I’ve got a couple of those Flannery Rudd steaks from Berserker Day to throw on the grill later, so I thought I would open up a couple of older Bordeaux to pair up with them. The Calon Segur is really nice today, right in my wheelhouse in terms of balance. The Angelus is a little more “high octane”, but should make for an interesting contrast in styles.
1982 Château Calon-Ségur- France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (5/24/2020)
Sweet/ripe blackberry fruit on a medium-bodied chassis. A little funk on the nose, but more a background note than anything pronounced. Balanced and interesting; lively, but fully mature. I have no doubts that this will continue to persist in a slow decline over the next 10-20 years, but for me, this is a “drink now” wine.
1995 Château Angélus- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (5/24/2020)
This is a bigger wine than the '82 Calon, but less elegant. The wine is more fruit forward on the nose.
Likable enough, but for me, less of what I am looking for in a Bordeaux than the Calon Segur. That said, I’ve got some Flannery steaks to throw on the grill later today, and this should stand up fine in that context.
Both bought long ago, Tomas - the '95 Angelus would have been bought as a future, so I’m guessing I didn’t take delivery until '98 or so. The Calon was not a futures purchase - bought at retail somewhere around '87.
As I suspected! My favorite wines have always been aged, but I’m too young to have cellared wines myself for a long time. I’ll have to start doing that today. Although it’s tempting, I feel it might be unwise to buy aged Bordeaux like that given the cost per bottle AND variability between bottles (everything from less than ideal storage to being corked).
The Flannerys are on the grill, and the nose on this Calon has really opened up - getting that cedar/sandalwood/cigar box note that I associate with this wine - really nice.
Oooh, my father and I shared an '82 Calon Segur just last weekend! (I’m an '82 kiddo, so he bought lots).
We thought it in a wonderful place, too. We’ve drank through 10 of the case, I think. 2 hr decant, and letting it warm up in the glass really spoke… some of the '82 Calon and Leoville Barton we’ve shared have had trouble waking up the fruit, but certainly this most recent bottle sung. Totally agree that for those who bought on release or decades ago, the Calon is drinking beautifully just now. Getting the luscious front notes really makes those back-end stone, tobacco tannins really shine in “Proper Bordeaux.”
Impressive. I seem to remember an '82 dinner 10+ years ago at a downtown Philly Steakhouse. Were you there? A number of usual suspects. The Calon Segur was shockingly not ready. Leave some of your good stuff for Talula’s!
Am not surprised that the '82 Calon Segur is hitting the homeruns. Didn’t see as much love for the '95 Angelus, but wondering how it did with the steaks.
Ramon, it was fine for what it was, but just a bit over the top for me - I actually preferred the Calon with the steaks. For me, and with the added caveat that I really don’t look to buy Bordeaux anymore, Angelus hit their peak with the '89 & '90 vintages - after that, the drive for “Parker points” seemed to take the wine in a direction that I wasn’t enamored with. I still have the '94, '95 & '98 in the cellar, but have to confess that there are not a lot of opportunities for me to open that style of wine. I think someone who likes a Shafer Hillside Select would have thought that the Angelus was the better wine yesterday, but like I said up top, not really a style of wine I’m looking to drink.
Rich, given how much wine we have consumed together over the past 15 or so years, I’m sure we have had the '82 Calon together at one point or another. And don’t fret - I still have a bottle or three in the cellar for the next Talula’s dinner, whenever that ends up being!