Beat the '90 La Chapelle

Tasted Friday, September 9, 2022 by melvinyeowq with 156 views

Introduction

'Beat the '90 La Chapelle' theme that featured some of the best wines that I have had the chance to taste in my life. You know that it is a stunning line-up when everytime we revisited a wine, it eclipsed the previous one as the favourite - this must have happened multiple times. But eventually we settled on the 1990 Margaux as the clear winner, which was an absolutely legendary wine. The second, third and fourth proved to be a photo finish and I think for me it was the 90 Jaboulet followed by the 85 Cheval, even though they swapped places quite a few times over the course of dinner. Tasting was done single-blind.

Flight 1 (6 Notes)

  • NV Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    90s label I believe, brought it as an aperitif as it was from the same era as the other wines and I have been meaning to try this. Took a while to wake up from its slumber but what a magnificent showing for an entry-level NV. Rich with a hint of honey notes without being too oxidative and nutty. Very fresh and pleasurable, the NVs from this period are really indestructible.

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  • 1986 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

    My contribution and unfortunately the weakest in the line-up. Old Burgundy barnyard funk on the nose at the beginning, shrill acidity with not much else going on. At the end of dinner when we revisited it, it improved quite markedly with a beautiful floral nose, and much more red fruit. Still nowhere near the other wines on show but pleasant enough (if we ignore the price tag). Drink up.

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  • 1985 Château Cheval Blanc 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    On opening it was very Cheval, ripe and hedonistic with huge dollops of concentrated red fruit and an obvious leather note that reminded me of the other Chevals that I had before. But over time it developed a tannic bite so I followed the crowd to change my guess to 1995 Margaux given the vintage characteristics. After revealing, the sexiness returned again and the last glass was the best, an incredibly youthful showing for this wine with its structure remaining very much intact even after more than 35 years.

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  • 1995 Château Margaux 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Ripe plummy fruit, surprisingly there were no hard 1995 tannins. Very elegant and classy wine, but less complete than the 1985 Cheval or 1990 Margaux which is doing it a disservice as it would have been WOTN easily on another night. Haven't had Margaux before and this might be my favourite Bordeaux producer now. Needs more time to come together but will not hit the heights of the other wines tonight.

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  • 1990 Château Margaux 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Wow, the best Bordeaux I have ever tasted hands down. Incredibly layered, complex and perfumed nose, and I just savoured the smell for a few minutes before tasting it. Palate didn't disappoint either, married seductiveness and elegance but still having the power that a Bordeaux of its pedigree should. A wine in complete harmony. 4/5 votes went to this as WOTN, including myself - truly a monumental wine.

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  • 1990 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 95 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    This was a bucketlist wine and a generous friend brought this to form the basis of the dinner. Initially thought that this might have been a Bordeaux, but with air it stood out clearly as the La Chapelle. Precise and pure dark red fruits, not as powerful or tannic as I expected and actually more red-fruited and youthful than I expected as well. Agree that the nose was a little bit of a letdown but I loved the minerality on this wine.

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