Drinking very well. Started drinking shortly after decant, so last glass was the best, of course. I would give it a couple of hours out of respect. No hurry on this. At least 5 years left at peak levels.
The one with Old Bordeaux (Praelum): Purposefully prepared and decanted by the great somms at Praelum, this must have been the most elegant Las cases I've ever drank! Cherry compote, rose water and soil opens on the bouquet with smoke, sage, prunes and tea leaves emerge on the palate. While this was elegant and ready to drink, it does feel like tannins are starting to overtake the fruit here, I would drink up over the next 5 years or so.
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I have never been a fan of 1986 Bordeaux in the past, much preferring 1982/1989/1990, which I found to be much more consistent and accessible. Some of it is due to the more classical style that is inherently daunting to a newer wine drinker, but also due to the slow evolution of wines from the vintage. However these last two bottles - 86 Mouton last week and 86 LLC have thoroughly convinced me of the greatness that many critics see in these wines.
Compared to the Mouton, the LLC is relatively more evolved and open from the start. The nose is classical yet much more refined and even floral compared to the more brooding and primal Mouton. Color is garnet and not nearly as deep as the Mouton either. Yet, there’s great intensity in the palate, fine tannins and classical nose of cedar, mix of red and black fruit, and almost a Burgundian elegance to it all.
I preferred this today to the Mouton, but I expect the Mouton to exceed this.
Although more evolved, I suspect this will still easily last 2 decades.
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The 1986 Léoville Las Cases remains a young wine, this example more expressive on the palate than on the nose. There’s a totally classic Las Cases profile of mixed red, blue, and black berries, potent yet perfumed and very pencilly. The finish lingers beautifully. An exciting showing, but tasting after tasting, the ‘86 Las Cases always seems to dangle the allure of what lies ahead.
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CdB Committee Meeting: Dark red color. PNP, open an hour before serving. Drank a glass over 90 minutes. Cassis and dark berries with an in and out perfume, red cherry, lacquer, very dry, and a little brown sugar note showing through. A little more advanced bottle.
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8 hour slo-ox. That being said, it was still opening up in the glass. This is likely a 60-100 year wine. Integrated tannins, but they are unmistakable and blend well with the fruit and secondary leather and earth. This is not a wine of finesse. Clearly big, old style Bordeaux reminiscent of its neighbor Leoville Barton, but with even more stuffing. This wlll likely be a 100 point wine for me in the next decade.
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Drank with friends at Provence in Providenciales. Outstanding wine with firm tannins and moderate fruit. The meal was top 3 all time as well. Plenty left in this but at or just past peak.
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3 of 6 decanted @ 4:00 served @ 7:30 This was another excellent bottle of LLC. Has everything one should expect. See TN from bottle last year for details
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This has never really matched the hype from the estate and critics. I even seem to recall that it was claimed this was the greatest Las Cases produced. However, it is completely outclassed by the 1982, 1989, and 1990, which are truly almost perfect wines. Admittedly, it is still relatively young for the vintage, but I do struggle to find any real complexity lying behind the tannic spine. That said, it is a glorious wine with notes of forest floor, plum, and cedar. Interestingly, I did find it more attractive a few years ago, when the fruit forgave some of its short comings. The nose is excellent, and the depth and balance on the palate are first rate. However, the finish is very lacking with little depth and length. It is very disappointing, particularly as other top left bankers from 1986 are really starting to strut their stuff. In terms of St Juliens, go for the Talbot at a fraction of the price, and it is an astounding wine. 94+
LLC will always be a first growth in my book. Cork fully soaked and smelled like perfumed cassis. Decanted and aerated for 90 minutes then drank over two hours. Blackish crimson color. Forward nose with age softening the austerity of the 86 left bank vintage, with black and red currants, leather, perfumed cassis, forest floor, cigar box and overall cool dark fruits. Great attack on the palate, not the typical muscular wine that LLC typically is, very dense but refined, extremely complex structure, good lift and acidity mid palate, finishes long and velvety. This has sufficient power balanced with great finesse, almost a blend of Latour and Margaux in one wine. Simply delicious and glad I have another case of 12 of this marvel.
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Tasted blind: Deeply colored; quite cedary at first, tobacco, horsey saddle leather, red courant at first turning overtly black fruited; cigar humidor, some drying, stern tannins still (characteristic of the ‘86s); the “eternal youth” reputation of the ‘86s may not be holding up; while “textbook” Bordeaux, this would have been splendid with a bit more rich, lush fruit.
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I found the fruit on the 86 las Cases evident at the outset (opened an hour before, decanted 45 minutes before), shutting down and then opening again. At its most articulate, this too shows a core of deep, cool cassis with a cedar, unsmoked cigar, and fennel profile, accented by a little beef blood. Here, too, this seems to unfold on the palate the more time it is given and the more attention it is paid.
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Unbelievably young, deep ruby coloured. Fresh, crispy fruit, complex, elegant, subtle fruit, chocolate, leather and toffee notes, with still strong mineral, herbal notes and tannins. Still evolving and built for the very long range.
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Shy nose to start with but this develops nicely in the glass with growing complexity. Cassis, match struck (?), christmas spices. Sleek and elegant but with considerable fruit left, tannins not yet resolved. Medium plus finish and a long balanced finish. The group's no 1 in this flight of 7 vintages.
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Kleur: Diep donkerrood, zonder spoor van verkleuring. Aroma / bouquet: Fragiel - en na opening langzaam maar toch vooral zeker in kwaliteit afnemend - bouquet. Gronderig, een restant van jammig / gedroogd fruit. Smaak / Afdronk: Boterzacht. Zachte zuurgraad, zachte tannines, breekbaar maar met een prachtige harmonie. Die echter in het glas afneemt, waarna de wijn een wat hoekige finale vertoont… Algemeen / potentieel: Bijzondere wijn, grote klasse… Die ik echter iets eerder had moeten drinken. En dit is de tweede fles die bevestigt dat 2050 een te optimistische inschatting is van de drinkbaarheidshorizon. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Smaak / Afdronk: 15 + Algemeen / potentieel: 9 = 91/100
Colour: Deep dark red, without a trace of discolouration. Aroma / bouquet: Fragile bouquet, after opening slowly but certainly decreasing in quality. Earthy, a remnant of jammy / dried fruit. Taste / Aftertaste: Buttery smooth. Soft acidity, soft tannins, fragile but with a beautiful harmony. Which, however, diminishes in the glass, after which the wine shows a somewhat angular finale… General / potential: Special wine, great class… Which I should have drunk a little earlier. And this is the second bottle to confirm that 2050 is an overly optimistic estimate of the drinkability horizon. 50 + Color: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Taste / Aftertaste: 15 + General / potential: 9 = 91/100
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Opened in the morning, put cork back in and took to restaurant in the evening where we gave it another hour in the decanter. Bottom neck fill, cork with some dark mold on top but still tight and in good quality. Still a fairly dark garnet in the glass with no browning towards the transparent rim. A beautiful nose with deep dark fruit and nicely integrated wood spices. The expected masculine palate, Pauillac like, with pencil lead, a touch of sous bois and dark fruit. Nicely integrated tannins. Very good length. Would have rated it even higher if the wine had a little bit more concentration on the mid palate, which did not entirely match the nose in quality. Not sure if a longer decant would have helped as the wine felt resolved (and not tight by any means) and did not develop further towards the end of the dinner. Sommelier thought this was past, in my eyes just fine and at peak.
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Still hitting on all cylinders. Voted about even with 1989 and 2000 vintages in a recent vertical tasting. No end in sight for this after a four hour decant. Pure class.
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Another venture into my med school graduation year. After the GL 86 on TG, I was feeling lucky. Last one of these we opened was flat, super tannic and pleasant but just not what it should have been. Another "stoic" St. J from a "stern" vintage.
This bottle perfect condition, low neck fill. Cork almost removed intact, one small piece fell in so I had to decant immediately. Low to moderate sediment in the bottom.
Color was darker than the 82 Palmer opened the day before. Garnet with lighter rim. Not an old looking wine but not dense like some of the more recent vintages of big St. Julien wines so color is showing some signs of age.
Aroma reticent and comes in and out but what there is was strikingly St. Julien to me. Nose Did not improve much with several hours but while in the decanter, there was a kitchen fire with a lot of smoke in the room so hard to be sure that didn't affect it.
Mouthfeel is just amazing, that's the highlight with food it's incredible. Flavor was nice balance of red fruits and floral and earthy notes, some tobacco and low to medium acidity. But it's still holding back. Not a tannic beast but still the tannins do seem to block some of the flavor.
Great with lamb once we got to it after stopping the fire. Lovely with cheese. Pretty classic old St. Julien and I think I'm learning what the combo of 86 and "masculine" St. Julien is and I think we'll keep learning this for some time to come. I think Dream (and other expertss) are right-this is probably still too young. I wonder if this will go in and out of phase like a volcano in Hawaii or if it will erupt and change the landscape. Fantastic wine but I still think there is more development to come there so I am going to wait a few more years before trying another one.
95+ (+?)
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Decanted for 2 hours. Quite reserved nose. Palate more obvious after 2 hours from opening with iodine, iron and shows some structure. Still some fruit. Medium to long finishing. Best 3 hours after opening.
