WTN: obscure 70 Margaux, plus 04 Cotes de Bourg

Betsy is in Boston for a couple days working on a piece. Saturday I had thawed a couple of prime ribeyes. Then Dave said he wouldn't be home for dinner, called a couple of local friends to see if anyone was solo and wanted to come around. After leaving message, brought up one mature Bordeaux (because I was itching to open) and one young one (to go better with the steak). Didn't get ahold of anyone, but grilled steak, corn, squash, and made a salad, and opened both -what the hell.

I figured the 1970 Bel Air Marquis d'Aligre (Margaux) would be a bit light/mature for steak, so decided to put half into a 375 bottle and hold for another day. This was my first try from a mixed lot of '70 Calon Segur, St Pierre, and BelAir MdA I had split with friends. This was the unknown quantity of the lot, we had based our bid on the value of the other wines. So this was either free, or the average price of $26 all in for the lot. Shall we say low expectations, in this case surpassed. Cork starting sliding down as soon as I tried AhSo, so used corkscrew, it broke (pretty saturated). Decanted and poured off the 375. OK, what do we have here? Clear edges, brick red. Thin with that caramelly note that (too) old Bdx gets, but drinkable. Actually put on weight and fruit fills out with a bit of air (as sometimes happens). Checked out over about 3 hours, pretty tasty for middle couple hours. Sweet red fruit, moderate acidity, tobacco- actually a little ashtray but not extreme, finish drops off pretty quick. Certainly not profound, but certainly worth the $ we paid, and a good sign for the CS and St Pierre I'd think. B/B-

Steak wine was the 2004 Ch. la Grolet "Tete de Cuvee" (Cotes de Bourg). Straightforward and tasty Right Banker, black plums and currants, a little oak, light coffee aromas. Some tannins but fairly smooth, solid Bordeaux for $15. B

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. 

[David M. Bueker]

Way to man up!

I have never heard of that Margaux. Glad it worked out well for you.

Just to be clear, I didn't eat both steaks! David had one for lunch when he got in from work today

I'm cooking with and drinking white tonight, so the other half of the BAMdA will have to wait till tomorrow. What little info I found was that it is a Cru Bourgeois (at time an "Exceptionnel") that is mostly distributed in northern Europe. As noted, it was basically free- we based our bid on the lot (10 Calon Segur, 6 St Pierre, 12 BAMdA) on the other bottles, no $$$ of this wine. $600 plus vig, 3 way split, one person got the extra bottle (CS, but the only low fill, a MS) and we split by bottle price (a bit under $26 all in). My share was $232 total, for 3 CS, 2 SP, 4 BAMdA. I'd do it again! Bonus for me is that split was between me, ITB friend, and another friend with a '70 wife, so I know there'll be something to drink at her b'day party next year.

Dale-

Couple of things

1) Love that you weren't embarrassed to be drinking 2 bottles of wine (well 1.5) but you wanted to make sure we all know that you were only eating one steak!

2) I would think that second 375 would be dust by the next day. Let us know.

3) Boy, you drink a lot of fun stuff.

Matt,
I probably drank equivalent of a bottle Sat night , but at least half the Grolet was left. I had a glass last night pre-Godello, and rest went into vinegar crock. I've added a white crock too, and love the freedom to not feel I'm wasting if I open more wine.
Will probably open the other half of the Margaux tonight with Betsy back. Not too worried, it's pretty seldom that a wine falls apart if immediately put in 375 (with little airspace) and refrigerated- I've found them fine after a week+, though admittedly not 40 year old cru bourgeois.