Saturday lunch at Le Bec Fin - primarily Bordeaux

WINE TALK
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What a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon - nothing like indulging one’s self with fine food, wine & conversation for three+ hours [welldone.gif]

At any rate, a group of local wine drinkers got together this past saturday for a little lunch at Le Bec Fin in downtown Philly. I ended up having steak tartare, mushroom ravioli, armagnac-braised spare ribs, a cheese course & dessert before I completed my meal. We also found time to pull a few corks, as follows:

Starter whites:
1998 Colin-Deleger Meursault
2002 Bernard Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Clos St. Jean
1997 Raveneau Chablis Butteaux
The wine of the flight by far was the Morey (and I think this was unanimous around our table of nine). Pristine mineral-drenched nose with laser-like clarity, and that amazing nose was followed up by etched fruit on the palate. One of the best whites I have had all year! Unfortunately, the Raveneau still shows very young and acidic for my palate. I’d love to try this wine again in five years to see how its changed, but right now it’s not giving up much. Just for the hell of it, I checked Burghound’s rating on the Morey when I got home - while I liked the descriptives, he “only” gave the wine 90 points. Needless to say, if you were lucky enough to purchase this wine at a “90 point price” , you’ve got one hell of a bottle in your cellar right now, and I highly recommend checking one out.

On to the reds:
’95 Pichon Lalande, '95 Clinet, '90 La Conseillante, '83 Lynch Bages, '86 Cos d’Estournel, '98 Pavie, '94 Haut Brion & '94 Mouton Rothschild
While the whites had a clear winner, all of the reds showed reasonably well, with no faulty bottles, even if there was some “variation around the mean” for individual bottles. The '83 Lynch Bages was the wine that most clearly outperformed it’s rating/stature, and some folks had it as their red WOTN. I found the Clinet somewhat pinched in the mid-palate and clearly preferred the Pichon, yet another experienced taster thought it might be the best wine on the table in five years. I enjoyed the funky bouquet of the Cos, but the taster next to me clearly disliked it. And while I enjoyed the Pavie for what it was, it was the wine that seemed most out of synch with the other wines on the table. Still, the wines engendered a lot of discussion, so while there were no superstars, there was a lot of good wine-related discussion.

We closed out the festivities with an '86 Rieussec & an '88 Lafaurie-Peyraguay. My recollection was that I enjoyed both, but I think my palate was beginning to stray slightly after all those reds, so I’m not sure I really gave either dessert wine it’s true due.

So when’s our next lunch [wink.gif] ?

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Many fond memories at Le Bec Fin. I haven’t been there since I moved in 91 but many great meals and I learned about many wines that later became staples in my cellar. Thanks for the notes Bob.

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What a fantastic meal…wow.

Just wondering, how much was the Rav Butteaux on release?

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Bob, I assume you were Byo’ing and not of the list?

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Great notes; thanks for sharing. I have been back to Le Bec-Fin a couple times since they started their BYOB (corkage free) Mondays, and it looks like that is working quite well for them. Definitely working well for me!

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Very nice set of notes there Bob…you guys know how to lunch.

Question: you mentioned the 86 Cos bouquet as being “funky.” How so? I’m curious since I just had an 86 Lynch-Bages recently and thought it was sublime, really showing well and not as structurally monstrous as the vintage reputation suggests. Was the Cos otherwise open for business (aside from the funk)?

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This question wasn’t directed at me, but, for whatever little it’s worth…

I’ve tried many '86s and tracked several over many years. The '86 Lynch Bages, is, as you say, sublime - as is the '86 Cos. Even the '86 Montrose is much mellowed. The perceived severity of '86 classed growth Bdx structure was well deserved in the past, but it is nothing to throw one off from trying them at this point. That’s my opinion anyway.

As regards the “funk” of '86 Cos, of the 3-4 bottles I’ve had the pleasure of drinking over the past 2 years, the last one (a few weeks ago) had a bit of that initially, but it blew off. There were faint sherry notes as well, but I must mention that this last one wasn’t as in pristine condition as the others. The '86 Cos open for business? Definitely.

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Thanks for the detailed reply Noel. [cheers.gif]

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Scott, I am generally a fan o’ the funk, so I didn’t consider the nose a detriment, but like I said some folks weren’t as thrilled. Rather than try to describe it, I guess the best analogy I can give you is that one of my first loves in Bordeaux was Gruaud Larose back in the early 80’s, and those wines always had a lot of funk/animal/barnyard notes, maybe even a dose of brett thrown in.

I’m not saying the Cos was as funky per se as the Gruaud used to be, but it clearly had the most funky nose of this bunch and therefor stood out - the difference between it and the '98 Pavie was significant (although the Pavie is admittedly a very young wine and really hasn’t had the time to start developing much in the way of secondary nuances).

