn brick red, without even a hint of orange at the edges. The nose and palate are delicate, trending toward sublime, rather than big and fruity. The nose was light, delicate. The first aroma was dry ancient leather, then a hint of tarragon. Florals followed, very light scents of lavendar and lilac flowing from the glass.

On the palate, too, there were delicate flavors. Fruit had retired, gone after a decade in the bottle, replaced by soft leather, lavendar and lilac, and a bit of fennel. The feel was silky smooth, acids still bright. The finish was long.





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2001 Château Bessan Bordeaux Contrôlée

Type: Red
Producer: Château Bessan
Variety: Red Bordeaux Blend
Country: France
Region: Bordeaux
Appellation: Bordeaux Contrôlée



The Little Wooden Guy reminds you, "Bordeaux" does not necessarily mean "good wine."

Night One

The nose on this is a dead ringer for a mediocre cabernet from Chile. It is all green pepper and coffee. There is no fruit to be found.

On the palate, too, this seems more like Chile than Bordeaux. Blackcurrants are there, but they are cooked up with green peppers and some coffee grounds. Tannins are very firm, even hard. There is not much of a mid-palate and the finish dies off quickly.

Night Two

The nose did not get any better over night. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Hang on a second.

Oh heck, it got worse.

I'm going to go open something good. Or at least drinkable.

2000 Château de Gironville

Type: Red
Producer: Château de Gironville
Variety: Red Bordeaux Blend
Country: France
Region: Bordeaux
SubRegion: Médoc
Appellation: Haut-Médoc



The Little Wooden Guy is a little disappointed. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly good, either, and really, with all the good wine in the world, why bother with something less?

Night One

The nose is a little closed, but if you give it some time and some air, it stars to release some odors. Black fruit is in the forefront, mulberry, blackcurrant and a little blueberry. There is also a hint of cedar and just the beginnings of some peppermint.

The palate is a bit thin. The over-riding fruit is plum, plum skins and tart barely ripe fruit, and some sour blackberries. Some cigar box and violets appear on the mid-palate. Tannins are dusty but pretty well integrated with the fruit. The finish is short, it falls off a bit too quickly.

Night Two

Florals come to the fore on Night Two, lilac and roses, with an undercurrent of black fruits.

On the palate, plum skins and blackberries open the attack, rose petals merge into plum skins and a hint of peppermint on the mid-palate. The finish is long, but mostly sour. Mouth-feel is a bit thin.

Chateau Haute-Bailly 2001

Grand Cru Classe' de Graves
Pessac-Leognan
$45.98 in Indianapolis, Indiana
12.5% alcohol by volume
imported by USA Wine Imports, New York, NY

This bottle of wine is a floral delight. On Night One it seems promise years of cellar growth to come, but we will know more about that on Night Two.

Night One

Purple flowers, lavendar and lilac, just float out of the glass, along with some dark plum and plum skins. On the palate the same flowers take center stage. There is fruit there, too, but it is hidden behind strong tannins that scream out for more years in the cellar. Plums, nee plum skins, are the primary fruit, but more will surely come out of hiding on Night Two. I hope you will join me to see if my prediction comes true.

Night Two

Floral aromas once again lead the nose on Night Two, but the additional time with some air brought out black fruit, more blackberry than blackcurrant, but both were there. The palate has more to offer than on Night One, but the overall impression is that this could use more time. Pencil lead, cassis, and tart plum skins are slowly wrapped in firm tannins as it moves from initial attack to mid-palate, where a hint of unsweetened chocolate makes a quick appearance. Acids and tannins are both pwoerful, but well-balanced. The finish is long.

This is good but still young. The sense of it is that it is just waking up now, just starting to come out of a closed phase. It might well be much better in as little as a year or two. There is plenty of backbone, acid and tannins, to give it time to grow and knit together.

Chateau Branaire-Ducru 1999

Grand Cru Classe en 1855
Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France
13% alcohol

The Wooden Guys liked this one!

Night One

The color is garnet, but starting to turn to brick. The rim thins out with a hint of brown just before it turns clear.

This wine has a big strong nose. It has a lot of barnyard funk to open, but that blows off quickly. Then it brings a lot of smoky meat, real cigar box (cedar and tobacco) and a bucketload of red fruit.

The palate is big, too. It carries that bucketload of fruit from the nose to the mouth. It has smoked meat, pencil lead, and cedar. Flowers join on the midpalate. Tannins are very fine but still powerful, a rigid backbone that offers a promise of more years in the cellar.

Night Two

Red fruit, lots of red fruit, opens the nose. Cigar box follows, cedar first, then if you sniff deeply, tobacco second.

I don't want to stop drinking this long enough to reveiw it. The palate, like the nose, explodes with red fruit. Pencil lead, cedar and tobacco, then violets and a touch of clove. Tannins are smooth and silky, but still retain enough power to coat and dry the mouth.

This is good wine. It is still fruity and a little tannic, hinting to a lot more life left in the cellar.

Chateau Pichon-Longueville 1997

Cru Classe Pauillac
Second Growth
13% alcohol
$69.98

Clear brickish red, just turning orange around the edges.

Plums and violets, a very floral nose. Spicebox and tobacco, and a bit of herbaceousness.

Plum skins, blackberries and violets, then some bacon fat, then more florals, all on a rapidly shifting, multi-layer palate. The finish is long, the tannins are smooth. This is a very nice bottle of wine, only an hour after uncorking. Tomorrow should be very interesting.

SECOND NIGHT

Blackcurrant, a touch of clove, lavender, and tobacco aromas on the second night.

Blackcurrant and cigar box, followed by plum skins, lavender and mint on the midpalate. The tannins are very smooth, and the wine still a bit dry. The finish is long and floral. There is more life left in this bottle, even though 1997 was not considered a great year, only a good "drink now" year.

Chateau des Deux Moulins 2001

This was a cheap Bordeaux, costing a mere $13.98. It is a Grand Vin de Bordeax from Medoc, with 12.5% alcohol. It is very dark, with a purple rim. On the first night I was, to put it mildly, unimpressed. The most obvious part of the nose was olives, maybe kalamata, strong and salty. It took a long time to find anything else, but eventually some burnt caramel and white pepper made an appearance. On the palate it improved a bit, but not much. The olives were still there, but here was also tar and pencil lead, violets and spearmint. Fruit remained elusive, but there was a tiny hint of fig. The tannins were not harsh, but that was about the kindest thing I could say.

Would this one be any better the second night? Let's find out, shall we?

This time around there are some florals on the nose, mostly geranium, perhaps a touch of violets, too. Hey, good news, there's fruit, too. Strawberries and raspberries, to be precise. On the palate, the kalamata returns. Fruit was there, but dry, very dry, like blackberry and plum skins, just skins. I did like the florals, mostly violets.

Conclusion? This is just not a great wine. It is, however, a much better wine on the second night than the first. Might this mean it is just very closed, that it might improve with a few years in the cellar? Sometimes a lot of improvement from one night to the next means just that. In this case, I suspect not. Night one this barely rated a "drinkable but who would want to" score, maybe a 78 on the 100-point scale. On night two it popped all the way up to an "adequate, but not inspired" score, about 83 points.