Chateau Les Grands Chenes, Medoc

Blind Bordeaux tasting. 2016 Chateau La Garde [90] 2016 Chateau Les Grands Chenes [89] 2016 Les Fiefs de Lagrange [90] 2016 Chateau de Pitray [89] 2016 Croix Cardinale [91] 2016 Chateau Ormes de Pez [91] I liked the second, third, and first wines the most, in that order. The last wine tasted much older to me. I guessed the correct bank for only four of the wines. Apparently I have a lot of work to do.

2016 vintage

En Primeur campaign for the 2024 vintage Day Two (Bordeaux) : Plummy rich, sweet spice, a touch of blackcurrant and ripe black fruits, a little leather…Rich and concentrated on the palate, plentiful cedary tannins prove chewy, surprisingly forward and meaty, leathery over extracted baked fruits and feels like it is falling apart. Nah.

2016 vintage

Espresso, chocolate, licorice, and black with red plums are all over the place in the nose, and on the juicy, round, polished, chewy, palate. Once everything comes together and integrates, this should be an even better wine. The wine blends 60% Merlot with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink from 2025-2038.

2022 vintage

Classical Médoc, very fruit forward, with ripe red fruits dominant, plums, raspberry. Staying long on palate. The wine is balanced, oak is present but not too much. There is the know how of Magrez here.

2016 vintage

Smoky red fruits flowers, tobacco, and cherries with hints licorice fill the nose. On the palate, the wine is fresh, fruity, and clean, with more focus than in previous vintages due to a reduction in the amount of oak used in the aging process. 60% Merlot, with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink from 2026-2038. 90-92 Pts.

2023 vintage

Good QPR. Drank with pizza and Bluey on a Friday night. I need to fund more sub 25$ Bordeaux to have on hand to drink when I can't decide or when I don't want to open something better.

2014 vintage

87-89 Punkte. Kühler als auch schon, mit klarer Frucht und wenig aufdringlichem Barrique; weicher Gaumen, gute Harmonie aus Frucht und Gerbstoff, schöne Länge, Sauerkirschen im Rückaroma. Ein stimmiger Wein. (En Primeur Tasting April 2024)

2023 vintage

90 vvPunkte / Ziemlich reiffruchtig und mit Noten von Schwarzbrot und Zimt. Im Gaumen rund, weich im Auftakt, die Frucht ist reif, die Tannine sind gut verpackt, weniger vom Barrique geprägt als auch schon. Sehr gute Länge. Ein erfreulicher Grands Chênes. (Verkostet "En Primeur" im April 2023 / CVBG / Château Belgrave) #primeurs22 www.vvWine.ch

2022 vintage

Dark ruby red. Blue fruits and blackberry nose. Medium body with the same fruits, and some spice. The finish is cloves.

2016 vintage

I concur with the most recent reviews. Very good wine for the $. Grabbed a vertical of 14’-18’ for good measure.

2014 vintage

full bodied and round. tabacco, vanilla, cherries, prunes, plums, and ripe fruits. earthy, medium tannins, medium acidity.

2014 vintage

Tasted at the Chateau

2014 vintage

Black and red fruits with nuances of tobacco leaf, and espresso beans open the wine. On the palate, the wine is ripe, sweet, round, and forward, finishing with sweet, cherries, toasty oak, and chalky tannins on the backend. The wine blends 60% Merlot with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink from 2025-2038. 90-92 Pts.

2022 vintage

90 vvPunkte / Ziemlich reiffruchtig und mit Noten von Schwarzbrot und Zimt. Im Gaumen rund, weich im Auftakt, die Frucht ist reif, die Tannine sind gut verpackt, weniger vom Barrique geprägt als auch schon. Sehr gute Länge. Ein erfreulicher Grands Chênes. (Verkostet "En Primeur" im April 2023 / CVBG / Château Belgrave) #primeurs22 www.vvWine.ch

2022 vintage

Rich, ripe, a lot of wine for $22. Punches above its weight. By the third night, starting to weaken, but still wonderful fruit with lively bite/acidity.

2014 vintage

After quite a bit of air, really fleshes out, a pretty big wine at $22. Dark purple, medium to full weight, still a lot of backbone (tannin/acid) after 8 years. Couple miles north of Ch. Fleur de Mothe, another wine that blossoms after a good airing. Both are well north of St. Estephe.

2014 vintage

Decent Bordeaux, but not excellent. Much better paired with food. Round, smokey, tobacco, oak.

2014 vintage

I liked this wine, which I had by itself and with some grilled pork. Medium body, medium strength of flavor, dark in color, short lingering taste. Would get again.

2016 vintage

TIGHT at first. needed a few minutes in the glass to come around the tannin and oak were on full blast at first. 15 minutes made a world of difference. Nose: Oaky, Red fruit, maybe strawberry, Alcohol seems to get in the way a bit here.More of the same in the sip. Strawberry and raspberry, Graphite, Charred oak, Mocha. Decent finish length of dark chocolate and blackberry. Overall pleasant and yummy if not spectacular.

2014 vintage

Truly classic flavors for this sun $20 Medoc Bordeaux. Ruby-brown but still a slight sense of freshness in the glass. Great balance of tart fruit, gravel, and acid/tannins. Need quite a bit to open up - decanted for 45 minutes and still got better throughout the night. Past it’s prime by night 2. Great left bank bargain.

