TN: First Growth Bordeaux Tasting

WINE TALK
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WCC FIRST GROWTH BORDEAUX TASTING @ PROVENCE - Provence Restaurant, Albany, NY (6/4/2009)

My regular Albany-area tasting group met at Provence Restaurant for a blind tasting of Bordeaux First Growths. Tasting started close to 7:30. All wines tasted double-blind. All we knew was that these were all supposed to be first growth Bordeaux, 1988 or older. There could have been a ringer (but there wasn’t). There was one duplicate.

The Wine Fairy numbers the bottles.

Flight 1: Château Haut-Brion
With bread. Most of us thought these were the oldest wines in the tasting, not one chateau. Some felt the first wine was defective and then theorized afterwards that it had spoiled the rest of the flight. I really liked 4 of the wines, but wasn’t as wowed as with some below or some previous times I’ve had Haut Brion.

  • 1970 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
    [Double-decanted at 3pm.] Gorgeously complex nose of licorice, tar, and wood mulch. Delicate, elusive, and gloriously mature with cedar mulch and dried cherries in a medium length finish. (93 pts.)
  • 1982 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
    [Double-decanted at 6:30pm.] Wood mulch and cherries in the nose. Tart cherries and elegant. Over time becomes quite riveting and exquisite. Needed 2 hours to open up. (95 pts.)
  • 1983 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
    [Decanted at 9am.] Anise and cedar nose. Very earthy, mulch, tar, mint. Excellent length. (92 pts.)
  • 1985 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
    [Double-decanted at 8am.] Woody nose. Dried out. OTH. (87 pts.)
  • 1986 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
    [Double-decanted 24 hours before the tasting.] Stunning complex nose of allspice and cinnamon. Tasty tart cherries. A big rich beautiful wine. (94 pts.)

Flight 2: Château Mouton Rothschild
With Seared Bigeye Tuna with Fricassee of Forest Mushrooms and Ginger Sweet Potato Puree with Spicy Pomegranate Reduction.




  • 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double-decanted at 3pm.] Dirty nose. Spoiled. NR (flawed)
  • 1978 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double-decanted at 5pm] Not much nose, but delicious and full bodied in the mouth. Very complex and delicious, WOTN so far! Wow! Great length. Gorgeous wine. (96 pts.)
  • 1985 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double-decanted at 8am.] Explosive cedar and red fruit nose. Wow! Expansive, tannic, long and riveting in the mouth. Terrific! (97 pts.)
  • 1986 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double-decanted at 8am.] Loads of cedar and red currants. Thick, backward. Hard to judge. Hard to believe this is 1988 or older. Is this a ringer? Still has loads of upside potential. 95-? points. (95 pts.)
  • 1988 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double-decanted at 7am.] Mildly corked nose. Dried out in the mouth. NR (flawed)

Flight 3: Château Latour and Château Lafite Rothschild
With Black Angus Steak Carpaccio with Organic Baby Watercress and Manchego Toast Points served with Poached Quail Egg, Bacon Lardons and Black Pepper Virgin Olive Oil.




  • 1970 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double-decanted at 3pm.] Big tight earth mulch nose. Very young and tannic. I cannot believe this is almost 40 years old. This bottle needs 10 years! 95-? points. (96 pts.)
  • 1970 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double-decanted 21 hours before the tasting.] Another huge wine. Excellent length. Wow! Very similar to the one above, but somewhat more resolved. (95 pts.)
  • 1978 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double decanted at 4pm.] Big cedar nose. Monster wine. Stunning length. Wow, wow, wow! This wine is in a terrific place right now. WOTN for me so far!! (98 pts.)
  • 1981 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Double-decanted at 5pm] Another monster nose. Big, rich tannic in the mouth. Still quite young. Loads of cedar mulch. Great stuff. (95 pts.)
  • 1988 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
    [Decanted at 4pm.] Again big and rich, but there’s something off in the mouth on this one. NR (flawed)

Flight 4: Château Margaux
With Duck Three Ways: Foie Gras, Crispy Seared Breast and Leg Confit Crepe with Huckleberry Coulis.

Most people’s favorite flight.

  • 1981 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
    [Double-decanted at 6pm] Huge woodsy nose. Medium body. Lovely and delicious. Should hold for 10 years. (94 pts.)
  • 1982 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
    [Double-decanted at 8am.] Oh sh*t! Monster nose of currant jam and licorice. Big, silky orgasmically good wine. I cannot believe the depth and breadth of this wine. One of the best bottles of Bordeaux I’ve had in years. Undoubtedly the WOTN for me. (100 pts.)
  • 1983 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
    [Double-decanted at 5pm] Long, riveting. Another wow wine! We are really in the glory now! (97 pts.)
  • 1986 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
    [Double-decanted at 8am.] This might be one wine too many. I can tell it’s another big rich terrific wine, but it seems very young. It’s getting hard for me to discern any nuances. 94-? points. (94 pts.)

Dessert
With Chocolate Marquis: Layered Chocolate with Kahula, Toasted Almonds and Praline Sauce.

  • 1978 Château d’Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
    [Pop & pour, cold.] Medium amber color. Huge, complex, botrytis nose. Elegant, sweet, balanced delicious. A superb Sauternes! (95 pts.)

I have to say, I was shocked to see how great the Margaux seemed. I’ve always thought the strength of Margaux was it’s perfume, but these had a power to them as well that was astounding!

All in all, just a great experience!

Posted from CellarTracker

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Ken, you suck. That is all.

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Wow, and bravo to you guys for doing it double blind!!!

That Margaux sounds absolutely sick.

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+1

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What Tex said.

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Damn

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Oh great, he went back and added pics of FOOD!!!

I’m gonna go with what the rest of the people said - you suck!

[1928_middle_finger.gif]

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Now that pics are posted…you suck even more.

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Love is a many-splendored thing!

[thank_you.gif] [thank_you.gif] [thank_you.gif] [thank_you.gif] [thank_you.gif]

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From the pictures, the only food (or wine, for that matter) that I can relate to is that thing that looks like an Egg McMuffin.

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Great tasting and great notes Ken! …And yes, you do suck!

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Cretan from Sparta…or is that Spartan from Crete.

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Even I’m jealous at those wines!

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How can this weekend compete, Ken??? Oh, bring some aged first growths, yeah that will get us there… [wow.gif]

In seriousness, great write up–a very enjoyable read. I have only limited experience with most of those producers (I think maybe a dozen and half bottles at most) and none of the vintages you guys pulled together for this tasting. So, quite useful for aspirational purposes!

-Michael

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That was so good. The yoke was still runny.

I am typically slow to eat my food because I like to taste each flight without food first. I was engrossed in taking my notes on the last wine in that flight, when a good friend sitting to my left poked me, pointed at that “Egg McMuffin” and said “You gonna eat that?” His plate was clean and I think he was drooling at the time. [taunt.gif]

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Where is the “insanely jealous” smilie?

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The last time I had '88 Mouton was probably Fall of '07 and it was at home with a few other wines, including '98 Mouton. It was not a great wine and was completely outclassed by the '98. At the time I remember thinking it was worth a high eighties score at best.

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Thank you all for your comments. There are few things in life as enjoyable as the envy of ones friends! [berserker.gif]

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Ken, didn’t anybody ever tell you that First Growths are overrated? You should know that, you label drinker! [highfive.gif]

I like how enthusiastic you were about the 78s - they can probably be had at a small fraction of the price of, you know, “great vintages”.

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Ken, NICE WINES… I always say there is a reason these wines are first growths and prices are high, they deliver the experience…
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