TN: My concerns my 1995 Bdx would never come around were unfounded

[Marc_Frontario]

Hilarious story about my buddy Jim

[Marc_Frontario]

The 95 Cos has been pretty terrific as long ago as like 2010, Ramon. You brought a wonderful bottle of it to a tasting, I recall.

But that said, I don’t plan to crack into my big guns from 95 until they hit 30.

1996 Cos is a cracker

[Robert.A.Jr]

I liked the 95 Cos very much.

Funny story, Ramon, curious what you guys had in the line-up. I’m a big fan of the 95 SM and a huge fan of 95 SM Jean Gautreau.

Just popped an 09 for $hit$ and giggles. Was curious. And my ‘99 BAMA from last night turned South on me.

[Marcu_Stanley]

The 95 Cos has been pretty terrific as long ago as like 2010, Ramon. You brought a wonderful bottle of it to a tasting, I recall.

But that said, I don’t plan to crack into my big guns from 95 until they hit 30.

Oh yes, the BWE days when Jim How was pounding the table for an SM that he said will trounce everything that night. When blind tasted, we all knew which one it was and he didn’t recognize and declared it as his worst wine of the night. Funny dude.

Hilarious, 100% sounds like Jim. A man with the courage to stand by his opinions, even if they are different than they were five minutes ago.

So I had a 1995 GPL back in the spring of this year that was fantastic — beautiful fruit, perfect cut. Definitely would not have said it came from an excessively tannic and shut down vintage

[jcjouas]

Any recent tasting notes on the 95 Mouton? I tried a bottle several years ago and it was completely closed. CellarTracker notes indicate that it is just coming around. Thanks in advance.

I tasted the ‘95 Mouton just under 2 months ago and while it is indeed coming around somewhat, it still showed true to the vintage as it was restrained and not really all that giving, granted we did not decant but I digress as CellarTracker notes do look decidedly different than my take on that afternoon.

[Pat_Martin]

The 95 Cos has been pretty terrific as long ago as like 2010, Ramon. You brought a wonderful bottle of it to a tasting, I recall.

But that said, I don’t plan to crack into my big guns from 95 until they hit 30.

Oh yes, the BWE days when Jim How was pounding the table for an SM that he said will trounce everything that night. When blind tasted, we all knew which one it was and he didn’t recognize and declared it as his worst wine of the night. Funny dude.

That WAS a fun night! Turns out you brought a 96 Cos (I’ve had the 95 at other offlines) and it was in 2009, not 2010. It was the 03 Sociando that Jim whiffed on:
http://www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=877&p=6167&hilit=Emile+cos#p6167

[Craig_G]

I’ve had the 95 GPL 6 or 7 times since 2015 - at least half of them were closed up tight, but 2 of them were glorious (though just entering their drinking window) in a style I really dig.

I had a six pack of GPL and held off on the first bottle until 2016. It was very good but very young. I’m not in any hurry to drink them. I have a few 1995s like Dauzac that have shown very well, without the characteristic hardness of the vintage.

Overall I think the wines are good if you like classic harder year Bordeaux like 1988 and 1975, and like those years you have to have patience. Not generally wines for Napa drinkers.

[Ramon_C]

I liked the 95 Cos very much.

Funny story, Ramon, curious what you guys had in the line-up. I’m a big fan of the 95 SM and a huge fan of 95 SM Jean Gautreau.

Read back on Pat’s link below and here were the wines, in case you don’t want to read through all the banters.
In recollection, back then, the 2003s were not endearing much to me, but acknowledged that the Duhart Milon was qood.
1996s were the clear winners.

2004 Prudhon Saint-Aubim en Remilly 1er
2000 Trimbach Cuvee Fredrick Emile

1996 Flight
1996 Cos d’Estournel, Saint-Estephe
1996 Leoville Las Cases, Saint-Julien
1996 Duhart Milon, Pauillac
1996 Lafon Rochet, Saint-Estephe

2003 Flight - Tasted Single Blind
Wine #1 Sociando Mallet, Haut Medoc
Wine #2 Pontet Canet
Wine #3 Duhart Milon

Last Flight
2003 Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac-Leognan
2003 Lagrange, Saint-Julien
1996 Sociando Mallet, Haut Medoc

[Arv_R]

Yes, so far the '96 have been showing better for me also. The '95 Trotanoy I tried last year was utterly closed for business and I have been keeping my hands off of GPL and Calon, both of which obviously I own. I still harbor hope that it will come around, so nice to see/hear signs that this is the case.

