Cycling Trip with the Boys and 1970 Magdelaine, 1986 Latour, 1996 Ducru, et al

Down in Vero Beach for another cycling weekend with my buddies, all of whom are in my wine group as well. Makes for great trips, like this one here with perfectly warm, sunny conditions, so ideal for cycling. The ocean this weekend could not be prettier.

MarcF and I arrived early so did a beach cruiser loop on the old gravel Jungle Trail that is behind my place, paralleling the inter-coastal. By the time we got back, our other two buddies arrived, so we hit the beach for some champagne, white burgundy and charcuterie and cheese. Hard to script a finer end to a work week.

Walked back to the beach place, fired up the charcoal grill for some monster ribeyes, and let the wine flow. The started with 2000 Chateau Rauzan-Gassies, Margaux, a Second Growth that I have had only once before. Must say, was very impressed with wine, though debatable whether it is appropriately classified. Fairly classic old school Bordeaux, with an elegant earthy perfume, dark fruits and florals, leather and tobacco. Medium weight on the palate.

The 1970 Chateau Magdelaine, Saint-Emilion, had been decanting for about 30 minutes, but admittedly I started the decant at too cold of a temperature. It was like a pop and pour at that point, but not matter, the wine was beautiful from the start, as I followed it for about three hours. A pure red-fruit beauty, revealing some darker notes with lots of air. Earth, sous bois, leather, cigar leaf, umami, sweet iodine, green tea leaf. Just crazy what this wine shows. MarcF and I shared a 1966 together last year. I think the ‘66 had more depth and complexity, and oddly showed more youthfully, but I digress. This 1970 is excellent.

The 1986 Chateau Latour Grand Vin, Pauilliac, was a powerful beauty. Classic Pauilliac nose of lead pencil, dark cassis and tilled soil. Really in a zone, perfect drinking window. Large mouth presence but not heavy, if that makes sense. Really deep layers of dark fruits, dry earth, tobacco, and a hint of sweaty saddle leather, all melded together so seamlessly. Long caressing finish, fully resolved tannins. A fantastic wine. I was flipping back and forth between the Latour and the Magdelaine while enjoying my seared ribeye, loving every minute of it, but also thinking how different the two wines really were.

I’ll let MarcF comment on the 1999 Chateau Montrose, St. Estephe. It did not move me.

We ended the night - because six bottles for four men was just not enough - with a 1996 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou, St. Julien. Flat out gorgeous wine. I need to buy this wine. And yes, it’s still youthful. I see this developing along the lines of that 1986 Latour, but this could be better. It’s ten years out from full maturity. Not yet into tertiary, but the depth and power of dark fruits and other earthy hints that it shows struck me in a big way. This is even better than the 1996 Leoville Barton that I had on Wednesday in a line-up of fine wines, and declared it my WOTN. I’m not ready to say that about this Ducru given the line-up, but were I a betting man, I’d bet that with mature, it will surpass the Latour and the Magdelaine. The Latour was my WOTN.

I gotta admit, we all woke up feeling like total sh*t, not good for the first day of cycling. Some strong French Roast, and out the door we were. Rode 50 miles in some windy conditions, MarcF broke a spoke - he’s gotten a big chunky recently - so only snuck in 25. We suspect he purposefully broke it, poor boy was suffering like a whipped mule in that wind and with our long pulls.

I wrote this while the boys napped. That nap was priceless. We are headed to a beach bar now.

Will the number of bottles consumed this weekend exceed the collective elevation gain?

I would much prefer waking up in your Foyer feeling a little sweaty after this line-up than the Pagan Ritual at Ruth & Chris Drinking the Innocents…

Maybe you need one of these for the next ride with Marx:

Ha, for your amusement, from our first loop…

I hope you destroy your adversaries with the mortar and pestle that are your thighs.

Looks like a bottle every 10 feet, more or less.

E-bikes Day 2?

FWIW, badass Ex-Pro/Olympians pull chariots.

RT

I have a very hard time wrapping g my head around how that is even possible. My house is about 0.15 miles from the bottom of my street (on a hill). The elevation gain in that 0.15 miles is higher than 60 ft.

