WTN: Bordeaux with the Grand Crew

Our tasting group got together last Saturday to try some Bordeaux wines. A fascinating evening where we got to taste some mature wines and compare the old style with some more modern examples. Special thanks to Jenise for sharing some of her cellar treasures. Bottles were served blind, except that the owner knew which was their own wine. Notes are in order of the tasting.

Jose Dhondt Mes Vielles Vignes NV a nonvintage champagne bought about 4 years ago. This was very good, minerally and crisp with both some apple fruit and baked brioche flavors. 3.5*

1966 Pichon Lalande pale garnet with bricking. Lots of old bottle bouquet initially, then sweet dried fruits. Figs, raisin, smoke. At first this seems like a generic old wine, but with more air some tell tale Pauillac graphite comes through. I waited all night for this to fall over the edge and dry up, but this wine hung in there for at least three hours, with persistent dried fruit and cedar smells. The tannins are fully resolved. This was a fantastic wine, for me the WOTN. 5*

1978 Ausone darker, medium garnet with clearing at the rim. Cassis, smoke and slightly vegetal blackberry leaf. Later powdered cherry in the nose as the green note lessens. In the mouth, some acidity and very elegant velvety tannins. The fruit was a little liquor like. This seems to have some years left, although the tannin may outlive what fruit there is. 4*

2000 Monbousquet dark purple color. Lots of sweet oak in the nose with some dense, blackberry, up front fruit. Peppery, hot in the mouth, with oak tannins noticeable also. A shock after the first two. Not my favorite style, but to be fair this was probably a little closed and way too young. 1*

2002 Cos d' Estournel reddish purple color. A very expressive nose, slightly candied red fruits, and a little violet. In the mouth this has big rough drying tannins that clamp down in the middle and don't let go. A beautiful nose, but needs a lot of time right now. 3*

1995 Angelus dark red. Interesting nose, with brown spice, leafy, mint, black fruits, and cocoa. At least half closed, but lighter body, almost feminine style Bordeaux with good acidity and balance. Licoricy tannins that are slightly bitter at the finish. I would hold this a little longer, as it opened and picked up body with air. 4*

1996 Lynch Bages dark red color. Musty, leathery, dusty, nose, with tart red fruits. Someone mentioned Pomegranate which fits. A more experienced member of the group thought this was very typical and guessed LB right away. This has firm tannins and good acids. I liked this one. 3.5-4*

2004 Greysac sweet slightly candied fruit nose, some spice in the mouth. A bit modern and one dimensional, but not over oaked or offensive. Ready to drink. 1.5*

1999 Pavie this is very expressive and comes at you in layers with roasted smokey toasty aromas followed by milk chocolate dipped cherries. Concentrated dense fruit in the mouth, kirsch liquor going into cough syrup. Low acids. A travesty for me, others liked it. NR

2001 Monbousquet Some oak, but not as over done as the 2000 version. This has a strong aroma that Jenise mentions as B vitamins. Reminds me of brewers yeast. Soft in the mouth, with chalky tannins. Not my favorite. 1*

1971 Haut Brion most of us guessed this was much younger, I thought something from the mid eighties. Killer nose, high toned VA mixed with burnt tobacco, minerals, some brambly dark fruit. Tight and tannic in the mouth, but opens up with air. The nose stayed pretty smokey, but also some mushroom and soy flavors became noticeable. This wine to me seemed like it could use more cellar time to open and soften the tannins, but I'm not sure how much more positive development it will gain. 4.5*


Thanks again Jenise for bringing such great wines.

The #* thing is my completely subjective enjoyment score.
5 is wow, 4 very good, 3 enjoyable, 2 OK, 1 I didn't like.

[David M. Bueker]

5*

1999 Pavie this is very expressive and comes at you in layers with roasted smokey toasty aromas followed by milk chocolate dipped cherries. Concentrated dense fruit in the mouth, kirsch liquor going into cough syrup. Low acids. A travesty for me, others liked it. NR

I am really glad that my one experience with Pavie was the classically styled 1981. The more I here about post-1998 Pavie, the less interested I am in trying them.

[Jenise]

Marc, great notes. Can't believe it's taken me so long to write mine up--it's been hard to find a half hour stretch this week to do anything that didn't involve picking out sinks or comparing carpet samples.

