2006 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
good round and coating mouthfeel with a floral nose. S ome buttery pear, lychees and honeycomb. This needs time to flesh out and build weight but it doesn’t have the hollowness in the midpalate that I noted when last tasting an 05 Blanc.
1990 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou- France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
opens with pomp, a lot more forward than some of the other wines. Very seductive and lush, with coaxing fruit elements. Lacks the depth and concentration of its 86 compatriot, but you can see the same floral and feminine qualities. On a plateau of maturity (not quite sure how it evolves, but a pleasure to pop now). 91-92 (91 pts.)
1988 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron- France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
classic Pichon in an “off” vintage. Really nice leather, soft fruit, cedar and deep cassis. It lacks the completeness of the 86s but for immediate consumption (next few years) it represents a lovely example of quality aged bdx and symptomatic of the Baron stable. (92 pts.)
1986 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou- France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Slow ox’d for a few hours then decanted for about 1 hr prior to pouring. Wow was this good. Floral, seductive but well knit. Lovely fruit but always light on its feet. It’s a weird mix of classic bordeaux with opulence. Simply a great combo. (94 pts.)
1986 Château Gruaud Larose- France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Double decanted for probably 2-3 hours. Opens a bit hollow, like a sleeping mummy that needs air to resuscitate. Some feared it flawed, but I didn’t quite pick up tca. Instead I sat patiently and watched this wine simply gain steam in glass. It kept picking up depth to its nose, effectively coming to life. Typical 80s Gruaud with a lovely melange of cordier funk, cassis and earth. This wine ended up being the most forward, fruit-packed and deep wine of the night. It showed even better than the last time I drank it (approx 2 years ago). Some were off put by the funk, but to me its a signature of this era of GL. My WOTN (a stylistic choice, as the 86s played in the same qualitative band). (95 pts.)
1986 Château Montrose- France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Double decanted for 3-4 hours. This is another wine that continued to gain depth and complexity with time. The 86s will indeed be long lived, and I for one am not afraid of the fruit dying off before the tannins resolve (few cases where this may be the case…). Great balance, boardering between austere classic Bordeaux and an introductory maturity plateau. Lovely earthiness with deep red cassis/fruit. I kept going back to this wine. Upside. (93 pts.)
1986 Château Lynch-Bages- France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Double decanted for 2.5-3 hrs. Opened with a cork in crumbles, largely soaked. Upon decanting, the wine was reticent and shy, but after 30 minutes it began to open up. Probably the most regal in expression out of the stable of 86s. It has a polished and rounded feel that speaks to hierarchical bordeaux (what one expects to find from the big boys). To me, that is lovely, and it really shows off on the palate that is silky, but it lacked some of the unique/idiosyncratic qualities that I found in the GL, Ducru and Montrose. With more air, lovely toffee/coffee, dark cassis and hints of lead. This wine is continuing to evolve and has not reached climax. (94 pts.)
Don’t remember enough about the desert wines to really comment, but we had 83 Gillette CdT (classic Sauternes with nice botrytis and waxiness), 02 Anjou QdC (very pear driven from what I remember) and 85 Dow’s (I actually enjoyed the nose to this, even though I almost never enjoy Port).
Thanks for posting your notes.
I attended a pretty broad tasting of 86 great growths a year and a half ago. The wines, on the whole, were not as hard, unyielding, and unready as people have often made out, but several did need more time.
Seeing as I have both the 1986 Château Montrose and 1986 Château Lynch-Bages in my cellar (one bottle of each), I may wait 2-3 years before opening them.
By the way, there were 4 first growths at our 86 tasting and Mouton was deemed by many to be tops.
I feel the complete opposite about the 86’s. To me the wines are still hard, tannic and ungiving. Just because they may “live” on a lot longer due to the hard tannins the fruit will never survive. At 25 years if they don’t show some charm I don’t think they ever will.
