A group of us got together last night at Bibou, IMO the best French BYOB in the city, and ended up getting a pretty broad look at the “current status” of the '95 vintage in Bordeaux. Wines included:
99 Bernard Morey PM La Truffieres
96 Clos des Goisses Champagne
90 Rieussec
88 Raymond Lafon
2007 Doisy Vedrines
92 Fonseca Port
And from '95
Calon Segur
Lafon Rochet
Lynch Bages
Pichon LaLande
Sociando Mallet
Bon Pasteur
Angelus
Leoville Las Cases
Cos d’Estournel
Two things that seem to resonate throughout dinner - these wines were all in fine drinking shape, yet none of them are in any danger of imminent decline. And most of the wines were so comparable in quality that if we had canvassed the attendees, I doubt we could have come up with a consensus WOTN.
For my palate, the Calon Segur was just silly good. I was also very impressed by the Cos, Sociando Mallet and Bon Pasteur, and I really enjoyed the Lafon Rochet as well, which came across as textbook St. Estephe and really only suffered because we paired it with the Calon.
In the non-'95 category, the bubbly was smoking - I am generally Champagne agnostic, but this bottle made me pay attention. The '99 Morey was also quite tasty, and IMO in a very good spot right now, and if you like your Sauternes to display that caramel-like richness, you wouldn’t have much to complain about with respect to the Rieussec right now. We paired that and the 88 Raymond Lafon with a seared Foie Gras course served over pumpkin bread that ended up being a classic wine & food pairing.
That’s interesting. I had a 1995 Grand Puy Lacoste recently that although not “closed” seemed 10 years younger than where it should be, and I will not touch another for at least 5. I’ve found '95’s to be really testing my patience.
Thinking of doing one of these next year on their 20th anniversary.
Gotta say, though, the '95s I’ve had in the past year or two, Ducru, Pichon Lalande, Leoville Las Cases, Grand Puy Lacoste, Montrose, La Mission, Haut Brion, Domaine de Chevalier and Cos, off the top of my head, all are still on the upswing and could really use more time in the cellar, imo.
To me, with a wine like Bordeaux that has a wide plateau of drinkability, as long as you are not committing infanticide with a wine, there was no harm done last night. I guess my analogy would be these wines at age almost 20 are drinker much better than their siblings from 1986 were at a similar age (or in that particular case, more approachable than they still are today).
I think the Lafon Rochet, Bon Pasteur and Sociano Mallet were literally at peak - they can certainly persist for another 10-15 years, but I seriously doubt they will be any better.
The LLC and Angelus both showed young, as did the Cos, so I think in those cases the wines will be better in another 5-10 years, but they were still quite drinkable last night.
And the Pichon LL and Lynch were kind of in the middle - might get better, but they clearly were already fairly secondary.
The Calon IMO was in a class of it’s own - hard to imagine it drinking any better than it was last night. To be honest, served next to the Lafon Rochet, it was really difficult to identify as a St. Estephe - the gent next to me said it reminded him of a St. Julien with it’s ripeness, and I thought that was an accurate observation.
Bob, how did you perceive the balance in these wines? 1995 for me has always tilted on the acid side with the fruit sometimes not present enough to balance.
Bob – thanks for the post. Info and discussion like this is why I love this board.
My own perspective on 95s, but only had a few.
popped a Pontet Canet yesterday. My impression overall is pretty similar to the range of wines you tasted. Still a lovely fruity nose, lots of secondary characteristics on the mouth, but still with some nice fruit. Fairly nice balance, but not as strong flavor profile as I was hoping for. Still, very enjoyable.
Chateau Margaux – I’ve opened three of these so far this year. This is what I wrote on the first one
“Absolutely beautiful wine and bottle. Perfect balance, fantastic bouquet that was unbelievably floral – rose, other notes. The wine itself as rich, with a good mid-mouth bite and a very very long finish. Good bordeaux earthiness, gentle fruit, mellow mellow wine with a huge flavor.”
The other two I’ve opened were also very good, but were both a bit harder and seemed younger/less ready. Still gorgeous wines but not WOTY territory. Perhaps a bit of bottle variation … but also the last two were not opened as many hours before drinking, so perhaps more air is very helpful.
Carlos, I normally prefer Nebbiolo or Sangiovese for my “usual” red, so if the '95’s show a little more acidity than most years, that’s a vintage trait that I probably wouldn’t notice. I thought the wines were balanced last night, but they certainly weren’t big showy wines at this stage, and may never be.
From the decade of the 80’s, I always enjoyed drinking 88’s, a very balanced vintage that used to get overlooked surrounded by the 86’s, 89’s and 90’s. I think '95 is a similarly overlooked and similarly pleasurable vintage.
I only have LB and it was almost undrinkable 8 years out. Recent bottles are better with the acid in check. I would let these sleep a bit longer than the 96s.
I have consumed my 95 Right Bank wines while I let the Medoc’s sleep. My favorite one to date is Cos that was tasted over 10 years ago. Have not tasted any of the Calon Segur or Sociando Mallet yet.
I have been consuming a few cases of 95’ over the last 2 years:
Very Good: Vieux Chateau Certan, Ducru Beaucaillou
Good: Conseillante, Gazin, Grand Puy Lacoste, L’Arrosee
Average: Leoville Barton
Bad: Canon
A lot of bottle variations for VCC, could be outstanding for some bottles. Ducru is very good but not ready. Conseillante/Gazin/GPL/L’Arrosee have been very consistent. Leoville Barton is a rough wine, quite disappointing and Canon is rubbish.
I have quite enjoyed the 95 Bordeaux vintage from release. There is certainly plenty of tannin (commensurate with levels of fruit) and this gives the wines real freshness. I still have a couple of mixed cases in the cellar and will try and leave them for at least another decade.
Glenn, assuming you have multiple bottles, both the Sociando and the Calon are worth taking a look at right now, at least based upon how the wines showed at our meal. In fact, the Calon might even be described as hedonistic, certainly not a descriptor I would have applied to Calon Segur wines made in the 80’s.
The Sociando Mallet was clearly punching above it’s weight, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise given the estate’s previous track record.
That was my take, Brad, so I did a small pour and let the Lynch Bages have slow O about 4 hours before dinner at Bibou. Upon opening it was all about power, iron and cigar box, but by the time dinner rolled around it was much more integrated. You can’t hurt by aging this longer and if you prefer power, pop and pour.
All the wines were maybe a point or two apart on a 100 point scale, they were that consistent and close. Having said that, I actually liked the wines Bob didn’t call out as better wines (Las Cases, Angelus, Lynch Bages, Pichon LaLande), so palate specific preferences will direct what you like best in '95.
The provenance on the Lafon Rochet, Bon Pasteur and Sociando Mallet were impeccable - thanks, Al. I bought the 95 Lafon through the PLCB and it was average, whereas Al’s was equal in quality to a great (and much more expensive) group of wines listed above. The Bon Pasteur was a great suprise to me. The Sociando is a great wine that doesn’t get enough respect and is a wise buy in good to great vintages.
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