I enjoy St. Estephes.

Montrose is near the top of my personal pantheon of wines that if not
elegant, are usually interesting, and quite reliable - heck, I even
enjoy the rusticity often present in many, especially the older
vintages. In good vintages, the wine stands, head up, with the best. I
have 1970 that was excellent and 1990 that is and will be a top
performer for decades.

I think that Meyney, hard little ******* that it can be, is a great
value for a Cru Bourgeois I have a case of the 86 that I have only
just opened.

In the middle rank, as a second growth is Calon Segur, the wine with
the heart on its label - and that is what prompted the local
Commanderie to hold a vertical tasting dinner of this wine at
Valentines Day. The heart is said to come from Nicolas de Segur who at
the time owned Latour and Lafite as well, but was recorded as saying
"I make wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is at Calon." In the
early days the present area of Calon was part of a much larger estate
that included Montrose and Phelan-Segur, which were split of
subsequently.

The blend is typical - cab heavy with 50% CS and 25% CF, as well as
25% Merlot.(it does vary from year to year). The wine went through a
bit of a dip in the 60s and 70s, but has been doing quite well since
1982, and if it never hits the heights, it reliably reaches the level
of dependable and enjoyable performer.

We started with a bubbly, the Roederer Brut Premier, which was young,
fresh showed clean acidity and was pleasant but no more.

Then on to pan fried red snapper with:

2000 Ch. Carbonnieux blanc - corked. Drat!

With roast quail:

2003 - I hadn't tasted this before and it was a pleasant surprise,
much more forward than I'd expected. Good colour, decent nose,
obviously very primary in nature, with a hint of ripeness and hints of
smoked meat and vanilla, the wine showing reasonably on palate,
narrowing a bit at the end. It needs time, but can be drunk now with
some pleasure.

2002 - this was more the traditional Calon - more spice in the nose
much more tannin, and harder. At first there was a rush of tannin,
then it seemed to abate a little in mid-palate, enough to experience
fruit before the tannin clamped down again. We'll have to wait awhile
to see what this will become.


With grilled lamb chop and lamb shoulder ragout;

1998 - decent fruit nose with hint of rose petals, good fruit, the
tannins only medium force and softer - this drinks pretty well now as
well. These (2003 and 1998) are not the Calons of old!


1996 - a wine that caused some controversy. Dark, with depth in the
nose, but also a stalky green component, and it was maybe a little
lacking in fruit intensity on palate, but was clean and fairly well
focussed with good balance and a hint of iodine at the end. We
pondered whether it had been overly chaptalised which resulted in some
excess heat in the nose.


With Gruyere soufflé:

1990 - at last a nicely mature nose. There were cherries and vanilla
and some spicy oak, and on palate it had excellent concentration,
smooth and well balanced with a leather and spice thing reprising at
the end. My favourite.

1989 - some people preferred this to the 1990, but for me the opposite
choice had been clear. The 89 was also mature, but had less fruit and
more acidity, and while it would be perfectly satisfying opened on its
own, it suffered when shown in comparison with the bigger sweeter
1990.

Finally:

1997 Ch. Doisy Daene - this was very good! Sweet, but not cloying
with some botrytis, coconut, smoke and honey in the nose, already
becoming quite complex, it was well balanced and I have the impression
it is just beginning to show what it has. It will be interesting to
see what a few more years of age bring.


An unusually youthful tasting for me - I usually don't get into wines
like these under a decade old - but quite informative.