I had a bunch of friends over last night to start opening up Bordeaux in anticipation of the coming blizzard in NY. It was mostly non-wine friends (who are not “wine people”) but Berserkers @J0hnEhrl1ng and @RayChung brought their discerning palates, and we had a few folks from my local wine shop show up as well.
I apologize in advance for the tasting notes…I’ve included what I can remember of the notes from last night, but unfortunately I was a little more focused on playing host than on committing notes to memory. I also had the benefit of tasting a few 1996 Bordeaux the night before (PLL, Lynch-Bages, and LLC) to prime the comparison for the 1996s here. Each wine (aside from one corked bottle that was quickly replaced with a solid one) showed really well. I tried to group communes together in the drinking progression, so the vintages are a little out of order.
2007 Cristal in magnum: unfortunately when the Cristal was being poured I was mostly focused on finishing up setting up the party since I was running behind, but I do clearly remember this being lively with notes of lemon. I think it’s drinking very well but still has plenty more time to go in this format. Would have been interesting to compare to an ‘07 750mL.
1996 Marbuzet: I hadn’t had Marbuzet before, apparently it was a satellite of Cos before being folded in to the larger operation later on (different from Haut-Marbuzet, and note the pagoda/elephant on the label). This was a less grand wine than the other ‘96s but held up surprisingly well. Despite the order in the picture this was actually the first red wine of the night and filled that role well - on the lighter side, traces of red fruit left, olive and vegetal notes mixed with spice. Not a “great” wine, but a solid one for a minor chateau at 30 years.
1996 Montrose: This was tied for my WOTN but I think I was an outlier. Out of the gate there was a strong whiff of cherry on the nose, Ray I think correctly called it “cherry cola”, and the palate was initially pretty sweet with some cherry notes on it; not what I was expecting but also not unpleasant. After 30 minutes or so that gave way to a more typical profile, earthy nose with a little bit of barnyard, dark fruit, spice, leather, very long finish. Everything was integrated and it drank fantastically smoothly for me.
2003 Cos d’Estournel: @Bob_Knapp brought one of these to a tasting dinner a few weeks ago and that convinced me to include it last night. You can taste the 2003 vintage here, much more fruit forward, darker and plummier, less spice, less acid, and less tannin than the other Bordeaux we had. Still everything fits together well and it drinks smoothly, a good counterpoint to most of the other “great vintage” bottles.
2016 Pagodes des Cos: Still young and to be honest I didn’t focus as much on this bottle, but I remember it being enjoyable.
1982 Mouton Rothschild: Cork was 110% soaked, and while the first whiff I got wasn’t faulty, it also wasn’t close to Bordeaux, so I thought the bottle was a goner. John’s advice to wait was spot on, and after an hour this started to really open up and show, I’d swear that the color noticeably changed and it even started to look like a younger wine. Some dark fruit still there, tons of spice and leather, cedar, an herbal note I couldn’t quite place (mint?), but I was happy to find this bottle still had such life to it. This was tied for WOTN for me, all of these wines showed well but I think there’s a little bit of extra credit for staying so lively and balanced at 44 years old.
2000 Lynch-Bages: You can taste the vintage here, more fruit forward than the ‘96s, with some real life to the dark fruit still there, spice, and some smokiness. This was probably the most popular WOTN pick, as John said it’s 75% tertiary and 25% fruit, in great balance so its neither a “young” wine nor an “old” wine and right now you’re getting the best of both. This is the fourth bottle of 2000 Lynch I’ve opened in the last year and they all have been in a great place (with the exception of the first bottle of 2000 Lynch we opened last night being corked).
1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou: Unlike a bottle I had about a year ago, the Ducru was fruitier than the other ‘96s and with way less green notes. I picked up the minerality. This was in some respects a classic Ducru, very smooth, fine tannins, very “put together”. But I wouldn’t have guessed the year…less spice, cedar, and other tertiary notes that I expected to find in a 30 year old, and more fruit prominence.
1996 Leoville-Barton: Dark fruit, heavy structure, serious and precise, drank like a true Leoville-Barton. This wine was still quite restrained even after quite a lot of time open in the bottle and glass and I’m interested to see how/if it develops with more age. Of the ‘96s I’d say the Leoville-Barton has the most runway left to still reach its prime.
2001 Gruaud-Larose: Definitely surprised me. I had thought G-L character would show more strongly than vintage character, but to me this was way more heavily perfumed and way lighter (both color and intensity of fruit) than I expected. Probably a strong case of being primed by prior experience and expectations going in. I still thought the wine drank really well for what it was, just didn’t seem like a Gruaud-Larose to me.
2005 Leoville-Poyferre: The only wine I didn’t have last night, and in hindsight a real bummer because I wanted to see where this would be given some other underwhelming 2005 vintage experiences recently.
2016 Cheval des Andes: This bottle was kindly brought by Ray, and it provided a really great contrast to the Bordeaux we were tasting, made with Bordeaux grapes varieties but much more energetic and with brighter/redder fruit.
This was an extremely fun night with great wines and great people, really exemplifying for me what drinking wine is all about.