Inevitably, when it’s 90+ degrees, one’s thoughts turn to Bordeaux. Wait, did I say that? Well, inevitably, some 90+ day each summer, I find myself heading to a Bordeaux tasting and thinking “am I nuts?” Luckily, Dylan Prime has decent AC, so after a while I was ready to face red meat and many vintages of Montrose.
While we waited for all (well, almost all) to gather, we tried the 1998 Muller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Spatlese. . An old friend, holding on, though I wouldn’t hold much longer. Tropical fruit cocktail with a squirt of grapefruit and lime, sweet and rich but lively. B+
Flight one (with pork belly tater tots)
1964 Ch. Montrose
A little iodine-y at first sniff, but a nice middle-framed mature Bordeaux, surprisingly young blackcurrant fruit, earth, a little gamy, I like. B+/A-
1966 Ch. Montrose
Solid, smokey, good fruit, good concentration and length. Completely mature yet vibrant, my WOTN. A-
1970 Ch. Montrose
I had variable bottles of this, and this was not one of the best despite good fill. Some barnyard, slightly pruney fruit, a repour later is a bit fresher, but a third pour is past it. B-
Flight Two (coincided with my appetizer, a modern version of Caprese salad. As usual in steakhouses, no good Bordeaux matching appetizers, but I thought “hey, it’s tomato season.” Well, not if they’ve been in the fridge).
1978 Ch. Montrose
Surprise of the night, great showing for this wine. Before it’s poured, Paul says it smells like bubblegum, and damn if he isn’t right. Not there once poured, though. Sweet fruit and leather, pleasantly herby, decent length, good acids, though it faded a bit in time. B+
1982 Ch. Montrose
Slightly high toned at first, lots of tobacco and earth, solid black plum and currant fruit, iron filings, not an acclaimed '82 but very good showing. A-/B+
Flight Three (with my ribeye)
1989 Ch. Montrose
Some thought this corked, I didn’t get TCA, but I found it off. One could sense a big impressive wine, but there was an offnote I couldn’t get past.
B-/C+, but I don’t think correct bottle.
1990 Ch. Montrose
I’ve had bottles of this that were like tripping in pasture and landing facefirst in the poop, but this only has a hint of barnyard. Sweet cassis and blackberry fruit, good length, needs time. B+/A-
Flight Four
1995 Ch. Montrose
Surprisingly forward and ready, good Cabernet fruit, quite good though maybe finish a tad clipped. B+
1996 Ch. Montrose
I found nose a little strange (Paul said like artificially buttered popcorn, but I didn’t get that). Redder fruit, lush, not very '96ish to me. Still, a quite decent Cabernet. B
2000 Ch. Montrose
A bit closed, needs time, but impressive balance of black fruits, refreshing acids, and ripe tannins. Lots (LOTS) of potential/ A-/B+
2003 Ch. Montrose
I was looking forward to trying this, but I’m having trouble finding words. It was ethereal, almost like it wasn’t even there. Kind of a ghost wine. Empty, lacking body, fruit, tannins, acids, color, substance NR (edited to add that it WASN’T THERE, an inside joke re a no show)
A sudden thunderstorm kept us trapped for a bit, but good excuse to revisit wines. Fun night, fun group (all 7 who showed up)
Grade disclaimer: I’m a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn’t drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
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