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Eight Decades of Decadence: This is 100% Leoville Las Cases from 1986. It is a wound up tight ball of energy and as brutish as any from the rustic '86 vintage (maybe except for Mouton which is an even bigger beast). Incredible purity of fruit, iodine, blood, iron, with a structured frame and finish. To me, this wine needs 20 more years to hit its stride. It has all the stuffing to become a legend.
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Très beau nez qui évolue constamment dans le verre. Viande fumée, confiture, feuille morte, terre. En bouche belle rondeur, tout en équilibre. Tanins encore bien presents. Finale sur le cuir. Belle longueur. Du grand vin
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One Year Anniversary CLT Tasting Group (82 Giacosa, 86 Las Casas, 91 Heitz Matha's & More) (Charlotte, NC): Decanted for 2 hours before back in the bottle for 2 hours slo-ox prior to serving. What an amazingly aromatic nose – rustic red flowers both delicate and fierce. On the palate: bramble, cigar box, cedar, and forest floor showing great complexity and finesse traversing these flavor waves. Elegant balancing of primary and secondary flavors with a decided lean towards secondary. Long savory finish. A classic and proper claret – a Bordeaux drinker’s Bordeaux delivering at its apogee. What a wine.
nose - funky, with some barnyard mouth - in spite of being a dark purple, this wine was juicy and fresh with an ephemeral lightness, which is why I presume the english called these _claret_ in the first place. Interestingly there isnt a lot of big fruit flavor here, rather other flavors dominate including pencil lead, earth, and tobacco. Nice wine but an acquired taste for sure.
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Aromatically vibrant on popping…dark fruit, tobacco leaf, coffee grounds. Palate was a tad less impressive. Velvety tannins with only moderate length, perhaps slightly thinning fruit. Defintely enjoyable but prefer both the 82 and 89.
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Served side by side with a Château Latour 96, both wines shown blind and triple decanted 4 hours prior to serving. The Las Cases showed better than the Latour until the last glass. Rich and round, I thought that this had a good proportion of Merlot due to that. Very long and elegant. In a good spot now but long life ahead. Loved it.
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Double decanted for 3 hours. Last tried in 2016 when I was blown away by this wine. Perhaps it was the lofty expectation which this bottle was invariably never going to live up to, but it still didnt quite meet the score or sheer sense of delight I experienced last time (I gave it 96).
The tannic spine which many speak of didnt bother me at all in fact it was one of the positives. The fruit core was there but didnt offer quite the kaleidoscope of flavour that I recall last time. The length was there, suggesting this is still a fantastic wine, it just reminds you not to meet your heroes (a second time).
I was left thinking for the £ I think I prefer the 2003 Leoville B which always gives immense drinking pleasure for a fraction the cost, which I have fortunately stocked up on.
NobleRottersSydney - top 80s Bdx with Rhone ringers (Fix, St James, Sydney): {cork, 13%} [Gordon] Has been a pretty austere and forebidding mouthful in the past, this. But tonight there are definitely some cracks letting in the light. Spectacular cigar-box nose, but also powerful currant/black fruits underneath. Ripe palate, finally mellowing somewhat, although it would be perverse to call it anything other than full-bodied in a classic Medoc context. Medium acidity, medium/high dusty tannins. Relatively a bruiser of a wine, and if the structure seems likely to overwhelm the fruit in the end it’s going to be a hell of a fight. For me, the best example I’ve tasted; the even palate, long finish, the sense of powerful cabernet fruit all demand respect, even awe. Can take on the 86 Mouton for another fifty years or so.
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Light rust red color. Old world barnyard with delicate fruits, weathered saddle leather, feminine floral and light perfume notes. Earth and licorice …….. Somewhat flat and muted on the palate at first but starts to come around some, but lacking that wow factor and likely needs to be drunk.
p.s. snake river farms filets with charred brocclini and butter lettuce salad
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Pausing for the Cause 2022 (Chicago, IL): From magnum. In a charmless vintage from what I consider to be a charmless producer, there is suddenly a wine that belies all of that charmlessness. It's definitely a stern, structural wine, but there are all the hallmarks of great Bordeaux here. A surprising amount of black fruit on the back end, this is very large-scaled wine that's incredibly impressive now.
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Straight from chateau. At this stage this was far from ready to drink with visible tannins. Revisit in 5 or more years. Drank next to the sublime 83 cheval blanc this was in tough company
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Full-bodied, structured, burly, yet refined, there is good intensity and weight, along with an ever-present tannic spine that defines the character of the wine. This is quite classic in style. It is also as I mentioned still tannic, so either wait a decade, or allow it 2-3 hours of decanting.
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Pretty scarlet color. Wet tobacco leaves, fresh rain earth floor, stone, pencil shavings, cassis and raspberry somehow coupled with light perfume and floral notes. Quite an array of flavors and lovely minerality that makes your mouth water. Red meat juices and worn saddle leather. Saving a glass for tomorrow.
Day 2 - nose slightly muted compared to yesterday, but the wine is still drinking well.
p.s. homemade Italian sausage and pepperoni pizza
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The wine was opened with a bunch of burgundy drinkers and was the unanimous WOTN. It’s scary how good this was, Jane Anson, got it absolutely right on the money when she scored this 100 points and so did Robert Parker. This is what statesmanly Bordeaux should be like, oozing confidence, grace, charm and sophistication. Don’t be shy to give this wine a lot of air as in at least 2.5hrs in the decanter and then more in the bottle. This is the Las Cases to own for current and future consumption, forget about the 1982. This is it!
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Dinner with poulet de Bresse: This is going to sound churlish but finally a Las Cases that moved me. The nose showed a good balance between floral notes and earthiness, there was some hints of green according to others but I didn't pick up on it. A truly classic Bordeaux with remarkable freshness rather than the heaviness found in modern ones. A very seductive palate but with an imposing structure. Combined the best of 1982 and 1990.
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1986 Bordeaux plus some supplements (Restaurant Brunnenstube, Beinstein): Decanted for ~ 2,5h. Clear, deep youthful ruby color. Classic and quite youthful BDX nose with some Cassis, mineral notes, pencil shavings. Very dense and beautiful. On the palate enormous pressure, density and power. Very young, lots of red and dark fruit, high and powerful tannin. Great tension and very long. Not as sexy and elegant as the 86 Margaux, but probably with the greater potential. I would assume that this wine could gain even more complexity with a few more years in the bottle. 94-95+
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Nose of cassis, earth, lead pencil and cigar box. A bit withdrawn in the beginning but evolved nicely in the glass. Mature fruit with well integrated tannins. Very aristocratic feel. Pauillac like.
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Very acid forward at first, but with a bit of air the fruit came out. Pretty aromatics and nice dark fruit. While obviously a mature wine, this is still quite spry and youthful.
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#2 of 6 Based on my bottle last year Opened it early afternoon dumped it into a decanter at 4:00 back in the bottle at 5:30 and served it at 9:00. This is a large scaled LLC and well stored bottles really benefit for a long decant. This was a very correct bottle, dark and sultry brimming with cassis and dark fruits, long and serious. See prior TN for details
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This is a big Las Cases in body and appearance, showing baked dark fruit, coffee bean, and slightly stewed notes. Its clearly an older style, as the wines that come later are generally more elegant and refined. At times a bit clumsy, showing some fatigue. The quality clearly diminished in the glass with time. This vintage always seems a little disjointed as we dig into the last third of the bottle, which is what I don't like about it. Its a total drink now, and in jeopardy of losing more freshness and the punch it needs to not be bogged down by the heavy body. DRINK
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This was underperforming ! There was body and fruit, tannin and acid. There was everything nicely aged. But where was the fun ? I missed the wow effect from a wine of this renomme. This wasn t bad . I dont know. Had enough time to breathe. I ll keep my last bottle . Open in 2026 ! 93 ???
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For a 35 year old wine, this couldn't have delivered better. After no more than an hour, it was just enjoyable and lovely (if lovely is even a descriptor). It drinks much younger than a 35 year old if tasted blind. Great blend of fruit and mature flavors. Smooth finish. No hard edges. A life changing wine? Probably not, but simply excellent nonetheless.
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Cork Vault September Bottle Share -- 85/86 Dunn, 86 LLC, 96/99 Drouhin, & More! (Charlotte, NC): A nice compliment to the 85/86 Dunn Cabernets tasted on the night. Slow-ox for 90 minutes before sampling. Classic Left bank Bordeaux at every phase: Aromas of tobacco, leather and brown leaves on the nose. Medium body and soft on the mouthfeel. Fully resolved tannins. This wine was right in its drinking window. Flavors of bramble, mushroom, and graphite. A delightful wine if only lacking greater complexity. No complaints about this wine but also not blown away by it. This was a very good wine that wanted to be savored in a relaxing atmosphere and not consumed as part of a varied line-up of 18 disparate wines.
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Low neck fill. Cork soaked 3/4 way up. Had to extract last piece. Rose hips, leather. Not intense, but really dark. Amazingly looked like a 10 year old BDX. Beautiful floral notes but a bit faded. Enjoyed with a friend who brought 2013 Tignanello and I thought they complemented each other.
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Very fresh, great colour, supple, perfectly balanced, tannins still very prominent. Still only middle aged with lots of upside. Perhaps just lacks a touch of je ne sais quoi or complexity to elevate it to stratospheric heights, but this is already a marvellous wine. A model St. Julien that trades punches with the First Growths with ease.
