Impressions on 1990 bordeaux from last night

WINE TALK
1

I didn’t take formal notes as I was having way too much fun last night. Wines were drunk single-blind except for a couple that were double-blind.

I think I witnessed probably the worst exhibition of guessing what was what by a group of “distinguished” bordeaux enthusiasts. [oops.gif]

Flight 1
Chateau Margaux - Gorgeous and elegant wine; less concentration and intensity than other bottles I’ve had. But it’s all relative. I’m thinking 95 points rather the usual 100 I give this wine.

Haut Brion - I love the smokiness on the nose. Still some tannins that need to mellow out. In my top 5 tonight.

Beausejour Duffau - Shows like it always does for me. Seems another 10 to 20 years away. Packed but backwards as you can get.

Flight 2
Montrose - Perfect tonight without any sign of brett at all. Balances power with elegance. My WOTN.

Lafleur - First time I’ve had this and I had no idea what it was. Like the BD it is stacked but years away from maturity.

Mouton - Big surprise. First '90 Mouton I liked and a very elegant mid-weight Mouton. Ready to drink and this is probably the only wine tonight I don’t think will improve.

Flight 3
Cheval Blanc - One of the few I got right but this is usually an easy one to pick out. Others liked it much more than me but I am not a big Cheval fan so hard for me to opine on this one.

Latour - Intense wine. Most depth of any wine tonight…just layers and layers of goodness. My second place WOTN.
Lafite - Corked. Too bad. I would have loved to try this next to the Latour.

Franc Mayne - Double blind wine was purchased on release for some ridiculously low amount. Loads of fruit and a very nice wine. While it doesn’t have the depth or concentration of the others, I would be happy to drink this any time.

Flight 4
Leoville Las Cases - Surprisingly approachable. Reminded me of the Latour with less of everything. Excellent wine.

La Mission Haut Brion - Not a great showing…very reserved and hard to coax much out of it. I’m guessing just a phase as other bottles have shown very well in the past.

Angelus - Drinking great as always. I love it that it is so fantastic now and will go on for a long time. My third place WOTN.
Dominus - Another double blind wine. I picked it for Cali or Oz. Tons of mint on the nose. Very well made and enjoyable.

Finished with a half-bottle of '90 d’Yquem. I don’t drink much dessert wine but I loved this. Almond, apricot and honey aromatics are to die for. Good viscosity and not overly sweet. Great way to finish!

2

Paul–Thanks for the notes. I haven’t touched the 90 Latour yet, since I assume it’s still many, many years away from maturity. Any thoughts on that?

Bruce

3

impressive lineup! recently had the pleasure of doing a 1990 BDX horizontal and was impressed by the overall quality that I saw. Seems like a vintage that’s still got a long life ahead of it.

thanks again

4

It was a great night…lots of fun, the food was awesome and the group was super…Paul’s notes nailed the wines but I loved the Margaux…what an elegant wine…great depth too! It was the best of the Firsts for me but the WOTN, the Montrose, was absolutely perfect in every way. I’ve had the 90 Montrose several times and never had a bottle as good as this one. It was so, so clean…not a hint of brett.

5

Where did you eat?

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Harry’s Steak

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Valuable comments some weeks before our own tasting of the big 8 from Bordeaux in this spectacular vintage 1990, at Villa d’Este, with wines coming mostly from the property.

Thanks !

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Bruce, if I only had one or two I would hold at least five years. If I had a lot more I would pop a bottle as it is enjoyable now.

Ray, Harry’s at Hanover Square. Very good food and excellent wine service.

9

Wow, Paul! Now that’s what I call bringing the lumber!

The first time I had the 90 Montrose, it was just being poured mixed in with a bunch of other random wines and we weren’t paying close attention to which glass had which wine or what the wines were. However, several of us (including a couple of non-wine geeks) immediately commented on it separately upon tasting it. Among numerous nice wines, it was clearly a tremendous wine and nothing else was even in it’s category. Great wine!

Chris

10

thanks for the great notes paul. I just absolutely love this vintage and fully agree with you on many of the big hitters still needing another 5-10 before they really start showing us what they have

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It has a nose like no other wine i have ever come across

12

Thanks for the notes Paul. So many great wines, and I include the Cheval as one of my picks of the night. The last time I had the 90 Montrose was at a vertical last year, tasted against the 89. While the crowd was evenly split I thought the 90 was much fleshier and up front, as it was last night.

13

Paul,

I need to check my junk folder to see how I missed that invite. There was a time in my life when I was a ‘regular’ at Harry’s and it was a wonderful time. He has a great wine list and well-priced too. The ribeye is perfect for red Bordeaux.

Jon

14

amazing lineup gents! [cheers.gif]

that 90 margaux will be a rock star down the line.

i’ve heard so many great things about the cheval, hope to try it one day.

best,

15

I also thought the cheval was in the top 3 as was the margaux. Have had better bottles of the margaux but this certainly showed the elegance I would have expected. But agree, the montrose was WOTN. Best bottle of it I ever had. As we were finishing up, the lafleur actually started to show better, about 5-6 hours after it was opened.

16

Jon, me too and it was probably 10+ years before you. I thought you were in Europe. Next time.

17

Paul,

I hope Harry’s worked well for you.

One of my favorite wines these days is the 1990 Leoville Las Cases, which I’ve been drinking from half-bottle. It’s drinking perfectly right now – I’m glad it showed well for you guys.

-Ben

18

Some say that the 1990 Latour is already peaking and/or maturing much faster than originally thought. Did anyone from the dinner comment on how the Latour was tasting now compared to a prior tasting of 1990 (perhaps last year or few years ago)? Thanks!

19

We were traveling - just busting balls.

20

Thanks for the notes, Paul. Sounds like great fun!

Were the wines from Harry’s cellar, or supplied some other way?