A very special tasting arranged by Geoff Kelly at Regional Wines, Wellington on 28 November 2013. Geoff will no doubt post notes on his website: http://www.geoffkellywinereviews.co.nz/.
All wines either purchased on release or bought in auctions in the 1980s and stored until now in Geoff’s pristine personal cellar.
Bottles stood about a month before tasting. Geoff had opened the wines progressively over several hours, as the corks permitted, on the day of the tasting. He used an Ah-So to loosen corks before opening each wine with a screw pull. All corks were removed intact with expected levels of ullage reported.
Tasted blind. Only bargette to accompany. Notes in order of tasting.
1976 Château Montrose
Light red in colour, just beginning to brown. Relatively fresh, lively aromas of raspberry, spice, cherry and cassis. On palate, a relatively sweet entry, followed by good mid palate weight and intensity and ultimately a savoury finish. Some tasters, including John T, had this as their WOTN, but I worried about a lack of balance in the acids, the fruit fading and the wine finishing a little short. For me, a nice Bordeaux, but not a great Montrose (Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 25%, Cabernet Franc 10%). 91.
1983 Mount Mary Cabernets
Light red in colour, just beginning to brown. Dumber nose than the Montrose, showing red currant and some cassis. Also secondary aromas of leather saddle, cigar box and some spice. On the palate, savoury flavours, with good fruit weight. Less acids than the Montrose, lacking intensity and some complexity. Tannins thoroughly integrated. It made me think of a well worn old leather couch. A pleasant mellow, mature Cabernet Sauvignon. Other tasters suggested the wine was in Modernist style and perhaps even over-extracted. 90.
On the reveal, a surprise to most that this was a wine from the Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia, apparently from a drought year. Cabernet Sauvignon 100%.
1962 Château Margaux
Light red in colour, with some brown tinges. Corked. If you dug below the cork taint, you could find aromas of cassis, raspberry and black cherry. Badly corked on palate, but seemingly some good fruit underneath. Good texture and fruit weight. Seemed a bit short and lean but impossible to judge. On the reveal, a wave of disappointment in the room that this was the faulty wine. NR.
1955 Bodegas Bilbainas Rioja Vieja Reserva
Light red in colour, brown tinges around the rim. A very unusual nose of cream, almost custard, certainly lactic. Geoff pointed to silver pine and even citric aromas. Very different on palate: earthy and savoury, mushroom with some underbrush. Well structured, with good weight and the tannins totally resolved. A nice, silky texture. Finished very long. A very good, mature wine. Tasters noted the Tempranillo (believed to be 100%) character here. 93.
1961 Clos René
Dark red. Blackberry, ripe plum and cedar aromas, with some earth and spice. Also, some minerality, gun metal and graphite. On palate, savoury on entry. The fruit was relatively vibrant and bright, with some acid present. Seemed an intense, youngish wine, with some tannic grip yet to fade. Solid mid palate weight, reasonably long with a savoury finish (browning plums?). To me, however, lacking some complexity. 92.
I was surprised that this was a second tier Pomerol (70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc) with this age. A rare London bottled wine. Second to top wine for Steve Bennett MW.
1972 Lake’s Folly Cabernet Sauvignon
Light red in colour. A lovely bouquet almost lifted, red fruit including raspberry, red currant, moving secondary, including autumn leaves and tobacco. But relatively primary on palate, red berry flavours and cassis coming through. Relatively vibrant, with acids still present and nicely in balance. Rounded tannins still present but largely resolved. Good structure and length. Cabernet Sauvignon 100% from the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. 92.
1985 Viña Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Medalla Real
Light red in colour. On bouquet, quite pure and bright. Blackberry, raspberry, cedar, cassis, also some greenness (but not unpleasantly so, perhaps nettles). On palate, reasonably fruit forward and intense, with acids present but tannins largely integrated. Silky texture with good weight and finishes on a savoury, but slightly drying note. A Chilean wine from the Maipo Valley, predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon. 91.
1986 Château Margaux
Colour most vivid in tasting, almost purple. A dumber nose than most with graphite, pencil shavings and metallic notes, some crème de cassis, red cherry and cedar notes in the background. Sweet entry on the palate, with crème de cassis flavour. The most primary wine here: luxuriant, voluptuous texture, with huge fruit weight, power, structure and intensity. For me, a classy wine, clearly the best so far, with real mid palate depth and great length, albeit finishing a little hard and slightly metallic. 94.
If I had a bottle of this I would hold it for at least 10 more years.
1960 Château Margaux
Rust red/brown. On bouquet, clearly older. Autumns leaves, spice, dried fruits, cigar box, leather and earth. Lovely savoury aromas I could happily sit smelling all day. On palate, this is what fully mature Bordeaux is all about. Autumnal, savoury, mellow, totally charming. Your first thought is that it is light in style, but it is not, the tannins and all elements of the wine are fully, seamlessly integrated. It has great structure, but the wine is so in harmony you could miss it. Excellent smooth texture and great persistence but all about balance, finesse and subtlety. At its peak. For me clearly WOTN, one of the best Bordeaux I have ever had. 97.
I understand that this vintage is not necessarily highly regarded …
1953 Château Margaux
Colour brownest in tasting. Aromas of forest floor, black truffles, porcini mushrooms with some spice and cream. A bouquet very close to Madeira or a dry sherry had me thinking this might be one of the Spanish wines. On palate, even more developed than the 1960, multiple savoury layers, tending black truffle, dried fruit and mushroom. Great concentration, fruit weight and structure, totally seamless, with silky texture and great length. Perhaps slightly past its peak, but a beautiful, intriguing fully mature wine. 95.
1953 Bodegas Bilbainas Rioja Viña Pomal Reserva Especial
Colour reasonably vivid red. Another savoury nose, redolent with aromas of cigar box, dried fig, underbrush and almonds. On palate, some similarities with the 1953 Margaux profile. A very savoury wine, with flavours of dried fig and mushroom and with complexity, great fruit weight and lovely structure. This wine is poised and beautifully balanced. The tannins are fully resolved, the fruit is fading, this is a lovely, classy, fully mature wine. 93.
On the reveal, a rarity, (perhaps) 100% Tempranillo from Rioja Alta.
In my opinion the two Rioja here show that these wines should be better known and regarded in the fine wine world as wines to age on a par with classed growth Bordeaux.
1971 Louis Gouroux Grands-Echezeaux
Colour autumnal brown/red. On bouquet, this is clearly mature Burgundy. A lifted nose, aromatic dynamite: red cherry, black cherry, sous bois, spice, musk, soil, black tea, forest floor. Clear floral notes, some fresh and some dried flowers, layers of aroma, tending autumnal. On palate, surprisingly vibrant and intense with red and black berry flavours, balanced by savoury flavours tending game meat, mushroom and warm earth. Multidimensional, with layers of flavour, excellent concentration, mid palate weight, finesse and length. A lovely, eloquent mature Burgundy. My second favourite wine of the night. 95.
On the reveal, this wine is another rarity. A London bottled Grand Cru labelled “Domain Gouroux”, it is unclear if it was Henri or Louis Gouroux’s wine. However, Louis apparently had the Grands-Echezeaux site, so Allen Meadows attributed the 1966 to him.
Many of the bottles here were Geoff’s last of these wines and a number will have been the last in NZ. Geoff, a privilege to taste, thank you very much for your generosity.
