| | Everybody has their favorite vintages of wine. There's the classic ones that are well known, and then at least for me I have some favorites that are perhaps not the 'best' but which I find always seem to do me well. '66 is one of those for me with Bordeaux. I have been active in sourcing wine from the time and have enjoyed all of the wines that we have. And it has traditionally flown a bit under the radar. So when the opportunity to do a full horizontal came up I was clearly in. Starter Canape
seared foie gras, blueberry jam, toasted brioche - 1966 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
A great way to get started. This has a nice smokiness to it which I don't usually find in sauternes. Reminded me a lot of a dried/aged apricot. Those really good ones that you can find in specialty stores. Nice level of sweet that wasn't overpowering. Very nice pairing with a little foie gras bite.
Graves & Pessac Leognan Caille
pan seared quail, roasted cauliflower, celeriac crema - 1966 Château Bouscaut - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Graves C: This was my first time with this wine of any vintage. First pour of the tasting and in a tough line-up next to HB and HB-LM. This is a nicely aged Bordeaux. Expect it would be quite enjoyable on its own. It's missing the vibrancy from those other wines. Just a touch more tired. I get a lot of coffee rinds here, a bit of spice notes, and with some time even some red fruit.
- 1966 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Graves B: This wine just jumped out of the glass at you. Unlike it's brother the HB this was ready to go from the get go. Nose is fragrant and lovely. Wine comes across as actually fairly young. Starts with darker black fruits. Nice vibrancy. Good spice. Maybe a hint of tree bark. I enjoyed it.
- 1966 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Graves A: Another wine that belies it's age. If I hadn't know the vintage at least for the wines I would likely have guessed much younger. Suspect this had some great storage as I have had this wine before and the age was a lot more apparent. This as a result started off pretty closed and tight. Over the course of the night it opened up quite a bit. Again some of the more dark fruit flavors. Some more cigar and tobacco. A hint of saddle. Really lovely wine with a long life ahead.
St Emillion Epaulettes
rabbit & reblochon cheese ravoli, black truffle jus - 1966 Château Cap de Mourlin - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
St Emilion A: This wine was in a really tough line-up (one of my favorites of the tasting) and it suffered a bit as a result. It's a nice wine. Well aged. Drinking in a good spot. Perhaps a hint on the back end of life, but not bad. Just also not jumping out of the glass at you (like say the Cheval). Totally fine.
- 1966 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
St Emilion B: Perhaps my wine of the tasting which is really saying something given this line-up. This wine was awesome. I think I have a soft spot for good structure and this had that in spades (I believe I used the term nice backbone). Nice age where the secondary and tertiary are coming out. It's a bit more savory than fruity but that savory is all fresh and vibrant. Revisited throughout the night and every time just awesome.
- 1966 Château Ausone - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
St Emilion C: Very interesting. Darker and more savory in nature. It's got the darker fruits with tobacco and leather and a bit of spiciness. Again well structured and a certain level of clarity to the wine. Very tasty. Glad to see we have a bottle but don't feel a need to pull immediately. This wine isn't going anywhere.
- 1966 Château Troplong Mondot - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
St Emilion D: This wine surprised me a bit although I'll admit I have had less interaction with Troplong. This was also on the younger side. Much fruitier than the other wines in the flight. Mostly on the red fruit side too whereas others I was getting more in the dark category. Drinking very nicely and held up to the Cheval and Ausone which is not the easiest. Very nice.
Margaux Poitrine de Canard
aged roban duck breast, english peas, housemade duck prosciutto - 1966 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Margaux A: this is the wine that got me started on my 1966 journey and one of the ones I was most excited about on the list. Not quite the showing of the last bottle, but not sure if that was because of the company served in or bottle variation. This was shy to start like the HB although interesting because that shyness came across as a bit more one dimensional (fruit, less secondary). And it missed a bit of the vibrancy. I liked it better when I revisited, but initial impression was a bit quieter.
- 1966 Château Giscours - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Margaux B: This was drinkable, but there was definitely something up with the bottle. More port-like in nature. Lots of raisin-y flavors. (FLAWED)
- 1966 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Margaux C: the best wine in it's flight. This was lovely. Fresh and kindof minty and darker fruits and well structured and overall a just very nice and tasty wine. Don't get as much of the Margaux floral side, but it still works. Also still going strong. Really enjoyable.
- 1966 Château Lascombes - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Margaux D: One of the wines of the tasting that I think punched above it's weight/reputation. This jumped out of the glass a lot more than the Palmer did. Some black fruits in more of a sweet style that are nicely balanced with more baking spices. Very vibrant. Enjoyable.