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Dégustation Open Dreamer Style chez Simon B: Servi dans la même vague que les Margaux 1995 et 1996, ce vin démontre énormément de concentration et pourra bénificier d'une garde prolongée on se demande quand ils vont être prêts ces 86! Très beau Bordeaux qui en donne beaucoup pour son niveau et n'a pas mal paru à côté des grands.
Tobacco, leather, and cedar on the nose. Notes of mushroom, graphite, and tar, with a silky smooth body and well-rounded structure. Graceful and ready to drink now.
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9th of 12, opened 2 hours, decanted one hour, perfect level, half travelled cork, if anything fresher than last bottle in March 19, very sophisticated and layered, nicely integrated tannins, though underlying tannic structure apparent on exit, bouquet still developing, again long life ahead though as ever with these 86s will the fruit live long enough? VF+ (19)...I think there is a good chance here!
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Despite a slow aeration, the wine appeared very primary, whether on the nose with blackcurrant or on the palate where it was thin with a hint of acid.
And then, suddenly, after the first drink, something unlocked. The nose became powerful, on precious wood, pencil lead and spices. The mouth changed completely. The touch is silky with a spherical material, soft and ample at the same time. The wine begins to loosen in the mouth and it is magnificent: structured and balanced, it gives everything in the mouth with a floral side to finish on a massive and kaleidoscopic peacock tail finish: sometimes saline, sometimes fruity, sometimes tobacco . the whole stretching over a very nice length.
Excellent
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This is a truly classical St Julien, with a rather reserved black fruited nose, with graphite and mint. It's not a powerful wine, but it's purposeful and pleasing. A really beautiful texture; so silky smooth, like a cold drink on a hot day. Long, delicious finish.
Just lacks a bit of complexity to propel it to greatness. Hopefully this will develop with time, but I'm not sure if any of us will be there to see it.
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One of the all time greats for a reason. This was brought by a friend, decanted for about 2.5 hours, then enjoyed rather quickly in zalto BDX stems.
I've heard it said that this vintage from LLC may "never come around" or is "hard as nails". I'm pretty tannin tolerant, but this wine certainly had the softness that one would desire in an aged Bordeaux. A recent 86 Gruaud Larose was certainly tougher structurally. Also, this 86 LLC had plenty of fruit and acid, and thus remained balanced. While perhaps 10 years from peak maturity, I found it relatively approachable and quite classic.
What a treat to taste this legendary wine.
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Hard to believe how young this comes across. Brilliant dark crimson color--no bricking at all. Was pretty closed upon opening, a few hours later was giving up some typical bdx notes of cedar, leather spice and mint. What stood out from this St. Julian was pure crystalline red fruits (crème de cassis). Tannins were strong, but quite polished and fine for '86. Lengthy finish with a bit of coffee. Really strong 34yo bdx, but I have to think this is still on the upswing.
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The best wine I have ever had? Yes. 34 years young and while it is drinking beautifully now, I’m sure it has many years of life ahead.
Full cork with no extraction problem; on the nose classic Bordeaux; the colour is a wonderful shade of mid-deep purple with no fade to the rim. In the mouth a subtle delicacy of incredible balance and a finish that goes on and on....this is the apex of fine Bordeaux.
I’ve had all the 1990 First Growths and the 1986 Mouton, and this, in MHO, tops them all.
This bottle was clearly ready for drinking. Decanted about an hour before being served it had good colour, still deep, then mature aromas on nose. On palate good depth, tannin present but not dominating. Long, concentrated and balanced (though with tannic firmness) on finish. Complex flavours I won't attempt to describe - but autumnal aspects showed. Gathered momentum in the glass and I will decant future bottles slightly further in advance.
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#1 of 6 Given the nature of LLC and the 1986 vintage, I left these alone since I bought them on release. Recent bottles of 1982 LLC and 1986 Margaux encouraged me to try one. I generally agree with Jeff Leve’s TN from earlier this year “...this wine is ready for drinking.” Decanted at 3:00, by dinner cassis soared from the glass, layers of dark red fruit, full bodied with a surprisingly silky texture and engaging acidity carrying this impressive LLC to a long finish. You go back for another sip and you really are faced with “soaring aromatics and a blast of ripe cassis”. Although quite different than the 1982 this is drinking really well, This makes me want to try the 1990 LLC soon
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Bordal à Carouge (Ducru, Las Cases, Vega, Sassicaia, GPL...) (Chez Anne et Claude): Double aveugle. Ouvert 1 heure avant dégustation. A mis du temps, encore 2 heures, avant de bien se livrer, arômes de fruits noirs, âtre froid, sous-bois. En bouche, complexe, souverain, masculin, belle longueur. Bouteille conservée dans la même cave dès achat en primeur. Tiendra encore 10 ans.
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Cork 100% soaked, though stored at textbook conditons since release. VTS, just not in to neck anymore. Garnet, in thicker layers ruby . The nose is ready from the start without a decant. Maybe just wait ten minutes after pouring. Blueberries, amarena, earthy notes, campher, bay leaf, cassis, vanilla and caramel, cedar. On the palate less complex, but most of the scents you find here again. Some pencil shavings in the aftertaste, later forrestfloor. Refreshing acidity, that provides great balance. Some of the tannins are still there, but overall this is smooth and round, not stern nor hard. Really only a bit of adstringency in the long finish. Maybe this bottle is more advanced than others because of the corks condition, nevertheless the wine feels mature, full of energy, just hitting its plateau. I decant a part of the bottle, delivering a wine with less nuances, but not less maybe a bit more intensity. All in all I wouldn't recommend to decant this, but as often this is a questation of personal taste. If the cork is renewed this should hold through some more decades without getting better overall, but getting smoother and likely also less energetic. -2050+?, 5/14/19/10. What a great wine at 13% Vol. alc. also a step from the lighter 1982s to the more powerful and less elegant wines of the presence. 98 from the Wine Advocate (Neal Martin, 2016) and 100 from R. Parker in 2003.
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Every major holiday demands a celebratory wine. This Saturday Labor Day weekend, it’s a 1986 Leoville Las Cases.
The other weekend, we had Ribcap’s with a good Bordeaux & Napa Cabernet but, it was not what I was looking for with an Allen Brothers Ribcap. Allen Brothers steaks are the top 1% of beef in the country.
This 86 Leoville Las Cases started slow but, in short order excelled. The cork (not from my storage) made me hesitate to an extended decant. Even with the Durand corkscrew, it was a little tricky to remove the cork. However, the wine was still sound.
My favorite pairing is a Ribcap & an old Bordeaux. For me, no meal is slower or better. I grew up the youngest in a family of seven...raised by a single mother. My father passed away while I was four months conceived. So, we ate fast and fought for every scrap.
The nose reveals classic Bordeaux notes & style. Ripe, funky barnyard fruits of; cooked; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, strawberries, black plum, dark cherries, slight dry cranberries, pomegranate, blueberries & rhubarb. Steeped tea, cola/red licorice, anise, golden brown to slightly burnt pie crust, dark, rich, turned earth, dry stones, limestone, cedar notes, old tobacco, underbrush, graphite, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, bay leaf, hints of eucalyptus/mint, old, soft leather, touch of mushrooms, just a hint of band-aid/va, with bright, fresh & withering; dark, red, blue, purple flowers framed is soft violets.
The palate is; smooth, elegant, ripe and juicy. The 86 still shows some baby, slightly tarry & teethe tannins. The structure, tension, balance and length are incredible. This 86 has years of life ahead of it if you enjoy them at this age and older as I do. Ripe, funky barnyard fruits of; cooked; blackberries, dark cherries, black, strawberries, black plum, dark cherries, slight dry cranberries, pomegranate, blueberries, faint raspberries notes, & rhubarb. Steeped tea, cola/red licorice, anise, golden brown to slightly burnt pie crust, crispy toast, dark, rich, turned earth, dry river stones, charcoal w/ ash, limestone/sandstone, dry clay, cedar notes, old tobacco with ash, underbrush, graphite, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, bay leaf, some vegetal characteristics, hints of eucalyptus/mint, old, soft leather, touch of mushrooms, used expresso grounds, dark chocolate, caramel, mocha powder, hints of band-aid/va, with bright, fresh & withering; dark, red, blue, purple flowers framed is soft violets. The acidity is a gentle rain shower and perfect. The long finish defines elegance, balance in fruit & earth, well knitted and goes on for several minutes in perfect harmony ending with dry earth & juiciness over the top.
What a treat it is to drink Bordeaux of this age & older. I love the style of 80’s Bordeaux and really appreciate the 12-13% ABV of that decade. Wish that never changed.
Not sure this makes it to 2060 but, there is still plenty of life in it. Don’t be afraid to decant it 1-2 hours without question on well stored bottles.
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Must be the bottle as I was a bit underwhelmed and I have already drunk 7 of my previous bottles. Decanted and aerated for 90 minutes then drank over 2 hours. Cork fully soaked. Deep ruby color rather than bricking and nose of black currants, tobacco leaves, cigar box and cassis. Complex structure and well evolved however I sensed some greenness is the wine. Medium to full bodied on the palate meaning it may have been better to leave the wine longer in the decanter as the acidity and tannins are still quite present. Finish was rather long and hedonistic which was a surprise given austerity if the wine/vintage on the palate.
