Barely Legal: 1990 Bordeaux check in

WINE TALK
1

Closing in on it’s 21st birthday, we did a retrospective tasting with “the locals” of 1990 Bordeaux last Tuesday. The line up was stout, the crowd familiar and fun with a couple of new faces, and few NSGs thrown in from a member of our table to a dual sit in. The scene was Scalini Fideli, that does a tremendous menu for only $58 Prix Fixe, and is corkage free from Monday through Friday. The food is great, and a real steal for the price.

On the to the wines:

Have to start with some bubbles in this group, so we opened a 1990 Pol Roger Winston Churchill. This bottle tasted a bit more evolved than others I’ve had, but that’s a GREAT thing. This was far more open and opulent, with a good nutty quality and zero hints of oxidation; just pure and built for the long haul. Great bottle of Champagne, and worth being patient for another 5+ years.

Our “appetizer wine” was a fun half bottle contribution of 1990 Beausejour Duffau. A strong disclaimer of this wine is that I have NEVER had a bottle that comes within a stone’s throw of perfection, and this one included. The fruit was more muted here, with good secondary character, that was subdued below my pleasure threshold as the brett was a bit too powerful for me. This might have benefited from decanting, but alas, we popped, poured and passed for 8 guys. Fun to try again, and hoping to find “the grail” one day.

Another fun stand alone was a La Lagune 1990. I’m a big fan of these “lesser wines”, and I think the 1990s had these by the truck load. On another night, this might have performed better, or on Tuesday with whatever, but on this Tuesday, with this meal, and these wines, finished at the back of the back, but finishing last on this night was NOT a bad thing at all. Only time in my drinking career that might be true.

On the to big flights:
Pomerol: Clinet vs Conseillante

This was a killer way to start off, splitting hairs on 2 of the best wines of the year. The Conseillante was my WOTN, for it’s depth, balance, concentration and complexity, all slipped in to the velvet glove of the house style. The Clinet was a bit awkward at first, but came to together to show a richer, more powerful, but yet simpler style. This showed to me it needed more time, so hold’em if you got only a scant few remaining.

Some classifieds

So we had some odd couples, Cos D’estournel and Lynch Bages were up next, and both surprised. I gave the nod to the Cos, as it was a bit more my speed (just more earthy and characteristic of what I like on the left bank), but the Lynch was nipping at it’s heals. This was a terrific flight, and neither wine disappointed.

St. Julien

I thought the Gruaud Larose ran away with this one. The GL was more sturdy, with only a touch of stink and tremendously evolved secondary flavors mated to rich, dark fruits. The Leoville Poyferre showed it’s classic softness, but didn’t really have a ton of interesting character going on. A bit linear, and straight forward. Not bad, just not wow (for me).

The Heavyweights

This was a dream match up. One of the Left Bank’s elite vs. one of the Right Bank’s elite. The L’Angelus was a perfect example of this wine: Flashy fruit, super silky tannins, great secondary character and life ahead of it. The Pichon Baron was a brute: dark, rich, concentrated fruit mated to classic sweet tannins of the vintage, and a bright future ahead of it. I gave the nod to the much sluttier Pichon, but the L’Angelus will win against most foe.

The photo finish

Nothing is worse than corked wine, but a halfie of 90 Yquem? Doesn’t get much worse. The generosity of David goes beyond the word itself, as his “dessert wine replacement” was a 1990 LLC. Obviously, no one turned this down, and it was simply incredible. Classic LLC, with a need of about 5 more years in the cellar, but a terrific wine on all levels.

Tremendous night of food, wine and friends, and already looking forward to the next one.

2

Love the 1990’s. One great one to sneak into a lineup is Grand Puy Lacoste. They really hit a homerun in 1990.

3

Cool stuff. Having a great 1990 Bordeaux is special stuff. We seem to have some agreement here. I absolutely love these 90s in this order:


La Mission Haut Brion
La Conseillante
Grand Puy Lacoste
and like Angelus

These have of course been getting more expensive but in the last 2 years have been able to find perfect owcs of each for good prices. Unfortunately all my GPL is now gone. It is so much smarter to buy these wines which are entering nice drinking phases than fresh overpriced Bordeaux. I think I prefer them to the 89s on these wines as well. Deliciousness…

4

Todd, 100% agree with you (and Eric on the GPL). I’m generally a bigger fan of 89 as it’s a bit more classic, but the 90s you list are all my faves (GPL price is getting steep, but the 89 GPL is a great buy still, and finally coming around. 89 is better in Mag though). LMHB is greatly prefer in 90, the 89 is simply too brutish for me. I know I’m in the minority, but hey, at least it’s cheaper!!!

5

Clinet was a big surprise to me. I thought it would finish near the bottom and it was probably at the top for me except maybe for the LLC. All really good though!

6

The '90 LLC never fails to deliver. Tremendous wine. Surprised about the showing of the Leoville Poyferre. The last bottle I had was simply stunning.

Great lineup!

7

went to a big 90 bdx tasting in november. very good fun. for me the margaux stole the show, with haut brion nipping at it’s heals. the miss check book congeniality award was a tie between the leoville las cases and the montrose – both were classy wines and bang for the buck relatively. [cheers.gif]

8

I’m not sure what the issue with it was really, as I’ve had brighter, fuller bottles. I’m not 100% sure it was decanted, which could explain the poor-ish showing (it was bad, just leaner than the last time I had it.

90 HB is fun, but the last time I had it, I wasn’t in love with it. Reminded more of the 89 and it’s port-like style, which I don’t really care for. I love the Montrose too. Great stuff, even if it is a bretty bottle.

9

1990 is my favorite Bordeaux vintage for current drinking. For my nose and palate, every single bottle of the 1990 Haut Brion that I have drank has been utter perfection; the LLC (which I’ve only had twice) has also been a triple digit wine.

10

I drank 2 bottles of GPL and it just did not move me and I ended up selling the rest.

OTOH Margaux, LLC, Montrose, Angelus and Gruaud Larose are stellar.

11

I had a bottle a few weeks before from the same cellar that brought this one and it was way better. You just can’t rely on one datapoint when it comes to wine.

12

I wasn’t, Paul, but I can when it’s Chardonnay coming out of your cellar! [snort.gif]