09/11/2026
Last Saturday I was at Decanter’s annual Fine Wine Encounter. It was packed as could be. There were even food stalls this year. I sensed FWE would only get bigger next year.
This time, my strategy was to taste as many reds as possible first and let my palate take a long break before continuing with the whites.
As long as the break is long enough, it doesn’t matter if you taste bubblies, whites or reds first. We are talking about a 6-hour tasting, not a 1-hour dinner.
Old World
I started with Bordeaux reds and I wanted to focus on older vintages.
Every so often I find tasting a young Bordeaux a waste of time. Educational though: next time don’t do that!
19 years has indeed smoothened and harmonised this double magnum Château Lascombes 2007. The blackcurrant flavour was both fresh, juicy yet air-dried and concentrated, with a hint of pine forest and cigarbox. Delicious. Most importantly, the notorious hollow mid-palate and the nervy acidity felt at the left and the right tips of the tongue at tasting a young Bordeaux didn’t happen here. This wine was a velvety snug fit!
I asked the rep how 2007 had been like.
“Bad, rainy, but we’re anyway experienced at picking the best berries.”
Hence this exceptional wine.
Interestingly enough, Château Léoville Poyferre 2008 was still very closed.
On the Right Bank in St. Emilion, Château Capet-Guiller 2015, 7 years younger than the Léoville Poyferre 2008, was well-balanced and not hollow. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. I guessed the lack of the challenging Cabernet Sauvignong was key. The wine displayed also a mesmerising perfumed nose.
Château Mazeyres 2020 (71% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot) from Pomerol was also very smooth, not hollow, with a long, delightful finish of a concoction of blackberry and dark chocolate.
“This is arguably the best Pomerol I’ve ever tasted.” So I said to the rep. I can’t describe to you how lovely her smile back at me was.
Château Fonroque 2020 and 2022 sported quite a vinous palate. Slightly out of balance.
Thanks to Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux is unapproachable at youth. That’s why we have the Right Bank to serve the impatient. But if you give it time, the Left Bank will deliver and impress you in a way the Right Bank never will. And this is also thanks to Cabernet Sauvignon.
New World
Chile is also where Cabernet Sauvignon is widely planted and vinified.
Errazuriz’s Don Max 2022 (63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Malbec, 11% Petit Verdot, 9% Carménère) was young yet no hollowness as in a Bordeaux Left Bank at the same age. I believed Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carménère did their part to help.
Peter Lehmann’s Mentor Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 from Barossa Valley, Australia, was a varietal, without any other moderating varieties. Yet it landed fully on my palate. Tannic but not astringent. With a touch of eucalyptus and mint. This is a style of Cabernet Sauvignon farthest away from that of Bordeaux Left Bank.
In South Africa, Babylonstoren’s Simonsberg Mountain 2024 was full and smooth like Peter Lehmann’s. However, its Nebukadnesar 2023 (46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot) was hollow on mid-palate, acidic at left and right tongue tips and tart just like a young Bordeaux Left Bank. This wine would take time to be ready.
Thelema’s Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 was rather tannic. Its body was fuller than a Bordeaux Left Bank. The Mint Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 was packed with eucalyptus. This is because the vineyard is located adjacent to a eucalyptus forest, whose aroma components are spread to the vineyard.
This time I missed Robert Mondavi’s Cabernet Sauvignon. But the examples above should be sufficient to provide a glimpse of the differences between the old world and the new world Cabernet Sauvignons.
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