Spontaneous dinner invitation – which feeling a bit tired that day I’d almost refused!
Shafer Chardonnay Carneros-Napa Valley Red Shoulder Ranch 2002
Thanks to Christian. Third time I have tasted the 2002 (which I must admit I had forgotten about when Christian pulled the cork and poured some). Oak-spicier than ever (possibly because it closed?), some thistle oil to faintly appley-limey “fruit”, ripe and very alcoholic at 14.9% alcohol, medium length. Even if the reason for its increasingly prominent oakiness may be that it has closed down bottle, my gut instinct suggests that cellaring will not do this wine much good (but I lack experience with this bottling, annually sampling the latest vintage at a trade tasting only). Rating: 87(-?)
Château Palmer Margaux 2004
Thanks to Christian. Opaque ruby-red. No more or less closed now than at release. Tannic yet sweetly fruity-floral and complex, amarelle cherry, subtle and finesseful. A little marzipan oak, faint lead pencil, touch of green licorice stick to the tannin. Remo prefers the 1999 (as do I, albeit not by much), Christian finds this the best Palmer he has ever had. Rating: 92+/93(+?)
Château Haut Brion Pessac-Léognan 2001
Thanks to Christian. A blend of 52% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 12% Cabernet Franc. Nearly opaque ruby-black. Still a bit closed. This took hours to even smell and taste like Haut Brion, that is, for the terroir typicity (some of the usual tobacco and scorched brick clay) to surface. Sour cherry, soft blackcurrant and minerals. Nutty oak and tannin. A suggestion of camphor-like sourness (rather bitterness) the acidity. Medium length. Christian and Remo were bothered by the (extremely faint, and per se normal with this wine) sourness. Give this a few more years. Interestingly, Christian started comparing this to the 1994 – he prefers the 2001, I find the two qualitatively similar, but the 2001 more modern and polished. Rating: 91+/92
Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 1986
Thanks to Christian. Needs decanting as there is a little sediment, and because the wine needs airing if drunk now. Nicely glossy, nearly opaque plummy-garnet-black with a ruby-red rim. Aromatically a bit more evolved than at the core (on the palate), as most wines from this vintage. Malt, sweet semi-raw meat, soft walnutty oak, fermented tobacco, green licorice stick, deep and quite racy blackberry, preserved cherry, soft blackcurrant and cedar, fascinating finesse notes of tapenade, caper, soft peat, limestone, soft wet earth, tree bark, underbrush, charcoal and lightly stale ginger. Racy, complex and finesseful, if lightly dry tannin. Well-balanced wine. Quite luscious for a 1986. Very long on the finish. Christian and Remo kept referring to the three 1990 1er Crus the former had offered with dinner a couple of weeks ago, comparing the qualitative level more than the wines themselves. In terms of evolution, the 1986 Mouton is really still a baby, although not a primary wine anymore at all. 1986 to me has always been a classic (in the European sense of true to type) left bank vintage as the wines are tannic, slow to evolve, firm yet seemingly leaner on fruit – they are the kind of Bordeaux I am afraid not only admirers of modern Bordeaux vintages may not have the necessary patience for. I grew up with wines made in this backward style (even if already back then, there was never a doubt that 1986 was an unusually tannic and slow to evolve vintage), but can see why it is easier trusting e.g. the comparatively fruity-exuberant Léoville Las Cases in this vintage than the Mouton. Wine like this may be best summed up as appealing to one’s mind rather than one’s gut, made for the attentive wine lover rather than craving one’s attention like modern fruit bombs do. The 1986 Mouton, at this stage in its development, is not the least bit obvious, it just exudes class. Given the choice, however, I would rather have some of the more opulent, easier to interpret 1982 today, and give the 1986 another decade or two in the cellar. Rating: 96+/97(+?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti