What does it take to get an "A" grade?
There is a reason why I brake my reviews up into three categories: Color, Nose, and Palate. To me these are the factors that best showcase a great wine. If the wine I am drinking does not have an acceptable color, then it goes down a notch. If the nose on the wine shows some off aromas like sulfer, vegative characters, or heaven forbid, vinegar characters, it will lose quite a few points in my book. And most import the palate. I used to be more of a nose kind of a guy. The nose did it for me. But after a while, you understand that a wine can have a great nose but if the palate doesn't do it for you, it is sooo disapointing. That's what happened tonight.
Barons De Rothschild Pauillac, Reserve Speciale, 2001
I bought this wine along with 21 other bottles from a shop that's closing down. I sell it at my shop for $22 and bought it marked down for $13. Being from the Pauillac region of Bordeaux, the wine is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon although varying amounts of Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petite Verdot are also allowed. The wine has a wonderful nose full of leather and berries at first then opens to something like a greenhouse garden of flowers. Very nice. The palate is a bit weak with a quick finish but good acidity. We found that when we got into are meal of Cottage Pie, it was much more enjoyable on the palate working with other flavors. Overall, its a good wine, I am glad a paid $13 instead of $22 though. I give it a B-
posted by David Ogilvie @ 9:19 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Purple lips,
I hear you. While I have not tried this Pauillac, it's sitting in my rack while I continue to ponder the disappointment of its Bordeaux brother from the general appellation... Domaines Barons Rothschild Réserve Spéciale. That was a wine that seemed to possess great character and sophistication. Yet it did not come across well on the palate and so was ultimately disappointing.
What's interesting is the fact I too purchased the Pauillac at a big discount (about $22 Canadian). Since it's received good notices and the cork did not seem damaged, I figured Why not? When you resell wine do you ever worry about the history, ie. bottle storage conditions, etc?
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