2016 vintage

Enjoyable Bordeaux. Not awesome, but drinking well. In it’s prime!

2014 vintage

Nose was old and musty - smelled and tasted like a poorly stored 20+ year old wine.

2014 vintage

Soft but seriously lacking of a nose or much of a palate - flavour just doesn’t seem to be there at all. Incredibly bland.

2014 vintage

Deep- red-black. Tertairy bouquet with freshly tilled earth, camphor(herb), cedarwood, dark fruits and older, minerals, damp oak notes. A little reticent on the nose. Fairly lean wine with lively acidity, gritty texture with blackcurrant, mineral, and lemon zest. Even though it was decanted, it seemed to take an age to show more fruit and to an extent struggled. Whilst they was more blackcurrant, the oak spices seems to overwhelm the fruit as they dwelled on the medium finish. Tannins became …

2006 vintage

Upon revisiting this wine, I'm lowering my score. The tannins are a bit rustic, and the fruit is lacking -- I guess that's a risk with Medoc wines (as opposed to Haut Medoc). It's fine for a weeknight wine, but given the vintage, it should have been better.

2016 vintage

The wine looks ruby colored. The legs are medium. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like blackberry, strawberry and gooseberry. It tastes like raisin and strawberry jam. The body is light/medium. The wine has fleshy texture. The wine finishes short. The wine has low acidity. The wine is probably past its peak.

2006 vintage

Grands chenes used to be a terrific value. Like the 2003, it was like a Pape Clement “en miniature”, though slightly more balanced... now, the 2016 vintage seems far from these happy days. Still a nice wine, recognizable medoc, it is quite lean, rather on the astringent side. The wine is thus in contradiction with the packaging, as the label and heavy bottle hint at placing this up market... rather disappointingly commercial effort by Magrez.

2016 vintage

Ruby color which makes you anticipate a bit of dilution. The nose reveals sweet peony, oak and crispy red fruits. The entry is not its strong suit with watery acid cassis. Then the wine develops through an elegant but lean core before finishing on a enjoyable slighty salty touch. At this price point (14€/bottle), there are many wines of higher interest. 86+

2016 vintage

89 almost 90 for me, solid full bodied wine. So so on it's own but great with the hearty and spicy tomato sauce for dinner

2014 vintage

I think of this as a traditional claret: hearty, nicely balanced, should age well, with enough fruit to make it enjoyable today. (Funny how half the pro reviewers tasted black fruits and half detected red fruits.) I can't think of a better value under $20 in Bordeaux right now (this is $17 at my go-to wine store, or $32 for a magnum). This is a good candidate for daily drinking, with the potential to age if one is so inclined. …

2016 vintage

Given the age of the wine I would have thought that this would be a pleasure to drink. But this has quite a bit of oak and medium high acidity. One is left searching for the fruit that is hard to find. The wine is silky, decently structured, but the lack of fruit makes the mouth pucker. Very dry wine. Medium body. Not sure if this will open or smoothen any more.

2006 vintage

Agree with everyone else's comments; lots of oak, not enough fruit to back it up. Takes forever to open up. I would suggest letting breath for at least two hours before consuming. It tastes like black pepper and mineral. The body is medium. The wine has satin-like texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has medium acidity.

2006 vintage

Third bottle, consistent with previous notes and "very good," 88/100.

2014 vintage

Better than most "90 Point" california wines. Very pleasent, classic Medoc flavours. Light-to-medium body.

2014 vintage

Ripe, smoky, good acidity and length. Drying finish. 87-89

2006 vintage

Bottle two of four. Slightly more generous on the nose and finish. Still precise and mineral inflected. A wine to watch. "Very good," 88+/100.

2014 vintage

Short decant at room temperature. Pours with an inky bing cherry color and no visible sediment. Nose is a little reticent through the first glass but opens up a bit more into the second, with subtle black cherry and black raspberry fruits, but more dominant characteristics of charcoal, slate, wet wool, and graphite. A very graphitic and mineral-focused profile. Medium acid and soft-yet-persistent medium(+) tannins lend this a firmer structure. Medium(-) finish. Hoping that the aromatics flesh out (as the …

2014 vintage

Round and polished with loads of espresso, smoke, ripe fruits and a fleshy finish.

2016 vintage

Fruit up front on the nose with a palate that is fruit driven as well. The mid palate is juicy enough. I would say that the finish is a tad raw, which does not surprise me, coming from Magrez, but overall a rather crowd pleasing wine! 88+

2016 vintage

The oak is nice. And it's STILL taking forever to open up. I'd say there's still not great urgency to drink this.

2006 vintage

Pleasing nose, cassis, and ripe plum, but then there is a drying sense that distracts.

2014 vintage

Lush, soft and polished, this wine is loaded with sweet fruits and a hint of jam with a big slash of espresso and vanilla in the fleshy finish. 87-89 Pts

2014 vintage

A nice near term drinker. Not enough fruit to back the oak and acidity. If the oak subsides, this could be really nice though.

2006 vintage

Solid claret with a modern kiss of oak. Nothing extraordinary but in balance and enjoyable. Not enough fruit to battle the acid and oak over the long haul.

2006 vintage

RUSSK Might buy one or two more.

2006 vintage

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Chateau Les Grands Chenes, Medoc

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