Anyway, to the task at hand, I must repeat what I said Saturday night about my so-called generosity, two things: 1) I'm happy to share, this part of my cellar has better than average depth so it's where I should hsare the most, and 2) I expected only one of the wines to be dazzling, the '71 Haut Brion. The other two I claimed would "most likely satisfy nothing more than academic interest". Of course, my expectations were turned on their head, but in dealing with older Bordeaux purchased second hand one never knows quite what to expect. Even the usual bottle-condition clues can be deceiving--so much so that I had a can't-miss '90 Cos ready to step into the breach in case none of the three worked out.

Jose Dhondt Mes Vielles Vignes NV--loved your champagne. I can mentally compare it with a newly purchased bottle we had less than a year ago and see both the similarity of quality and richness and yet the gain from bottle age yours had. Excellent stuff, and I thank you for bringing it. I'd forgotten the name but hadn't wanted to.

The label on the 1966 Pichon Lalande was quite yellow, fill was about half an inch down from the neck, and the cork came out in a bazillion pieces. I was laughing, there behind the curtain in the prep space, at the fact that I was there in a roomful of doctors stuck operating on that bottle alone. Thank goodness I brought a filter along--but next time, I'll have an Ah-So puller too. Corkscrews do not work on corks this far gone. Light lavendar red in color with tawny hues. Very feminine with orange peel, dried flowers and fruit, figgy pudding and smoke that segued into graphite with more air time. Very ponderable, with a nose that became more enchanting with time which you and I loved, but which those among us not used to or into necrotic wines probably found a bit vapid on the palate. I enjoyed it enormously, but more objectively speaking for a '66 I'd rate it just very good.

By comparison, the 78 Ausone was visually in general excellent condition. This is the last of three I owned and identical to the other two, wherein the merlot component seems to have vamoosed, but for a faint powdered cherry in the nose, and left the cab franc holding the bag. It was a nice enough wine but, unlike the Pichon Lalande and other Ausones I've had, one really had to work at finding this wine's better side. As suspected, and for my palate, more academic exercise than enjoyment.

Can't improve on your take on the 2000 Monbousquet, except to agree that yes it was too young.

Loved the big nose on the 2002 Cos d' Estournel, the violets and dust on a solid black cherry frame. Very young but very impressive and Cos-like even now. I've read others describe this as one of the best wines of the 02 vintage, and this bottle showed why. I'm sick that I don't own any.

Loved your 1995 Angelus . It was definitely lighter bodied than any l'Angelus I've had previously (all three of them, the last being an '00, so I don't mean to pretend to expertise here), but that's not a complaint, just why I wouldn't have guessed it to be what it is. Found it very classy with a very aromatic and cabbish nose of mint and fennel, with violent, plum and cocoa, and great balance.

Re the 1996 Lynch Bages , in taking notes, I try not to formulate impressions so much as just jot down what hits me in the order it comes, and my first two words about this wine were "new/old" which was a means of addressing what struck me as maturing fruit and exotic spice flavors that were oddly, but attractively, juxtaposed against a seemingly young mouthfeel with rough, dusty tannins. The fruit was generous and more red than black with a distinct sweet pomegranate edge going into the finish along with a note of salt. I don't have a lot of experience with Lynch Bages but I liked this A LOT, and as I commented that night can see why California wine drinkers have made this one of their favorite Bordeauxs.

2004 Greysac--very young, simple tuitti fruitti fruit, easy, silky, malo-lactic. Drinkable, but so effortless it's uninteresting.

1999 Pavie--I have had the 99 several times but not in about four years. The last one we had was a friend's bottle which she opened to serve with take-out pizza, of all things, and it was quite green and tannic which actually made it better wine for pizza than this bottle would have been, but in most ways I'm pleased with where this bottle has ended up even though it's not definitely not my preferred style. You described it well. (I bought the bottles I own on the recco of a knowledgeable friend before I ever tasted my first Pavie).

2001 Monbousquet: Would never have guessed this to be another Monbousquet based on the better 2000 or delicious 96's and 98's which I own and love. The nose was just plain odd with the offputting scent of vitamin B6. On the palate, salty minerals with no sweet fruit whatsoever. An unfortunate showing for which there's reasonable evidence that the wine's just that closed up. I own some and wouldn't look forward to more like this.

