With Saturday stay@home dinner of medium rare reverse-seared NY shell steak, it was back to basics with a reliable Bordeaux.
Stood upright for a week and double splash decanted just before the meal, dumping out a spoonful of sediment.
Ruby-red fresh in color. Bouquet of old-school claret, add some nice green veggie notes and dry herbs.
Medium-bodied, gentle texture. High level of cherry and blackberry acidity. Firm and plump fruit, not overripe. Hints of green bell pepper. Nicely herbaceous. Everything’s so Old World about this that’s so like-able to me. Proudly, yet understatedly, carries that labeled 12.5 Abv. Lengthy. A-
Excellent note Ramon and spot on with my experiences with this 96. I love the style of this wine as well, and S/M punches way above its weight class in 96, and in 00.
I love this wine. The herbal aspects did not overwhelm the fruit, and it gives a great deal more than it costs. Even at this age, it has not faded a bit. Lovely.
OK, maybe just a tad bit (when compared to very young Bordeaux), but for a 24 yo wine, the freshness is still very much there. Even with re-corked, fridged half on day 2.
86 is, well, 86. Yes, the 96 had drunk better at this point. I’ve had a couple and Sociando 86s had not stepped up to the plate just as the other good 86s had at this point, imho.
Here’s some comparative views on the wines when we did a recent local Sociandothon:
