Important Update From the Founder
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1985 super seconds tasted blind
Medlar, Chelsea, London
Tasted April 18, 2012 by Rupert with 565 views
Introduction
Wines served single blind in flights of three. Lots of funk in the first two flights. Ducru does seem to have a TCA problem. Léoville Poyferré right up there with the best, when generally the top tier (Pichon Lalande, Palmer and LLC) did have a touch more class than the rest. Overall, this is still a lovely vintage
Flight 1 - with Deep fried pig's head and sauce ravigote (1 note)
White
2006 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
88 points
Buttery, lactic nose, and all a bit indistinct to start with, before the sauvignon fruit came through, decently minerally, the oak subtly done
Flight 2 - with Wild garlic, jersey royal and parsley soup with snails and gougères (3 notes)
Red
1985 Château Haut-Bailly
90 points
Funky nose, a minty streak, quite rich and creamy, mid weight. Attractive
Red
1985 Domaine de Chevalier
89 points
Less on the nose than the first wine, stalky, smoky, nice, but light
Red
1985 Château Rausan-Ségla
90 points
Strong farmyard nose, softly textured, powerful, big old style claret
Flight 3 - with Duck egg tart with red wine sauce, turnip purée, lardons and sautéed duck heart (5 notes)
Red
1985 Château Palmer
91 points
Another horsey one, with some earthiness in the middle, ripe and tangy. [Not up to the Palmer we have last autumn]
Red
1985 Château Léoville Barton
Lactic nose, unclean middle, grippy finish. Probably corked, but certainly an earthy wiry claret of little charm
Red
1985 Château Gruaud Larose
92 points
Another soft textured farmyardy claret, penetrating, multilayered, super
Red
1985 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
Second bottle: not as badly corked as the first, and fresher all round, but still musty
Flight 4 - with Roast rump of lamb and braised marrowfat peas, sweetbreads, grelot onions and jersey royals (3 notes)
Red
1985 Château Léoville Poyferré
93 points
Beautiful, bright fruit, lots going on here, all of it delicious, nice grip at the end - lovely bottle
Red
1985 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
94 points
Deep, tangy, beautiful and voluptuous, a complete claret
Red
1985 Château Léoville Las Cases
93 points
Tight, creamy, very fine, but this one suggests it has more to give so presumably LLC
Flight 5 - with Selection of cheeses (3 notes)
Red
1985 Château Lynch-Bages
Stalky to the point of unpleasantness, raw and earthy fruit - this used to be so good, but the last few bottles have all been too stalky
Red
Red
1985 Château Cos d'Estournel
92 points
Ripe and spicy, smooth on palate, grippy finish - one of its better showings, still a bit tight, so could get even better