Listed in descending order of preference.
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1982 Château Magdelaine - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
If you try this wine and you don’t like it, you don’t actually like Bordeaux. This is as archetypical as it comes. This bottle was even better than the bottle I had last year with Salil – it’s just everything that a Bordeaux ought to be. The texture is silk, but at the same time the flavours are slightly backwards and mildly rustic – that kind of controlled feral quality that I find in Verset. The fruit is plentiful and still elegant, there are the customary hints of leather and tobacco, and just no funk at all. So well delineated and transparent. An absolutely stunning effort and easily one of the best bottles of Bordeaux I’ve had in a while. (93 pts.) -
2006 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
I opened this about 12 hours before dinner; it was a little prickly and high-toned at first, but slow oxing it over the half day seemed to draw out the more volatile elements. When we first poured this with dinner, it was an absolutely stunner. Ethereal and bright, raspberries and other tart red fruit with just a light hint of spice. This didn’t have the black fruit that I associate with the vintage, though it certainly had that tannic density (or maybe that’s just Roberto). The pouring obviously introduced quite a bit of air into the bottle, and an hour or two afterwards, this just clamped down really hard, almost as if this was a drive-by hello. We decided to leave the balance of the bottle unfinished, and I’ll report back in the next day or two. (93 pts.) -
1970 Château Latour à Pomerol - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Served blind, 1982 or 1989 would have been a good guess given how young this showed. The nose is an explosive mix of spice and plums, with a slight bit of a Christmas cake thing going on. And then the palate just crescendos on top of that – there’s supernatural freshness and life in this bottle. The scale here is immense, and the way it handles the age is magnificent. There’s a very mild leafy element that supplements and adds even more complexity to a stunning bottle. The way you get some leathery notes to supplement the fruit is so exciting: it’s like you get some secondary and primary together. (93 pts.) -
1981 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
An incredible showing of this wine – when LdH is on, man, is it on. The nose is amazingly elegant with just the right amount of funk; some dusty dried floral elements, and a lovely dried fruit component as well. The palate is racy and fresh, and while it’s funky, it’s not overly so. There’s so much life and brightness in this bottle, layered with leathery and earthy secondary tones. (93 pts.) -
2015 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
This is much more burly than the 2015 JL Jamet Terrasses I opened last week. The initial expression here is one of generous fruit, as so many of the 2015s have. It’s got a massive pile of the solar fruit but underneath it, you can see the huge structure. Framed with tons of tannin and raw extract, as well as a surprising amount of acidity for the ripeness, this is a wine that demands a lot more time in the cellar. I will admit that this wasn’t the most open and expressive wine; this did seem to clamp down as the night went on. I’m immensely glad I went very long on this wine – it will be a stunner when if matures. (93 pts.) -
1982 Château Certan de May - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
This was a lovely bottle; a very mild hint of brett that got more intense as the wine got more air. But at the beginning, that mild brett certainly added more than it took away. There’s a peppery leafiness at first, but it supplements a lovely array of matured stone fruit. On the palate, you can still pick up some of the brett, but also a good amount of brown spice and some of the plummy sweetness. Not a bottle I would kick away anytime, and while others didn’t think the gap as large as I did, I far preferred the 1982 Magdelaine. (93 pts.) -
1982 Château Canon - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Something is funny with this bottle – it tastes at least a decade younger than it ought to be. This is probably the freshest bottle of 1982 I’ve ever had, to the point it’s frustratingly not ready. There’s a very slight hint of brett here, but it’s well balanced by the black fruit. The ripeness here is dialed back; instead there’s plenty of acidity to provide structure and freshness. There are but nascent secondary elements; in fact, this is sort of in that phase between primary and secondary where the wine just feels kind of shut down. The last bottle of 1982 Canon I had was fully mature; this one has just started its journey to maturity. (93 pts.) -
2015 Vietti Barolo Rocche di Castiglione - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Granted it’s probably not the best time to be opening this, but at least one other person at dinner was very curious about the newer Vietti wines, and decided to grab one of these. I, too, was really excited to try this because it’s been a while since I last tasted a Vietti. The nose here shows the ripeness of 2015 and the fruit profile shares a commonality with many others that I’ve tasted. But at the same time, this tends to go on the red side as opposed to black. There’s also a touch of brown baking spice on the nose – is that the oak? The palate doesn’t live up to the nose though; it’s a little muted and dumb right now, though certainly I’m willing to chalk that up to this being an awkward time. Good material here overall, but the finish does come off a hint medicinal and bitter too. I’m not thoroughly convinced here, but would be more than willing to revisit this in 15-20 years. (93 pts.) -
1986 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Served blind as to vintage. Sadly there was a slight bit of TCA that got worse in a hurry. But in the five minutes I was able to evaluate this, I found plenty of the magical Palmer perfume; the palate though was quite thin and structural. Given the higher tannin content, I guessed 1975; I’m pretty happy with that. (93- pts.)
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