Our regular Bordeaux group just did 86’s in December. Baron, Gruaud, Brane, L’Eglise Clinet, Sociando, LMHB, Haut Bailly, Silver Oak Alexander…all Blind, guess which was WOTN? We also felt this was our worst dinner ever.
FWIW, I pretty much feel the same about the 75’s (expect Palmer)
Interesting results, Chris. IMHO, '86 Bordeaux is only really special at the top and on the Left Bank of course (so maybe on two dozen great wines or so). From your tasting, I would only put the Gruaud and maybe the Baron as particularly good in '86 .
I like these older style wines a lot more than some of the modern fruit bombs. I have had a number of really nice 1975s (including Leoville las Cases and Pichon Lalande) and a number of really nice 1986s (including Leoville las Cases, Pichon Lalande, Rausan Segla and Pape Clement).
Howard, I understand your point. If you like 1975, you should enjoy 1986. My view on 1986 sours a little more every year. The vast majority of the wines are hard and austere, lacking charm and elegance. They feel rough on the palate. I am only holding on to a few, Gruaud Larose, Leoville Las Cases, Rauzan Segla, Mouton and Lafite. I own a few other assorted wines, like Margaux, but most 1986 are just not much fun to drink. I have perfectly stored bottles for anyone looking to trade!
The first Ducru was the 1990, wasn’t it?
The '86 Gruaud-Larose has always been one of my all-time favorite Bordeaux but I wasn’t thrilled with the way this one showed - something seemed off. Overall a really nice group, though.
I can understand why some folks might want more charm out of the '86s, although if we’re making comparisons to '75 I have to say I’ve had some '75s lately that are showing great! Has there ever been a Bordeaux vintage so tannic that it never came around? I can’t think of one. The interesting thing is that the '86s showed better 10 years ago than they do now, which leads me to suspect that they’re just in a phase. Who wouldn’t love to have some '86s when they turn 40 or 50?
I think there is brett in GL in the 1980’s and 1990’s. But there is also much bottle variation (real cold storage helps a lot). I had an absolutely fantastic bottle of 1982 GL couple of yeas ago.
I’ve had the '86 Gruaud Larose 5 times since 2007. It’s always had an iron-esque quality which can be really nice when the wine is showing well. These bottles have ranged from closed for business in '07, pretty awesome in '08, outstanding in '09, a little subdued in '10, and rock solid in '11 (but not at that '08-'09 level). Bottle variation or a new closed phase?
Interesting you started a Bordeaux dinner off with a heavy white Rhone. Didn’t anyone have a Bordeaux blanc to share?
I started wine buying (collecting) with 1986 and am almost done with it now, and have never been impressed with these in bottle as the press was when they first came out, with the exception of a couple that really sang (Gruad Larose and Vieux Chateau Certan being two of them). Have you had any recent experience with Pichon Lalande recently? Talk about austere ‘potential’! That is one hard wine.
Pat, I’ve had many 86 Mouton that have always left me unmotivated. I’ve followed these wines (inclusive of the top Medoc chateaus) since release and have never been able to get pleasure from them.
Just had 86 Beycheville tonight (still firmly standing my ground).
Howard, I have a pretty old world palate, and am pretty repulsed by spoofy new world stuff but I need some fruit and charm.
The Pichon is one of the better 75’s I’ve had but the LLC (which generally I’m a HUGE fan of) leaves much to be desired.
The '86 Mouton to the apogee of the vintage for my mileage, and in fact, is probably at the top of my all time greatest wines I’ve ever had. I is years, maybe decades from full maturity, but wow. So, if you don’t like this wine in 1986 Bordeaux, I can’t argue with that, Chris!
Just curious, what is/are the Bordeaux vintages you most enjoy? Personally, I’ve loved '82, '83, '85, '86 (Left Bank), '88, '89, '90, '96 (Left Bank), '98 (Right Bank). It’s only since vintages in the new millenium that I’ve begun to have my doubts (some petite chateau and cru bourgeois from the 2000 vintage have not aged as well as I expected)…