TN: 1986 Château Cos d'Estournel (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe)

[M_M_c_C_a_l_l]

• 1986 Château Cos d’Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/9/2009)
  Our last bottle. Bloody, dense, murky garnet. Faint bricking at the outermost edge. Lovely, maturing bouquet dominated by damp forest floor and rounded out by bright, high toned cedar, juniper, sweet soy sauce, plum, and cassis. The palate is more youthful than the nose portends. There’s a faint touch of sweetness up front, but the tannins are still rather firm. The structure is there for a long life, but the cedar/juniper note gets a bit overwhelming with air. I like this wine, but I don’t love it. For half the price, I’d rather have Calon-Ségur.

[Claude_Kolm]

@M. M c C a l l

• 1986 Château Cos d’Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/9/2009)
  Our last bottle. Bloody, dense, murky garnet. Faint bricking at the outermost edge. Lovely, maturing bouquet dominated by damp forest floor and rounded out by bright, high toned cedar, juniper, sweet soy sauce, plum, and cassis. The palate is more youthful than the nose portends. There’s a faint touch of sweetness up front, but the tannins are still rather firm. The structure is there for a long life, but the cedar/juniper note gets a bit overwhelming with air. I like this wine, but I don’t love it. For half the price, I’d rather have Calon-Ségur.

That sounds about right (I’m one who thinks that the 1986s, kind of like the 1966s, needed a lot of time), except it was Montrose at about half the price when the wines first came out, IIRC. And then of course, Haut-Marbuzet, de Pez, les Ormes de Pez, and Sociando-Mallet at what, maybe 1/4 the price? (Calon-Ségur really wasn’t very good in 1986, to my recollection.) Still I bought some CdE and have most of the bottles still in storage. May pull one when John Morris comes to visit later this month.

[Michael_Bowden]

@M. M c C a l l

• 1986 Château Cos d’Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/9/2009)
  Our last bottle. Bloody, dense, murky garnet. Faint bricking at the outermost edge. Lovely, maturing bouquet dominated by damp forest floor and rounded out by bright, high toned cedar, juniper, sweet soy sauce, plum, and cassis. The palate is more youthful than the nose portends. There’s a faint touch of sweetness up front, but the tannins are still rather firm. The structure is there for a long life, but the cedar/juniper note gets a bit overwhelming with air. I like this wine, but I don’t love it. For half the price, I’d rather have Calon-Ségur.

Hence the issue with 1986 bordeaux…not sure if the fruit will last through the structure.

[John_Morris]

@Claude Kolm

Still I bought some CdE and have most of the bottles still in storage. May pull one when John Morris comes to visit later this month.

Oh, good! Then I can decide whether to sell of the rest of mine.

[Jeff_Schlossberg]

While we’re on the topic of '86’s (I hope this isn’t a hijack), your thoughts on the Comptesse de Lalande would be valued. I’ve been hoarding two 750’s. So…drink or hold? If drink, perfect pairings?

Thanks, y’all

[LMD_Ermitano]

@Michael Bowden

Hence the issue with 1986 bordeaux…not sure if the fruit will last through the structure.

As with any wine with a bit of age, it’s a bottle to bottle thing. In any event, to my mind, there is no issue in these matters. If one thinks his bottles of a certain wine will not/no longer age gracefully, simply drink up = no issue.

[Scott_Manlin]

@Jeff Schlossberg

While we’re on the topic of '86’s (I hope this isn’t a hijack), your thoughts on the Comptesse de Lalande would be valued. I’ve been hoarding two 750’s. So…drink or hold? If drink, perfect pairings?

Thanks, y’all

I have had about 25 bottles of the 86 PLL…I have had absolutely stellar bottles…but the vast majority have been corked or dried out… I don’t know what to make of this wine…but when on, it is spectacular…it has been YEARS since I have had a great one…

[Cris_Whetstone]

Classic Bordeaux with pencil lead galore for me. A wine about secondary characters versus fruit. I take the secondary wine every time.

[Scott_Manlin]

PS… as we discussed…had the 86 and 89 Cos side by side last week in Florida, I found them both quite lovely… the tannins in both vintages cannot be ignored…but they are pretty fine…which makes them palatable…

[LMD_Ermitano]

I’ve had the '86 PL around 4-5 times in the past year and a half, definitely 3 of them ex-château. It’s a good wine, nothing wrong with it, but, compared to the '82 (a good bottle thereof), '85 and '89, I’ve never found the '86 particularly interesting.

[Bob_Hughes]

Melissa, I would also disagree with Claude regarding the merits of the '86 Calon Segur - at least IMO, they made a fine wine that year, albeit in their “classic”, somewhat austere style. Doesn’t compare to their '82, but still a perfectly acceptable wine. I probably like the '86 Cos more than you did, but do agree that it’s got a tannic frame that needs to be dealt with.

[Jack_Bulkin]

I have not been a fan of the 86 Cos. either Melissa, too much of what I don’t like in Bordeaux. I hear you Melissa about the cedary oak, my recollection as well. Recent Gruaud-Larose and Lynch-Bages 86’s however were superb. I liked the Calon Segur, but it was not one of my favorites from that decade.
Montrose was tight as a drum, but it finally began opening around 2000.
Drink well and Happy Hanukkah.

[M_M_c_C_a_l_l]

@Bob Hughes

Melissa, I would also disagree with Claude regarding the merits of the '86 Calon Segur - at least IMO, they made a fine wine that year, albeit in their “classic”, somewhat austere style. Doesn’t compare to their '82, but still a perfectly acceptable wine. I probably like the '86 Cos more than you did, but do agree that it’s got a tannic frame that needs to be dealt with.

For what it’s worth, I love Calon Segur’s classic style. We had Steve’s last (and my only) bottle of the '82 on my birthday a couple of years ago, and it was delightful. I’ve had the '86 Calon Segur once and it was a very nice bottle. This was our third bottle of '86 Cos, and while none of them were damaged, I just didn’t enjoy them to the same extent. It’s not the tannin that bothered me-- it was the cedar note. It’s enjoyable at first, but I never quite habituated to it and it really wore me down.

[Claude_Kolm]

@Bob Hughes

Melissa, I would also disagree with Claude regarding the merits of the '86 Calon Segur - at least IMO, they made a fine wine that year, albeit in their “classic”, somewhat austere style. Doesn’t compare to their '82, but still a perfectly acceptable wine. I probably like the '86 Cos more than you did, but do agree that it’s got a tannic frame that needs to be dealt with.

Bob – You caused me to go back and look at my notes, and I stand corrected. I did give the wine a positive review, and your description of the austerity is right on. But Montrose is still better.

[John_Morris]

@Jack Bulkin

I have not been a fan of the 86 Cos. either Melissa, too much of what I don’t like in Bordeaux. I hear you Melissa about the cedary oak, my recollection as well. Recent Gruaud-Larose and Lynch-Bages 86’s however were superb.

Somehow Lynch Bages avoided the hard tannins of the vintage. The 86 was drinking very, very nicely even seven or eight years ago when most of the others from the vintage were tough as nails.

[John_Morris]

@Jeff Schlossberg

While we’re on the topic of '86’s (I hope this isn’t a hijack), your thoughts on the Comptesse de Lalande would be valued. I’ve been hoarding two 750’s. So…drink or hold? If drink, perfect pairings?

The last bottle I opened was in Feb. 2006. My notes: “Surprisingly tannic and slow to open up. Only after 3+ hours did it seem balanced, but bottle was almost done by then. Needs many more years. 90+?”