I selfishly held the 1971 Haut Brion back to serve as last of the night because upon opening the bottle--which had high shoulder fill and looked in excellent condition--I found the wine rather backward and showing nothing like the 79 Haut Brion I had a couple years ago. It was not only great Haut Brion, it was one of the great Bordeauxs of my life and it set me up to expect something that at least reminiscent from this bottle. Didn't happen. Nor was it anything like what I'd expected based on some recent great bottles I'd read about on Cellar Tracker. So I moved it into a decanter (it had just a bit of silt but no caked solids on the side of the bottle), hoping the next three-four hours would be kind to it, but it was not to be: very youthful color. Great nose with all the things you mentioned, but it never developed the big, expansive mineral flavors that typify Haut Brion for me. About the point we finished the bottle, it actually did start to open up a bit more, but compared to reputation and expectations, it was an extreme disappointment.

Oh, another wine that was on the table for sampling early on was an 05 Moulin Rompu from the Haut-Medoc. It's more modern than traditional, but it has some classic H-M characteristics and at $13.50, it's a bargain 05 for current drinking.

My favorite wines were the Pichon Lalande, the Lynch Bages and the L'Angelus.

[David M. Bueker]

'98 was about the last of the non-caricature Monbousquets.

I take it the '71 Haut Brion was an auction buy? Lovely stuff. I am truly jealous as I noted above with 5*.

[Jenise]

'98 was about the last of the non-caricature Monbousquets.

I take it the '71 Haut Brion was an auction buy? Lovely stuff. I am truly jealous as I noted above with 5*.

Didn't realize that Monbousquet has been spoofed. Drat, I hate hearing that.

Si, re the HB, since I did not inherit a collection and wasn't grown up yet in 1971. Wish the bottle had been better--no obvious flaws were there, but unlike the bottles described this year on Cellar Tracker it did need the three hours decanting time it got and could have used more.

"nose - wow what a nose. soy sauce, liver (per Brian), blackberry and other dark fruit, smoke, mushrooms - phenomenal nose. Less mesquite than the '55. Mouth is definitely lighter than the nose. Very smooth with good tannic structure. strawberry, plum, and lighter red fruits - very tasty. Full bodied yet brisk on the finish." And, "A regal lady. This wine is a winner and shows all that you would expect from a mature HB. This wine offers the classic HB aromatic fireworks and is a great, medium-bodied, elegant wine. I would drink this without decanting as it started to soften after a few hours of air time. This is better than the '66 and '70 if that gives any comparison."

Thanks to both of you for the nice notes, always great to get two impressions of the same bottles. I enjoyed both sets.
A few thoughts:
1966 Pichon Lalande -I've never had this, always wanted to (I'm generally a fan of '66 in northern Medoc)
I'm a little surprised at the references to the 1998 Monbo being differently styled than the 2000 and 2001. Perse had full control from about '94 or '95, I've found the extreme high toast, low acid, and jammy fruit in all the ones I've tried.
Agree with Jenise re the 2002 Cos, we did a 2002 horizontal at release, I bought the next morning.
1995 Angelus is one of the top wines of the vintage to me.
1996 Lynch Bages is very good (and rather fruitforward), but young
I've had the 1971 Haut Brion twice in last year or two (not my bottles- I wish!), one was stunning, one was very good. Ah, 30+ year old bottles.
Thanks Marc and Jenise!

[Jenise]

Thanks to both of you for the nice notes, always great to get two impressions of the same bottles. I enjoyed both sets.

Then you're in for a treat. Chaz will be along any minute now with his most-entertaining take on this event, too.

Thanks to Jenise, Marc, Erik, Warren and the entire Grand Crew for their tremendous generosity. It was truly an enlightening evening. I preface my notes with the assertion that I am not a frequent Bordeaux drinker, and my reference points are sadly lacking. My tasting impressions are not based on a single defined style, but I try to appreciate well-crafted wines in every style. My comments are like my own impressions at a dog show - I’d like to think that I judge breed within breed, and not breed against breed.

1966 Pichon Lalande, Pauillac – The lighting in the room was suboptimal, but as would be expected, a warm amber color along the edges, characteristic of a wine of its age. Earthy and complex nose with a symphony of scents including hazelnuts, mushroom, and subtle smoke. The enchanting nose was the highlight, drawing oohs and ahhs from the tasters. For me, the wine was in decline, leaving some disjointed elements on the palate. Oh, but the nose was beautiful! Others were completely enchanted, especially Marc, a fan of strange and wonderful acids (he’s a true vin de paille alchemist).

