Offline TN: 85 Magdelaine, 89/90/06 VCC, 70 Pape Clement, 98 Beaucastel, 01 Texier CR/CdP, etc

Thanks Yao for putting together a wonderful evening for a few 'zerkers and their +1s last night.

BERSERKER OFFLINE - Mathilde Bistro - SF (7/23/2021)

A lovely Beserker Offline with a broad “French wines you love” theme, organized by Yao. Great people and an embarrassment of riches when it came to the reds. None of the reds showed poorly, but the less said about the whites the better.
A Champers, and 2 whites

• 2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne
  Lovely on the nose – yeast, crushed rock, and honey-lemon tea. Fruit on the palate is more citrus forward at first, but veering towards yellow orchard fruit after an hour. Crushed Oyster shell minerality, tons of freshness, but perhaps a bit angular at this point. Beautiful texture, tons of dry extract and leesy umami notes, yet remains lean and racy. (93 pts.)
• 1996 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
  A bit corked, which became more obvious with time. Nice texture/frame and not oxidized though! NR (flawed)
• 1996 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
  Over the hill. Butter baked apples on the nose. A bit fresher on the palate, with good acid and weight. Still drinkable, but not much more to recommend it. 84

Bdx: mostly right bank, mostly at peak

• 1985 Château Magdelaine - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  A delightful treat, textbook perfectly aged right bank. Nose is full of red berry, cigar ash and a swipe of leafy tomacco. Palate is so refined, sappy, more red berry fruit, a hint of berry compote, tobacco, petrichor, and is impeccably balanced. Tannins are fully integrated, leaving a velvet texture and stunning purity on the finish. On the youthful side of its peak, one would imagine. WOTN for me. (95 pts.)
• 1989 Vieux Château Certan - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Had more in common with the 85 Magdelaine than the 90 VCC tonight. Stunning nose of cured tobacco, leather sofa, and macerated strawberries. More savory and complex (developed?) than the 90 VCC on the palate – garrigue, old library books, and more tobacco. Elegant and warm red cherry, plum and a bit of redcurrant acidity. Lacks just a bit of the vibrancy and purity of fruit on the Magdelaine, but we’re splitting hairs here. At peak and really lovely. 94-95 (94 pts.)
• 1990 Vieux Château Certan - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  A bit more reserved, natty, and dark fruited than the 89 VCC tonight. A prickle of VA on the nose, along with cherry and black plum. Palate has more weight and intensity, but comes across as a bit more rustic and top-heavy than the 89. Black/purple fruit, cocoa powder, earth and a bit of Christmas spice. Still some unresolved tannins - perhaps still some upside here? (92 pts.)
• 2006 Vieux Château Certan - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
  Started out a bit muted, but opened up significantly over the course of the evening. Medium weight, with gorgeous red strawberry/redcurrant fruit that shades into black around the edges, wildflowers, and a bit of dried woody herbs – definitely a cabernet franc forward year. Really showcases VCC’s elegance and satiny texture. Needs time to develop more secondary complexity, but should age very well. 93+ (93 pts.)
• 1970 Château Pape Clément - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
  Really pure and fresh, way younger than a 51 year old wine should be, especially compared to the 70 Mouton last month, which was “acting it’s age”. Crystalline red fruit, stony Graves soil, and tobacco. While not as complex as the other well aged bdx of the night (89/90 VCC, 85 Magdelaine), it carries an effortless purity that is enrapturing – if a red wine could be a limpid mountain spring, this would be it. I find myself repeatedly going back to the glass to experience it. (93 pts.)

A trio of Rhones

• 1998 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Excellent! Funky Mourvedre dark-fruit on the nose, no real brett. Medium bodied but saturated with lovely purple/blue fruit, black pepper, garrigue, and a bit of ferric mineral. Very young profile, showing more vibrancy than the 01 I had last year. Savory and super well balanced. Long finish. Perhaps the best match to the excellent duck confit at Mathilde. (94 pts.)
• 2001 Eric Texier Côte-Rôtie Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
  Super gnarly brett upon first opening – was afraid this was going to be undrinkable by the time we got to dinner. Everyone seemed to think it was fine, and when I finally got around to it at the end of the night, the brett had magically subsided. Lovely texture, classic feral gamey notes, vibrant red cherry fruit with undertones of black plum. Excellent balance. (93 pts.)
• 2001 Eric Texier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Nose has tons to offer, with warm black fruit, dried flowers, and a bit of funk. Clean, no brett. Good acid and plum/cherry fruit in the mouth, some savory herbs / ammonia salt bitterness, medium weight and not at all overwrought, but just a bit foursquare and outclassed tonight. 92 for the nose, 90 on the palate. (91 pts.)

Two stickies to end the night

• 1988 Château Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  Wonderful concentration and cut, and on the drier side for Rieussec (or the sugar has “melted away”). Lightly evolved and complex nose – toffee almond, peach, Seville orange marmalade, and a bit of burnt caramel. Palate is fairly rich, layered with tropical fruit, almond-marzipan, ripe apricots and medium botrytis, but offset by bracing acid and cocktail bitters. (94 pts.)
• 1996 Château Tirecul La Gravière Monbazillac Cuvée Madame - France, Southwest France, Dordogne, Monbazillac
  Not as complex as the 88 Rieussec next to it, but a bit more jazzy and playful. Spiced stone fruit compote, good acid, toasted hazelnut and ginger-honey botrytis. A fun wine. (92 pts.)

WOTN for me was the '85 Magdelaine, followed by the '89 VCC and the '98 Beaucastel. Each of them had at least one vote for WOTN, as did the Texier Cote Rotie and the Rieussec. A lovely time had by all!
Posted from CellarTracker

Wow, killer night. Definitely my kind of wines.

Thanks for sharing in such detail, Vince.

I had the 85 Magdelaine two years ago in a similar line-up of ringers, and it stole the show. My note from then:

Popped and poured. Stunning. Like drop-dead stunning. And shockingly youthful. I would have guess 1998 or 2000. No way a 1985. Didn’t even have any bricking on the meniscus. Classic red fruit nose of slightly under-ripe merlot and ripe Cab Franc. Hint of menthol. Forest floor, dry earth, porcini mushrooms. And with a sweet, ripe, intensely red-fruited palate. Blood orange citrus. So bright and fresh. A truly outstanding Saint Emilion, and of a type that I doubt we will see again. (95 pts.).

I have one bottle left.

That is some heavy duty wine geek lineup there. Great to see a Monbazilliac show up!

Up-and-down with the 1985 Magdelaine in my experiences. My last was in November 2020, at an early NY re-opening geeky meet-up at Dales with all Covid safety protocols adhered to. That bottle was as good as the TN posted here.

I’ve always experienced 1990 VCC > 1989 VCC, but that’s me being a little biased with the 1990 VCC as one of my Bordeaux breakthrough experiences.

Fun bottles that the group assembled there!

That was a fun night, thanks for sharing your notes, Vince!

All reds were showing really well, my favorite was the 2001 Texier Cote Rotie, followed closely by 1985 Magdelaine and 1989 VCC. The rest wasn’t too far behind, either…

Not my finest photo skills, but I had had a bit to drink by this point

Texier threads make me miss DavidZ

Thank you Vince and Andy and everyone else for coming out

Agree; in the end I gave the edge to the 1989 VCC, but they were all so good it seems more about individual preference than anything else

Texier threads remind me that I need to buy more Texier.

This, of course, is at odds with being a member of the Inventory Reduction Club.