TN: 1979 Lur-Saluces "Y" (France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur)

WINE TALK
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  • 1979 Lur-Saluces “Y” - France, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur (12/5/2016)
    Pop and pour at Les Clos in San Francisco with assorted Berserkers. Purchased at an Acker Internet auction about 6 years ago. Golden yellow with a hint of orange but lighter than a comparably aged Yquem. The nose was expressive floral with pineapple. The palate was like a dry Yquem- there was citrus, pineapple, some tropical fruit and spicy botrytis. It opened up more as it took on air over two hours and warmed a bit. The finish filled the mouth for a long time and you could taste it well after it was gone. Another Acker auction gamble that paid off.

My general comment is that if this is an example of a well-aged white Bordeaux blend, an aged dry Haut Brion, which is supposed to be the top of the pyramid, must be absolutely phenomenal. (93 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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i went through a case of the ’78 throughout the late 1980s – remarkable stuff; your notes are quite good, and i occasionally found scents of pine needles scattered among the fruit cup…

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assorted berserkers

[smileyvault-ban.gif]

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On Ebob, it would be banned. I just didn’t want to out anyone.

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Don’t have much familiarity with older Y, but the ones from the past decade don’t share any DNA with HB bl. Which isn’t a bad thing, they’re both the best of their style.

I can’t think of much better values than Y

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Nice note, Jay. Had this a year or the ago and it got better and better with air. Needed 2-3 hours to really be at peak performance.

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My commenmt may have been completely off the wall. I have never had HB Blanc and this was not like any other white Bordeaux I have had, but this was very special.

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I don’t ever recall hearing this wine promoted as a great value.

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Jay I know exactly what you were getting at though. And when I had it last with their team I am pretty sure they went through a stylistic change about a decade ago.

But Chris, I find most values are decently expensive. If I have a $150 bottle that I would happily pay $225 for, I would say that’s a decent amt of economic value added and hence a value…and I’d put it up above the pape clement/Shl/ddc Blancs, but I do like the style so it totally is pretty objective on the point you brought up.

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I’ve been called a lot worse than “assorted”. Jay described the wine perfectly, I would have been happy to spend a lot more time with it. A very generous bring!

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The '78 “Y” I tasted a couple of weeks ago, sourced from WineBid, was also tremendous although not as tropical as you describe the '79. More interesting than the young versions.

I am a fan of HB Blanc but the style is much different, more waxy and minerally than “Y.” I unloaded my remaining stash of '85 and '89 HB Blanc recently after disappointing experiences with both vintages after numerous great bottles of each when they were younger.