TN: 1985 Claret at Uncle Jack's in midtown

Thursday our longtime group gathered at Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse in midtown for a look at 1985 Bordeaux at 30. Nice table in a nook upstairs, gave us a nice view of our friends arriving (and people we thought our friends arriving). As we waited, a couple of starters

2007 Remelluri Rioja Blanco- I approached this with a little trepidation, not having loved some Remelluri reds before. But this I liked- full, tropical, exotic with citrus and mineral. Big wine but balanced. B+/A-

2002 Paul Bara Comtesse Marie de France Champagne- very good, in a bigger/heavier style. Citrus, toast, and apple with faint oxidative notes. I liked, but those who lean more towards Krug might like even more. B+/B


I started with a crab cake (with a “shrimp sauce” that clashed even more than the crab with the reds, but I just couldn’t order bacon or meatballs as starter for a steak) and then had the “Fred Flinstone” (rib chop with extended bone).

Right Bank Flight
1985 Ch. Magdelaine- when I double-decanted this at home it seemed thin and angry, but no sign of TCA. A bit more generous at table, it filled out and gave some fruit along with leather, ended up quite decent, but having had several of these I thought atypical. B

1985 Ch. Canon- Darker fruit, leather, cigarbox, good structure, especially acids, bright. A-/B+

Second Flight
1985 Ch. Sociando-Mallet- good fruit, lots of Sociando green/herbal notes, fresh. B+

1985 Ch. Talbot- ripe, friendly, some funk. good length. A-/B+

Third Flight
1985 Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou- full, plump, earthy, I liked a lot. B+

1985 Ch. Leoville Las Cases - I thought this seemed a bit flat next to Ducru, but others disagreed.B-

Fourth Flight
1985 Ch. Lynch Bages - loaded with lead pencil and cedar, brawny cassis fruit, full and long. A-

1985 Ch. Pichon Lalande- elegant, perfumed, fragrant. B+/A-

1985 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste.- not a bad wine at all, just outclassed to me. No hurry though. B

Fifth Flight
1985 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion = complete and complex, my WOTN A-/A

1985 Ch. Latour - tight, wound up, lots of potential just not very giving at moment (owner didn’t have chance to decant earlier).

1985 Ch. Cos d’Estournel- good showing, held it’s own versus the big boys, brawny but balanced. B+

We did our usual 3/2/1 voting, Lynch edged LMHB for first, and Pichon Lalande edged Talbot for 3rd. I think everything except Magdelaine, Sociando, and Ducru got at least one top 3 vote. Good showing from wines, good company, good steak, good times.


Grade disclaimer: I’m a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn’t drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Nice write up. I organized a dinner in that same upstairs nook a few years ago for Voodoo when he came here for his 60th Birthday. Nice spot and good food , but recently when I have called them they were very strict about corkage rules for a large group. What did they charge?

I’m really surprised at the poor showing of the 1985 Leoville Las Cases, which should have been a real treat. It’s a great wine, and quite possibly the (or one of the) longest-lived 1985 bordeaux. Your description of “flat” might indicate a problem bottle or the lack of decanter time which can help it.

Thanks, Dale, for the write-up on a very nice and most fun dinner. I enjoyed and was most impressed with the very positive experience on the breadth of wines that we had and am enamored by the 1985’s which I used to find, in general, hits-and-misses with prior experiences.

I also want to weigh in with my thoughts on some of the wines that have been asked about here. I am in complete agreement with Dale’s notes, but have different thoughts on the 1985 Las Cases and the 1985 Ducru Beaucaillou.

I was not as impressed with the 1985 Ducru Beaucaillou as my iPhone notes says “Thin. A qualified nice drinker, but low on complexity. Rated: B-”.

With regards to the 1985 Leoville Las Cases, I noted “High acidity throughout. Lively bursts of red and dark fresh berries. Complete. Rated: A-”. This would have been my 2nd place WOTN, behind the '85 LMHB.

A most enjoyable dinner with fun company and an impressive showing by the wines.

Ramon

Too bad there won’t be any more Magdelaine!

Tragic really. It was the only post-2001 Bordeaux that I was buying.

I wouldn’t want to speak for Dale , but for some reason, I think he’s the mother load of Magdelaine wines.

Great notes Dale and agree with most of your comments.

It was a great night indeed and one of the few dinners where there wasn’t a dog in the bunch. I was surprised how well the Talbot was showing and holding its own against some heavy weights.

I was a little disappointed with the Ducru and LLC - again still good wines but just expected more - same for the Latour but do think it would have benefited from a little aeration.

I found it a difficult to chose a WOTN as I really enjoyed almost all of them.