Lynch Bage vs Pichon Lalande 1986, 1988, 1989, 1995 plus 3 Ringers

Tasted Thursday, April 28, 2005 by KenK with 4,751 views

Introduction

Held at Dennis De al Mata's home and attended by Chris Hughes, Frank Krobnthal, Jim Jenkins, Jerry, Licko, Randy Wear, Dennis, De la Mata, and Ken Kailin

Flight 1 (1 Note)

Flight 2 (11 Notes)

  • 1988 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Group rate this as 9th out of 11 wines, I had it 6th. All wines served blind.
    Tobacco leaf nose with toasty sweet cassis and complex rich cedary quality
    On the palate, shouts Bordeaux with complex well intergrated black fruits, smoke and mineral.
    Good acid level perhaps dominating the drying furit component. Pleasant finish. I guessed this as the 1986 Pichon Lalande.

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  • 1988 Château Lynch-Bages 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Group rated this as 10 of 11 wines, I had it 7th.
    Nose: Earthy black berrywith a toasty smoky mineral quaility, lead pencil
    Palate: Lean dry cherry with cedar, spice and some leather. While generally well balanced fruit seemed muddled.

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  • 1988 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Group rated this as 11th place of 11 wines. It was my number 10 wine.
    Nose: nice green leafy nuance with lots of smoky and mineral - very traditional, classic mature Bordeaux aromas.
    Palate: Somewhat bitter stemmy green component with dry flavors of oak with some cherry hints.
    A flat finish needing more acid and fruit. Seemed almost over the hill. Others felt it soft and simple. I guessed 1988 Lalande. Yeah!

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  • 1986 Château Lynch-Bages 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Ranked third of eleven wines and third by me as well. All wines served blind. Note: 3 tasters ranked it WOTN
    Nose: Medicinal cherry aroma with black licorce, charred quaility and slight musty nuance that blew off with time.
    Palate: Sweet, but dry cherry flavors with distinctive black licorice and woodsey notes. Finsh long and deep reminding me of dark roasted coffee. This wine improved with time and became nice and chewy. A complex complete wine.

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  • 1986 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Group rating 9th, me 7th All wines served blind.
    Nose: Subtle aromas of engaging rich cherry elements that were both dense and lush after lots of swirling.
    Palate: Soft and sweet style with slighlty green character to the finish. Somewhat lighter in mouthfeel. I thought maybe a shutdown 1995 Lalande. Oops.

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  • 1995 Château Lynch-Bages 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Group's 6th place finisher my 4th of 11 wines. All served blind.
    Nose: Very tight dry cherry with a creamy toast nuance.
    Palate: Rich toasty dry cherry with many complex nuances throughout. a touch monolithic, but well balanced with a shorter finish then expected.
    I thought maybe a closed down 1995 Lynch Bages. Nailed it!

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  • 1995 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 98 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Groups 1st place wine and my 1st place wine WOTN out of 11 aged Bordeaux served blind.
    Nose: Young scorched earth with barnyard characters and espresso covered dark cherries
    Palate: Rich dense coffee flavors wrapped by big sweet tannic structure. Loads of ripe black fruits and nice underyling acidity. The concentrated fruit components and long complex finish made me guess this was a 1995 First growth.
    combined with coffee note I thought a Mouton for sure.

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  • 1990 Château Lynch-Bages 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Groups 4th place and my 2nd place vote out of 11 Bordeaux served blind.
    Nose: Complex classy Bordeaux earth tones with minerals, cherries and cedar
    Palate: Toasty and rich. Good mouthfeel. Ripe dry cherry, minerals and some smoke. Well rounded and smooth rich lingering finish.
    Solid and classy. Drinking well.

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  • 1989 Château Lynch-Bages 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Group's 5th place and mine as well out of 11 Bordeaux served blind.
    Nose: Cola, medicinal cherry scent with woodsy leather aroma.
    Palate: Coughdrop cherry flavor like I perceive hot vintages. Sweet dry red fruits with toasty edge. Finish has nice lingering cherrywood component. Good mouthfeel and solid. Nice wine, but not killer stuff.

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  • 1995 Château Mouton Rothschild 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Group's 2nd and my last place wine of 11 Bordeaux. All wines served blind.
    Nose: Rich ripe red cherries with toasty carmel edge in a lusty style. Yeah Baby.
    Palate: Nose did not follow through on the palate as tart cherries was the dominating character. Toasty with lots of acid and tight fruit core. Good mouthfeel, but acid dominated making wine disjointed to me at this stage. Finish was nice, but drying tannins reminded me of an older style of Bordeaux. Maybe still just too young. The group felt the fruit was there and balance was nice. Maybe my stems were off or just my palate? Analysis of 10 prior wines may have clouded my judgement. I would like to try this one again in five years. Thanks to Chris H. for the experience!

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  • 1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Ranked the eighth wine by the group and me out of 11 Bordeaux served blind.
    Nose: Musty tobacco with saddle leather, dirt and pencil lead. Any fruit qualities hard to pick up.
    Palate: Dry steely red fruit flavors with slight greenish tobacco edge. Nice mouthfeel and balanced, but fruit seems dull. This one needs more stuffing to warrant a higher score from me.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

  • 1989 Château Rieussec 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Grand golden rich looking color.
    Nose: tons of concentrated creme brulee character, soft and decadent.
    Palate: Rich lush style with loads of creamy character. Sweet penetrating mouthfeel that had soft peachy feel. Liquid creme brulee.
    Only downfall was lack of vibrancy as lacked balancing acid for my palate. Great finish to a great night. Thank you Dennis.

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Closing

The group felt the wines met the expectations we had going into the tasting. 1988 was clearly the weakest vintage and 1986 seemed young with lot of life left. 1995 still needs time, but the Lalade was stunning.

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