1978 Ausone, St. Emilion Grand Cru – On the nose, I originally thought this was a left bank wine from the 80s – some green herbaceous elements, with a little bit of graphite. Deep, dark color with no inordinate oxidation along the edges. Lots of tannin, quite well structured. Fading fruit, but still enough to color the palate. Jenise said it was ’78, I thought it had to be a heavy hitter because it showed me some class. She said “right bank”, I said “Cheval Blanc”. She said, “If its not Cheval Blanc…” I’ve always had great sentiments for Ausone, because it was this wine that originally opened my eyes years ago to the magic of Bordeaux and to a larger extent, French wine. Thank you Jenise, I bow to you for this sentimental favorite. Just the say the words St. Emilion, and I fantasize about that perfect moment of Ausone from my memories. My favorite of the night for the “oldies” – but I won’t deny emotions were involved.

2000 Monbousquet and 2001 Monbousquet – Presented at two different points in the evening. As the bottles were being passed around, unfortunately, I caught sight of the inscription “VP” on the neck (Vignerons Perse) and the characteristic grey-bronze foil on the bottle tip, so it wasn’t a blind tasting for me. Very much done in the “international style” we taste so much of today. Controversy has perpetually followed Gerard Perse and Robert Parker since they confessed their forbidden love for one another. Being a red Burgundy guy used to terroir and monocepage, I feel somewhat out of my element with blended red wines. The Perse wines really leave me lost. I would argue that nearly all recreational enthusiasts (like me) and a significant majority of wine industry people/sommeliers could not reliably differentiate between blended red wines of this new “international style” at a similar quality level and price point. Among all the long winded discussions, I would be reasonably certain that many wine “professionals” would make fools of themselves, their palates searching to find reference points and cornerstones amidst all the fruit and alcohol. In case the toilet paper runs out, there’s always back issues of the Spectator and Advocate.

2002 Cos d’Estournel, St. Estephe – Dark and inky. Nice luxuriant fruit on the nose, but not overpowering. Black fruit and licorice, but again restrained, in a left bank sort of way. Classy effort. My final verdict is that it needs time, the alcohol needs to settle down and the tannins need to integrate further. I would love to sample this again at age 10-15. In the context of its present age, its within top 3 of the young wines presented tonight.

1995 Angelus, St. Emilion – This wine demonstrates all the characteristics that I appreciate about the right bank. Supple, harmonious, and walking the fine line between muscular and graceful elements. Yet there are waves of fruit, some spices, and pleasing round tannins. My first Angelus, although I have always admired the label when I see it in shops. Marc brought this one, and I should have guessed, he always brings classy wines, of great balance and grace – just like the man (I tip my hat to you). I think its drinking beautifully right now. I love the 12-15 year time window for many Bordeaux. My favorite of the young wines this evening.

1996 Lynch-Bages, Pauillac – For me, the most typical of the younger left bank wines of the evening. Showing its cabernet character, pleasing elements of tobacco, graphite, and tastefully done oak. All in nice balance, with all elements integrated well. As opposed to some of the right bank wines, which I believe have lost their character, this wine shows its patrician, classic, left bank style. A classy effort, deserving of its place within the top 3 of the younger Bordeaux presented tonight.

2004 Chateau Greysac, Medoc – Certainly a pleasing wine and a fine value. Nothing to fault, just not as complex as its bigger more expensive brethren.

1999 Pavie, St. Emilion – Perse strikes again! Some may call it a wine, others may call it a confection. Certainly lush and velvety, with waves of mouth coating, rich, black jammy fruits and well balanced alcohol. I thought it was drinking better than its younger Monbousquet cousins, but then again it’s a ’99 and Pavie is Perse’s right bank flagship. Now, I can say that I prefer Pavie’s next door neighbor, Troplong Mondot. I will say this much, Pavie is a well-crafted wine – it just may not be your style. A Lexus is well crafted too, but it somehow just blends with the crowd too much for me. This is a wine which will win over my Napa Cab friends who love to hate French wines and France in general. This is the wine that I brought this evening, and the oldest of the Pavie trio that I acquired several years ago (99, 00, 01). Just to be naughty, I have recently tried to bring overpriced/notorious or controversial wines, and I thought Pavie might just be one to spur a spirited discussion, based on all the hoopla the 2000 Pavie caused. Among the tasters, some were effusive in their praise, clonked over the head with the lush sexiness of it all. Others were dead flat silent, possibly not wanting to offend anyone. Jenise was diplomatic and at least pleased that her cellared 99 Pavie(s) were drinkable wines worthy of a “pizza party”. Marc was silent and frowning, just like when he tasted the Marcassin pinot I brought last time. In my opinion, Pavie is much more Pamela Anderson than Grace Kelly – take away from that what you will…although I wouldn’t mind sleeping with either at least once.

