Pizza wines: 82 Magdelaine, 06 G Conterno, 81 LdH, 15 Jamet etc.

[Mark_Golodetz]

My two favorite Magdelaines are 1970 and 1982. Old fashioned Saint Emilion at their best, but unfortunately, rapidly disappearing from the marketplace. I just got an offer from the UK, but there seems to have been a scramble for the wines, disappearing long before I had a chance to grab some.

Sorry about that.

No you are not.

He did keep back some 1985 for me, as it was preordered

[Ramon_C]

Sorry about that.

I see you are planning for my birthday next year! Good plan!

For birthday next year? Do it sooner (this year).

[Greg_K]

My two favorite Magdelaines are 1970 and 1982. Old fashioned Saint Emilion at their best, but unfortunately, rapidly disappearing from the marketplace. I just got an offer from the UK, but there seems to have been a scramble for the wines, disappearing long before I had a chance to grab some.

Sorry about that.

No you are not.

He did keep back some 1985 for me, as it was preordered

No, I’m not. I definitely didn’t get all of the 1985 that I wanted.

[Greg_K]

Sorry about that.

I see you are planning for my birthday next year! Good plan!

For birthday next year? Do it sooner (this year).

I’m open. We should actually discuss the Benetiere experiment - I’m around next week…

[Mark_Golodetz]

If you guys can hold your horses, my charity tasting next year will be a Magdelaine vertical going back to 1970, with a stray bottle of 1959 thrown in.

[Greg_K]

If you guys can hold your horses, my charity tasting next year will be a Magdelaine vertical going back to 1970, with a stray bottle of 1959 thrown in.

Why not both?

[Jim_Anderson]

Years ago I was in Providence and bought 6 bottles from a wine shop in the Italian part of town (or what it seemed to be to me as a first timer there in 2004) and one of them was that exact Conterno Barolo. Wines never showed up. They accused me of lying about it. They apparently “sent them” USPS and couldn’t track the box. The other wines were good as well but the one I specifically remember was that Conterno. Thanks for posting on it. One that literally got away. Oh, my CC company credited me the purchase.

[Jay_Miller]

My two favorite Magdelaines are 1970 and 1982. Old fashioned Saint Emilion at their best, but unfortunately, rapidly disappearing from the marketplace. I just got an offer from the UK, but there seems to have been a scramble for the wines, disappearing long before I had a chance to grab some.

My fault since I made the mistake of recommending Magdelaine to Alfert. After that the end was in sight.

[Ramon_C]

If you guys can hold your horses, my charity tasting next year will be a Magdelaine vertical going back to 1970, with a stray bottle of 1959 thrown in.

Why not both?

[Mark_Golodetz]

My two favorite Magdelaines are 1970 and 1982. Old fashioned Saint Emilion at their best, but unfortunately, rapidly disappearing from the marketplace. I just got an offer from the UK, but there seems to have been a scramble for the wines, disappearing long before I had a chance to grab some.

My fault since I made the mistake of recommending Magdelaine to Alfert. After that the end was in sight.

I gave my English source to both Alfert and Kahn, little thinking there was a Magdelaine offer coming. And now look what happened…

[Mark_Golodetz]

If you guys can hold your horses, my charity tasting next year will be a Magdelaine vertical going back to 1970, with a stray bottle of 1959 thrown in.

Why not both?

Next year, probably September with some close relation of Herbert.

[aaronfullen]

Listed in descending order of preference.

• 1982 Château Magdelaine - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  If you try this wine and you don’t like it, you don’t actually like Bordeaux. This is as archetypical as it comes. This bottle was even better than the bottle I had last year with Salil – it’s just everything that a Bordeaux ought to be. The texture is silk, but at the same time the flavours are slightly backwards and mildly rustic – that kind of controlled feral quality that I find in Verset. The fruit is plentiful and still elegant, there are the customary hints of leather and tobacco, and just no funk at all. So well delineated and transparent. An absolutely stunning effort and easily one of the best bottles of Bordeaux I’ve had in a while. (93 pts.)

