TN: 1995 Chateau Magdelaine, St. Emilion - and some advisory comments for folks with more than half of a brain

Evidently I do not possess that thinking half of the brain. I just see pretty things.

1. Magdelaine needs time. A lot of time. Twenty-five years is still a baby.

2. Magdelaine needs a very long decant, unless you have like a ‘66 in your possession.

3. Do not, unless you are an idiot and it’s your dumb birthday or something like that, pull a Pobega.

Yes, I grabbed one on a whim. Just finished a 14-hour day out of town on business. Came home hungry, wired, thirsty. Uncorked it, poured it, started drinking it. So uncivilized I am.

The 1995 Bordeaux vintage continues to confound me. I pop one wine, it’s spectacular. Pop another, it’s hard as nails. And then pop this one, and it still feel likes an infant. Well, a toddler. A grumpy toddler with some teething pain. With a stinky diaper.

I’ve popped a few 2000s recently, and only 1 of the 3 actually showed well. And it showed spectacularly well. Robert, look at note 1. Read it. Do you understand it? Then stop being an idiot and popping these things. The 1980s for Magdelaine are showing nice right now. You have some. Drink those, you silly boy.

So I’m on glass three of this 1995. Two hours in. It’s finally showing me some love. Red fruit, mint and some wild flowers on the nose. Lean on the palate, dry forest floor, tobacco leaf, dry red berries. Some savory, herbal notes. Dryish clipped finish with a little bitterness. Seeing Salil - a man with a golden palate - post 3 notes on CT with real 93s, not A So 93s - gives me some pause on my assessment, but I corked it up with 1/3 left for tomorrow. Right now I’m 89 points on it. Enjoyable with a fun range of notes but lacking the depth I want in a Bordeaux and having a detracting finish. I’ve not had a 1995 Magdelaine before, so perhaps a different bottle may showing better. I have another.

Russian roulette, with a corkscrew.

Gorgeous color!

Thanks for the note - I just burried my bottle of 2000 and 2008 that I had on the counter to try. Will move onto something else. Cheers

Thanks for the TN. FWIW, after a whole lot of Magdelaine tasting in the past year, I think the 1999 is the youngest vintage that is showing its best- but even so it has many years of life left in it.

I’ve had 2 bottles of the 2000 this year. Both were excellent but still on the upswing with the promise of more complexity over time.

Might have pulled one before and didn’t know it, plus just don’t want to be an idiot in the future, but what is pulling a Pobega?

My current favorite is the sublime 1998 Magdelaine. Without doubt one of the most impressive wines I have drunk in recent years. The 1998 is an extraordinarily elegant, precise and mineral-rich, seamless Saint-Emilion - medium-bodied, perfectly matured, a wine of total subtlety and finesse!

Opened a ‘89 last night, drink young and great.

If you’re popping another one soon, then I’d definitely decant for an hour or more. Did that with all the 3 '95 Magdelaines I recently opened, though I agree with you on both points re. it needing a lot of time and the tannin in the vintage.

There are some '95s I absolutely love, others I want to love and I find the tannin a bit too forbidding. I don’t think Magdelaine’s in the latter category (though I’m not putting it in the former - I think the '95 is a very good but not great wine from that house.) But I’ve found it’s in a good spot for my own palate right now where the fruit’s still quite vibrant, there’s enough richness to match the tannin of the vintage, and a decent amount of development. I have other vintages (and other 95s) that I’ll age for longer, but right now I don’t have issues opening these right now especially with my worries that it might turn into something leaner where the tannin outlasts the fruit in the longer run.

That is disappointing. I have a couple and was planning to open one this winter. I guess I’ll wait.

Ha, where juo bean, mang?

“Pobega” is Berserker lexicon for “pop and pour”?

Mike is the king of that. Now legend.

We need a dictionary of Wine Berserkerdom. I thought “to Pobega” meant to open a newly released wine right off the truck, same day as delivery. Ideally within an hour of delivery. Not just to open a wine prior to maturity or to pop and pour. Have I been wrong all these years?

I´m considering myself owning more than half a brain. I would not - not even after a long working day - pop a wine of this class without proper preparation. Nobody should, except having cases of it in the cellar, so it doesn´t hurt much.
I have a lot of easier wines in the cellar for immediate consumtion. Why not opening a bottle like this in the morning, give it a decant of 15 min. after coming home - and enjoying it much more?

I had the 1992 a few months ago, and the 1985 early this year, both really singing after proper prep.

I’m far more spontaneous than that and cannot change my impulsive DNA. I have a fair bit of Magdelaine across various years, so didn’t worry about it. I generally find it easy to drink into mature wines, allowing them to evolve as I am enjoying them. This wine just did not work in my favor. A couple months ago MarcF and I popped an 86 Magdelaine on a whim, and it was spectacular. Incidentally, the 2011 Magdelaine is one vintage that smokes right out of the bottle. The 2000s that did not show well for me were not spontaneous openings.

David, I think you are right on Pobega. My bad.

Got it. I guess I shouldn’t be doing that with the 2000 Magdelaine that I plan to taste-test soon.

Lol. Great note. I feel your pain. Às I get older my preference shows even more to aged wines. Few er and fewer wines in my cellar are ready. Mistakes are made. Give yourself a break.

Rudy, I just picked one up. Was planning on waiting a long while but you have me thinking

Haha, me too, Neal. Just got two of them. Plus some 1970. I bet those are ready.

And of course my post was in good humor, I really don’t care and sorta laugh it off. For all I know, the remainder is awesome today. Maybe pop it for lunch…