Margaux Vertical-'53,'59,'78,'82,'83,'86,'89,'90,'96 ,'01,'03

WINE TALK
1

Last night we had a Boulder Baller Wine night. The following notes are brief and from memory. The reds were all opened two hours prior to our dinner and were decanted just prior to our meal. We started with two Champagnes, 11 Chateau Margaux and one mystery wine. We had the following wines:

2006 Jacques Lassaigne Millesime Blanc de Blanc Champagne-light, refine and elegant. 93 pts.
2006 Egly Ouriet Blanc de Noirs ‘Les Crayeres’ Champagne-delicious champagne with notes of brioche. Just gorgeous. 95 pts.

1953 Chateau Margaux-light in color, tannins are fully resolved. Smelled of flowers and shoe box. Got better with air. A stunning, beautiful bottle of wine.
98 pts.

1959 Chateau Margaux- Corked! NR

1978 Chateau Margaux- This wine was also drinking well, but very different than the '53. It had more power, but not as much grace. Still lovely. 94 pts.

1982 Chateau Margaux-Wow! What a wine. Soaring aromatics. Rich, full and complete, power and grace. Intense sweet fruit, plenty of sweet tannins with balancing acidity. A perfect wine. 100 pts.

1983 Chateau Margaux-Another terrific wine. Very different than the '82. More austere and more like the '53 with plenty of grace and intellectual interest. 97 pts.

1986 Chateau Margaux- This wine is powerful with a strong tannin background. Taut comes to mind. With time in the glass the wine uncoils. A somewhat different taste profile vs the previous wines. It has a more minerally core to accompany the sweet fruit and tannins. It has finally entered its drinking window. 98 pts.

1989 Chateau Margaux- Classic Bordeaux. Structured. Delightful to drink, but not quite in the same league as most of the other wines. 94 pts.

1990 Chateau Margaux-Another stunner. Much more rich and ripe than the '89. A wine that made you think as you explored its contours. 99 pts.

1996 Chateau Margaux- Another classic structured wine. This is drinking very well, but now the wines are becoming younger and don’t have the classic “Margauxness” yet that the older wines have. 95 pts.

Mystery Wine: 1997 San Leonardo “San Leonardo”-After all the terrific Chateau Margaux, we took a detour with a bottle that I brought to taste blind. Really interesting wine. On the one hand it has intensely sweet ripe fruit, on the other hand it has plenty of herbaceous notes including bell pepper. If you like ripe, rich, opulent, Cabernets then this is not your wine. If you love Chinon and Cabernet Franc, then this wine is for you. Complex and layered. Long finish. 95 pts.

2001 Chateau Margaux- Another classic Bordeaux wine. Plenty of structure and a delicious claret. 93 pts.

2003 Chateau Margaux-Almost no nose. Tastes of sweet fruit, but seems young and a tad incomplete at the moment. 94 pts.

I would like to thank those who kindly proffered these stunning wines from their cellars for such an epic tasting. We will be talking about these wines for years to come.

2

Thank you for your impressions Byron.
I was surprised by your scores for the 1982 (100) and 1983(97)
Over here it is just the other way around [cheers.gif] (more then once)

best regards

3

I have 2 bottles of the 83 I need to get to soon. Thanks for the notes

4

Thanks for the notes. For my palate, Chateau Margaux reflects the vintage characters very well. I love the 96 Margaux, very classic, the 90 is consistently flirts with perfection.

5

The 83 is still very young, no need to hurry.

6

sell them to pay for windows?

7

I’d hang plastic sheeting over the openings before I would do that!

8

Miss college that much?

9

Thanks for the notes, particularly on the San Leonardo, as I have a fair bit left and haven’t opened one in several years, and on the '01 Margaux, which I own but haven’t tried since release.

To me, the 1990 is as good as Bordeaux gets, on par with 1989 HB but in a different style. I’ve had great bottles of the 1982 and 1983, but none that equaled the 1990, though at this quality level, it is just picking nits, bottle variation, or small differences in palate preference.

10

San Leornardo and Margaux.
Nice!
Than you for the notes!

11

The 1990 Margaux may be one of the greatest Bordeaux. I am in 100% agreement with Mike.

12

Byron, thanks for your notes. These old Margaux are great, aren’t they?

Of your ones, I’ve recently had the '53, which I loved in it’s tertiary black truffle, almost dry sherry state. (Some of the others I was drinking with didn’t like it, though, due to the lack of primary fruit). I gave the '78 the same score and thought it was close to it’s peak. A classy wine with excellent fruit weight and balanced acidity. I rated the '86 a bit lower and have similar notes to yours. The bottle I had finished a little firmly, so I would have held (based on that bottle) for 10 more years.

Actually my highest rated Margaux is one you didn’t taste, the '60, probably because, for me, it was at the perfect point of evolution. Sadly, a '62 I tried was badly corked.

Thanks for that walk along memory lane.

Howard

13

Oh and I should have added, I had the '02, which, although it’s from an unheralded vintage, I absolutely loved. It’s in a lighter, leaner style than say the '86, but had enough fruit weight, and not too much acid, to be a charming, savoury wine, just starting to go secondary. But then I often prefer quality Bordeaux from supposedly lesser (leaner) vintages …

14

Great notes. I only hope that my 53 shows as well as yours did.

15

Thanks for the notes. An impressive line up.

At a vertical hosted by P. Pontallier in 2013 in London the 2001 really struck a chord with me, and he really rated it too. Cool, classy and understated.

The 1996 was very good (the oldest wine shown) but the 2010 was the star.

16

Thanks for sharing these impressions. Vicarious pleasure indeed!

17

Nice line-up Gents!

18

Thanks for the write up.

I haven’t had the opportunity to taste the real older wines but I loved the '82 and '83. I did not taste them side by side but felt them to be almost equally good.

I really liked the 1996 (when compared side by side with the other First growths on two occasions).

2003 is a wine I only tasted at release and just did not get it.

I have a few bottles of 2001 but haven’t opened any as yet.

19

Smart enough not to have any of the Ginestet versions of Chateau Margaux from the 60’s or 70’s.