Arv, you seemed to like the C-La Gaff better than most; or am I misreading?

Yes, I’m always partial to C-L-G, and the candied fruit it can sometimes show. We had a couple of 95 Trotanoys in the last several years and they were great too. Sadly, an estate that is too much to reload on.

[Jay_Miller]

Coincidentally I opened a 1995 GPL tonight.

Beautiful pure fruit, still some tannic astringency but not enough to detract from enjoyment, just enough to request food.

double decanted about 5 hours ago, poured off a glass to expand surface area, and let it sit in bottle since then.

the person I’m visiting doesn’t own a decanter

[Pat_Martin]

My first 95 GPL was the one you brought to Fabio’s, Jay. I bought a case after that showing.

[Mike_Grammer]

Add 95 Angelus, marvelicious. From my Atlanta trip in October, courtesy of Fred Schwartz:

"1995 Chateau Angelus

I think this was opened when Fred asked Nick what he’d like to sip at. Sure glad I have a friend who asks the right questions! This has no questions. It’s an ethereally magical drink of wine. Silkily plush red plum and cranberry fruit have equal weight with dabs of cocoa and dust. It’s even better on the tongue, absolutely made me sit up in my chair with how bold yet classy it was at the same time. Sparkles in your mouth, yet glides down the throat with aromatic replays. This is probably the best wine I had on the whole trip and will be in the WOTY discussion. Let’s go with 94, I think."

[Ramon_C]

My first 95 GPL was the one you brought to Fabio’s, Jay. I bought a case after that showing.

One of my 2nd from Jay’s stash, iirc.
95 GPL > 96 GPL.

[William_Kelley]

Any recent tasting notes on the 95 Mouton? I tried a bottle several years ago and it was completely closed. CellarTracker notes indicate that it is just coming around. Thanks in advance.

Dense and muscular, you could drink it now after a two- to three-hour decant, but better in a decade.

[William_Kelley]

I think people are overthinking this. 1995 was inherently a structured, tannic vintage. From a historical perspective, coming off the back of 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994, there was also evidently a strong incentive to “push” as great what was the first passable vintage since 1990, and it was accordingly initially a bit over-rated. Then the wines shut down, and people started to talking about the “tannin outlasting the fruit”, a simplistic formulation that is not very useful when thinking about how wines age. The fact is that the best 1995 Médocs are wines than need 30 years, and in the past would have been forgotten for that long. By checking in every two years, all that is achieved is that when the wines are actually ready, you only have two bottles left from the original case of twelve.

Personally, the 1995 I own the most of is Figeac, which I am happy about, but I would really like to have some Calon Ségur, GPL and Pichon Lalande in my cellar. The 1995 Pichon Lalande is in a sense the last great Merlot-driven Pichon Lalande, and represents the end of an era.

[Br1an_Th0rne]

I opened a 95 GPL for Christmas dinner, and it was still quite reserved. Every bottle of 96 GPL I’ve opened in the last few years has been absolutely singing! A 95 Pichon Lalande completely blew me away…has improved considerably over the last 7 years!

[Pat_Martin]

The 95 PLL was great going back a long while, winning WOTN in 2006 at a serious Pauillac offline.

[Jay_Miller]

Then the wines shut down, and people started to talking about the “tannin outlasting the fruit”, a simplistic formulation that is not very useful when thinking about how wines age.

[Jay_Winton]

I attended a wine dinner in London recently featuring 95 Bordeaux. All showed well-no surprise Haut Brion was the winner but no dogs. Changed my opinion of the vintage as spotty. Overall, the wines were aging well with no rush to drink.

[LMD_Ermitano]

My recent experiences with ‘95 Bdx seems to be the same - they are starting to show well. The most significant was a ‘95 Ducru Beaucaillou a couple of months ago (with around 2 hours breathing in a decanter). Previous experiences with that wine made me question whether or not it would ever open up.