Head to Head Tasting of 2005 Bordeaux – Blind – Episode #787

December 16, 2009

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Gary Vaynerchuk tries 2 Bordeaux wines from the 2005 vintage in this final head to head blind tasting.

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Comments on this episode(146) Post a comment ›

  • “Paul. I have 2 cases of the 2001 Lambrays. Is it drinking good now? …” by Joe Hoholick
  • “what is the difference between black current and cassis?…” by trebalert
  • View all 146 ›

Wines tasted in this episode:

2005 Chat Le Thil Comte Clary RougeGraves/Pessac-Leognan play review at cork'd
2005 Chateau Jean FauxBordeaux Superior play review at cork'd

Links mentioned in todays episode.


View Comments

  1. December 17, 2009

    DJammalo

    Ok, Gary, you got me on that QOTD. I’ve been a long time lurker 2.5 years now (since I met you at the Boston Wine Fest in ’07). I love what you are doing! Big Fan. The most disappointing Bordeax I’ve had was a $85 2003 LaFleur-Petrus. Tasted WORSE than a $12 generic Bordeax. Sometimes bottles above $50 are hit-or-miss. I found that $20-30 for a bottle is a pretty safe range.

  2. December 17, 2009

    Brian

    Was at a tasting of old Frenchy wines last year, one was in the late 50s, couple in the 60′s and 70′s….sorry stinky feet nose and similiar taste don’t do it for me, happy with the Cali big Cabs. http://www.winelx.com

  3. December 17, 2009

    David Dadekian

    QOTD: Not sure I have an answer for that one. I’ve had cheap Bordeaux’s that did nothing for me, but I can’t say I’d remember them.

  4. December 17, 2009

    Brian Thomas Clark

    Love any blind tastings. They are by far my favorites when it comes to your vids.

    QOTD: Haven’t had enough to call “Foul” on any, but I have some saved up. An 06 and an 05. Their names escape me. That’s the other difficulty I have with them. They aren’t marquee names like elsewhere outside of Europe.

  5. December 17, 2009

    Jenna

    nice shirt!

  6. December 17, 2009

    TommyB

    QOTD: Chateau Pey Du Pont 2005; I drank one which was really good, then took one home to may parents to see what they thought and it failed to deliver for some reason; different batch I guess. Annoying as I believe in Bordeaux wines emphatically but dissapointments are all too common in this region!

  7. December 17, 2009

    MikeD

    Nice show. I too like the blind tasting format. How about doing the ’05 Burgundy? Nice contrast to the ’05 Bordeaux.

  8. December 17, 2009

    Craig Hamlet

    Another great blind showdown, Gary. Keep it going. QOTD: I’ve never had a Bordeaux that really disappointed me, but I’ve never had one that blew me either. I’d like to try that 00 Branaire you tasted on your patio awhile back and see if it brings the thunder.

  9. December 17, 2009

    smiledoc

    Love to see u do a blind knock down drag out with some Quilceda Creek, LOL.

    KAD must be Kids are doubling or Kids against drugs.

    Merry Christmas

    Gray Grieve

  10. December 17, 2009

    Dex

    i used to work at a nice steak house and some american business men were entertaining a prospective client who was from france, against my advice they ordered mouton cadet (i forget which vintage, but it doesn’t really matter) needless to say the frog was offended and they did not land the account, that stuff SUCKS!!!!

  11. December 17, 2009

    patrick hill

    it seems that all great wine is expensive ,but not all expensive wines are great

  12. December 17, 2009

    Bill B

    QOTD: 2005 Chateau Recougne Bourdeaux Superieur. Lots of tannin and little fruit. I found it barely drinkable.

  13. December 17, 2009

    pawncop

    Good episode and again I really like the head to head comparisons, even when they are like this episode. It really helps me to learn.

    QOTD – Have not been really dissapointed as of yet but then I have not tried many Bordeaux’s to make a determination of really bad vs really good.

  14. December 17, 2009

    JoelC

    Love the blind tastings Gary, these are the most interesting. Somebody suggested doing 05 Burgundy’s, if you think Bordeaux is hit and miss try Burgundy, which is way more of a crap shoot in my opinion, more often disappointment than not, and for the top guys way too expensive. Recently tried a 1999 DRC Echezeaux which I wondered if was on its way down hill, or had been stored improperly; disappointing.
    QOTD: 2006 Chateau Ducla and 2004 Chateau Clerc Milon, the former flabby, the latter closed down and tight. Thanks, Joel

  15. December 17, 2009

    elron

    What’s a KAD? Is that code for something? ;) ;)

    Gotta love it!

