Wines From Pauillac. Bordeaux most important wines?

Wines From Pauillac. Bordeaux most important wines? – Episode #301

August 27, 2007

Gary Vaynerchuk explores 4 well priced Pauillac wines and talks about this legendary place.

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Comments on this episode(349) Leave a comment ›

“Been watching all these episodes only found out that you decant and po…” by Weston
“Great episode. Ive only had one Bordeaux maybe in my life, and watchi…” by Dessert Wine Nerd
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Wines tasted in this episode:

2004 Reserve De La ComtessePauillac
2004 Chateau Lynch MoussasPauillac
2004 Chateau Pichon BaronPauillac
2001 Chateau Pichon LalandePauillac

Links mentioned in todays episode.

Idaho Wine Festival Medal Winners

349 Responses

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August 27, 2007

Bernie Bearnaise
Congratulations on #300. One of the many benefits of your show is that you are all over the map. Sometimes I really wish you had one to pull down behind you but that would be so old school.

Thanks for lobbing one into my wheelhouse. I live for Bordeaux. I want to taste every one of the 5,000 or so Chateaux before I exit the stage. Once you get to know the Bordeaux region you find that there are really two of them. The left bank of the Gironde river (Medoc and Graves) and the right bank of the Dordogne river before they join up(St Emilion and Pomerol). On each side there are distictive districts that have their own traditions. The Grand Crus were established in 1855 for the Medoc. They were divided into 5 classes of growths. The most first growths were located in Pauillac. The Segur family started many of the vinyards but wars, revolutions and other events saw these Chateaus change ownership with the Rothschilds family branches eventually becoming the prominent owners. Everyone as far back as Thomas Jefferson knew about Chateau Lafite. Next came Chateau Latour. In 1973 Baron Phillipe Rothschild lobbied successfully to become the only Chateau to be advanced to first growth status with his Mouton Rothschild…

As Gary demonstrated today the second growths of Pauillac have excellent pedigree and an even higher QPR. The description of fleshy plum characteristics is usually found in the right bank wines (St.Emilion) which use Merlot as the highest proportion with a few notable exceptions. Cabernet Franc is the biggest constituent of my favorite Chateau Ausone and in high degree Chateau Cheval Blanc in St. Emilion. The left bank (Medoc)is usually higher in Cabernet Sauvignon. An interesting side note is that Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc are the proud parents of Cabernet Sauvignon.

The 2001 Pichon-Lalande was unique in comparison to other vintages. It was a blend of %50 Cabernet, 36% Merlot, and a robust 14% Petit Verdot. The PV gives a lot of ruby backbone for this wine to mature with.

The Pichon-Baron property lies across the road and has been managed by Christian Seely who happens to be English since 2001. It has a higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon ranging from 65% up to 80%. The rest is mostly Merlot.

Another Pauillac property worth mentioning is the fabulous fifth growth Lynch-Bages which in good years like 2000 can be extraordinary.

The next district south is the approachable wines of finesse from St. Julien. These are not as famous or as big but have velvety rich fruit that is worth seeking out. The pricing is moderate in comparison to Pauillac.

Another classic show for the Old World guys! Thanks GV.
August 27, 2007

jack dempsey
just a quick note to say thanks Gary, you crack me up and I love how seriously you’re committed to this. I’m buying some wine from winelibrary just because of the show, so you can know its definitely working.

I’d love to see an episode on some related topics like decanting, serving, various tools etc. Any plans for one?

Thanks!
August 27, 2007

stevek1510
here is your comment my delicate little daisy…now you can do me a favor…please try this on an episode…
http://winelibrary.com/reviewwine.asp?item=30061

great episode, looking forward to saving a few $$ and making my way into some higher end bords…
August 27, 2007

Ricardo Ganc
Hey Gary,

Great job, looovvveee Pichon Baron and Lalande, just kick ass big time!!!!
I just feel bad when you “kill”these babies before they are due, at least you are doing that, allowing me not to do it !!!
August 27, 2007

