A library wines tasting arranged by Geoff Kelly at Regional Wines, Wellington.
All wines either purchased on release or bought in auctions by Geoff in the 1980s and stored until now in his pristine personal cellar. All corks were removed intact with low levels of ullage reported and conservatively decanted.
Tasted single blind. Notes in order of tasting.
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1978 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Colour deep red. An attractive nose of earth, underbrush, raspberry, cedar and savoury mushroom. Better on bouquet than palate. Past its best, disjointed. The fruit seems to have run out, leaving only the acids and tannins, that are way too prominent. Lean and mean, seeming a bit green, on the mid palate and finishing bitter on the back palate, pulling up a bit short. Nonetheless, with some cassis flavours, clearly Bordeaux. I understand this has always been recognised as a poor Montrose. Geoff said that from the time of opening, the wine deteriorated and he kept pushing it forward in the tasting order until it was opening the tasting. I don’t know if all of these are this bad but I would be opening one soon, if I had it. (86 pts.)
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1978 Joseph Drouhin Gevrey-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin
The colour is fairly light red, showing bricking. A musty, soft, fading bouquet of tobacco, autumn leaves, old leather and dried flowers. The evolved nose alone marks this out as the Villages-level Burgundy. A little better on palate, in a secondary or tertiary sort of way. Flavours of autumn leaves, underbrush, old leather couch, finishing on an awkward, burnt caramel note. Nice texture with hints of fruit. Still drinkable but on its last legs. The least preferred wine among tasters. Geoff said he regretted not having a 1978 1er or Grand Cru Burgundy, which would have been a more interesting comparison. (87 pts.) -
1978 Pio Cesare Barolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Colour vivid red. That’s better! Bouquet initially fairly dumb but opened on notes of ripe red berries (particularly faded raspberries), forest floor, also some fennel, star anise or aniseed and liquorice. Bouquet not distinctively Nebbiolo, but more so on palate. In the mouth, more primary fruit flavours with good intensity on the back palate. The flavours were spice, browning red berry fruits and a bit of faded Barolo tar. Still good tannins, structure, acids and fruit, with good length. Showing a little oxidation. Apparently, some new oak in this, but I could not detect it. Drinking well now and in the next few years. (91 pts.) -
1978 Château Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Lighter red colour. An expressive, attractive, large scaled bouquet. Aromas of flowers, spice, cracked pepper and red plums. On palate, a fully mature, quality Bordeaux. A smooth entry, with good deep fruit still present on the mid palate. Flavours of dried plums and other faded red fruits, old dark chocolate and undergrowth. Excellent structure and acids still in place, with good length. Seemingly at its peak now, drink in the next few years. Merlot 90%, average vine age 28 years at the time. (92 pts.)
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1978 E. Guigal Gigondas - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas
Colour also lighter red. A different bouquet to the other wines so far, showing aromatic complexity. Savoury notes of earthy mushrooms, dried herbs and red berries. Very smooth on the palate. Good depth and complexity, quite detailed flavours of old red fruit, mushrooms and sous bois. I had this as a quality Bordeaux but when revealed, the relative softness on palate and the evident Mourvèdre component showed this as Rhone. At its peak now, or just beginning the downslide. (91 pts.) -
1978 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Colour vivid red. A dumber nose, dead or dying, with an unpleasant component: vegetal, mushroomy, herby, showing some Cabernet Sauvignon cedar and blackberry aromas and tobacco. On palate, this is clearly Bordeaux, but, as with the Montrose, the fruit has faded, leaving too much spiky tannin and acid. It’s a shame because the texture and the structure is good. This is old fashioned, refreshing, slightly herby Bordeaux, past its peak. Cabernet Sauvignon 67%, Merlot 17%, vines 30 years old at average. (89 pts.)
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1978 Cuvaison Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - USA, California, Napa Valley
Colour deepest garnet of all of the wines. Bouquet of blackberries, crème de cassis and red and black raspberries, with some earth and a suggestion of cedar. Also, showing a little oak. On palate, this is the ‘youngest’, most primary wine on the table, showing a lot of very ripe fruit. I’m thinking it might be one of the Grenache-based wines. A big, burly wine showing very heavy fruit weight, some oak and prominent tannins that need to integrate. The second most popular wine at the tasting. I would like to see a little more elegance. Ideally, I would give this 5+ years more cellar time. Geoff said that this wine was made by Englishman Philip Togni and bears no relation to the modern Cuvaison. (92 pts.)
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1978 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Deep ruby colour. A lot of bouquet here. A rich, mature, lovely nose of autumn leaves, brushwood, musk, oat biscuits and old leather, nothing primary here. On palate, attractive autumnal and mellow flavours of dried plums and blackcurrants and other preserved red fruit. Quite detailed. Lovely silky texture. Fruit and structure still holding, but on the downward slide soon, I think. To me, this is what very good, fully mature Bordeaux is all about, but this house is a favourite of mine. Cabernet Sauvignon 50%, Merlot 35% (93 pts.)
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1978 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Cèdres - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Deep garnet colour, with some bricking. A spicy, excellent nose of raspberry, rose water, crème de cassis, with lifted florals. A lovely elegant wine in the mouth, with a fresh, refreshing entry. Good structure, showing evolved flavours of blackberry and earth. A pretty, feminine wine, in harmony and balance, not showing a lot of oak. Drink in the next few years. Easily, the most popular wine at the tasting. This and the Vieux Télégraphe are a far cry from the high octane, fruit bomb Châteauneuf-du-Papes often produced today. Grenache 85%, Syrah 15%. (93 pts.)
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1978 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Colour lighter red. Gorgeous spicy bouquet, large scaled, of fresh red berry fruits. On palate, succulent, gorgeous fruit with real depth, fruit weight, power and serious structure. Attractive, racy acids still visible, but not out of proportion. A classy, profound top Bordeaux, I was thinking was the Margaux (and vice versa), with complex flavours including crème de cassis, plums, raspberries, earth and cedar. Beautifully poised and balanced, finishes very looong … My WOTN. Drink in the next few years. Four tasters had this as WOTN, compared to two for the Margaux. Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, Merlot 40%. (95 pts.)
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1978 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Colour, quite primary, purple red. Bouquet shows mature red and black berries, tobacco, cedar and Asian spices, a great nose. The acids make this a little puckering on entry but then structure and density on mid palate take over. Very good acids. Also very good fruit weight, but not, to my palate, as good as the Palmer, so my runner up to WOTN. Still this epitomises everything good in mature, top flight Bordeaux, with its excellent complexity of flavours. Lovely, spicy oak, not fully integrated. Still fairly youthful, drink or hold for the next 5 years or so. Cabernet Sauvignon 75%, Merlot 20%. (95 pts.)
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1978 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Colour lighter red, with a watery rim. A perfumed, beautiful bouquet of raspberries, black truffles and florals. Quite a sweet entry, but on palate a big, relatively primary, rich wine with the flavours of cherries and reminding me of a meaty casserole. A wine some structure with sufficient mid palate depth, but, not without elegance. Real length and back palate intensity and some firm tannins. Ideally, this wine needs 5 or so more years cellar time (!). Grenache 70%, Syrah 15%, Mourvèdre 10% . (93 pts.)
Thanks to Geoff for organising!
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