Decanting advice: '86 GL and '10 SQN

I have no experience with these wines, especially with older Bordeaux. So, considering these will be brought to a restaurant, what are your recommendations for decanting/serving a 1986 Gruaud Larose and 2010 SQN Five Shooter syrah? Really wondering if I should pop the bottles, double decant and give some air, then bring to the restaurant, or just let the sommelier deal with the bottles. Dinner will probably be ~2-3 hours long, so a bit of time to let the wine breath on a pop and pour.

Looking forward to the advice.

Is this a troll?

Those wines are about as far apart as you can get.

That GL is old-timey funky. The SQN is big huge sweet and modern.

You might decant the GL to get rid of some of the brett, but you may lose more than just that.

OTOH, I don’t know why decanting the SQN would matter. Some people will say that if it’s young and big you need to decant. But I have yet to understand why. It is what it is.

Not a troll. Not every dinner with wines needs to have a theme with similar wines; some may chose to drink the G-L and others the SQN. If I posted one thread asking advice about the G-L and one about the SQN would that have been better?

Having read reviews of the G-L, I don’t recall Brett as an issue. Why would decanting help this, if true?

“It is what it is” isn’t decanting advice for the SQN. Any direct experience?

I have only had one SQN and it was the 2005 Grenache back in 2009/2010. I popped & poured and followed it over the course of about 6-8 hours. I’d suggest that they need little air-time (maybe 30-60 minutes) when young based on that one experience. The G-L I’d decant for sediment and serve. Let it open in the glass. It sounds like you’re hosting a dinner with guests that have a wide range of tastes…what style of food is it?

Most higher end '86 Bordeaux I’ve had recently have benefitted from about an hour decant. I can’t speak directly to the GL but I don’t think you would go wrong with an hour decant there. I have had the '10 SQN Five Shooter Syrah in the last few months and I did a 3 hr decant. I tasted every hour along the way and the extra time really made a difference. It even continued to open up a bit more in the glass as we consumed it over the following 1-2 hrs. I hope this helps and enjoy the wines! Hard to go wrong with either of those!

I may be the only person here who has owned both of those wines. I may be wrong about decant advice, but that’s another story.

First, I recommend that you drink the Gruaud first after a decant of 30 minutes before starting. It may open up a bit more in the glass, but 30 minutes to an hour maximum is about right.

I have not opened any of my Five Shooters, but I did have the 2009 SQN Syrah a few years ago. Here is my note on that, which includes my email exchange with Elaine Krankel about decanting advice, which I think is correct.

  • 2009 Sine Qua Non Syrah This is Not An Exit Eleven Confessions Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (1/9/2014)
    So I got to emailing back and forth with Elaine Krankel about SQN drinking windows. She suggested that the estate wines were drinkable either within one year after release or well thereafter. She suggested that the wines were “generous,” a term I like, and that they needed at least six hours of air. Since my son was returning to law school, I decided to open this and test the “first year after release” hypothesis. Take one for the team and all that. I decanted at 6 am and left it in the cellar. we drank it at 8 pm. Outstanding wine, great balance, red fruit and light smooth white pepper. Sexy smooth without being sweet. No oakiness. There is a tremendous amount here and a few more years in the bottle will generate an exceptional wine, but I do not regret opening it now. (95 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Thanks for sharing that Jay! I will have to try that on my next younger SQN.

Brett is a distinguishing element in the brilliant 1982 to 1990 Cordier portfolio (GL, Talbot, Meyney, Cantemerle), enough so to earn the euphemism “Cordier Funk,” and the 1986 GL and Talbot have consistently been the most marked by brett of the lot in my experience. They are also two of my favorite wines.

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like there is a consensus of 30-60min for the G-L and 5+ hours for the SQN.

Going to Chez Panisse tonight (Alice Water’s Berkeley restaurant). Tomato and mozzarella salad, corn and roasted pepper soup, beef and potatoes, and baked Alaska are on the menu. We will have an Aubert white with us to start.

I need to meet this guy. A kindred spirit. Aubert and SQN. What could be a better pairing. [cheers.gif]