2000 Magdelaine

2000 Magdelaine
I didn’t discover this Rightie until fairly late (thanks Ramon, Dale and Jay), buying my first bottles only ~7 years ago. But along with Chateau Canon discovered around the same time, it’s been a torrid romance ever since and these two estates have come to epitomize for me the heights that great, old school, terroir-driven, merlot-based Bordeaux can attain. It’s that much more special given how rare such things have become.

Trusting the vintage, I loaded up on the 2000 Magdelaine a few years ago at a good price. I just tried my first bottle from that haul.

Man, what a beguiling, almost unique expression of wine. This is in early maturity, offering lots of enjoyment already. There’s a signature earthy, loamy, minerally, freshly-tilled Mollisol profile that is truly special. Some experienced winos really dislike this essence of “dirt” that Magdelaine and Canon can show, but I can’t get enough. There’s plenty of black cherry to go along with this terroir expression and a minty topnote, but they play an (important) second fiddle. Terrific brightness and excellent concentration and sweetness for this Château (which can be overly lean in weak years). Long finish.

To be fair, this wine could easily be overlooked at a big tasting. I had the whole bottle to follow over two evenings and its quiet spell only grew the longer I spent with the bottle. Other than Canon, the wines that this most remind me of this are a flight of 90, 91 and 92 DRCs I was recently treated to in London. Those DRCs were superior wines overall to be sure, but this Magdelaine evoked those wines for me which is some extraordinarily high praise.

Oh wow what a beautiful note. I wish I had more of this classic wine. I popped a gorgeous 66 with MarcF recently, and that earth profile was so unique. Thanks for sharing.

1966 and 1967 were among the first two I tried, thanks to the close friend who put me onto Magdelaine about 16 years ago. Both gorgeous wines.

Just what I thought might happen, Patrick. You pushed robal to action. He couldn’t resist the temptation. I could practically hear the: “I must have this wine! Brahahahahaha.” I won’t say more…

Ha. Patrick has golden palate!

You know, I waited until I won a few more at WineBid on Sunday before posting this note.

Robal, you’ll love this but no rush here, I bet it is even better in 5-10.

Believe it or not, I’ve never had one. Think the ship has pretty much sailed now. Thanks for the lovely note

Same here, I just can’t get enough. I wish there were more.

Thanks for the very nice note on a vintage that I have not tasted, but have bottles that I bought blindly and stored away.

Btw, I drank a 2007 version last month, and even that was truly Magdelaine in profile and taste. But not sure (am never sure, anyway) if they’ll make old bones.

edited to add: DRCs in London … awesome! Looks looks like Ian and team took very good care of you with your visit.

Yeah, Ramon, that London stop over was incredible. 82 Bordeaux the first night, 90-92 DRC and 90 Leroy the second night. Some of the very best wines I’ve ever had, the 90 DRC Richebourg in particular was close to perfection.

Really great to see Ian again for several days. We had a cleansing ale both nights and made some half-hearted attempts to party with a hip crowd half our age.

I expected no less than you guys in London re-experiencing all our NYC post wine-dinners of local pub-crawls for pints of cleansing ales, and with the added kicks of getting to know the pretty bar patrons. Good old days!

Glad to know that you got together in London, and with awesome beverages, too! Last visited Ian and Maureen in 2016, but it was a hurried 2-day trip for me and yet he still harnessed local wine-geeks and got together for some good old 2nd Growths at a local restaurant. But no pub and cleansing ales after, as I had a very early next-day flight out.

Oh, and by the way, because of this post, I winesearched and ended up buying a couple of 1982s.

I grabbed a few 2000s and 2002s based on this note by Pat. I have some other vintages as well across the spectrum. So I finally got around to trying this 2000. I am not sure I have the vocabulary to equal Pat’s wonderful note, but I confirm, he is spot on. I love the rich, dank, wet soil profile on this wine. I have no clue what the earth here looks like, but my visual is something dark, moist, infused with coarse rocks and minerals. The soil note is almost gamey. Has that minty profile that Magdelaine always seems to showcase, most notably in leaner vintages like 2002 and 2011, followed by a deep range of red and black fruits. The nose, beguiling. This is not a wine for modernists, and probably not even for all lovers of classic Bordeaux. It is an archetype of nothing but itself. Such a distinct wine.

This wine is into the drinking window, but still young in that regard. Can easily go for a very long haul. Having had a 1966 this past year, and read notes from others on this forum, this is certainly a winery that can withstand the test of time.

(94 pts.)

Good nite; thanks, and Merry Christmas!

Just opened the first bottle of a case of 1998! Smells amazing. On aromas alone it’s getting the best of a 1995 Figeac for the moment, but let’s see.

Ch.Magdelaine was always a very fine drink, quite traditionally made and aging beautifully. Never really spectacular, but always really good.
We had a huge Magdelaine fan in our monthly tasting group, so I got to taste a lot of it over the years.

Unfortunately since 2012 it has been merge with Ch.Belair into Belair-Monange and is made in a quite modern style …
so the old days are gone [cry.gif]

Merry Christmas to all … flirtysmile

I think Sir William owes us a note…

Don’t be a tease!

For me, writing tasting notes is about as far from Christmas recreation as it gets, but since it’s a working Christmas in any case, I’ll post one when I get to the Bordeaux part of the day. champagne.gif

If I hadn’t pulled a wine for tonight’s dinner (1990 Dominus), I would now be digging around the cellar for one of my 2000 Magdelaine. I had one about 5 years ago and decided to let the rest slumber.

Great note, Robert! Nice to read on Christmas Day too. Glad you liked it as much as I did.

Depending on the mood, I sometimes don’t score wines, but if I had, 93-94 points would be right about where I’d put the 2000 Magdelaine as well. It should give us wonderful drinking for another 20+ years*, I’d wager.

For my palate, I would say Magdelaine is quite capable of spectacular, but I didn’t always feel that way. I think this wine and it’s style takes a little while to get used to (maybe like an old school Cornas?), but once it charms you, it doesn’t let go.

*my favorite vintage of Magdelaine is the 1970, which is still in fine fiddle, followed closely by the sexy 1982. I would put both of these in the spectacular category. But so many vintages are really good (66, 85, 89, 90, 98).

The 1998 is still a bit too young, and at this stage the bouquet is dominated by dark berry and currant fruit, with nuances of menthol, cigar smoke and rich soil in the background. The framing of new oak is quite prominent but integrates with extended aeration (I double-decanted at noon to drink with dinner). On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, velvety and precise, with supple but not yet melted tannins, ripe but lively acids and sneaky structural tension that belies its suave, elegant profile. The finish is long, and at this stage still slightly oak-inflected. I would say four or five years more patience will see it hit its stride, at least from this case.

Nicely done, William! See, that wasn’t work, just simple pleasure!