Chateau Les Grands Marechaux, Blaye

Needs to open up. Beautiful color, great body, and little

2016 vintage

Purchased upon release and cellared carefully until now, I disagree with the drink by date at 2014 it is still drinking well. It has is a huge rich amount of fruit, tannin and tartness. Popped it, put into decanter and sipping it from the decanter, drinking without much for decanting, but I suspect will deepen with a bit more air. Great evidence what a well controlled cellar will do to deepen and extend the life of your bottles.

2005 vintage

1 hour decant, served in the low 60s F. Ruby colored, just a bit lighter than I expected. Dried tobacco smoke, black fruits on the nose, slight hint of anise. Blackberry fruit, leather and oak notes on a light-bodied palate, well-integrated alcohol and acidity, silky tannins. Short finish. A very pleasant and food-friendly, if simple wine. High QPR. Drink now.

2016 vintage

started out bad, after breathing got better, but not fabulous

2016 vintage

Another very good bottle.

2015 vintage

I was very pleasantly surprised by this wine. Good concentration and tannins, an interesting nose of charcoal smoke, dark cherries, plums and some earth. The nose reminded me a bit of the 2016 Grand puy-Lacoste. Where it falls a bit short is on the palate. Medium-bodied, good acidity, but falls off quickly and could use more midpalate "oomph" to get into the "90s" score-wise. But with some more age, this could edge up into that range. Excellent QPR. Rating: 89+

2016 vintage

Surprisingly very good.

2015 vintage

Great intensity for a Blaye. Enjoyable now with plenty of air, but definitely needs time to smooth out and integrate fully.

2016 vintage

Good balance, decanted 1.5 hours could have used more. Medium finish with quite pleasant aftertaste

2003 vintage

Opened to cook with, having zero expectation. It was quite tasty, not over the hill. An entry level Bordeaux with some age that has hung in there quite nicely. Not going to save them but plenty good to cook with and drink while cooking

2005 vintage

Great wine and still holding strong. Perfect drinking now. Dk cherry fruit, silky tannins, med acid. Highly recommend

2003 vintage

Smooth, but a bit meh... Nothing exciting.

2016 vintage

Quite a lovely lightish Bordeaux, dark fruits, plums, bitter chocolate with a bit of acidity and some lovely powdery tannins. Very drinkable

2016 vintage

Great bordeaux!!

2015 vintage

Consistently one of the top Bordeaux value wines, this fully developed medium-bodied, fruity, cherry and licorice dominated, soft, round wine is great for an easy-going, uncomplicated quaffer.

2015 vintage

Great value Bordeaux! Maybe lacks a bit fruit but makes up for it with the mouth puckering tannins and decent finish!

2016 vintage

Disappointing. The attack (or front end) was lackluster, the middle was oaky - OK but not great - and the finish was bland. 2015 was a very good year for Bordeaux wines so for this wine to be so below average is remarkable for the mediocrity of the "assemblage". My opinion, I realize others disagree. I'm French and this is a case where "not all wines from France are good". That being said I have a French friend who did …

2015 vintage

Winebar [4 Whites, 8 Reds, & 6 *shared* bottles] from 01/03/19 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA) : Danny, THANK you for sharing this surprisingly LOVELY wine! :) Decanted; I'm guessing this had ≈2-1/2 hrs in a small tasting glass before I got to it. Planted to 84% Merlot, 9% C.F., & 7% C.S. in soils of clay, limestone, & sand; N: VANILLA slightly atop RIPE berries with HINTS of leather? [A very experienced taster noticed oxygenation when 1st decanted, …

2003 vintage

In my opinion this wine is still far too green to be enjoyable: very thin, muted flavors. I think there is depth there but have not come out yet (even after hours of decanting). Wait until 2022 and beyond!

2015 vintage

Opened a bottle to cook with, tried a couple sips - this wine has evolved and is actually quite nice for a scorching hot year and a cheapo. Actually feel like it will improve with a few more years in cellar. Fuller bodied but not over the top.

2003 vintage

Medium bodied, soft, forward and easy to drink, the wine is fresh, fruity, soft textured and filled with easy to like, sweet red berries with a hint of licorice. Drink this great value priced wine early.

2016 vintage

Good $10 wine. Lighter style, but balanced. Flavors of black cherry and charcoal. Firm tannins on the medium finish.

2015 vintage

Blackberry, slightly creamed vegetation, gentle wood. Typical balance of rustic Bordeaux - good acid, some gritty, grippy tannins, decent flow. Many would dismiss as nothing special, lacking complexity... it's good though... then with steak and roast fennel, really delicious. Classically food-matching Bordeaux (despite being somewhat ripe). Absolutely elevated with this food, seriously delicious, would go again - but only with the food!

