At a tasting of 20 top red bordeaux from the glamorous 2000 vintage in Hong Kong last week, the standout for value was Gruaud Larose, a wine that showed beautifully when tasted blind. I thought it might be Léoville Barton until I tasted Léoville Barton, which is much, much more backward. I tasted all the wines blind (though they were served in flights) which was absolutely fascinating. Eglise-Clinet was stunning – and my enthusiasm for it proves I don't have a bias against obviously 'modern' wines. In the same flight, Pétrus was delicious too, in a much more classical idiom....
1 Oct 2003