Thursday, August 30, 2007

CHATEAU CLARKE - 2003

Merlot and Cabernet Listrac Bordeaux blend.

TASTING NOTES:

Purple color with light oak and red berries on the nose. Smoke, plum, black currant and beautiful freshly picked summer cherries on the finish.

SCORE & RECOMMENDATION:

88 PTS
When you open up this bottle, taste it immediately. You will find it is extremely good. The fresh cherries on the finish are exceptional and are accented by a hint of smoke and black fruit. But after this wine opens up, it turns ordinary. The mid-palate flattens out and the finish disappears turning the wine ordinary. This is a 89 or 90 pointer if you open and consume immediately. If you decant this or drink it over the course of two days it falls a few points lower. At $25 a bottle, it is hard to recommend, but those fresh cherries on the finish still linger on my memory palate.

1 Comments:

  • Interesting. I think this ordinariness happens a lot to Bordeaux, unlike Burgundies, which tend to disappoint at the start and then develop in the 2nd half, like a good soccer game! Not a big fan of Chateau Clarke, though I have a few 1990s and want to buy some 2003s. What you say suits British/Irish palates: they need to be impressed straight away.They are also a great gift if your name is Clarke.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at Saturday, December 06, 2008 8:16:00 AM  

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