Anyhow, crush the wines and the pedals. Sounds like a fun weekend with great wines.

Wow, lucky you - great weather, great wines, great fun! In the current situation here it’s like a story from a parallel universe!

Sounds like a great day. I have had both the Ducru and of course the Magdelaine. Both lovely wines and as per your notes. I used the word “surprising” for the Rauzan en primeur, and gave it. 91-93. Glad to hear the Latour is coming round; hard as nails ten years ago.

Scott,

I keep telling Alfert how cute his Strava posts are. You should see how proud he is of his 50 milers with a -5ft gain! I keep inviting him to come ride in my little county just outside of NYC where an “easy” ride yields about 70-80ft/mi of elevation gain.

Alas, he has yet to accept the invitation. Sigh.

And the most tannic wine of the night award goes to…
The '99 Montrose!!! I mean not super surprised by that reveal. Robert was not as keen on it as the rest of us… Though, I truly enjoyed it…it had a nice sweaty mineral nose with herbal tea, hints of coffee, earth and mint notes on the palate. Not as charming as some of the others nor as complex, but still a solid Montrose. Big drying Tannins come popping in at the end w/ that voice of Dave Chappelle hollering …
-GOTCHA BITCH!!!-

As for my cycling prowess…when someone (Robert) see’s u in a pair of white jeans with the top button popped open and declares “you look just like Randy from the show Trailer Park Boys” …well don’t expect that person to break and records in the saddle…ughhh

Yep…They carried my decomposing carcass up and down A1A yesterday. The broken spoke saved me from complete and utter humiliation…Not to mention after I squeezed into that tight biking lycra, it looked like I had swallowed a small island. Ooomph, I’ve got to make some better lifestyle choices!!

I saw the pictures on Strava. I don’t think that sweaty nose was the wine. Just sayin’.

Sometimes a pairing is just too exact, you know? Hahaha

Thanks for the notes. Good to see data on the 1996 Ducru B.

The 1970 Magdelaine can certainly carry itself well in any wine-geek gathering.

It’s Randy. Randy from Trailer Park Boys. Please don’t ever ever wear those tight white jeans again, especially when you pull up in a van. The neighbors get squeamish.

That’s 10x too much vertical. You need to bait him with the promise of flatlands.

RT

I’m pretty sure Sun Tzu said picking the battlefield is the key to victory. I know my terrain.

I’m definitely not getting any younger. Me and my boys used to do 4-5 day trips and averaged 4 or more hours per day in the mountains. Craig G joined us once. Now we are all cracking after two days, granted it was quite warm and windy.

I was hurting yesterday after that hangover ride. Hitting the beach bar for some 24 ounce Bloody’s was a bad bad idea. Hair of the dog no bueno. I was buzzed, whacked and all that tomato stuff spiked the acids in my stomach. [I’ll admit to napping for 10 minutes before dinner]. Did not make for a great night of wine for me, it burned. My choice of restaurants didn’t help much either , rich Southern cuisine. LOL, I ordered the braised short rib pot roast with cheese grits and collared greens marinated in vinegar.

Started with some Old Fashioneds, then migrated to the old Ravenwood Zins that I brought. The 1990 Ravenswood Old Hill Ranch was totally shot. Like apple cider vinegar, VA. The 1991 Ravenswood Zinfandel Draper was flat out beautiful. Like someone wrapped wild raspberry puree in mature tobacco leaves and served it burrito-style. Really delicious, total soil-to-glass transfer. And shockingly, listed an ABV of 16.2%. None of us could believe it. The alcohol was really in the background. I had two other Ravenwoods, a 1993 and a 1997, but MarcF got eager to crack a 2012 Gilles Cornas. Great stuff, just needs time. This is a pretty classic Northern Rhone, love the iron and meat notes. Sadly, I could not handle any more wine, stomach on fire, so went back to the Old Fashioneds.

Later we sat out on the beach with some really lovely champagne - wish I recalled the grower, hope MarcF chimes in. Weather was flawless, cool and breezy, and the full moon just stunning. Went back to the house for some desserts and single malts. Then called it a night.

Today we rode another 45 miles. But for the brutal wind, the day was gorgeous. We are some lucky fools for sure.