1971 Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan – Intriguing aromas, with saddle leather, nutty, and earthy elements. As would be expected of its age, amber along the edges with visible fine sediments. Tinder box and coffee on the palate, with faded fruit well into decline. Would have loved to have sampled this 20 years ago, but probably irrelevant, because I was drinking Bartles & James and Boone’s Farm back then.

great to have another perspective on the set of wines, thanks to all!

[Jenise]

Great notes, Chaz, with a lot of worthy, quotable lines. Perhaps what's coolest is that though you, Marc and I all arrive at our conclusions quite differently, for the most part we ended up in pretty much the same place, or should I put that, agreeing a lot more than we disagree. I'm very interested in your confession that you've been deliberately provocative. I hadn't put it together, though one more round would likely have tilted me in that direction.

Glad the Ausone worked so well for you. Have to say I'm surprised, but then I was surprised that Mark rated as highly as he did, too. For me it was just okay--I've had many a better 30 year old Bordeaux and several far better Ausones, including a very lovely but lowly 92 for which expectations were understandably low.

If you ever throw a pizza party, you know what I'm bringing.

1999 Pavie, St. Emilion – Perse strikes again! Some may call it a wine, others may call it a confection. Certainly lush and velvety, with waves of mouth coating, rich, black jammy fruits and well balanced alcohol. I thought it was drinking better than its younger Monbousquet cousins, but then again it’s a ’99 and Pavie is Perse’s right bank flagship. Now, I can say that I prefer Pavie’s next door neighbor, Troplong Mondot. I will say this much, Pavie is a well-crafted wine – it just may not be your style. A Lexus is well crafted too, but it somehow just blends with the crowd too much for me. This is a wine which will win over my Napa Cab friends who love to hate French wines and France in general. This is the wine that I brought this evening, and the oldest of the Pavie trio that I acquired several years ago (99, 00, 01). Just to be naughty, I have recently tried to bring overpriced/notorious or controversial wines, and I thought Pavie might just be one to spur a spirited discussion, based on all the hoopla the 2000 Pavie caused. Among the tasters, some were effusive in their praise, clonked over the head with the lush sexiness of it all. Others were dead flat silent, possibly not wanting to offend anyone. Jenise was diplomatic and at least pleased that her cellared 99 Pavie(s) were drinkable wines worthy of a “pizza party”. Marc was silent and frowning, just like when he tasted the Marcassin pinot I brought last time. In my opinion, Pavie is much more Pamela Anderson than Grace Kelly – take away from that what you will…although I wouldn’t mind sleeping with either at least once.

First, your notes our outstanding and a pleasure to read.
Second, don't go by my reactions, I like high acid paint stripper wines and also nearly dead wines so I am a poor judge.
Thanks for being naughty, I do appreciate getting to try these wines, so keep them coming.
I will bring some rancid walnut flavored Jura thing to torture you with next time.

Jenise, I always enjoy your perspective on the wines.

Looking forward to next time.
Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Marc

The Horror!!!
I vote Bordeaux for the next tasting.
Warren

[Jenise]

You mean, you want a re-enactment?

[David M. Bueker]

You mean, you want a re-enactment?

It's a great hobby. You all get dressed up in the same kind of clothes that folks wore to a Bordeaux tasting in October & act like you're having a Bordeaux tasting. It's really cool. People from all over the country come out for them.

You mean, you want a re-enactment?

Just a tasting when I can smell something other than alcohol and actually taste the wine, not just feel the tannins. Damn you Afrin, damn you!!!

[Jenise]

You mean, you want a re-enactment?

It's a great hobby. You all get dressed up in the same kind of clothes that folks wore to a Bordeaux tasting in October & act like you're having a Bordeaux tasting. It's really cool. People from all over the country come out for them.

And nobody gets shot! Poor Warren--this was his topic, and he was SO up for it. And then he caught cold and tried to relieve the congestion a bit with a dose of Afrin which only served to kill what little sense of smell he had left. He was a great sport about it, but what a shame!

Warren, I'd certainly be up for Bordeaux II!