First time posting tasting notes so go easy on me please (apologies on the blurred photo, waiter was moving a little).
On the Nose: not quite what I was expecting, the Merlot felt a higher blend than it was (15%) very fruit forward, with lots of dark but not stoned fruits, blackcurrant, a little cherry and some floral notes.
First Taste: A different story, a fair bit of acidity straight off, with some strong tannins which seemed to disappear at the back and on the exhale. Definitely creamy with a clean finish which was enjoyable although a lot of the fruit and floral notes on the nose seemed light on taste. No tertiary notes at all (not completely unexpected).
Overall, what you’d expect from a fifth growth (correct me if I’m wrong) but Grand Cru bottle. Somewhere between high 80’s to 90 points for me. This was a restaurant open and pour though, and felt it could have benefitted from a bit more exposure and could definitely go another 5-10 years in the bottle.
by FinanaceFUD
2 Comments
Hey, thanks for sharing. Lions de Batailley is the 2nd wine from Chateau Batailley which is a 5th growth chateau in Pauillac. The second wines are usually more fruit forward and can often have a higher percentage of Merlot.
Sadly 2017 was quite a tricky vintage across Bordeaux, so this is never going to be a keeper, but you still get a reasonably priced inslight into the style of the appellation.
Cheers!
PS: love chateau Batailley 🙂
A “growth” is “cru” called by the englishmen. In Médoc, as in the 1855-terms, the classified growths are commonly referred to as the “grand crus of bordeaux”.
In any case of a classified chateau’s second wine, as the labels do too – lose the “grand cru”.
In the 1855 classification, the chateaus were classified based on their market values.
At that times they only produced a single wine, later this was referred for marketing reasons as ‘Grand Vin’s.
Then many of them started producing second wines and even third wines – but the labeling law does not allow to call those GCs.
That is why you never see ‘Grand Cru Classé’ or similar on them.