Were I to be looking for a Bordeaux, or a Rhone for that matter, straight off a note, this would be it. I have often commented how I adore wines that showcase elegant rusticity and feral qualities. I have not had the 82 Magdelaine, but the 85 that I had several months ago was cut from a very similar cloth, and was flat out outstanding. Just ordered more. Thanks for the note, I need to find some 82. I passed on some from Rare Wine Company, and still regret it.

PS. 98 is a big score. Wow.

Sounds like any of about five TN’s I’ve written on Chateau Musar. I assume you’re tasted and are a fan.

-af

[Mark_Thompson]

I feel like there is an offline Maggie vertical that needs to get put together at some point. I’m in with a 75, 82, and 86.

I don’t have any older vintages, but if I could buy my way into that with the '98 and/or '09, I would love to try and make something work.

Now we’re talking…like a Midwest preview of Mark’s more comprehensive charity vertical!

[Mark_Golodetz]

Listed in descending order of preference.

• 1982 Château Magdelaine - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  If you try this wine and you don’t like it, you don’t actually like Bordeaux. This is as archetypical as it comes. This bottle was even better than the bottle I had last year with Salil – it’s just everything that a Bordeaux ought to be. The texture is silk, but at the same time the flavours are slightly backwards and mildly rustic – that kind of controlled feral quality that I find in Verset. The fruit is plentiful and still elegant, there are the customary hints of leather and tobacco, and just no funk at all. So well delineated and transparent. An absolutely stunning effort and easily one of the best bottles of Bordeaux I’ve had in a while. (93 pts.)

Were I to be looking for a Bordeaux, or a Rhone for that matter, straight off a note, this would be it. I have often commented how I adore wines that showcase elegant rusticity and feral qualities. I have not had the 82 Magdelaine, but the 85 that I had several months ago was cut from a very similar cloth, and was flat out outstanding. Just ordered more. Thanks for the note, I need to find some 82. I passed on some from Rare Wine Company, and still regret it.

PS. 98 is a big score. Wow.

Sounds like any of about five TN’s I’ve written on Chateau Musar. I assume you’re tasted and are a fan.

-af

I pretty much wrote off Musar after a vertical where all the wines seemed really shrill in the finish. Without knowing anything about the winemaking, I put it down to a late acidification.

[Robert.A.Jr]

Musar is an interesting exercise for me.

On paper, this is exactly what I should love. Has all the rustic, feral, high-acid, red-fruit qualities that I love in some distinct wines. And yet, my experience with Musar has been quite varied. I have had far more misses than hits, to the point that I really don’t buy it. I have not given up on the wine, however. Had a ‘99 a month or so ago that was smokin, prompting me to grab some more that just came in.

Incidentally, I popped a 2006 LdH Tondonia the night before last, finished the rest last night. Cannot predict whether it hits the heights of A So’s 1981, but it sure was excellent, with some similarities in tasting descriptors.

[Markus_S]

(93 pts.)

PS. 98 is a big score. Wow.

Except that it isn’t. It’s a 93.

[aaronfullen]

Musar is an interesting exercise for me.

On paper, this is exactly what I should love. Has all the rustic, feral, high-acid, red-fruit qualities that I love in some distinct wines. And yet, my experience with Musar has been quite varied. I have had far more misses than hits, to the point that I really don’t buy it. I have not given up on the wine, however. Had a ‘99 a month or so ago that was smokin, prompting me to grab some more that just came in.

Incidentally, I popped a 2006 LdH Tondonia the night before last, finished the rest last night. Cannot predict whether it hits the heights of A So’s 1981, but it sure was excellent, with some similarities in tasting descriptors.

Not that this is necessarily a novel take, but my thinking with Musar is that two out of three bottles I consume (assuming they have some age on them) are great. One in three is a puzzler. If I pay $40 per bottle at release, that means my average cost for a stellar bottle is $60. I can’t find a better experience (for my palate) than a great bottle of Musar for less than $150 elsewhere.

Clearly, Chateau Musar is the Sex Panther of wine.

I do find that the importer on Musar (Broadbent good; others bad) makes a difference in the ratio of gems to puzzlers.

Also a big LdH fan.

-af

[Robert.A.Jr]

Lol, classic pop culture reference there! My sex panther is Levet. Meeeoooww.