Tasting at Auric Pacific

Auric Pacific Fine Wines held its year-end mega sale and tasting at its cellars, where I had the opportunity to taste the following wines…2006 Ch Cos D’Estournel (brought by one of Eugene’s customers) – deep purplish red, dominant nose of cashews and toasty oak, giving way after 20 minutes to ripe dark fruits and berries, deeply saturated but not over-extracted, smooth, finishing with well-managed tannins without any trace of heat. Very good, but I feel Cos is becoming too “international”. 2005 Domaine de Chevalier – a perenial favourite, deep red, lots of dark currants, full-bodied, intense, not quite well integrated yet, bit of a tannic finish. Needs lots of time, but I imagine this will be delectable after it has sorted itself out. 2004 Philip Togni cabernet sauvignon – deep purple, saturated with ripe red and dark fruits, well-extracted, full, with great mouthfeel. Correct in every way but not cerebral, nor seductive. 2005 Clos du Marquis, my first chance at tasting this – beautiful deep purple, slightly restrained but obviously has loads of quality fruit underneath, meaty, savoury. Surprisingly accessible on the palate, revealing excellent transparency than thickness, finishing with a deep rich vein of liquer. Excellent stuff, but the price is creeping up. 2006 La Fleur de Bouard – deep purple, full-bodied, yet really smooth, bit of toast and vanilla, excellent fruit quality, finishing long. 2006 Ch Calon Segur – the editors of Decanter rated St Estephe poorly for this vintage, but I found it quite agreeable – deep red, trace of gravel, toast, generous fruit and body, but like Cos, its terroir is not apparent. Prices for 2006 Bordeaux are declining, but I don’t see any compeling reason to buy.