After ploughing through several halves of 1996 (Barton, Gruaud, Cos and Lannessan) and liking but never loving any, I opened this and decanted before going to friends for dinner. I sneaked a taste, and this time I loved.
Smoky dark fruit, that slightly old fashioned Bordeaux funk, spice and cedar, a tremendous presence on the palate and an extremely long finish. I would say keep it a couple of years, but my wife enjoyed it so much, we had the final bottle yesterday and I can’t say we were wrong. 96
I had a 96 Cos a few months back that shined like that as well. The 96 Lafon Rochet ain’t shabby, either.
Good news. The last one I opened probably 5 years ago still was meh so I just buried the rest hoping time would fix it. Will pull one to celebrate the completing of the kitchen remodel whenever it finally ends.
I’ve never had a Calon that disappointed. And if history is any guide, the 96 is probably an adolescent in Calon years.
In the famous words of Marquis de Segur: “I make my wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is in Calon.”
Thanks for this, Mark,
I’m holding on to one. I also have a couple of the '95’s, which I am assuming might need more years to become less gruff? (I came across a cheapish case of the '98 about 5 years back, which was drinking very well at the time, and I have since been grabbing older Calon left and right.)