St Julien & Saint-Estephe Veau
roasted veal loin, sweet corn, chanterelles, truffle jus - 1966 Château Beychevelle - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Saints A: From 375s. I really did not peg this wine at all - to me it tasted a lot like what Calon Segur often is. No fruit to speak of, but a wide and varied spice cabinet with just a hint of green notes to it. I found that enjoyable. For some others at the table there was an impression it was over the hill.
- 1966 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Saints B: Came across as a bit more aged than some of the other wines to me. Some of that saddle oil. A bit of must. Still tasty, but not quite at the same level.
- 1966 Château Calon-Ségur - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Saints C: For some this was the wine of the flight. Certainly enjoyable. It's interesting - reminds me a bit after riding on a hot day and you pull off the saddle and there's this mix of sweat and saddle oil and the saddle itself. This reminded me a lot of that.
- 1966 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Saints D: I thought this was drinking quite nicely. It's spice dominated but I like my wine with a bunch of spice notes. Good vibrancy. Overall tasty. I think a contender for wine of the flight.
- 1966 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Saints E: While this was our bottle this is not a producer that I've followed much of or have a strong impression with. The consensus at the table is this should not have been very good and yet I thought it showed quite nicely. Still has the fruit (darker in nature). Well structured. In a good drinking window where everything is very well balanced. Our only bottle, but I'd buy it again.
- 1966 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Saints F: This is definitely a long living wine and was another example of how much I enjoy Montrose which is perhaps more of a 'new world style with old world fruit'. My first impression is vanilla and it's amazing to me how the oak is still coming through all these years later. Nicely aged and nicely set up. Perhaps a bit young - if we had bottles I'd wait longer on them for the vanilla to integrate - but clearly one of the better wines of this flight and quite enjoyable.
Paulliac Agneau
slow roasted leg of lamb, pomme puree, brown butter glazed carrots - 1966 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Pauillac A: Another wine that really punched above it's reputation. In a line-up with a lot of heavy hitters and this could easily have been my wine of that flight. It's nice and bright and grips you early. Some good red fruits. Some good spice. Well integrated. Drinking very nicely.
- 1966 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Pauillac B: Bummer. We didn't have a back-up for this one. (FLAWED)
- 1966 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Pauillac C: This was just great. Super well structured, drinking really nicely, get a lot of floral notes here. I very much enjoyed. Up there with the Lalande.
- 1966 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Pauillac D: First bottle was off, but we had a back-up! Back-up too though had some of that barnyard funk going although nowhere near the same level as the first bottle. It's darker and more brooding of a wine. I have often said that the 'L' first growths and I think that's still true here. To me the Mouton and Lalande overshadowed this.
- 1966 Carruades de Lafite - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Paulliac E: This was nice and easy. Good herbal notes and perhaps a bit of black fruit as well. It's not the most exciting in the group, but comes across as well done.
Pomerol Selection de Fromages
Alpha Tolman, Jasper Hill | Challenhocker, Walter Rass | Scharfe Maxx, Studer Hatswill - 1966 Château Trotanoy - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Pomerol A: Out of a mag. The notes at this point in the evening were perhaps not the most legible which is saying something given my handwriting is never great. I had marked this as flashy, well-structured. Smooth and velvety in texture. Very young and drinking well now but will continue to be great for quite a bit of time I think.
- 1966 Château L'Evangile - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Pomerol B: Our first bottle from this recent auction win and now I'm excited about the rest. This wine was young, fresh, vibrant. It's darker fruits and just starting to touch the secondary notes but they're not as developed yet (how is that possible? this wine is over 50....). The only one of the bunch too that was more in the dark vein - generally expect more of the red fruited side for Pomerol but there you have it. Lovely though.
- 1966 Château Lagrange (Pomerol) - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Pomerol C: Fresh and pretty and flower petals and some fruits and overall fairly tasty.
- 1966 Château La Conseillante - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Pomerol D: This was a fun wine - had a bit of those slightly sour fruit notes that I find interesting in white. Also very fresh and pretty. Showing a bit of its age, but in a good way. Lots of red fruit. A bit lighter than some of the others which creates more of an elegant feel. Very enjoyable.
- 1966 Pétrus - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Pomerol E: Lovely and deep and almost candied red fruit in the mouth. It's drinking very nicely.
Sauternes Biscuits
assorted homemade cookies - 1966 Château d'Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
This wine is always in a league of its own and I'd say a strong contender for WOTN (for some I think it was). Not as many detailed notes, but I remember thinking it was classic aged D'Yquem. Perhaps not as great as some of the other older vintages (just a touch heavier I think). Still, nice acidity, nice balance, never ending set of flavors. Really lovely.
Wow - what a night! This was again an embarrassment of riches. Almost an overwhelming amount. If I had to pick a WOTN, I think I might have to go Cheval Blanc, but I'd also say that the Ausone, La Miss, HB, Pichon LaLande and D'Yquem really stood out.
Huge thanks to Michael for setting it up. Very special. |