Megan
I’ll definitely be trying the Reserve de la Comtesse this fall and if I can think up a good enough special occasion I’m itching to try the Pichon Baron after watching this show…
I only really discovered your show last week and this is the fifth episode I’ve seen, plus I bought 6 of the Pasodoble futures based on your review of those – lurkers aren’t necessarily so bad!
August 27, 2007

sara
ALRIGHT alright, alright, i don’t want to see you cry either, so here’s my comment(s). (unrelated to todays show, i know, but hey- at least i’m commenting) we’ve been big fans since reading the article about you on slate, and i’ll tell you that i’ve never felt more confident walking down a wine aisle than after listening to you talk about wine for some weeks. we went into our local wine shop to find a few of your recommendations (the 4 vines chard, las rocas garnacha, and the jonsey port) which the lady working there recognized as endorsed by gary. so our cover was blown, we didn’t get the credit for picking out good wine on our own, but it was great going in there knowing what we were looking for! it was really useful drinking with you, and being told what it was that we smelled and tasted

And add me to the list of people who can’t do the swish and spit without choking themselves and getting wine up their nose… maybe you could do an episode on that, if you haven’t already…

next time i’ll try and have a comment relevant to the day’s show.
August 27, 2007

Tom H
Great show

QOTD Story : My 2 year old totally blocks the world out when his favorite TV show is on. We can scream his name and he will not move. When I flip open the laptop and start WLTV and he hears “Hello everybody and welcome…..” he runs over to the computer and says “Gary” We may have to start using your voice to get him to the dinner table.
August 27, 2007

Prescott Shibles
GV, you stopped asking for comments as much in your shows. That’s why you’re not getting as much love with the comments. Today’s request for comments is why you’re now getting tons…

Anyway, I did want to tell you that my pops turned me onto your site. You got a 59 year-old guy who couldn’t turn on a computer until seven years ago to clue me, an Internet media exec, onto your video blog. We head out to Napa/Sonoma every May. So, your site was a godsend to us!

I’ve been watching for two months (lurking), and I just wanted to say that I wish my magazine editors could develop the kind of compelling content that you do. The VH1 Behind the Vlog bit was hysterical!
August 27, 2007

linda
GV– I’m new at this posting thing here — apologies if this lands here twice — I’m not the best navigator — anyway, I think newbies and long time Vaniacs should have an equal shot at the iPhone! suggest you ask lurkers to come forth NOW and win the chance to be in the game — we could snail mail you a postcard with our screen name and you could do a random drawing. just my two cents!!

LOVE WLTV and … belated congrats on the 300th!!!!!!

Linda
August 27, 2007

Hans
Awesome show! I can’t wait to try a few of these.

QOTD: WLTV has completely changed my wine world, particularly with regards to oak. The oak monster and I used to be friends, but now I can’t stand him. Thank you for elevating my game.
August 27, 2007

Craig MacDonald
GV, you want to meet the person that can buy those last two and invite their peeps over? I want to be one of those peeps! Those are WAY out of my budget but I always learn something from every episode and the forums have been great too. Between the two you really are changing the wine world.
August 27, 2007

Martin
Sorry I didn’t comment on Friday; to be fair, you didn’t ask a question. I love watching the show at work. Now everyone in the office pretends to talk like Gary Vaynerchuk!
August 27, 2007

Kanjimoti
HUGE rinse on the Pichon. Thought you were skipping the rinse and going straight for the sniffy snif. This is the first comment I’ve made on any of your shows after watching quite a few Gary. Feels good to get out of the lurchbox. Keep up the good work.
ps I live in Cal. and wish your store were closer, I would order more wine from you but I get killed on the shipping. Thanks again. -Kanjimoti
August 27, 2007

Aaron C
New Vaniac here! Make sure to watch the latest Diggnation, Kevin does an uncanny Vaynerchuk impression. Of the wines I’ve tried so far I seem to really enjoy some of the African wines. Anyone have some favorites from that area?
The only bad thing I’ve found about wine is that there’s so many, and I want to try them ALL!
August 27, 2007

vino1970jg
Nice to hear about the earthy, dirty, vegetal, graphite, etc. components of these wines. I think these qualities, odd at times, nevertheless make these wines soooooo interesting in the palate…

would have liked to have heard something about the difference between the pace at which these types of “big reds”, as opposed to many new world reds, travel through your palate- Napa cabs are often like race cars in your mouth and then they crash! A good Bordeaux slowly but surely leaves its complexity on the mid and back palate, rewarding the patient.

G-squared!? You rock, Gary!!
August 27, 2007

Shotgun
Pichon Lalande is near and dear to my heart. First time that I tasted it was at the old old Le Cirque in NYC (where was that, somewhere in the 70’s, between Fifth and say Lex?). My wife and I had a bottle of the 1978 (this would have been in 1986). It was wonderful– with beef filets and venison. Glad I am on-board for the 2005.

