Vintage Bordeaux out of OWC tasting
Wine Watch, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Tasted Thursday, November 16, 2017 by DrinkBordeaux with 334 views
Introduction
Held at Wine Watch, this tasting showed off a nice broad range from Bordeaux. As expected, the stars were mostly from the great 1982 vintage. There were some nice surprises, however.
1982 Château La Lagune 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
A cigar shop charmer. Medium ruby color, with light edges. Ripe cherry, pipe tobacco, and anise on the nose. Medium bodied, simple on the palate. Not terribly exciting for a 1982, but still had some upside. Lacks richness and concentration. I'm guessing this is on its last fire-walk.
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1982 Château L'Evangile 97 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
The stunner of this tasting. Deep and richly concentrated. The flavors were so rich and refined. Fresh black cherry compote, black plum, sous bois, roasted meat, truffle, tobacco, and wet leather on the nose. Bold yet delicate, this just danced on the palate. Tannins were soft and silky. Everything came to a nice crescendo on the finish. Lovely and years to go.
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1982 Château Léoville Las Cases 96 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Next to the more earthy and darker 82 l'Evangile sitting in the next glass, this was perhaps more clean, precise, but less sexy. A very dark and young color. Completely giving on the nose, with cassis, Asian spices, leather, violets, pencil shavings, and cigar box. Sumptuous and rich on the palate. A core of acidity that balanced extremely well with the fruit. Never lost steam in the glass.
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1985 Château Certan de May 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Color shows some advancement in age, with amber color and lightening at the edges. This somewhat deceiving color didn't tell the whole story. There was much more life in the wine itself. The nose certainly shows some maturity, with plum, fig, anise, menthol, orange rind, truffle, leather, and mushroom. The nose was quite beautiful. Good balance overall, and the palate was lively. Tannins were round and largely resolved. Acidity pokes out a bit. Fully mature, needing little air, this should be consumed in the next 1-3 years.
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1986 Château Chasse-Spleen 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Moulis en Médoc
Very drinkable and much softer than many 1986 Bordeaux. Had lots of life left in this bottle. Dark ruby color. A nice nose of ripe red fruits, leather, sous bois, cedar, and chocolate. Nice balance. Won't blow you away, but there' s a lot to like here. Tannins a bit firm but not terribly so. Very popular at this tasting. Really good value here.
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1989 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
You never know what you'll get from this period from Ducru-Beaucaillou, but this was a sound bottle. A lighter style of Ducru. No funk whatsoever. Very clean and seemed more Pauillac-like. Lots of tobacco, pencil shavings, cedar, green pepper, and cigar to go along with the black currant. Lacks some richness and concentration. Finished nicely with some sweetness and lingering mature Bordeaux flavors. Good, not great, and certainly falls far short of the more recent Ducru-Beaucaillou.
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1989 Château Pape Clément 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Started off quite shy and restrained, but later offered up some nice aromas of black fruits, smoky cedar, cigar tobacco, leather, and espresso. Understated on the palate, but very pure and fresh. Some sweetness, but with ample acidity, on the finish. With time, showed some faint oxidative notes, but didn't overtly fall apart in the glass.
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1995 Château Léoville Barton 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
An overall solid performer in the tasting. Creme de cassis, a touch of kirsch, cigar box, cedar, and chocolate were all evident on the nose. A nice balance of red and dark fruits, there is nice elegance on the palate. Tannins were nicely balanced, and not showing the harshness of some other wines from 1995. There was still a nice tannic grip, and a lovely finish that lingered with a nice sweetness. There's no rush to drink this, as there was lots of life left in this bottle.
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1995 Château Haut-Batailley 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Many of the left bank wines in 1995 are a bit hard and austere; this is one of them. There's ample fruit, but it's a little shaded in the background of the firm tannins. Perhaps more aeration would have softened it up a bit, but I'm not convinced. I will admit there was charm to the matured nose, and it had a nice core of acidity that was evident on the finish. I would drink this very soon if you have any bottles.
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1996 Château La Gaffelière 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
1996 wasn't such a great year on the right bank of Bordeaux, and this is evident with this wine. A rust/amber color showed its level of advancement. It offers up some nice aromatic charm, with cherry, kirsch, truffle, barnyard, eucalyptus, and cedar. On the palate, the wine was restrained and a bit dilute. But while sometimes a Burgundian weight in Bordeaux wines can show off elegance and finesse, this exposed a lack of concentration. This wine is very drinkable now, and on its downward trajectory. On its own, it would still be perfectly fine with food or for those who want to explore its interesting aromatics. But next to the other wines in this tasting, it just didn't show the completeness many of the other wines did.
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2001 Château Angélus 95 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Every time I try this wine, it confirms that this is one of my favorite Bordeaux wines from 2001. There is so much depth and rich concentration here, yet it's not over-extracted at all. There is also loads of freshness that keep the palate almost tingling. Rich plum, blackberry, blueberry, truffle, spice, tobacco, and espresso round out very generous aromatics. The palate is alive, with adequate power and nice freshness on the finish. The tannins need several years to melt away, as they are a bit robust at this stage. This is still a great time to drink this, and though it won't reach peak maturity for another 10 years, it's very enjoyable now.
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2003 Château Pontet-Canet 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
When I last tasted this wine in 2015, I said that I wouldn't open another bottle until 2017. So has anything changed? It is definitely more open for business, and has exhibited some noticeable evolution. Still has a dark ruby color. The nose showed off black currant, blackberry, smoke, mineral, cigar box, and espresso. Good weight and polish on the palate. The tannins need some softening and fading. A fresh, lingering finish with good minerality. It's still on its way up, but should peak nicely in 5-10 years, which it should then plateau for many years.
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1988 Château Nairac 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac
Not much to write home about on the palate, but had a lovely nose full of butterscotch, apricot, honey, and fresh white flowers. Surprisingly for a wine of this age, I longed for more acidity. But with a nose like this, it was easy to forget any limitations on the palate. Sweet finish that lingered with butterscotch.
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