2015 vintage

An excellent wine! It is deep purple with long legs. On the nose, it is buttery with notes of blackberry and just a hint of red fruit. It tastes of black fruit, primarily plum, with some pepper and just a whisper of tobacco. It is smooth, round, dry, and fairly full-bodied. This is a very interesting wine with several layers on the palate. The finish is long and somewhat oaky. This is an excellent French wine for the value!

2016 vintage

Slightly acidic and sour, seems like any fruit is muted, almost entirely olive/green pepper. Maybe just past it's time...did not enjoy it.

2005 vintage

Consumed over 2 days (vacuvined), note from day 2. Nose: Medium-plus expressiveness, plum, black berry, green olive, and tobacco. Palate: Medium bodied, spice, red and black fruit attack, fruit and spice persist through the back-end providing good length through a 30 - 45 second finish. An entry level Bordeaux from an exceptional vintage which is drinking extremely well at the moment.

2005 vintage

Great value here with loads of soft textured, sweet, ripe, red fruits, lift and an open plummy character with a shot of licorice. The will drink well on release.

2016 vintage

Very delicious right now

2005 vintage

Good food wine. Had with lamb leg for Don's birthday.

2005 vintage

Dense and almost woody..... strong cherry overtones. Decent. Almost too old however..... Maybe waited too long.

2005 vintage

Decent Bordeaux from left bank. Readily quaffable not overly superb. Drank horizontal.....

2005 vintage

I don't know much about French wines, but my guess is a cab/merlot blend. Very smooth and elegant, medium finish and a pleasure to drink, but lacking overall testicles. Not sure it will improve, drink now

2005 vintage

Strange wine. Smells of herbs and flowers. It's both sweet and fleshly, with almost overripe notes, yet it's inscrutable and hard. There's dark chocolate and cherry, and something almost spritzy about the texture. Lots of gritty tannins on the finish. This either needs more time (there's enough fruit and hints of promise), or it will never be worth drinking. Followed for 2 days.

2003 vintage

Quality juice, silly QPR at $14. Floral nose with a little cherry, bright acids, medicinal notes, with big leafy and fleshy tannins. Seems to have enough depth for future days, but a little austere right now, and it even shuts down some with air. Hard to believe but this needs more time. I'm waiting another 4-5 years for my next one.

2005 vintage

Good value. Gotten better over time with at least 3-5 years left. Black fruit with good structure and soft tannins.

2005 vintage

this worked out well, leather bouquet, classic tannins just biting enough and that wonderful after taste that did not linger too long, sure there were hints of tobacco but the flavor was light and tasty

2005 vintage

Nice bordeaux, a little past its prime as the fruit is not as sweet as bottles drunk previously but still very pleasant, full bouquet, clean on the palate, aftertaste just lingers a bit then pleasantly finishes. Finished the bottle the next day and still had the same effect.

2005 vintage

Camphor and strawberry on the nose; on the palate, blackberry, savory herbs, and a bit of cocoa, with light to moderate tannins on a medium finish. This is a lightweight wine, but well balanced and reasonably priced.

2005 vintage

it initially smelled of alcohol but went quite well with the braised short ribs. Interesting that it show no color of age - still dark purple and opaque. A fruit bomb of blackberry with a touch of pencil lead. Not much tannin or acidity to speak of. Drink now!

2003 vintage

Popped and poured, consumed over 4 hours. Nose: Medium expressiveness, chocolate malt, black berry, anise, and a floral component - violets. Palate: Medium bodied, dark chocolate, black berry, green olive, with nice acid keeping things lively thru the mid-palate to back-end - not a lot of fruit here, which I usually prefer, but this works very well. Finish: Medium length, sense of green olives, dark fruit, and unsweetened dark chocolate.

2005 vintage

Medium-bodied with wild strawberries and a light, earthy, red berry finish, this is best drunk in its youth. 84-86 Pts

2012 vintage

The tannins lead me to believe this wine has several more years ahead of it. Nice fruit as the tannins fade.

2003 vintage

Meh. Drank over two nights mainly because I was too bored with it to pour a second glass.

2005 vintage

Finished by last two bottles with Christmas Eve dinner. For 13 bucks, this was a thoroughly enjoyable, great QPR, bordeaux. Sorry my case is gone.

2005 vintage

Fine simple qpr bdx for < $20. Nice black fruit with a little earth.

2005 vintage

Going a little flat unfortunately

2005 vintage

Opened 5 hours before drinking. Fruit forward and spicy short finish. Good but I think this will never be my favorite.

2005 vintage

Very good value for $16. A bit of black fruits on the nose with smokey brambles. Dark fruit on the palate but very refined with some earth elements.

2005 vintage

fantastic

2005 vintage

This turned out well. My last bottle is in the exact right place right now. Silky smooth tannins. Rich warm flavors. It does have some perceptible heat.

2005 vintage

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Chateau Les Grands Marechaux, Blaye

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