We enjoyed our last Bordeaux from a couple of weeks ago so much that we thought we’d give another one a try, but this time from the highly regarded 2005 vintage. The result was something very, very different, which became apparent to us even from smelling the cork.
Whereas the previous Bordeaux’s defining features were its earthiness and elegance, we felt the Château Charron was best characterized by its bright black currant, red pepper, and (especially) minty aromas and flavors. Kind of like the citrusy sensation you get on your tongue when you’re eating oranges, this wine left the cool sensation of mint in our mouths for a period of minutes after each swallow. Whether mint is or isn’t your thing, the fact, in and of itself, that we haven’t encountered a wine with so much of it made the Château Charron worth experiencing, and at $10.99, you can feel guilt-free about opening a bottle any night of the week.
Note that this is one of the few bottles of 2005 Bordeaux that you’re likely to find in the $11 price range that are worth drinking.
Incidentally, last weekend we hosted our first Wine Rabbi sponsored wine tasting with a few friends, and we think it went rather well – particularly considering that, of the nine people in attendance, three were under the age of 10 months. The emphasis was on experiencing the effect that terroir has on grapes, so we compared, first, a typical white Burgundy (i.e., French Chardonnay) to a California Chardonnay and, second, a French Syrah to its Australian counterpart, Shiraz. The Chardonnays effectively demonstrated the contrast between the French version’s typically cooler climate fruit (e.g., pear and green apple) flavors and lighter body with the Californian’s tropical fruit (e.g., melon) flavors and fuller mouthfeel. But best of all, the fruitiness and thick body of the Shiraz made an eye-opening contrast with the French Syrah, which tasted of smoked meat and was lighter in body. Stay tuned, because we’ll be writing about some of these wines over the course of the next couple weeks.
If you’d like some ideas on tastings that you can organize on your own with a few of your friends, we’ll be more than happy to give suggestions. Post a comment below and we’ll gladly respond with an idea or two!