Funny WLTV story… I had my college-age son watch an episode last year, I don’t remember what wines you were tasting, maybe Rhones, and you were talking about lizard-backs and worm-heads and poopy mushrooms and… well, he loves to taste any red now and say, “Nope, no worm-heads here. No poop.”
August 27, 2007

nyc621
Loving the bacon appearance today! =)

Gary, I know you have this love/hate thing with scoring wines, but as a consumer you need direction on what to buy otherwise (as you said in this episode) you buy based on labels or worse price. When I walk into a wine store, I admit I can get so overwhelmed with the choices…there are so many wines out there that scores help to differentiate between the mediocre and solid wines. I use your scores as well as other scores to separate the crap from the good juice because I can’t afford to taste everything.

Now this is not to say that I use wine scores AFTER I taste a wine. By then, I have my own “score” and I make the decision as to whether or not I want to buy this wine again. Scores just help to give me direction, then I can take it from there.

Please keep scoring and looking forward to Thursday!
August 27, 2007

julian.grey
I hope you are reading this

Iphone giveaway idea:

Pick 5-10 wines (common enough so people of diff areas can access them)so like 1-2 for each major area. Ask people to select ONE wine to taste and send in a small x word count description. Tell them what to mention: nose, taste(attack, mid, finish) emotional associations w/e. You know what I mean. They send it in.
You taste the wines, select the entries that not only nailed it, but do the very thing you do: teach you to see a specific wine in a different way, maybe even help you enjoy it more.
You can have a show with 3-5 finalists and their respective wines, and do your thing and talk about why you liked each finalist’s take.

That would be fun. Anyway there is my dime ^^;

Love the show.

jg
August 27, 2007

Scott S
Gary, borderline Lurker here reaching to you, BTW been here from day 1. Great show, thanks for reving up the education again in the show, Love it! Thanks so much for the Bordeaux show. I am very new to Bordeaux but have consumed lots of good Cali Cabs over the years and thought I had been drink great wine, little did I know. I have to tell you I ordered my first Bordeaux from WL, several weeks back,the 03 Ch.Sansonnet. So I decant the wine for about 3 hrs, pour a glass and Holy SH$%^&&*&%$t! A nose like I never experienced, mouth feel amazing and intense Blueberry and cedar, oh my God!.How could any one go thru life with tasting Bordeaux. Hook, line and sinker. Thanks so much for all you do!. “A little bit of you is change my wine life”, Thanks Scott
August 27, 2007

Paul M
Don’t think I have had a Pauillac yet so I will put it on my list of things to try.

QOTD: My oldest daughter refers to weekend days as “Daddy Days” because I do not work. And she knows that I watch “that wine guy” on my computer on work days. Occasionally when I am behind on WLTV episodes and try to catch up on the weekends she chastises me and says “the wine guy is for work days not Daddy Days, stop watching and play with me”, which I do.
August 27, 2007

Grape Expectations
Here’s my two cents for today and I promise I’ll get in a dime’s worth of comments by the end of the week. Keep your head up, little flower!

QOTD: Immediately after my first post in the forums I was invited to a get together of Seattle Vayniaks and got to meet a truly great group of peeps.
August 27, 2007

Dash
Unfortunately I do not have any crazy stories to tell, but I wanted to show some love and whenever that funny/cool story comes along I will share it!
I cannot wait to try some of the wines you had today, they seem totally up my alley.
August 27, 2007

Pastafari Pirate
Hmmmmmmmm…. iPhone to whomever can….. something to do with internet links to WLTV from NON-WINE websites, and hits from redirections from those links, as logged by Google, or however. I.e., reward for directing more traffic to this site from internet communities OUTSIDE the wine ‘world’. To get more non-wine people (like me) hooked on wine and obsessing over your show.

QOTD: nothing yet. Only been here for 3 weeks. I’ve been telling all my friends who drink wine about it. No stories that are particularly interesting or amusing yet.

Caw! Caw! (sept 16)
August 27, 2007

portman
I thought it was “pwee-yak”

Nice ep with #301. With soooooo many wines, soooooo many wine regions, the content for another 300 is there.

That is, as long as the flower gets it’s sunshine, water, and manure.

Mike
August 27, 2007

Matt E
Okay, Gary. I got the sense you were feeling a little more tired and edgy tonight than I’ve ever seen you, and given your not so veiled threat to end it all if you don’t hear from us lurkers, I’m chiming in to give you that solid rocket booster shot of fuel.
Man, don’t even threaten to pull the plug on us. Not funny….