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Decanted 3 hours. Incredibly dark in color and dark, cool fruits on the nose with some lead pencil. Over the evening (post the 3 hour decant) this really does not evolve much, staying a bit reserved but certainly well put together and representative of the vintage. While this is going to live forever, I am not sure it will hit the heights of the '86 Margaux tasted the night before. That might be unfair, and impacting my assessment of this wine, but for now I would call it a very good wine but just short of great for my palate. A-
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This has the structure to stay here for the next 50 years but it is at its peak. It is a typically a Las Cases experience, and very typical of the year in general. It is a very robust and masculine in its profile with strong tannin, but with exceptional depth and a finish pushing 60 seconds. 96+
96 Points This is a delicious and classical bottle of Left Bank Bordeaux with a deep and clear crimson red colour and a rich and expressive nose of blackcurrants, creme de cassis, cedar, liquorice and a touch of mint and blackberry leaf. The palate is perfectly shaped with great length and drive combined with an extra depth of lovely soft fruit on the back palate that lifts this wine into the top league. A lovely balanced and pure glass of claret that gives a great deal of pleasure in a classical way.
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One of the wines of the vintage, the wine is ready for drinking. That being said, regardless of how long you decant the wine. there is no avoiding the stern, hard nature of the vintage. Full-bodied, concentrated and with soaring aromatics, the wine offers up a chewy, intense, rough and ready blast of ripe cassis.
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Black fruit, acidity and firm but silky tannin in perfect balance, but still restrained. Opened up somewhat & gained weight on the palate after 5-6 hours in decanter. Blackish purple colour suggests to me that this still needs time to reveal it's full potential but proved a great match for Roasted Mushroom & Garlic Trottole. I feel this has 100-point potential but not quite there yet. 3-5 years?
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Drinking very well tonight - now that I'm savoring this a little, even better than very well. Sorry I'm not more descriptive, but I'm enjoying the meal to much to get more detailed.
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From memory- An extraordinary bottle of wine. Decanted 1 hr prior to dinner, then drank over 4 hrs with other 100 point wines. I should have decanted longer because it was just becoming special in the last hour.
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Paired with classic thankgiving dinner including a huge turkey, broccoli casserole, chestnut stuffing, sweet potato puree, Cranberry crumble, wild rice with dates and apricots, and later on cheese and desserts included apricot pie homemade, and store-bought fruit tart and a lame pumpkin pie.
Wine was opened at about 3pm with dinner planned about 6 but actually starting around 6:30
Bottles had mid-neck fill. Capsules fine. Corks both had what seemed to be yeast on the top. Both, but especially the first bottle was difficult to open with the Durand as the side arms had trouble advancing. The cork was really adherent to the glass. However, the cork came out wihout incident otherwise. IN succession , each bottle decanted and had light crimson color which darkened only slightly with time and air.
The nose was extremely reticent. You could get a sense of cassis and cherry and certainly some earthiness and tobacco but it is all really in the distance. So polished but just not robust. It was really hard to say if this is fruit fading or if it just isn’t ready, perhaps a little of both. I am not an expert and it seems this wine is in a relatively dumb phase but compared to some of the early drinking wines, it is not at all tannic and it doesn’t seem super concentrated so I am confused. The mouthfeel was plush and really complimented the meal and was best at the time we ate the cheese but still the complex nose and flavors though there seemed far away. It was excellent but I had expected so much more. I can’t give it more than a 90 right now but I am hoping that given the reputation of this wine, it is going to be improved. I am not sure if the yeast in the cork was a factor, the corks were almost saturated but they seemed OK and certainly not leaking and there wasn’t a hint of awkwardness to the wine, it had appropriate amount of sediment and definitely no cork on first or second nose, no maderization, no funk, no metallic and no bitterness. To me it seemed it is a wine with complexity that is off in the distance and I suspect it is still just a little too young. But is seems so light in weight and so not tannic that it is hard to call it young. But, maybe it is a burgeoning adolescent. I hope so. Certainly the wine seemed appropriately cellared so if it is just not quite ready, we should be in for a treat in a few years. Perhaps the food pairing was not ideal but there was something missing here from what should be a great wine.
90+
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Very good at opening, with typical strong 1986 super dark iron clad fruit and thickness. Aromas of strong tobacco leaf and stewed red fruit dominate this muscular wine and show the same on the palate. It was exhaling and getting better and better and getting me very excited, but after about 3 hours, it started fading and getting disjointed and watering down. This is a good example of how some of the great wines of 1986 can't withstand the time needed to overcome the stubbornness of the tannic structure of the vintage. I would say drink this with no hurry over next 5 to 7 years, but, drink it swiftly without over swirling and over waiting. Drink
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Classified Bordeaux 33 years old and older (Yan's China Bistro, Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of tar, earth, leather, black cherry, and sweet fruit, more of the same on the palate, opened very slowly over 3 hours to brooding fruit, all commented it needs 5 year to be its best and is a 50 year wine, big body, disappointing as intensely concentrated but no excitement, and long finish. My #2 of 3. Uploaded photo.
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Fantastic wine. Textbook nose for mature Bordeaux, in the cedar/wet leaves spectrum. Impeccable balance, soft tannins, structured, weighty in the mid-palate, long finish. Will hold, but at its peak now.
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At its peak. Slightly oxidative. Tannins fully integrated. Palate feels fine but a little thin. Berry notes almost gone. Leathery, tobacco, wet grass, sherry and pencil/graphite notes. My last bottle and felt it is time to drink up.
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8th of 12, decanted 80 minutes, fully travelled cork near perfect level, now on plateau of maturity, slightly less energy to fruit than last bottle in May 14 but tannins now properly integrated, usual LLC class and complexity, cassis and mulberry fruit driven but now with attractive tertiary flavours developing, would expect less muted bouquet to develop from now, 20 years plus of life. VF (18.5).
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PNP from magnum. Wine still dark purple, with nose of graphite, black fruits and oak. Full bodied with well integrated tannins, sweet black fruits. Finish still rather tight. Like other 86', tannins finally softening and the wine is starting to open up. Still needs a few years before it fully shows.
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Bordeaux 1986 Stock, Oslo: Fabelaktig god duft. Mørk frukt, snev av tobakk, mentol og solbær. Fløyelsmyk, veldig god konsentrasjon, stor og kompakt frukt, finkornet tanninstruktur. Åpen og drikkeklar.
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Rather coiled and linear like a typical '86 and really needed lots of air to show itself. Then the classic black fruit sweetness of LLC emerges along with notes of graphite minerals and dark spices. The finish is tight but complex and the tannins are still fairly prominent suggesting more time is needed here. 93+
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We purchased our stash of the 1986 Las Cases in the early 1990's and the bottles have been properly cellared as long as we have owned them. We waited until now to open a bottle and in the glass, the wine is still so deep in color that it looks much younger than its age would suggest. Medium bodied with notes of cherries and cedar, with coffee and smoke appearing after being opened for 1 hour. Definitely drinkable, but still not at its peak. We'll wait at least 5 more years before opening another bottle.
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This is now in a prime spot and is evolving rapidly, and I do feel less, rather than more aeration, is preferable. It is typical of the estate and of the vintage being all about blackcurrent, plum, and cedar, but with a robust tannin. The depth and complexity on the palate is outstanding, If a little short on the finish. It represents everything great about old school left bank Bordeaux, and is very masculine and here for the next 3 decades plus. An hour in the decanter is adequate.
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Against an 88 and an 85 in a mini-verticale this bottle scored surprisingly “only” bronze. Medium to full bodied, complex and elegant, but the subtle fruit, chocolate, leather and toffee notes are overwhelmed by strong mineral and herbal notes dominating the finish. Worthwhile revisiting in a few years.
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Leoville Las Cases Dinner; 10/26/2018-10/27/2018 (Troquet on South): Nose: A joy to get your nose into the truffle, inky blackberry, cedar, anise and graphite nose of this wine. With a perfume that is the best of St. Julien with just a whiff of Paulliac it is hard not to love the 86. Palate: Very complex, middle weighted and open tonight. Fleshy red and black fruit on the palate that compliments the tobacco and graphite. Just a bit of spice and bell pepper, then a cedar/anise pop at the back palate. Finish: Faint few of the hard edges that some speak of, but retains grip and has persistent cedary loamy earth in the finish.
This is coming into an open phase for sure. I was lucky to taste this as part of a monovarietal flight with the component parts of the 1986 LLC. This final blend is a harmonious grand salute that delivers the best notes from the single varieties.
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My, my - is the 86 LLC starting to come around? Another recent bottle was so dumb, but this is beginning to really show what it has got. And it has got quite a lot, in fact. What depth, precision, weight, polish, and even a certain elegance there is in the curranty, mineral, cedar, inky nose. The palate shows a great depth of flavor with only medium weight and refreshing acidity. Of course, this is made all the more special by the fact that there are 4 more bottles of 1986 LLC alongside - a bottle each of pure, unblended varietals that went into the final blend.
1986 LLC Petit Verdot: Warm mahogany, furniture polish, biscuity, cedary nose. Peppery palate; lots of acidity.
1986 LLC Cabernet Franc: Explosively spicy; mint, thyme, camphor; eventually beef blood and an ultimate evolution into a quieter, more mellow aromatic profile.
1986 LLC Merlot: Mellow, fleshy, ripe raspberry rather than the plummy notes one is accustomed to from the pure Merlots of Pomerol.
