Thursday, November 12, 2009

Wine Wednesday: Château Larose-Trintaudon

The other day while at the store I can across a bottle of interest. A bottle of 2004 Château Larose-Trintaudon Haut - Medoc. And it was half off, from $24-- SWEET!!!

Later in the week when preparing dinner for my wife, I opened it and had a glass.

Not so sweet.

In fact, I found little to like about this wine. In theory I like reds from the Bordeaux region. I find their flavors to be more subtle and nuanced than similar wines. However, this 65% Cabernet and 35% Merlot tasted much more like a Malbec than anything else. The flavor was down right earthy -- sorta like what a red wine would taste like if they threw in a few trowels of dirt into the barrel.

It felt flat and flabby against the tongue, with strong mineral after tones. It should have tasted better, and other vintages received high scores, but this 2004 wasn't worth the half-off price. Heck, it wasn't even worth $2.

What started off as a great bargain, was instead a dud. No wonder they cut the price by half!!

Wine Rating

Score: 1/5

Price: $$

Wine Info:
2004 Cabernet / Merlot
Château Larose-Trintaudon
Haut-Medoc Region
Bordeaux, France
Posted by Lake Norman Foodie at 4:33 PM
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3 comments:

  1. Aaagh! Must have been at the same super ma...oops store. Have not had this wine lately but it's one my wife and I drank thru the 70s and 80s when bordeaux was affordable and this one was still a better value. My father in law swore by it in off years and we enjoyed it in both good and bad years (matter of fact he gave us a case of the '78, hope I was as good a son in law as he was a father in law!). Here's hoping you were wrong...
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  2. When you drink it, let me know how it was! Also, if you get a chance, gimme the year. I could find ratings for almost every year but 2004 -- so I'm thinking that may be an off year.
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  3. Enjoyed the wine very much with a wood-charcoal grilled swordfish steak. I opened the bottle two and a half hours before dinner. No smell...totally closed. This was extreme so I poured two glasses immediately helping both the poured and bottled wine breathe. For the first thirty minutes the smell came really close to matching your description, especially the mineral part. Three hours later it was drinking great. Ideally you would lay this wine down for a few years. i.e. We are currently drinking bordeaux from the 80s and all of them require at least 30 minutes to breathe.

    The first "off" year I have a record of drinking was 1977. Good, not great, but then again the non sale price at the time was $4.19.
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