Rare Wine Dinners: Bordeaux 1921-1975

Bentley Restaurant, private dining room
Tasted Saturday, February 27, 2016 by fizz with 703 views

Introduction

Huge anticipation for a night like this. But with Shannon looking after things, you know you're in good hands.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

Served on entry to the private dining area. Consumed while standing and admiring the tasting bench!

Flight 2 (1 Note)

Served with honey bug tartare, cucumber, lemon myrtle and sorrel.

  • 1959 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling feine Auslese

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    From a terrific vintage and stored in a cold Yorkshire cellar. Lovely amber colour. Floral nose floral nose, spring flowers, glazed mandarin peel, ripe peach. Such a balanced palate. So satisfying and complete. Sweetness is offset beautifully by the residual acidity. After some time, it reveals dried or candied fleshy stone fruits. So long in the palate. Wonderful.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

With snapper dashi, roasted celery heart, cured apple.

  • 1978 Delagrange-Bachelet Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

    Golden honey colour. Developed nose shows soy, mushroom and salinity. There's a green note there too - pine needles, moss. After about 10 minutes in the glass it shrugs these aromas off and becomes buttery and has baking spices. The palate is sound - it's so well balanced. Elegant and seemless in the mouth. A real treat. The wine soars with food, and takes on much higher toned notes. Perfectly pared with the seafood dish.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

With duck, pickled muntries, Comte and kohlrabi.

  • 1935 Hospices de Beaune Monthélie Doudet-Naudin Cuvée Henri Gelicot

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Monthélie

    Purchased in 2001 from the auction at the Hospice. This bottle had been 'rejuvenated' before sale. Amazing provenance. Lovely deep colour still. What's going on! It looks way too young. Cherry cola hits you up front. Terrific, expressive nose. Undergrowth, sous bois, foresty, oak. Seemless palate here, offering up tar, iron, roses. With food, it showed meaty elements, bacon fat. Sweet tones on the finish.

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Flight 5 (1 Note)

Served on its own.

  • 1921 La Cote de Haut Brion

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Aged appearance of course, with orange hues at the edges. Still impenetrably dark in the centre though! Nose of strawberry, liquor ice all-sorts. Palate is lush - chocolate, tobacco, tomato leaf. There's still fruit here - red/blue fruits. Funny to talk of tannins in a wine of this age, but here it seems they are still evident - fine/subtle/resolved. They carry the wine so elegantly. It's so pure, so clean. After 20 minutes in the glass, charcuterie, bacon notes. Interestingly there's no hint of cassis/cedar/cigar box here. Lovely wine, and a privilege to spend time with.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

With pork cheek, garlic and yogurt purée, radicchio and jamon.

  • 1950 Château Palmer

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Slight bricking but still with an opaque centre. A positively stinky nose was alarming, but after a few minutes of swirling in the glass, it all blew off thankfully. A typical nose was left - cassis, cedar, pencil shavings. There's a hint of bandaid aroma too, but at this level it kind of added to the complexity of the wine. After about 20 minutes, it seemed to lose its vigour and gently descend into a lean, fragrant end.

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Flight 7 (1 Note)

With lamb, cauliflower, caper leaves and buttermilk.

  • 1955 Château La Conseillante

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    This wine is typically 80% Merlot, 20% Cab Franc. So floral. Classic Bordeaux nose too - cassis, cedar, tobacco. The palate is medium bodied, with sweet fruit. It's lush, fragrant with perfumed intensity. Perfectly weighted. With time, it delivers some chocolate mint. Lovely, mature Bordeaux, which held up well in the glass over 20-30 minutes.

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Flight 8 (3 Notes)

With O'Conners beef fillet, roasted eschallot, black garlic, nigella.

  • 1949 Château Cheval Blanc

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Negotiant bottling. Perfume here reminds of roses and sweet black berry fruit. Palate is wonderfully lush - sweet notes, resolved tannins, elegance with intensity. Tea-like fragrances and tannins on the finish. Over the next 10-20 minutes it evolved in the glass. Showed some complexities like bacon fat, truffle, leather and capsicum. Fantastic experience.

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  • 1947 Château Lafleur

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Opened up a bit dank, with acetone and VA. Lots of swirling in the glass over 5-10 minutes made all the difference. Wow! Violets, flower garden perfume. The palate is sumptuous, gorgeous, lush. Opens out wonderfully over 30-45 minutes. The fruit is in the cherry/dark plum spectrum. It's rich and intense still, and also impossibly complex. The balance and harmony are superb. After more time, it starts to fade and show more tea-like tannins.

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  • 1955 Château La Mission Haut-Brion

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Served blind. Medium red hues with bricking. Such a big nose - iodine, iron, violets, earth, blackberry fruit, licorice. The palate is incredibly rich and big. Cabernet fruits are evident, with BBQ meats, chocolate, smoke, oak. It's so powerful, intense and velvety. Yet so balanced and long. Very long finish actually. It's just hitting its prime, with decades ahead it seems.

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Flight 9 (2 Notes)

Served with a selection of hard cheeses.

  • 1975 Château Mouton Rothschild

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Vineyard made up of Cabernet Sauvignon 77%, Merlot 11%, Cabernet Franc 10%, Petit Verdot 2%. Served from magnum. Extraordinary colour. Vivid deep colour. Classic nose - cassis, black pepper, tobacco. The palate is the richest of the night, filled with fine tannins that grip, dry and coat the roof of the mouth. Served with a selection of hard cheeses, which certainly tamed those tannins. It then became incredibly rich in the mouth, with cocoa, mint, and sweet berry fruits.

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  • 1970 Château Léoville Las Cases

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    From magnum. A very generous Shannon opened this as the 3rd surprise bottle of the night. Immediately accessible compared to the '75 Mouton. Rich, rounded, still marginally tight in the palate. Lots of rich black berry and cherry fruit. It's probably the most 'typical' Bordeaux of the night in terms of aromas and flavours.

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Flight 10 (1 Note)

With violet ice cream, cocoa honeycomb and blueberry.

  • 1938 Château d'Yquem

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Mahogany golden colour. Rich, expressive nose - candied orange peel, creme brûlée, lavender, coconut spice. The palate is fresh and fills the mouth. Terrific length too. Amazing way to finish the night.

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Closing

Another amazing night courtesy of Rare Wine Dinners.
Every bottle had amazing provenance, every bottle was simply outstanding.
What an absolute pleasure and privilege to experience these wines.

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