Continuing the theme of pairing intolerably hot weather in Beaune with improbably rich red wines, tonight with duck breasts grilled over charcoal we opened a 1995 Bouscassé Vieilles Vignes. Bouscassé was generally a bit more old-school in style than the Montus wines in this era, though the label proudly proclaims “barriques neuves”, and the wine is showing brilliantly, with a remarkably saturated hue, and rich aromas of blackberries, black truffles, spices and vine smoke. Full-bodied, deep and layered, it’s a wine you eat as much as you drink, reminiscent of old school rather extracted but not overripe Bordeaux such as the Latour and Léoville-Barton of yesteryear. That said, I suspect that in a blind tasting alongside the best 1995 Bordeaux, this Madiran would cause a lot of upset, because if it lacks anything in terms of finesse it certainly compensates when it comes to character and intensity of flavor. A terrific bottle in its prime!
Nice to hear. I had a friend who was seriously into Madiran in the 90s and I was at a number of tastings and dinners he organized where we tasted both Bouscassé and Montus and others.
I’m afraid I had too many that were brutish (in the Hobbesian, not Champagne sense) and not terribly interesting. I never laid any away to see what might happen with time. Sounds like it has helped!
Nice update. Maybe these can be had in the secondary market? I would not think there would be many bidders for these.
Patience is a virtue, you reap what you sow, etc. I’m following the same principle with the Cahors from Cosse-Maisonneuve. I’ll let you know how it goes in 15 to 20 years…
John - you’re on the verge of brilliance!
Brutish in the Hobbesian sense!
That needs to be incorporated into the world of wine criticism.
Have a few from '97, '98 & '00 which remain hidden away in the recesses of the cellar. Was told by someone far wiser about wine that I was at the time, that despite the inexpensive price - to buy a few, hide them away for 2+ decades and shock a wino in the future.
So far, holding to advice.
Love when bottles like this turn out.
Once chased a lot of Lagrazette Pigeonnier but stopped after it hit a certain price. To make amends, I threw my hat onto a case of Bandol Longue Garde that was undervalued instead, lol.
Sounds great! What was the ABV? I think this was before things got a bit out of hand. I still have some 00s of both Montus and Bouscassé, which are all 14°, but I was horrified to see that my 03s were a staggering 15.5°! Yuk!
But the older ones are excellent - I’ve always wanted to slip in one blind in a Pessac-Léognan tasting - and as you did, they’re great with a magret!
Hope you weren’t troubled by the storms.
12.5% on the label… looking to source some more!
They do appear occasionally on IDealwine, normally going for all of 30€!
Tomorrow I might open a bottle of the oldest Madiran in my cellar, 1985 Domaine Pichard! Normally very good and a bit less of a beast than Bouscassé.
Now that’s one I’ve never heard of! My little « secret » is the Domaine de Berthoumieu Charles de Batz Cuvée. But again, I stopped buying in 2000.
P.S. I’m always amazed at the lack of any coverage of the South-West, by any publication anywhere, even if this does have its advantages!
I always thought the era of old-school Montus stayed until about 2000/2001. I’ve had 1994 and 1995 Montus that was definitely old-school.
Good Madiran ages very well. I have some 95/96/97 Chapelle Lenclos which have generally proven to be unbelievably youthful. Maybe the Ducournau micro-oxygenation process worked.