Jamming with Stu (with a few first growths)

JAMMING WITH STU - Dune, Fort Lauderdale (2/15/2020)

Stu and Kathy organized a dinner at Dune in Fort Lauderdale for a dozen veteran Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts. This was a fantastic event to kick off the group’s 20th Anniversary, to be followed by a gathering in DC next month and a trip to Bordeaux a few weeks later.

We were all grateful for Stu’s legendary generosity, as he kept pulling bottles of 1982 first growths from under the table.

It was wonderful to reconnect with the gang, who flew in from all over the country and Canada.

Notes are from memory, composed the next day. No guarantee of perfect recollection but the wines were memorable.


Champagne

• 2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut - France, Champagne
  This literally filled the room with its aroma on opening - you hear that now and then but rarely experience it. Peach, lemon, zesty acidity, very intense and fun to drink. Will likely improve with age but hard to resist now. My favorite of the Champagnes this evening, with the 1996 Krug nipping at its heels.
• 2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne - France, Champagne
  This needed to warm to a little below room temp after coming out of its ice bath before it started to show well. Citrus, spice, floral notes, not as much yeast/brioche as the last bottle, good depth and power, excellent balance. This Dom had a little more going on than the 2008 Cristal but most of it was under wraps. Could it be shutting down? The Cristal was more exciting and fun to drink now, and the 1996 Krug was more in the drink now zone. Like most Doms, this needs time to really show its stuff. A decade or two.
• 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut - France, Champagne
  From magnum. Light gold. Fresh yeasty bready bakery aromas with a touch of nutty notes and some fresh earth. Nicely intense and complex nose. Medium to full body, excellent balance, flavors follow the nose, remains complex and intense through to a long finish. This has matured nicely since my last try 3-4 years ago. Drink now and over the next decade. This was a step behind the 2008 Cristal this evening and not quite at the level of the best Krug (88 anyone?) but still outstanding.

Mystery Wine

• 2017 Norman Hardie Chardonnay Prince Edward County - Canada, Ontario, Prince Edward County VQA
  Served blind between the Champagnes and the red Bordeaux, I thought this was a fairly ripe and intense new world Chardonnay with good balance and minimal if any oak influence. Though I’m not seeing the comparisons in notes on other vintages to white Burgundy, this is very good.

Red Bordeaux

• 2000 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
  Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Pop and pour, drunk over 4.5 hours. Dark red to rim. Nose is super after about 90 minutes, red berries, gravel, warm earth, spice, nice beginning complexity that just keeps improving with time. Medium body. Superb balance, great depth, palate follows the nose, long finish with persistent waves of flavor. Outstanding. One of the top wines of the evening, up there close to the 82 Mouton and Lafite and the 96 Lafite, needing only more time to become more complex.
• 2000 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
  Cellared since release, perfect cork and fill. Pop and pour, drunk over 4.5 hours. Dark red to rim. A bit muted compared to the 2000 Haut Brion for the first few hours, but going back to it at the end of the evening it had opened beautifully. Red fruits, smoky gravel, warm earth. Medium-full body, a bit more powerful and youthful but less complex than the 2000 Haut Brion. Excellent balance and depth, long finish. Excellent to outstanding, a half step behind the 2000 Haut Brion and a step behind the best 82 first growths. Give it another 5-10 years and I think it will move up another level.
• 1982 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
  Great smoky, gravelly, red fruit nose. Seems at peak while the 82 Mouton, Lafite, and Latour were still on the upswing. This was a bit more complex but not as vibrant or powerful as the 82 Mouton or Latour.
• 1998 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
  There was no overt flaw here but this was muted compared to other bottles. The two TCA-hounds at the table found no telltale sign of contamination. The wine did improve over time, unlike wines affected with TCA, but it never blossomed as expected. Still very good to excellent but far behind the 1982 and 2000 Haut Brion and the 2000 La Mission Haut Brion. Not a representative bottle.
• 1982 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  This was not quite as enchanting as the other 1982 first growths. It was powerful and more Pauillac-like, without the intensity of “Margaux-berries” most of these have. An excellent bottle, only overshadowed by the other killer bottles on the table. I’ve had better examples but no signs of any flaw here.
• 2000 Château du Tertre - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  This was lost among the other bottles tonight. A solid enough wine, good fruit, balance, medium finish but not distinctive, perhaps an unfair comparison with so many first growths. On its own likely worthy of a very good or excellent rating. One of the disadvantages of opening so many superstars at one event.
• 1982 Château La Lagune - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
  A peasant among nobility in tonight’s lineup, this punched WAY above its weight. Nice complex smoky nose, fully mature complexity, nice body, balance, and finish, this plated in the same league with a few of the first growths even if it wasn’t quite up to their level. Excellent. Apparently there is significant bottle variation with this wine. Those with experience said this was one of the great ones.
• 1982 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Great showing with black and red fruits and exotic spices on the nose, excellent balance, palate coating, and complex finish. Outstanding. Ahead of the other 82 first growths, until the 82 Latour made an appearance and left them all behind.
• 2004 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Red fruits, a bit of leafy green and hints of tobacco and cedar, this shows classic Lafite elegance but is too young to show mature complexity of the 82, and lacks the power of the 96. Still excellent now and should become better with maturity.
• 1999 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Great fun to drink this with the 2004, 1986, and 1982 Lafite. Elegant, red fruits, leafy green and cedar, red fruited and riper than the other Lafites, we’ll balanced, excellent.
• 1996 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Easily the best of the Lafites tonight, the others being the 1999 and 2004, until Stu pulls out the 82. This doesn’t have the maturity of the 82, but it has more depth and power yet maintains the essence of Lafite elegance. Cherries, cassis, and dark fruits, forest floor, ripe tannins, great depth and concentration, long finish. Drinking great now but just imagine the heights it will hit with more aged complexity. Outstanding.
• 1982 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Dark fruits, hints of cedar, flowers on the nose, excellent depth and balance, clearly more elegant than the other 82 firsts, but not quite as exciting/enticing as the Mouton or Latour. I preferred the smoky complexity of the 82 Haut Brion as well. Outstanding but for my palate not quite in the top tier of the 82 firsts tonight. Others felt differently.
• 1982 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Wow, what great depth, intensity, and complexity, both on the nose and the palate. Dark ripe fruits, cassis, and cherry with some smoky cedary notes. Fascinatingly complex nose. Full bodied, rich ripe layered fruit and complex undernotes of leather, earth, and hints of tar. Long finish with lingering complexity. One of those rare wines where a day later I can close my eyes and experience it all over again. My WOTN, many others at the table felt similarly.