1986 LLC Cabernet Sauvignon: Of course, this is most like the Grand Vin which is mostly cabernet sauvignon. But as lovely and virile as the CS is with its currant, mineral, inky personality the blend is even better.
Superb - thank you to Leoville Las Cases for bottling these separately.
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I love this wine, and it only seems to get better. it poured to a full and deep ruby color, it looked more like a 5 year old and drank like a 10-15 year old. layers of plum, raspberry, tobacco, and graphite. integrated and refined, it improved with air - even better on the 2nd day. Best LLC vintage I can recall, and would be great to drink aside the 82.
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Les Deux 2018 (Chez Gill): Final flight, 1st wine. I can't think of anything else I would want in a mature bdx. Just a glorious nose with loads of earth and spice, with a hint of dried and ripe fruit. On the palate, good acidity, more earth and spice and a long finish still. Just spot on; no need to contemplate, just enjoy.
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Not sure bottle was 100% pristine but still a tremendous complex and fully evolved LLC with sweet tobacco leaves, wet earth, cassis, currants, excellent balance and acidity, medium to full bodied and long black currant and bitter chocolate finish.
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The flavours are still mostly primary. Rich and deep flavours of blackcurrants, cedar, cassis, leather, tobacco and some spices. The tannins are firm and mature, will take time to resolve.
Put this away for another next 5-15 years and your patience will be rewarded.
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This is a delicious and classical bottle of Left Bank Bordeaux with a deep and clear crimson red colour and a rich and expressive nose of blackcurrants, creme de cassis, cedar, liquorice and a touch of blackberry leaf. The palate is perfectly shaped with great length and drive combined with an extra depth of lovely soft fruit on the back palate that lifts this wine into the top league. A lovely balanced and pure glass of claret that may be just peaking .. or maybe not !
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Come out come out wherever you are ! 32 years old and not a slight of being ready. It’s dense and concentrated, but that’s about all you can get. One for the next generations.
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This wine is pretty much indestructible and it is still, even now, barely ready to drink. A regal whiff rises out of the glass then snaps shut and then nothing!! Nothing on the palate, or the nose. So clamped shut that it probably needs another 10 years to even mature. Crazy stuff. So frustrating because what does come out of the glass at times is sensationally good.
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From 750, this is still so young and just seems ready to burst forth but it isn't quite there yet. Even with a reasonably long decant, the classic cassis, cedar, and mineral LLC nose is buttoned up. But the constituents are there and the nose shows so much depth and polish. Hold it a few years more... when LLC finally shows itself, it's a beautiful thing.
Joanne Bordeaux Trip 2018 (Bordeaux): (Limited Notes and no official scores, as this was blind tasting with Jean Hubert Delon.) Then the '86 hit the table and the room grew silent as the wine opened slowly in the glass, seeming to grow in depth and size yet completely balanced and pleasurable right now. There was a polished youthfulness to the fruit with a remaining crunch of residual tannin. It's drinking wonderfully, and easily falls into one of the top ten older Bordeaux drinking experiences of my life.
Completely disheartened! Have been saving this bottle for years since purchasing from private collector. Cork was soaked to the brim - swollen and protruding from bottle. Poured and decanted. Totally flat. Virtually no nose. I was crushed... I see others have succumbed to the same fate! So now I move on to my ‘89s. I am a bit fearful.
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Bright, more forward than 95 Haut Brion tonight. However it didn't have quite the finish or complexity. In time started to become more interesting, but ultimately lost in the shuffle of some exceptional wines.
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This wine was decanted for 2 hours before serving. It had its place in the evening having to follow 2 truly superb Burgs (Cathiard Murgers 05 and Rouget Echezeaux 02). This was my first experience with the 86 LLC and from prior experience with the chateau and the vintage I had a certain expectation in terms of what to expect - but the result was utterly surprising. After working through a very typical Bordeaux nose of barnyard and library with some nice iodine on the palate this was an absolute dancer with lovely acidity, a GREAT midpalate and it was only for a bit of a short finale that I am not scoring this higher. Hands down blind I would have NEVER guessed this to be a 86 LLC - it drank more like a high class 96. This is a 86 that is not in the least drying. It was almost chameleoneque showing neatly getting into line with the Burgundies. A wine that can be drunk now or for the next decades, although I felt it was in a lovely spot that night.
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This was a vertical tasting over dinner. I love Las Cases and fell its a tremendous value that in the best years approaches Grand Crus but is generally excellent and enjoyable. all of these wines fit the bill from the the sublime 82 and 90 downward. My ranking was as follows 82 90 86 89 83 96 85 95
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Massiv nose with cassis, fresh herbs, green pepper, Tobacco and hints of chocolate. Rich and elegant! On the palate full bodied, elegant in perfect balance. Rich dark berrie-fruit, hints of plum, stable ripe raspberries and licorice, great stuff. I could sip on this for a loooong time!
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Removing the foil revealed a moldy cork. After removing the cork there was a dried dust on the bottle. The cork showed the wine had soaked through it. The wine tasted flat as if it was sitting in a glass on the counter several days. Due to the huge price point I took several hours to drink this with small sips and it NEVER improved.
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What a treat for Christmas! Opened two bottles, significant bottle differentiation however both were incredible. First sips were incredible and the wine evolved over the next 5 hours. Deep, inky colour. Lead pencil, graphite, touch of barnyard, cassis and pomegranate. Still quite tannic which leads me to believe that this wine still has at least 10 more years. Incredible. 96+
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Wine Flock Intro Retro - Cabs (Jordan's): Served double blind in what turned out to be a 86 BDX flight. The nose here is amazing -- classic aromas of dried plum, mineral, decaying earth and cigar box. The palate is so layered and elegant. Seems to be fully mature with still fresh and moderately concentrated fruit married to resolving, fine tannin. Terrific length and detailing.
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Chicago Wine Flock..."Bordeaux and Cali Cab from Jordan" (Chez Whitehead - Northbrook IL): Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a 1986 Left Bank Bordeaux flight (all open 2 hours with a quick double decant). Spice hints with plenty of ripe fruit aromas. Black currant and cherry with liqueur hints and cigarbox. Excellent balance and persistence. So enjoyable. Clearly the class of the flight.
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Beautiful aged Bordeaux. Great bouquet with earth, leather, and faint fruit. Medium bodied, dark blue fruit and great complexity in the mouth. This is not going to get any better and is close to the end. I had it over two nights and the second night was not as good. Very lucky to have this icon in the cellar.
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After reading other notes, I have to say that I have never had bottle variance with this wine and have obviously been fortunate. This is my favourite Las Cases that is drinking at present, bearing in mind I have yet to sample my 2000 and 2005 to date. I personally feel that this is starting to reach its full maturity and certainly has evolved in the last year. Possessing a beautifully deep nose of blackcurrent, plum and cedar, the wine is elegant but still very left bank with good fruit matched with graphite and good tannin. The depth and balance on the palate is superb and completed with a 30+ second finish. I would actually score this wine higher but for a slight imbalance and sourness towards the end of the finish. It does need a couple of hours in the decanter and will stay here for years and hopefully keep improving.
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Popped and poured a small taste prior to dinner later today.
Complex nose, with black and red fruits and a tobacco note.
This still has a modest tannic presence - 30 years after the vintage, and slowly approaching peak maturity. More black- fruited than red on the palate with decent supporting acidity- very likeable, and a wine that will probably be capable of another 10-20 years of aging.
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Some wines are clearly at their peak, and this is one of them. It's firing on all cylinders and doesn't let up. The fruit is so fresh, so pure. Lots of creme de cassis, fresh cedar, graphite, leather, truffle, and cigar box. Powerful and yet so graceful on the palate, with a silky mouthfeel. Long finish with crisp acidity but a sense of roundness with its soft tannins. Highly recommended to enjoy this now.
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Outstanding wine and more open than many other 86s. On the nose cassis, asphalt, dark berries and ink, ruby red color with some bricking. Aerated for an hour or so in the decanter and drank over 2 hours. Full bodied entry on the palate, rich texture, supple yet powerful, good complexity and structure to the wine, great acidity and balance, coats the palate and finishes with a note of dark berries and bitter chocolate. Truly enjoyable. 3 bottles left!
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Very classic wine from Bordeaux with nosing of plum, caramel, tobacco integrated with smooth tannins. The color didn't show the old wine rim but cloudy. Enjoyable for drinking but not as great as RP marked.
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Extremely powerful tannins that seemed to round off after a few hours in the decanter. Very enjoyable although it shut down when we had the remaining wine the next day. I think it still needs time for the tannins to integrate better.
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Leoville Las Cases with Pierre Graffeuille (Ripple): A bigger wine and a more muscular and layered wine than either the 1989 or 1990 -- much stronger family resemblance to the 1996. But like the 1996 I did not find this wine nearly ready to drink. The tannins are still very powerful and drying on the palate. It's a red-fruited wine inflected with a bit of earth and wood that's segued past the barrel or cedar stage into something more suggestive of antique furniture. But this is nowhere near as developed or ready to go as the '89 or '90 -- probably a decade away for my tastes, which means the '96 might need 20.