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Oh, and yes, this was BYOB [wink.gif]

And Todd, I did not bring the Raveneau so I can’t answer your question.

Scott, Don was one of the attendees, and before the lunch he came downtown early and got a barber-style shave & haircut, complete with the facial hot towel-treatment. The man was positively relaxed & beaming when he walked in that door [welldone.gif]

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And not too disagree with our esteemed colleague Noel, but I would say that my experience with '86 in terms of their overall readiness to drink is still somewhat mixed (and for better or worse, this is a vintage that I still have quite a bit of in the cellar). I would say that the '86 Cos is in a very nice spot right now, and I also like the '86 Pichon Lalande (although it is in a very masculine/brawny style for this chateau). But at least IMO, wines like LLC and Lafite still have a ways to go (although I believe they have the requisite “stuffing” to ultimately merit their 100 point ratings), and I remain on-the-fence with regards to the ultimate potential/evolution of wines like Latour and Montrose, and quite frankly am disappointed with the way that Domaine de Chevalier has evolved.

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Thanks Bob. The funk is something I usually shy away from in Bdx, so I was curious.

Also curious since the Cos was an 86, and having just had the 86 L-B, I was reminded of the wine that started me down this adventure (obsession? [wink.gif] ) into wine many moons ago: 1986 Lafite. I remember it vividly…and don’t think I had ever tasted anything quite like it before. Sure it was too young, but I barely knew better at the time. So you see I have a soft spot for the vintage…after all, you never forget your “first time.” flirtysmile

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No disagreement here. I was speaking in general, there are always exceptions and since I try so many wines I tend to forget what I’ve had over the years (that’s why we have notes, right?).

In any event, last notes I have on the '86 LLC were from way back in the 20th November 2005. Re-reading them, it does seem that it was too young (aerated for at least 2 hours), but I did note that I liked it more than the '82 at the time.

I don’t recall having had the '86 LLC since then and can find no notes of mine on a subsequent one (though that doesn’t necessarily mean I haven’t re-tried it, I don’t write about everything I try especially when I’m in France - I just sit back and enjoy mostly). That said, I realize that it is quite possible that the '86 LLC will always be unusually stern and austere; added age doesn’t always mellow one, even a wine.

I do not believe I’ve ever tried the '86 Lafite - I have no notes on it, anyway. I do think I would remember if I did. Most of the Lafites I’ve had were my father’s bottles, but I recall only the '78, '79, '82, '83 and '85. Next I recall is in the '90s already. I did, however, manage to lose a pile of my written notes a few years ago (which eventually convinced me to start my blog), so all that I drank that those notes documented are lost. I drink very often and get to try a lot of wine, my memory just can’t hack it anymore.

The '86 PL, I’ve had around 4 times (that I can recall offhand) over the last year or so, two ex-château. It is a good wine, that’s for sure, but so far removed from the graceful, feminine PL style I know and love (I’ve said before the '86 isn’t even attractively “butch” like the '85 or '89), that I, honestly, do not enjoy the '86 much. I’ve never had it blind, though, so maybe past prejudice played a role in that.

As regards the '86 Montrose, I went through over a case of that from around '97 to 2003 (OWC, from my father). Last I had it was sometime in 2005 or 2006. I remember it was in the Shangri-La’s RED Restaurant and it was the Stockbroker’s bottle, and that it was so much more mellow and amiable than before, but I can’t find any of my notes on it.

Anent Latour, Latour is my favorite maker for Bdx. I know I’ve had the '86 sometime in 2000 or 2001, but, unfortunately, I only have notes on the '82, '83, '85, '88, '89, '90 and onwards. My notes on the '86 must have been in the pile that got lost. Either that, or I never wrote down notes on the ones I’ve had. I will never know now…I don’t recall disliking it (but, I don’t recall a Latour I didn’t like - surprisingly, I even liked the '05 I tasted from barrel, exceedingly strapping young beast that it was).

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To be precise, I won’t say that I dislike the Latour; more accurately, I find it somewhat disappointing in the context of both the chateau & the vintage. I figure given the price, when you are tasting a Latour and thinking “90 points”, it ranks as a relative disappointment, but that said, I don’t think I’d be of a mind to turn down a taste [wink.gif]

I am more concerned with the '86 Montrose, as the last time I tried it it seemed to me that the balance between fruit & tannic structure had shifted in favor of the structure, which leaves me somewhat concerned for the ultimate disposition of a wine that all things considered may still have 15-20 years of drinking window left. If I read your post correctly, Noel, you have consumed your Montrose earlier, and in retrospect that may have been the smart move.

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BTW, Scott, I still have the '86 Lafite in the cellar - are you saying that all I need do is dangle a bottle or two on a future BYOB winelist and that might be enough to get you to forsake your Cali Pinots for a night to come out & play [wink.gif]

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Bob,
Yes.
–Scott
[wink.gif] [berserker.gif]