TN: 1995 Ch. Magdelaine (St. Emilion)

1995 Ch. Magdelaine (St. Emilion) – I bought this wine in release and this is the first bottle out of the case that I have opened – I thought it might be time to check it out. Dark colour, a very pleasant cedary red fruit nose, with tobacco and mint hints – quite interesting. On palate I was expecting bracing tannins, but was quite pleasantly surprised when I found it to be quite smooth though with plenty of not too aggressive tannin. Nice lengthy finish. If you want to try one, you should decant it a couple of hours ahead to let it open up – I normally do that, taste a little when it is in the decanter, again in an hour and finally have it with dinner a couple of hours in, so I can monitor its progress. This should have a long and interesting life ahead.

Lol, most of us have been scrambling for these wines more recently, and you sit in untouched cases for 25+ years! I say that with envy, of course!

Nice note. I had one last year, and think these have a very long life ahead of them.

In my market (British Columbia) we have a government monopoly, so if one wants a wine, they are well advised to grab them when they show up as they will very likely never come again. Although I buy very little Bordeaux any more, I used to regularly attend a tasting of barrel samples here in Vancouver (thanks to Bill Blatch) to get an advance idea of what to buy when they showed up.

Under these circumstances my habit has always been to buy early and cellar long. I still have full cases of things like 95 Beaucastel, 95 Chave, 86 Meyney sitting unsullied (well, the Beaucastel is the second case - the first one expired last year)

Thank you for the note. It is an excellent wine, especially as I am not a fan of the 1995 vintage.

I found both the 95 and 96 hard to love early on, but bought on faith and early tastings. Owning quite a bit of 1986 claret had taught me that!

You are much smart than me. 1995 was my first vintage I bought in futures and most of those are gone! I didnt know much back then. That 86 Meyney is so damn good, enjoy!

The 95 Magdelaine was pretty cheap to backfill until 3-4 years ago, when WB’s resident influencer (guess who) starting banging the drums about this chateau!

*the dawning realization that this chateau vanished after the 2011 vintage probably played a role as well.

I recall having this last during a blind ‘95 vs ‘96 about 7 years ago when Patrick was in town.

I recall that the ‘96 was quite unanimously favored then. Looks like the ‘95 Magdelaine is starting to get its act together. This is where having a case is beneficial to check pulse with some frequency.

What about driving down to Washington and self importing whatever the personal allowance might be periodically?

The personal allowance is 2 bottles (750 ml) only if you have been down at least 48 hours. Short of pitching a tent at Liquor Barn, that isn’t a fiscally sensible way to do it. I do bring in some wine once in awhile when I happen to have been down long enough, but as most of my overnight stays are one night only, that isn’t often (and obviously zero since Covid).

In normal times, whenever I might be down long enough for other purposes I certainly wouldn’t miss the chance to bring back some interesting bottles!

Not that it is relevant here, but are there any limits as to what you can bring in from other provinces? If so, do any of them have less stringent rules for what you can and can’t import?

Informal intraprovincial wine movement happens but it is still illegal. Is it the same in the US?

The only states where I’ve heard (anecdotally) of issues around wine transport are Pennsylvania. (I mean in the context of residents crossing borders to purchase and return home with said acquisitions).

Perhaps there are more issues.

It seems very strange to me that on the left coast these problems are getting worse, when generally this part of the continent hasn’t cared so much about this issue.