    TFtB!

  16. December 17, 2009

    Lisa S

    Good show.

    QOTD: 2004 Chateau LaRose Trintaudon $19 Crap.

  17. December 17, 2009

    Zuko Urquhart

    KAD is a P2P network.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kad_network

  18. December 17, 2009

    Robbie C.

    I don’t even buy French wine anymore, because I live in China. Apparently France sends all of its terrible wine to China where the consumers are uneducated.
    Stuff that wouldn’t even sell in the USA gets $10-$20 a bottle here. Crazy, huh?

  19. December 18, 2009

    Tau Digamma

    Hey Gary,
    Still lovin’ the blind episodes.
    QOTD: I was fairly disappointed in Christian Moueix’s general appelation Medoc and St. Emilion wines, both 2005 vintage. I mean I know they aren’t meant to be even near on par with his other wines but I somehow expected something more. Actually not bad, but not great.

  20. December 18, 2009

    cj

    That is still the problem with Bordeaux. It needs time. The old rule – 5 years rest – still counts. So give them another chance in – say 2 – 3 years !!
    Though I must say that us-$ 30,00 for “Generics” is quite too much. I know that many Bordeaux-Producers are going to disagree, about that term, but here again – I have experienced the same having worked for the Bordeaux trade for a year. It is very difficult to find an interesting Bordeaux under a retail price of € 10,00/US-$ 20.00 ( with exceptions ). And this also shows where prices have gone to in Bordeaux in the last 5 years and that they have to come back to a “normal” level.
    The worst I have tasted would be difficult to answer, because of the many :-) )
    I think the ones that have dissappointed me the most – mainly because I have expected more from them, were a number of classified growths from the 1990 vintage – Pauillacs ( don´t want to quote names ) …
    I hope that once Bordeaux has undergone a painful correction and it will need that – it will issue wines again at a “bon rapport qualité-prix” !!

    I like this episode – it portrays the reality…

    Seasons Greatings ….

    p.s.: I believe I would not have given these wines such high grades …. and I must hand this to you : I would have not been able to distinguish between black currant and cassis – Chapeaux !! …. ;-) ))

  21. December 18, 2009

    felicia

    i’m with sharon— love your shirt, Gary!

  22. December 18, 2009

    mjr

    BLIND EPISODES GOOD.

    THANKS & HAPPY HANUKKAH FOR THE 12TH

    MJR
    TOKYO

  23. December 18, 2009

    Scotty

    QOTD-Recently, 2005 Mylord purchased from the Wine Library. I think they crushed everything in that wine, birds, mice, tree branches, etc. Funny stuff. Half a bottle, dumped the rest and the other two down the drain. Still laughing that this wine won a French wine competition. $8.00 dollar Bordeaux that’s what I get for trying. French get killed at this price level across the board, period. US has so many good plays right now, staying with the pure Washington fruit at the moment, love that region. The new Bordeaux, not the flabby wine produced from tired disease invested vines or replants. With the condition of the dollar, the US is such a better play it’s not even close. 06 Bordeaux falls on it’s face as predicted.

  24. December 18, 2009

    the wine monologues

    Wow. I guess not everyone could make a great 2005 Bordeaux! ;)

  25. December 18, 2009

    BF

    Good show. How about doing an annual show where you re-taste the 2005′s that you’ve already tasted before?

  26. December 18, 2009

    xabiii

    we want more Head to Head episodes!!! it’s soooo interesting.

  27. December 18, 2009

    jayhitek

    QOTD: Oh.. Ahh.. Hmmm.. Bought futures about 10 years ago. One of them was just meh. Wondered why I kept it in my wine fridge for 10 years.

  28. December 18, 2009

    Paul C

    Tried the 83 Lafite in a restaurant there a year ago. Very expensive and bloody awful. I also have a case of 94 Cos – it’s terrible. I remember trying a bottle of haut bages averous as a student but unlike student days, I was happy to leave it behind.

    Bordeaux is like Burgundy – you just need to aim for close to the very top – it’s the only guarantee of success.

    If you’ve tried the 1989 Branaire Ducru, or the 2001 Clos des Lambrays, Domaine des Lambrays, you’ll know what I mean.

    All the best.

  29. December 18, 2009

    fabrice

    Gary, you deceived me on that one. I had a Le Thil 04 on my list for a while because it was really amazing. I have recently tasted the 05 and yes, of course, it is not drinkable now so I have taken it out of the list and I will try it next year but it might take 2 or 3 years more to open up. Like most of the bordeaux from 05, they are now closed (I am surprised you found something on the nose, there should be nothing coming out). You need to take things a bit more deeper I think when you talk about the best wines in the world.

  30. December 18, 2009

    A dumb Rhine king

    Did you have T-Shirts waiting for you so that you could do a one day shoot, but make look like it was over several days?? ;) I’m on to you :P

    QOTD: I’ve had many bordeaux blends, but as far as I know, I haven’t had any actual Bordeauxs that bombed.

  31. December 18, 2009

    Miguel Cavalcanti

    QOTD: ’01 Brane-Cantenac. It wasn’t horrible, but at $50, it was way overpriced. Chateau Larose-Trintaudon (Haut Médoc) is a good example of robust Cru Bourgeois wine that is better than 2nd-growth Brane-Cantenac at a fifth of the price.

  32. December 19, 2009

    Krista the Wine BAP

    Most disappointing Bordeaux was a Baron de Rothchilde Saint Emillion white. Tasted like a bottle of Chanel No 5. Just lousy.

  33. December 19, 2009

    John J

    qotd a 99 lafite-rothschild. had it earlier this year. built it up too much in my mind i guess. i knew it wasnt a great year for pauillac going in but still. I’d had a 96 petrus before that highly exceeded expectations, even tho that wasnt a great year for pomerol either.
    Gary, how about putting a vin jaune on the show please?

  34. December 20, 2009

    THA

    Some Disappointments: 2001 Pavie Macquin; 1994 Pauillac (de Latour); 2000 Les Ormes de Pez; 2002 Rauzan-Segla; 2005 Gloria; 2002 Grand Puy Lacoste; 1994 Mouton Rothschild

  35. December 21, 2009

    Michelle P

    Hey Gary… sorry you hated the wines but, got to tell you, I love your shirt!!!

  36. December 22, 2009

    Don Simpson

    QOTD: 2004 Chateau Greysac. Just a bottle I picked up at Whole Foods for about $18-20, but it was not good… not good at all…

  37. December 23, 2009

    Cordell Watkins

    03 Leoville Barton…… Wine was great but i was speculating that the wine spectator was naming it #1 a couple years back so i bought a TON of it to try to capitalize on that and it let me down and was rated ONLY #3!! DissApOinTing

  38. December 24, 2009

    ChrisR

    QOTD: Had a whole bunch at a Bordeaux tasting two weeks ago. They did certainly improve as the price went up, but the $100 wines were not exciting. Ended up going with a $20 CDR (my favorite region currently) and enjoyed that much more.

  39. December 25, 2009

    M

    QOTD: I feel like a copy cat when I say I’m cabernet and merlot’ed out. I prefer Burgundy, Rhone, Gascogne, Spain, Portugal, Italy…… I’ve never had a high end Bordeaux though.

  40. December 25, 2009

    kayaker

    QOTD: Château Lafite-Rotschild 2007.

  41. December 28, 2009

    AMM3RD

    QOTD: In retrospect, I probably over rated it…
    2001 Château de Fieuzal (France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan) 9/23/2008 AMM3RD 87
    Second time around this wine was a little disappointing. Oak, Oak, Oak. Some good fruit that was unfortunatly spoiled. Don’t get me wrong it’s not bad, but it could be much better. I will wait for a few years to try my next…AMM (267 views) http://www.cellartracker.com

  42. December 31, 2009

    Toby Marcus

    “Blind tastings can be an amusing excersise, but probably has no more lasting emotion than kissing an anonymous person in a darkened room” -Jonathan Nossiter

  43. January 1, 2010

    JayZee

    QOTD: I had a 2002 Chateau d’Issan that really was terribly boring. I’ve had other Issans that rocked, but the 2004 effort was poor for my palate.

  44. January 4, 2010

    PSPatrick

    QOTD: 1995 Carruades de Lafite Pauillac. I have been gifted four bottles of this wine in 2008 and 2009. All four bottles have been way past their peak.

  45. March 3, 2010

    trebalert

    what is the difference between black current and cassis?

  46. March 13, 2010

    Joe Hoholick

    Paul. I have 2 cases of the 2001 Lambrays. Is it drinking good now? When should I start to consume?

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