Birthday TNs- 2008 Pol Roger, 2014 La Conseillante, 2015 Mouton-Rothschild, 1990 Leoville Barton

Gathered tonight with 3 friends for the traditional birthday dinner- mostly non-wine geek friends and focusing on younger vintages as is custom. We dined at Urbano Café and found it as wonderful and reliably excellent as ever.

2008 Pol Roger Champagne Vintage Brut

good rich champagne color, generous and rich nose dominated by roasted walnuts, rich and broad on the palate with sizeable acids well covered by the fruit, fine long finish, quite good and the first higher end 2008 champagne I have had that did not shut down, it certainly will age and improve- and I suspect it may sacrifice a bit of nuance in exchange for its unusually generous size- but it is drinking quite well right now.

()+, now to 2040.

2014 Chateau La Conseillante

It has been a while since I had La Conseillante at or near release, and after my recent experience with the colossal 2016 I wanted to try the 2014 and see if the 2016 was a creature purely of vintage or also of recent changes at the Chateau. The answer to that question would appear to be both- but for the good.

good deep red-purple color, generous nose of cherries, blackberries, blueberries and cassis with a notable- but not excessive- dose of spicy oak, forward and joyous as was the 2001 at this stage- but with greater heft to it overall, on the palate open but showing serious depth like the other great successes of that vintage, silky tannins well covered, chocolate tones, ripe- but not overly so, stones and white chalk on the finish well covered by dripping notes of plum and dark fruits, cinnamon notes with time, spicy plums, quite good and with a bit more muscle than usual for a mid-weight vintage of La Conseillante, still I see nothing about that affecting the core of what makes this a great wine. It retains its classy, velvety and almost effortless delivery.

(**)+, 2025++, I suspect this may not shut down but it certainly has a few positive decades of life ahead.

2015 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild

very dark red-purple color- almost to the degree of the 1982, magnificent nose laden with alluring baking spices, fruitcake, cassis, sweet black cherries, exotic oak that is already well integrated and a perfect suitor to the dramatic and opulent fruit, on the palate sexy and downright electric, fine full depth, lusty oak, decadent yet classy, the full array of cassis and fruitcake notes with a noticeable streak of wild blueberries, where many 2015s are charmingly ripe but a bit subdued on the mid-palate- Mouton has a serious depth to it, substantial yet silky tannins wrapped in cloves and dark spices, throughout a lovely earthen base peeks out here and there, plummy and even a bit punchy with time, superb length, almost too good to be true, Mouton at its finest and while there is much greatness yet to come- if you have several bottles on hand, this is a rare vintage where I would strongly advise enjoying one in these early days.

(*****), 2030++

1990 Chateau Leoville-Barton

The very first Bordeaux I ever purchased on my own. Back in 1995 when Dad opened a bottle of 1976 Lafite to share with me, that same evening we popped over to the local wine store while letting the Lafite breathe. For Houston friends- that local wine store happened to be the old Richard’s on Gessner that Jackson Hicks used to run before Charlie and Tony took over- and one of their two best locations for Bordeaux back then. That night, with my recently acquired 3rd Edition of Parker’s Bordeaux book in hand to guide me, I picked up a few bottles of 1990 Leoville-Barton on sale for $29.25 each. The stash has been augmented since more than once and at long last this beauty is fully mature.

maturing red color with a bit of bricking at the rim, lovely aged cassis nose, cherries, some pepper notes, sweet aged oak tones, calm and serene, slightly sweet, 2 hours after double decanting enjoyed an additional 2 hours with dinner; smooth cassis notes and rounded cherry tones, roasted plum notes, fine depth of ripe and mature fruit with some game nuances, remains of oak well integrated and contributing to the light pepper and spice notes, brilliantly balanced, good fine finish with ripe cherry notes on the tail end, very much a 1990 with its slightly roasted fruit notes- attractive and exciting and just within the bounds that allow the wine to remain stately and worthy of a fine rich cut of beef, in a beautiful place and fully mature with time in hand but somehow instinctively I am inclined to finish off my remaining bottles over the next decade, it should hold beyond that- but I do think this is at its full peak now.

****+, now to 2030.

Happy birthday, what an excellent celebration!

Thanks for the notes. We had a 1990 Léoville Barton last month. Agree with your notes and enjoyed the reminiscence. Reminded me of one of my early quantity Bordeaux purchases: 3 cases of 1983 Prieuré-Lichine that my father and I picked up together on a visit to Zachy’s. That wine, while no 1990 Léoville Barton, has an added dimension.

Killer lineup!!! And happy birthday!