Bloody hell, laddie, this one is tight. A black hole of a wine; nothing escapes. One hour in a decanter and a couple of wisps of something aromaish deigns to make an appearance. Too faint to be recognizable. Another hour, those wisps have coalesced enough to show some fruit and a little spice. This is not fun.
Another hour, and dinner has been on the table for half of it. We have poured the wine into glasses, it is still bad tempered and showing little.
Another hour and the wine has decided not to fight quite as hard. It is still massive, the tannins are hard but not spiky, and now the wine is showing plenty of fruit, spice and licorice. Still I feel there is a lot hidden.
This was all about potential and had little to do with pleasure. I did have a final glass 6 hours in, and it was still not fully open, but far and away the best tasted. I have five bottles left, and it needs ten years plus, probably more.
Your description takes me back to a 1993 camping trip to Yosemite. Opened (PNP) a 1988 Lynch Bages between me and a buddy. Sitting next to camp fire and both of us just stared at the glass for a good ten minutes tasting multiple sips with very little to say or describe much enjoyment…ended up not even looking at the remaining bottles for the next ten+ years. At some point decided to sell the remaining 3 bottles. Just looked up recent tasting notes in CT with several still struggling with unsettled tannins. 1989 is a different story!!
Reinforcing that I like bordeaux with around 30 year instead of 20. I find I like the 96s now more than the 00/05/08. 2024 will likely be my last serious BDX vintage at 44 years old.
Montrose and LLC make me question ever buying the wines on release given the amount of time value required to even drink them. That gets pretty expensive over a long enough time horizon.
I opened a 2016 half bottle about a month ago. Decanted for about an hour or more. It was not ready, very tight. Sad loss but I just couldn’t resist trying it.
This is a spectacular wine, IMHO. I bought more after trying last year. Yes, it needs 10, but that’s typical of Montrose in a structured vintage. It’s got all the right stuff. And I actually enjoyed the bottle immensely. Perhaps I’m more masochistic than Mark! But also smart enough to own no other Montrose beyond 2008!
A friend opened a 96 Mouton over dinner last week. Dear lordy! While the wine has many, many good years ahead of it, it is likely the best wine that I’ve had in several years. Amazing kaleidoscope of primary and secondary flavors.