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Léoville Las Cases dinner with Pierre Graffeuille (Ripple Restaurant in DC): Incredibly youthful yet complex nose displaying intense cassis, ink, a hint of plum starts to develop, cigar, ash, cedar, caramel and lead pencil. Excellent concentration, beautifully layered, silky and polished, tobacco and cassis driven palate impression, bright acidity, nicely integrated tannins and a lovely long finish with cedar at the end. This is very similar to the 96 but I find this to be a big richer/oilier where the 96 is purer and more precise. Exceptional showing. It is finally reaching the first stage of the youthful peak.
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Dark deep red, slim yellow edge, 5.5. Surprisingly youngish looking. Immediately after decanting the wine is surprisingly closed for a 30+ years old Bdx. Just giving off the classic pencil like notes. 4h after decanting the bouquet is a bit more open but still not really exciting. However, the last glass 6h after decanting is more genorous starting to show more complexity, flowery notes on top of the pencil. The palate is reflecting the bouquet, still firm tannins, long intense but elegant finish. This would propably gain by cellaring 10years more, but the cork of this bottle was practically soaked all the way - so risky to wait.
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Double decanted and were not really impressed. Went for a different wine in the end and only had this the day after so decanted for 24hrs. Still the same issue. Healthy yes but muted and dull, like having a great tenor who refuses to sing. In the last 7 years we have tried this wine 4 times now and we have had this sort of mix reaction where singing bottles are superb (94-97 levels) but also we hit a few sleepers. Bottle variation or just our luck. On the day we wouldn't rate more than 88 but will refrain from doing so as we don't think its a characteristic bottle for the wine.
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During a Commanderie de Bordeaux tasting dinner. Clearly past peak. As in so many 86, after 30 years the tannins have finally softened but the little fruit they had is also gone... Here we have at least some nice aromas left of mint, dark fruit, forest floor. Still, the mouth feel is a bit lean. Decent but not great. I was never a fan of neither the '86 or '88 Bordeaux.
Sensational. 3 hour decant allowed some of the funk to blow off before the wine really opened up and started to display the most heady bouquet. Then drunk over another 2 hours and improving all the way through. Clearly 10+ years left. Need to find some more.
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Umm, this wine rocks. Great structure, lively tannins. If it had a little more fruit it would be 98-100 territory. Drank at 90 minutes; next bottle will see 3 hour decant. Handily beat an 82 Lafite tonight.
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A stunning wine finally entering its drinking plateau. A restrained nose of old leather and blackberry gradually opens up on the palate to reveal subtle smooth berry flavours balanced perfectly by slightly acidic tannins. It gives a smoothness without losing its typical masculinity completed with a lingering finish. This does need a 3 or 4 hour decant and possibly will continue to improve, but is drinking magnificently now.
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Bordeaux 1986 single blind tasting at Grappe, Stockholm. With Mr Carl-Jan Granqvist and Mr Johan Edström. Concentrated, youthful, hints of fresh mint, prominent but classy tannins. Very good.
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Lånar vad jag skrivit tidigare då det helt stämmer överens med även denna flaska. Väldigt mörk och kompakt i färgen för att vara en Bordeaux med denna ålder. I doften underbara lite dammiga, stalliga toner med fin frukt och cigarrlåda. I smaken fin mogen frukt med svarta vinbär och lite plommon. Väldigt koncentrerat och ungdomligt med otroligt bra balans med underbara silkiga tanniner och lång fin eftersmak.
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For anyone not getting a peak experience out of this wine, make sure you decant for well over an hour. We decanted for 3 hours and it was in a perfect place - just hitting high notes from start to finish. Typical 86 power with well integrated tannins and expressive complex fruit.
Magnificent
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66x Parker 100-Pointers from Bordeaux 1947-2010 tasted blind (Switzerland): Tasted blind. Medium garnet. Nose of earth, blue fruit, pine, a touch of barnyard. Medium bodied with softer structure than the first two wines but still quite meager and drying tannins. I had better bottles of this in the past but it was quite a tannic experience every time. While better than the Lafite and Mouton 1986, still not really impressive. There was also a discussion on the table whether this bottle was representative or not. In any case, it confirms my numerous past experiences with the rustic, over-rated 1986 vintage. Group score: 18.03, group rank: 29/64
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Delicate mature delicious. The nose is past its best but the mid palate and finish just wonderful and so minerally. We gave it an hour decant and then it just got better and better. If you can risk it give it longer than the hour but be warned it does not need it and is in a very good place right now.
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Very floral aroma. Relatively lighter, fresher and more tart than other Bordeaux tasted blind. Took this to be right bank wine, which strangely finished last out of 7.
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Wow, was this a ride in a Cadillac ! Smooth bold powerful body that gracefully moved along the pallet from start to finish leaving favorable taste sensations at every check point. We had Nortic Char that blended well with this wine. The cork had darkened and I was concerned initially but that thought was retired. I let it breath a good 3-4 hours. Again , wow! Excellent wine
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Drank in Hong Kong Had alongside the '86 Gruaud Larose which was showing better on the night. Don't get me wrong this is a beautiful wine but there is some tannins in the palate that have still not integrated.
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Best bottle so far. How can you trap nobility in a bottle? Well I would ask Leoville Lascases as they have done a marvellous job on this 30 year old. Amazingly youthful in color, decanted and let breathe for an hour. Ruby red, hardly any bricking. Outstanding nose of mature cigar tobacco, spices, star anise, mature black fruits this wine caresses the palate with multiple and complex layers and finishes very long. Truly a first growth.
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Bottle breathed 1 hr and decanted for 3 hrs. Still very youthful and likely needs another 3-4 hrs of breathing before ready. A hint of mint, leather and berry. Easily last another 10 yrs or more.
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Nesen fremstår ren og frisk med mørk rødbærsfrukt, myntedrops, lær, tørkede roseblader og lakris. Juicy og presis frukt med fin friskhet, kompleksitet og dybde i smaken. Fremstår livlig, energisk og nesten silkemyk. Bærer fint med solid struktur og stødig grep i finish med modne tanniner. Mørk, dyp og tjærepreget finish med god lengde. Særs godt.
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My 1st old bourdeax. Drank at Jordans. Interesting smooth silky body a little thin though? Cigar box, leather. Fruit not very dominant. Eligant and complex with a long finish. Drank along with an 09 Figeac and 12 Lynch Bages. Interesting to contrast the old with the new. The Las cases really called out how heavy the tannin was on the younger wines.
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Har tidigare druckit fantastiska flaskor av detta vin, men denna gång är det inte riktigt med i matchen. Kraftfull vin med mörk frukt, lite gröna toner, blyerts, viss stallighet. Rätt gott om tanniner, påtaglig syra och mörk frukt men känns inte riktigt i balans.
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Initially closed and a bit flabby, needs decanting and a minimum of a couple hours to open and settle, better the next day ... and even better the day after that!
Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, beautiful floral bouquet, black berry and black cherry fruits with layers of cassis, bark, spice and earthy, leathery oak, subtle bell peppar with slight tangy bitterness turning to firm lingering tannins with a long long floral finish.
LLC dinner at 10 Greek Street. In keeping with the one I had in mid-December ( Wimps. La Trompette). Dark fruits, leather, textured, concentrated and with a slight peppery and balsamic kick on the finish.
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Great Wines to start the New Year (Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand): Drunk blind and next to the Mouton Rothschild 1982, this came across as slightly more monolithic but also deeply expressive of its vintage. Like most great 1986a I have drunk, this wine is stern, backwards and linear. It also hides its elevage in a way the Mouton, with its creamy oak and blackcurrants did not. The Leoville is very savory, mineral, dark and tannic. Very intense, very large-scaled. Incredibly complex but somewhat inexpressive, this is showing more bottle age character than the Mouton but it is also more backwards. I love the intellectual style of the wine and imagine that it will always be somewhat hard and structured when it finally enters its ultimate apogee of development. Always first growth standard. 96+
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December 2012 This was an ex chateau release 2015, This most be the most powerfull of the vintage with Lafite and Mouton ... . . Darker than Dark, it looked like it was bottled 5 years ago, it almost also taste like it also.. . it is still a baby, if well stored bottles forget about it another 8-10 years. The power blocks for secondary aromas at this stage, so it all about tannin and blackfruit, but under this there are so much more, and more to come, Mouton offers much more at this stage, is Mouton a bigger wine I am not sure, but both will probally be able to last 50-80 years ...
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Beast of a wine, sat in the decanter for 3 hours. So dense and dark. Filled with graphite, leather and mocha covered fruit. Still really tannic on the back end but man it is such a big bodied wine that will still need a lot of time to really fill out its frame.
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Needed 90 minutes in decanter to begin to open up. Beautifully complex nose of black currants, cassis, sweet tobacco, cigar tobacco, slight hints of graphite and leather, mocha. Medium to full bodied, excellent acidity, minerality and structure with a long mocha tinged inspiring finish and almost fully resolved tannins. A beauty.
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bottle, fill and cork all good. I don't think this got much air before serving, so perhaps not fair to judge it. It is big and monolithic and it is a red wine. Not much more to say, it sat in the glass and seemed to tighten up. We were drinking this wine with a beef stew and it seemed to just stand guard over it without much enhancement of the dish. I would definitely decant this wine if you are going to try to drink it or really, just sell it and get a mid-level '66.
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Birthday Dinner at Yan's China Bistro with the wine group. 1986 Bordeaux tasting of four wines, nose of tar, earth, leather, black cherry, and sweet fruit, more of the same on the palate, opened very slowly, always seemed subdued, maybe five years from peaking, big body, very inky on the mid palate, intensely concentrated, long, inky finish. My #3.
