Revisiting 1990 Bordeaux

Revisiting 1990 Bordeaux
Bobby Van’s Steakhouse, NYC
1/28/2020

It’s a milestone year for the vintage, and that is good enough excuse to gather, eat steaks and drink some 30 year old Bordeaux. 7 of us regulars showed up, and with large portions of red meats and a post cappuccino for some, we drank a few cool wines that showcased and, for me, help establish what a great vintage in Bordeaux can generate.

2010 Laharte-Freres Les Vignes d’Autrefois Extra Brut
Racy, ripe citrus with good acidic backbone. Savory and mineral notes. Happy zone. B+

1990 Ch. Angelus, St. Emilion
Expressive bouquet with fresh sweet confection. Tannic, high acidity, big and plenty of fresh ripe fruit. Added complexity with air time in the decanter. Good length. A definite vin-de-garde keeper. B+

1990 Ch. Figeac, St. Emilion
Ferrous, mineral notes, red fruit acidity, smooth medium-bodied palate. Classic leaning and complexities. Contemplative wine. B+

1990 Ch. Clinet, Pomerol
Pomerol, yes! Very, very Pomerol. Distinguishes itself especially after the two good St. Ems. Ceaseless appealing smell mixing fruit, earth. wet leaves and graphite. Layers of ripe dark fruit in bursts and waves. Terrific balance and power. Excellent length. A-/A

1990 Ch. Leoville Poyferre, St. Julien
Tobacco, leather all added to the appealingly-complex bouquet. A big-bodied example of a classic cabernet-based claret that appears to be taking its sweet time disposing of the baby fat. Air time kept adding to the excellence of this wine, showcasing well rounded components. Expect a long delicious life. A-

1990 Ch. Cos D’Estournel, St. Estephe
Leather, tobacco, ferrous notes on the classic bouquet. Youthfulness still evident, but liked how the sweet big fruit married well with the herb and mineral component. This bottle further confirmed my preference for the 1990 over the 1989 version. Looking for a bit more upside with further cellaring. B+

1990 Ch. Pichon Baron, Pauillac
Some harshness on the palate. Plenty of tannin and this showed the most youthful tonight. Red fruit. A little controversial and quite dichotomous as this was rated among the top wines by some attendees, and near the bottom ranking by others. This is good, but I don’t know what it is as I’ve had more heightened experience with previous examples. B

1990 Ch. Pichon Lalande, Pauillac
Talk about the Lalande elegance! Silky-smooth on all fronts. More red-fruit, with great level of complimentary acidity. Long, deliciously-slurpy finish. Call it what you want … elegance, feminine, soft …. it was friggin’ good this evening! A-/B+

edited to add photo:

Thanks for the notes. I reckon 25 years ago the odds of someone preferring the Lalande to the Baron round about now didn’t look great - just goes to show the magic of bottle age.

I believe they are on far different aging curves, as PB has so much more tannin and fruit than PLL, same with 89. I’d bet on PB long term over PLL, but we’ll see in 2030.

I was on pro-Baron side, and I think I was lone participant to not have Clinet in top 3

Last night our Bdx group gathered at Bobby Van’s for a 1990 horizontal. I had wedge salad, a tomahawk, fries, spinach. Nice group
2010 Laherte Freres Les Vignes d’Autrefois Extra Brut Champagne
Good acids, apple and a bit of yeast, full-bodied. This is awful sweet for an extra brut. B

1990 Ch. Angelus
Opened at restaurant Ripe but balanced, blackplum and mocha, noticable tannins, quite good. B+

1990 Ch. Figeac
Double-decanted in afternoon (first bottle corked!) Black cherry, tobacco leaf, leather and barnyard. This is a walk beside a pasture, not stepping in a patty. Nice balance and length. I liked more than group. A-/B+

1990 Ch. Clinet
Double-decanted. Very rich, full, long. Group fave. But just a bit OTT with the ripeness for me. Chris says “it’s like milk chocolate:” but that’s the problem. I really do like, but wish it was toned down just a notch. B+/A-
1990 Ch. Leoville Poyferre
Double-decanted hour before dinner.Another fine bottle of this. Cassis, cigarbox, a little iron shavings. Beautiful structure and length. Drinking great, yet with a future. A-
1990 Ch. Pichon Lalande
Double-decanted . Nice svelte wine, black fruit, spice, tobacco. B+/A-

1990 Ch. Pichon Baron
Double-decanted in afternoon. Rich black currant, smoke, mocha. Good length, balance, finish.
A-/B+
1990 Ch. Cos d’Estournel
Opened at restaurant. All the wines showed tannin, but this was only one I’d describe at tannic. Pretty hard, though good wine. .
B/B+

Group voting
Clinet 14 pts
Poyferre 10 pts
Baron 8 pts
Lalande 5 pts
Angelus 4
Figeac 1 pt
Fun night

Grade disclaimer: I’m a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn’t drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Loved it the previous times and, I don’t know, it could’ve been bad pairing with my ordered steak cut. But some in our group swear by this, others … not so much. Looking forward to hearing others who were there.

edited: just saw Dale, who’s wine buys I’d no-hesitant buy blindly, cross-posted with me above. There’s your good counter impression.

Great night, guys. Jealous.

I had a bottle of the 90 Figeac recently, and that bottle was for me a truly thrilling wine, an A rating. Seemed like it had upside too.

I wish I would have saved mine. 15 years ago PLL wasn’t so great.

I drank a few bottles with friends earlier in the week and the ones we had were all drinking great. Clinet, Angelus, Leo P, Pichon Baron, Cos, Figeac were all outstanding. Even a Pichon Lalande which I’ve had plenty of bad bottles in the past was showing pretty well.

This was the third bottle of '90 Leo Poyferre I’ve had in the last few months. Every bottle was outstanding and rivals the '82. I would also love to find more bottles of the Clinet as that was my last one but not an easy find.

I don’t have a ton of '90s left but I definitely should start opening them more frequently.

I have Leoville Poyferre and Angelus. Landmark birthday is in June. Which one is providing the most joy now?

Curious that the PL did so well, most bottles so far rather disapointing (for the vintage). Maybe different bottlings …

Gerhard, agree. Most bottles I’ve had are great on opening and then die off quickly.

I think you can’t go wrong with either, as long as you provide air time.

Based on our results, I’ll say Leoville Poyferre (note that ours was double decanted an hour prior to dinner).

Hi Paul,

I’ve had the same experience with the Poyferre & Clinet. Both ready and great. I was especially impressed with the Clinet.
I have yet to open a 1989 Clinet but it’s hard to believe it’s better than the 1990.

Pat

Were you and Paul at the same tasting. If so, should the threads be combined?

Let me know if that’s the case - use the ‘report’ function as that’s most likely to get the mods’ attention!

They should. I didn’t realize Ramon was going to post notes.

+1.

I should have added, interesting tasting and great notes.

Amazing lineup.

Merging threads