WTN: '89 Palmer

Opened this for Valentine dinner with lamb shanks. Still somewhat restrained and opened up over 1-2 hours. Wonderful Bordeax nose and hard not to enjoy. The wine had all the right components and in balance but not a big wine, medium weight. Nice length on the palate. Enjoyed the wine and it went well with the lamb. May have had better '89s but hard to be too critical when comparing this wine to many of the other reds I have had lately. Wish Bordeaux had not gone up so much in price as in my cellar it sets the standard.
Walt

Sounds great, I am always nervous when opening older bottles so it's gratifying to hear when they work out!

Sounds great, I am always nervous when opening older bottles so it's gratifying to hear when they work out!

Oswaldo,
To me this is not an old bottle. The one thing I love about Bordeaux is that they last forever. I have a few '70 lesser wines that are fading but a lot of '86 that I have opened only a few bottles and they are not even hitting their stride. 35% of my cellar is Bordeaux and at a rate of about one per month I will last a long time. Didn't buy much '00, bought quite a bit of '01, passed on '02 & '03 and just picked up some '04. I like them to age about 15 years ('99 was a little bit of an exception). Bordeaux is my wine standard, have had almost zero problem with older bottles being opened but cry about the prices of late. The '05 first growths are going for around $1200 - 1500 per bottle and that is beyond ridiculous for a bottle of wine. Glad I bought in years past. '86 Mouton and '88 Latour for $35 and other great values like that which do not exist by an order of magnitude today. My everyday stuff is now Rhone and with '05, '06 and the new '07 vintages these are great drinking wines at around $20.
Walt

Very good points, I should have been clearer! I meant opening bottles old enough to be ruined by a bad cork or poor storage (the latter not being your situation if you've had yours from the start). I have a bottle of 89 Haut Brion waiting, for over a decade now, for a special occasion and have no idea if, when I finally open it with great pomp and circumstance c. 2012, it will deliver because I haven't had it from the start...

Very good points, I should have been clearer! I meant opening bottles old enough to be ruined by a bad cork or poor storage (the latter not being your situation if you've had yours from the start). I have a bottle of 89 Haut Brion waiting, for over a decade now, for a special occasion and have no idea if, when I finally open it with great pomp and circumstance c. 2012, it will deliver because I haven't had it from the start...

The '89 Haut Brion should be fantastic. I had it early when it first came out, not my bottle, and it was a shame to open it that young. I have found that Haut Brion seems to not go on quite as long as the other first growths but I am talking 30 years vs 40 years for good vintages. Save it for a special occasion and no need to rush. I tend to really like the older flavors of wine, particularly Bordeaux, but that is just me and many would probably disagree.
Walt