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Decanted and aerated for two hours and drank over another two hours. Cork fully soaked, pristine bottle. Still youthful color with slight bricking. Aromatic nose of sweet tobacco, cassis, blackberry leaf, and pencil lead, tingles the palate with its gentle entry, then gains weight and complexity mid palate, great acidity and backbone, this wine balances elegance with power, a difficult feat for a 1986. Finishes very long and sensuous, cassis and pencil lead Lafite style, first growth class, tannins fully integrated and a cassis and tobacco tinged sweet finish. Truly outstanding.
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This wine was the best claret I had tasted up to that date in 2015. My notes at the time said "Wow, but afterwards! Almost perfect. Understated, balance structure, complexity. Still full of black fruits. Magical." Five years and many clarets including first growths later it possibly still is. We were fortunate to taste the 86 and 96 (see separate note) together. I had a preference for the 86, Mrs B for the 96. In the next months we will repeat the tasting. The results will be interesting. *****
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I really wantetd to like this wine. It is dark, barely a trace of garnet on the edges. There is some fruit on the nose but graphite and hard edge of fruit. The taste is very closed still... hard dark and tannic still. I don't know if the fruit is ever going to come out. I hope it does. I vacuvinned it and tried two days later. Raisans , prunes, plums. I have one bottle left. Leoville is my favorite red bordeaux so i have hopes.
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First growth material in such an austere vintage. Lovely balance and refinement to this wine, I guess 30 years is standard practice for LLCs to come of age. Beautiful deep ruby color, nose of blackberries, black currants, some earth, sweet tobacco, cassis and graphite. Lush entry on the palate, fruits coat the mid palate, excellent backbone and acidity, decent complexity, and an excellent long finish with super fine tannins. A beauty.
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Un nez qui me paraissait un peu bretté à l'ouverture, imparfait, mais pas agressant. Ensuite il se livre mieux sur des notes de mine de crayon, sous-bois, cuir, charbon. Il évolue bien. La texture en bouche est magnifique, assez puissante et encore jeune, d'une grande longueur. Elle a beau être moins grande que les précédentes, ça reste super bon, un vin imposant, de style austère mais superbement équilibré. 94-95 pts
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by personal taste not a big fan of 86 clarets in general as i found them a bit hard but this was an exception. full bodied and velvety. no drying finish just smooth round tannins. went down real easy and I looked for my next glass which rarely happens with claret for me. nose never really opened up even after 2 hours of air. i would decant for at least 4 hours next time. this bottle could be slightly tainted but i'm looking forward to give this one another try
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Tasted double blind. Sweet curranty nose, some stinky sock, some oak spice, and a bit of green. Smells a lot like old Cabernet. Palate leaves something to be desired, not particularly full or long. Ended up guessing a not particularly interesting 1990 Cali Cab. No rating here as this was not a representative bottle.
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Drank side by side with an '85 LLC. The 85 was more fully matured and ready to be drunk. The 86 was still tannic and seemed unresolved. All at the tasting agreed it still has years before it hits its peak which we all felt was very high. Hold 5-10 yrs.
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Big blind tasting of 17 big bottles. All of different Kind, style, Region and vintage. Together with mouton 1996 in One flight. For me closed at this stage, just few fruits as typical cassis notes. Some leather, earth and truffles. Strong and fresh acidity. tannins firm and still present.will need 10 more years to Show All his skills.younger than the 1996 mouton in my opinion, but the mouton better at this stage. 96+
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Outstanding wine. Decanted and aerated for an hour, then drank over another. Deep ruby, hardly any signs of aging. Excellent nose of blackberry leaf, black currants intermingled with graphite, cigar box and cassis. On the palate very complex yet very precise, medium to full bodied, masculine yet extremely refined, first growth material. Good acidity, velvety tannins well integrated and an excellent finish. What a wine!
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Almost impeccable wine with woody taste and elegant fragrance. 2019/2/7 Powerful with maturity from aging. It has still many years in the drinking window.
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Dreamer no 2: Un nez de boite à cigare et de cuir, avec des cerises rouges qui percent après une bonne aération. La bouche est d'un équilibre souverain, c'est un prince discret et élégant, avec tanins très fins. Superbe vin qui parait encore jeune. Alliage exceptionnel de puissance et de finesse, un vin dans un style intellos discret. 94-95 pts
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Perfect! Lead pencil dipped in cassis and roasted in spice. The aromatics are classic, sweet earth delineated black fruit, chocolate, licorice, fall cedar forest with a hint of smoke. Structured like a like Vanity Fair model.. perfect.
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Still tight, solid structured and youthful! Dark, red fruit, (herbal) spices, leather, (autumn) forest floor and licorice. Silky in front, yet robust with present tannins and solid acidic backbone and long, dark finish. Drink from 2025 :-)
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A recent release ex-chateau bottle. I expected this wine to be tight and tannic, and I was completely wrong. A huge nose of sweet cassis jumps from the decanter and in turn the glass. The nose picks up some gentle earthy notes and a hint of graphite. A luxurious mouthfeel with more incredible sweet and pleasing dark fruit notes. The tannins are present, but not overwhelming in the slightest. This bottle is spot on. Will hold for decades, but tonight this bottle is the most approachable '86 I've drunk.
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Still has nice dark ruby color. Complex, but somewhat muted nose of cassis, spice, leather, forest floor, and licorice. Silky and mouth-filling. Tannins still prominent, nice acidic backbone. Lengthy finish. A very nice wine, but perhaps I expected more. This wine has the structure to continue for 10+ years, and perhaps it will improve further. But right now, it is austere and lacks a bit of charm. For a 1986 wine to seem this young is impressive, and this is no doubt a great wine. I just hope that it opens up a bit more.
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The moral of the story is... If you just wait 30 years for some wines to come around, they just might, which is exactly what happened with this beauty. Of course, in today's world, 30 years is an insane amount of time to wait for a wine. But in this case, the earthy, forest floor, tobacco, cedar chest and cassis nose puts your squarely in the Medoc. The tannins are starting to soften and the finish, with its sweet, cherries and spicy cassis is now a treat! This is good now, better in a few years and could be one of those legendary 100 year wines in the future.
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NobleRottersSydney - top 86 Bdx (mostly) with Grange (360 Bar & Dining, Sydney): {cork, 13%} (Gordon) Well, there does appear to be some glacial development finally happening here. The lighting was low enough that I couldn’t properly judge colour any more, but this seemed plenty dark still. It has a polished leather and currant nose, not young, but hardly aged. This also had a chocolate and malt quality not unlike the two preceding St Juliens, but this was far richer, with assertive black fruit flavours, medium/high chalky tannins, and medium acid. It’s resolutely full-bodied for Bordeaux; it would qualify as full-bodied by pretty well any 30-year-old wine standard I should think. Dry palate, but rich, with a cedary quality to the long finish. Great richness on the mid-palate; all of which aids in the balance. Drink any time over the next twenty years – or longer – I reckon, on this showing. And give it a decent decant first.
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Very balanced wine. Still quite young, nose is still on the fruity side, the colour looked 10 years younger than the Montrose 1990 we had that night. Very Classic. Nice wine but lacking the WOW component.
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From half bottle. Decanted this and followed it at half hour intervals over the next 6+ hours. Like most wines of the era, started to peak at about an hour in and showed mild oxidation by hour 4.5 or so. This is very much in the Leoville las Cases mold, which you either like or you don't. Always impressive, but never really charming - no exception this time. At peak, the nose shows dense cassis, oak, and a floral touch. In the mouth, a beef blood, coal, a whiff of mint. I wonder whether this will ever really develop into something magical before the corks let go.
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(Tres Ninos '86 Horizontal) This wine was outstanding, at first showing red fruits and graphite and later on yielding coffee, hoisin sauce, blackberries and licorice. other tasters were picking up menthol. This had a beautiful and silky mouthfeel, fully resolved tannins. We all agreed that it showed its best early on and faded after 2.5 hours, but it was absolutely fantastic.
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Amazing wine, young still which is amazing. Massive strong and full of flavour its a tour de force of Cabernet. This is always rated by the experts as near perfect and Whilst I can't quite see that yet in 10 years this may be The best wine I've ever had. Christmas Day with goose and an hour decanted was stunning!
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Lunch de Noël des anciens de C&S: Le nez est classique et trahit son origine. La bouche est dense et on remarque tout de suite ses tanins soyeux et son apparente jeunesse. Un style austère, fidèle au millésime, c'est frais et droit, avec une grande longueur qui n'appartient qu'aux grands vins. La finale est d'un équilibre impressionnant, très fine. Un grand Médocain très classique, un Prince d'élégance. Le seul bémol est qu'il n'est sans doute pas la bouteille quasi-parfaite goûtée récemment par les copains, mais c'est franchement très bon. 93-94 pts
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Mini vertical ofChateau Leoville Las Cases. Were drunk wine of the vintage 1986, 1995, 1999 and 2000. All are elegantly. One thing became clear: they need a long aging and be aerated for a few hours. Thus, as expected, the older wines were more evolved. My order of preference: 1995, 1986, 2000 and 1999
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full, cedar and substance come to mind. decanted and left for 2 hours at dinner, it was just beginning to open up when we drank - so i would do longer. still has plenty of life left ~ 2025 (mine stored pristine at 57degrees).