To rank the 82 firsts on this night, I’d say
Latour
Mouton
Haut Brion
Lafite
Margaux
With all but the Margaux killer wines.

Dessert

• 1988 Château Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  Golden color, great forward nose of peach and sweet flowers, medium-full body, moderately sweet, nice balancing acidity, long finish. Took home the remains and they are as good or better sipping on it the next day as I write my notes from the evening. Drinking very well now. Excellent.
• 1951 Kopke Porto Colheita - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  A half-bottle. I don’t know precisely when this was bottled, but recall the person who brought it said it had spent 60 years in wood. Dark amber color, raisins, nuts, some sherry notes, I have preferred Colheitas bottled after 30-40 years with a bit more sweetness and less oxidation, but I’m not a Sherry fan either.
• 1945 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  A terrific bottle of Port and a great way to end the evening. Very inviting nose, sweet cherry, vanilla. Full-bodied, lush layers of fruit, great balance, resolved tannins and no alcoholic heat of youth. Nice complexity but remarkably fresh. Looong finish. This will drink well for decades and become even more complex over time. Outstanding.

So on to DC the first weekend in March. No way we’ll be able to match this lineup, but we should have no problem matching the fun.

Excellent.

The 08 Cristal is real a deal.

20th Anniversary! Congratulations! Plenty of good folks over there.

Thanks for the great notes on a spectacular assortment of wines. 1982 La Lagune has a special place in my heart, as it was one of my contributions at the first super high end tasting I was ever invited to and its outstanding performance in the company of many more prestigious wines allowed me to receive future invitations.

I’ve always found that whether I prefer 1982 Latour or Mouton depends almost entirely on the expressiveness of the particular bottle of Mouton on offer. It is aging at a glacial pace but expressive bottles are the wines of the vintage in both 1982 and 1986. 1982 Latour has been consistently exceptional. I’ve never found 1982 Haut Brion to be the wine of the night at a tasting of the best 1982s, but it also seems like it is always among my three favorite wines and I think it (and the 1990) tends to be underrated. The 1982 Margaux can be very good, but I’ve always thought that the better practice for a 1982 first growth tasting would be to bring a 1983 Margaux instead, which will more consistently give the very best 1982s a run for their money.

I appreciate the update on the 1996 Lafite. I’ve had it more than any other single wine, having had it 25 to 30 times in the 18 months after release, but I haven’t had one in more than 15 years so it is nice to hear that it is starting to fulfill the promise it showed in its youth. The retailer who hosted my weekly tasting group found the 1996 Lafite to be one of the greatest young Bordeaux he’d ever had during the en primeur tastings and thus bought a huge amount for his store. We fell in love with it as well, so it became almost routine at the end of a tasting for someone to suggest that we each throw in $10 to $15 and drink another 1996 Lafite. They were consistently magnificent.

YOWZA!

Excessibe Balla alert!

Great write up. What a tasting.

Nice story about the 1982 La Lagune. I haven’t had more than a few bottles/vintages of it. This was the first 1982 I’ve had, and it was shockingly good.

I agree about 1983 vs. 1982 Margaux.

I had the 1996 Lafite when young, ITNOS, when it was still all about the potential. Sold mine when the Chinese craze hit. I now wish I’d held on to a couple of bottles.

Nice!

Wow that would be an awesome dinner to be at!