Mount Mary Quintet 2000, Cos D’Estournel 2000 and Château Baron Pichon Longueville 2001

This tasting saw Mount Mary’s Quintet 2000 from the Yarra Valley, pitched against the Cos d’Estournel 2000 from St Estèphe and the Château Pichon Longueville Baron 2001 from Pauillac.

Mount Mary Quintet 2000
The 2000 Mount Mary Quintet was a medium intensity garnet in colour, with yellowing around the rim.  On the nose, it had a medium intensity expression of blackcurrants, cedar, sour plums, soy, anise, tea leaves, tomato leaf and some sweet cassis, marking it as quite different aromatically to the wines that followed.  On the palate, the tannins were still unresolved, but a bit dried out, with the wine tasting of soy, and being perhaps even a little skeletal.  Overall, there was some complexity with the aromatics, but the tomato leaf characters and dried out palate are to my mind undesirable characters for a wine of this price and esteem.  Rating: Acceptable to Good. Abv: 12.2%. Website: http://www.mountmary.com.au. Tasted: September 2012

Cos d’Estournel St Estèphe 2000
Still bright, the 2000 vintage of Cos d’Estournel had a medium(+) intensity of ruby colour. Its aroma was an alluring combination of blackcurrant, soft cedar, a sprinkle of herbaceousness and some buttery lactic characters. On the palate, blackcurrants and cedar flavours came together to reveal a seamless palate with stunningly long length and depth of flavours.  The 2000 vintage of Cos d’Estournel is an outstanding wine with few peers.  Rating: Outstanding. Website: http://www.estournel.com/en/home/. Tasted: September 2012

Château Pichon Longueville Baron Pauillac 2001
The 2001 vintage in Bordeaux seems to have been rated more highly in France than in the United States, thus giving buying opportunities.  The 2001 Pichon Baron had a medium(+) intensity ruby colour, and opened to aromas of oak, blackcurrant, plums, smoke, black cherries and undergrowth.  The palate was reassuringly all about blackcurrants, cedar, long length and ripe tannins.  A near outstanding wine worthy of your attention. Rating: Very Good to Outstanding. Website: http://www.pichonlongueville.com/#/fr/millesimes/. Tasted: September 2012