Bordeaux Vertizontal (88,89,90 - Palmer/Leoville Barton/Cos/Mouton)

Another Great event by the Roberson team.
The presence of Jancis Robonson and Neal Martin made it a bit more special
Great line up, bottles of very good quality as always.

Wines were double decanted for an hour or so.

Tight wines, with little fruit and low in concentration. Interesting but not memorable and not sure how much more they have to give. Definitely have seen better days before.

• 1988 Château Palmer 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Herby, minty notes on the nose. Very nice on the nose. Unfortunately the body doesnt play to the same tune. A bit on the light side both in presence and in length. Drink up. 90-91

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• 1988 Château Léoville Barton 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Short, muted ,ligh, dry and on the way down. Disappointing (Andreas 86+ / Nicol 88)

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• 1988 Château Cos d'Estournel 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  Mild on the nose and not very expressive but long and very much alive on the palate. St estephe minerality, dry stony feel to it. Some rough edges on the finish and maybe could use some more time. Felt a bit young to be honest. Hopefully it will improve. 90 for the moment

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• 1988 Château Mouton Rothschild 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  The beautifull nose. So expressive! Easily best of the 88s on the night. Suffers from the 88 curse too, so light and short but this definitely can age and would like to see how it develops. The nose is indeed memorable. not really worth the £400+ price tag though.

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the wines are more fruit driven, bigger, lush with lots of life. Probably the more balance of the 3 vintages we tried

• 1989 Château Palmer 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Mild on the nose, more fruit and earthy notes rather than herbs. Lots of red fruit on the palate, lush wine. Fresh and alive.( a lot more mineral than the 90). Very elegant and refined wine. Very enjoyable at the moment but for sure has the capcity to go a long way. (Andreas 93+/Nicol 92)

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• 1989 Château Léoville Barton 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Good amount of fruit (especially vs the 88) vibrant and alive with presence. Quite a bit of length. Not sure it will develop into smething better. Drink now. 91

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• 1989 Château Cos d'Estournel 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  Nice elegant yet restraint nose. Stony, mineral old school st estephe austerity to it. Good fruit though and lot of life. Feels a bit tight especially vs the other fruit driven 89s but thats Cos for you.Lots of life and lots of aging potential in this. 92
  Decanting is needed.

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• 1989 Château Mouton Rothschild 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Just liek the 88 (and the 90) the nose dominates the quality if this wine. Such a beautifull nose. Good amount of fruit and life but a bit short for a 1st growth wine. Nice complexity but woudl have loved some more depth. 93 ( wouldnt pay the price for it though..)

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Bigger rounder but maybe overdone. Especially the palmer had cooked fruit on the end. Still lovely and lush wines . Cos 90 was WOTN

• 1990 Château Palmer 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  The beautifull nose. kept on going back and back for more of this. Lovely deep, fruit driven. Rounf alive and very opulent wine. Some cooked fruit on the end spoil the party a bit but still agreat wine. (Andreas 94 & WOTN / Nicol 92)

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• 1990 Château Léoville Barton 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  A bit of caramel on th enose. Lush red fruit, big wine with lots of life in it. Unfortunately it feels a bit one dimensional, and could use some more depth and complexity. Enjoyable though . Good time to drink. 92

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• 1990 Château Cos d'Estournel 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  For most of the group this was WOTN and Jancis Robinson's favorite of the vertizontal.
  For us (and we are cos groupies) this confirmed our past experiences that its still young and needs maybe 5yrs more. Exotic and complex, restrained and a bit on the tight side. A beautifull wine but still not there yet. Patience. 92 + for now but definitely one for the future

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• 1990 Château Mouton Rothschild 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Another nose dominated performance. Unfortunately the body fails it. Short and light with no depth of presence. Shame really. 91 purely on merits of the nose.

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A lot happening and difficult to keep full long TNs in such a format. A great experience though. Woudl love to see Jancis' and Neal's comments once they are released

Palmer- The over all winner for us.
Leoville Barton - Not sure.. no consistency here.
Cos - The reserved, mineral one. If you have the patience the Cos 90 will deliver
Mouton - The beautiful nose. The Beautiful nose.... do not justify the price though.