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This is truly a super wine. Decanted tor 3hrs and yes it needs it! This is big stuff. Tabbaco and Cassis on the Nose. Taste had hints of lavender with chocolate and strawberries. The finish goes on for min and then some. I love this wine and I have a few magnums. If you have 750ml enjoy now but hold off on the magnums for a few more years.
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Väldigt mörk och kompakt i färgen för att vara en Bordeaux med denna ålder. I doften underbara lite dammiga, stalliga toner med fin frukt och cigarrlåda. I smaken fin mogen frukt med svarta vinbär och lite plommon. Väldigt koncentrerat och ungdomligt med otroligt bra balans och lång fin eftersmak.
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From 750: My wine group, the Red Pigs of Ithaca NY blind vertical tasting of LLC. My biggest disappointment from a group of highly regarded wines. This wine showed more fruit than any of the other vintages. (78 79 82 85 90 95 00 07) As expected tannins were high. The fruit more than balanced the tannin, and was perhaps even a little over ripe. All the other vintages held their own or opened in the glass over two plus hours, while the 86 fell apart and became a little clumsy. Toward the end stewed fruit with very little acidity became the flavor profile. Not sure where this wine is going. I hope this bottle was atypical.
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One of my top 2 of the evening. Rich on the nose and palate with lots of structure and depth. I'd have a hard time choosing between this one and the '86 Mouton.
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YESish. Not sure it is worth the price (€200), but a good wine. Saddeley, cedar, pencil box development, with decreased aciditiy; fruit reasonable. Interesting case of an old bordeaux; more academic than visceral.
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VHS fill. Decanted 3 hours. On opening, the nose was great but beyond that nothing much to show. After the 3 hour decant this was still tight and a bit austere, but a bit more of the dark fruit, graphite, earth was showing. Was good with food but my guess is this needs some time still do deliver on the promise. A-/?
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Very good and powerful wine with an amazing youthful feel to it. I am sure this will last for many more years but think that it is in its prime now. I will for sure drink my remaining bottles within a year or two.
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A perfect example of a perfect wine starting to show some age and maturity. The nose first reveals sweet, ripe cassis fruit and then boysenberry, red fruit and a whiff of baked sweet apple. There are secondary tones of honey melon and spice. Lovely beeswax emerges after some time in the glass. There are just so many layers to be found if you are just patient... The palate is silky, velvety with some pretty noticeable tannins, but this effort certainly is a classy example of integration and balance which is still vigorous and very much alive. It combines power and elegance in the most remarkable way. I find no flaws in this effort at all, but I believe it will develop further, if given some more cellar time. The integration, power and balance certainly makes this a perfect wine.
(Tasted in a flight with 1986 Léoville Las Cases, 1994 Phelps Insignia, 2003 Léoville Poyferré and 2003 Cos d'Estournel.)
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7th of 12, all recent notes at least very fine, good fill, decanted an hour - bright garnet, amazingly little lightening on rim, classy nose with secondary notes of cedar and graphite overlaying black fruit, medium bodied, lovely ripe fruit and tannins now absorbed, fine grip, length and persistence, still youthful and will probably still improve, in 2012 preferred by some at dinner to the outstanding 82. Very fine plus (19/20).
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Cellared since release. Suffered some by being served next to an extraordinary bottle of the 1982. There's depth aplenty for the dark fruit here, but the wine is still tannic and somewhat austere. Check back in another 5-10 years.
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A lovely St Julien, with that classic restained elegance, this durable vintage also hinted at a lot of power left in the bottle. Complex aromas of spice, leather, chocolate, cherry, with a high note of distinct fruit. Subtle finish. Overall impression is this could still evolve.
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Farewell wine dinner for Samson (Stanley Deli @ TST): Solid dark ruby, looks younger than it's actual age. Perhaps lacking a proper decant, still rather tight on the nose and palate. Yet with extended air time in the glass, notes of tobacco, cassis, leather and spice are easy to spot. Solid structure, excellent balance, and tannis are still prominent. Certainly has a long life ahead and should get better.
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Color: deep ruby -> medium ruby rim with garnet. Impressive nose of cassis, leather, oak, cedar. Palate was still moderately tannic with notes of chocolate, cedar and anisette. Great, hulking structure; concentrated with a decently long finish. This still has plenty of time though I think it won't get any better than it is currently.
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"Best of the Best" Tasting (Switzerland): Tasted blind, 0.75 bottle, double decanted 3hrs back into original bottle: Clear ruby showing some signs of aging. Rich sweet nose of plums and ripe red berries, hints of herbs. Wine is very long, but at the same time still has plenty of dry tannins and quite a bit of acidity. The sweetness and elegance is here but will they last long enough until the tannins and acidity settles down? Lets wait and hope.
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New Year's Day Long Italian Lunch (Eketahuna, New Zealand): Closed nose- sauve texture - so refined- quite young - oak totally subsumed into the fruit. Perfect today but this gives the impression of being timeless. Slightly austere but the finish is all class. This is great. This is the absolute essence of cassis. Iron ore. Will it make 100? Very tannic and dry at end - betraying its vintage character.An easy 97 points with lots of upward potential.In a cold cellar this should outlive most of us.
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A funky oaky aroma at first, then opened to silky lead pencil with lots of backbone. Still a sleeping beauty in my opinion. Decanted and sat for an hour before the first sip. Over a period of three hours the wine evolved in the glass as expected. Fruit is fading and the transformation is only going to get better. I will not open another one for at least three years. The acid on this wine will carry it to a new dimension, my prediction for thirty year perfection, with a higher rating. The wine looks Garnet colored. The legs are Slow. It smells like and Red Currant plum and hints of tobacco.
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half bottles, grazing, pecking, rooting (Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY): Dark reddish-black in the glass. A surprisingly pronounced blast of fresh cut grass and herbs on the nose, but on the palate, the fruit and raw materials are all there. Hints of currants, cedar, caramel, coffee, and smoke flit in and out of the picture as we drank this. The word 'beguiling' comes to mind.
Out of a 375, I wasn't expecting a 27-year old wine to show like a 2-year old wine, but that's essentially where this was. I think this will eventually deliver a profound drinking experience, but I can't begin to guess how far in the future that might be.
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The fruit is gone, but not the thrill. Gripping wine with terrific secondary flavors of stone, tobacco, and earth with a hint of brett (which I never really mind). I personally wouldn't keep this much longer but it's a nice lesson in aged bordeaux.
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Den här flaskan var inte riktigt frisk så att jag hoppar över att sätta något relevant betyg. Den var inte i närheten av den flaska som jag drack i början av sommaren
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Not anywhere near the bottle I had a few month back. This is a little off and perhaps not 100% correct compared to that one (even thought it comes from the same crate, that has been stored at the same place). The nose displays some bad cheesiness and alcohol with brett. On the palate it showed mainly acid, with somewhat dead fruit and a touch of pepper on the short finish. Opened up slightly during the dinner, and perhaps showed a hint of what it should be, had the bottle been as the last one. Did not deliver as it should, and was a bit of a disappointment when revealed what it was in the glass. Still, picked up and ended with a much better impression.
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I'm shocked at how ready-to-drink this 86 was. Had next to 86 Montrose at restaurant, and decanted neither. I'm sure if we had the patience to decant for hours, the wine would've shown even better; I thought it was fabulous regardless. Wonderful cassis, full rich dark fruit on the palate. If there is any nitpick, mine is that the finish was only 'medium' in length. Otherwise, this was superb! Thanks Ed!
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Best Las Cases I’ve had. Absolutely gorgeous bottle of Bordeaux! Dry expressive nose with gravel and dust, stable, pencil, hay, grass, cigar box, tobacco, cedar wood . Currant and sweet cassis both on the nose and on the palate. The great fruit filled palate expresses young fruit, somewhat tart, full bodied with a super long and beautiful finish. Still showing as young, as seems to be the case with most Las Case vintages I’ve tried. However, this is much more ready to drink than the 1982 and 1996 I’ve had this spring. A great bottle, with a great future ahead, as this still show youth!
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Ruby red with no signs of age whatsoever. Elegantly restrained in the nose, with Cassis and some tar. Crisp and aristocratic on the palate, with a very warm finish that seems never to end. A stunning - and still young - wine that will last for decades to come.
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Decanted and drank over 4 hours. Obviously didn't wait another 5 years to try this, but same result as the last time. Will this ever be ready?? Very dense and tight. Layered, tobacco nose with smoke, earth and some red fruit. After a while, some sweetness emerged and this went from fairly rustic to silky. Long finish.
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2 hour decant and still very young and vibrant with a long life ahead. After 4 hours it mellowed and complex smooth Bordeaux characteristics shone though. What a wine - wish I had more. Seriously sublime and visceral experience which is very hard to do justice in these notes.
Léoville Las Cases Grand Tasting (At Kim Aa's place, Ulvøya, Norway): Vivid, fresh ruby color, almost no hints of age. Multi-layered and complex aromas of cedar, red and dark berries, bee-wax. Compact, tight, evolving in the mouth, full bodied, pronounced flavour intensity and high tannin level. So good it's hard to swallow. Will evolve further for ages, and far from the top
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With a blood red, ruby color, the wine looks regal, sitting in the glass. After two hours in the decanter, scents of sweet cassis, tobacco, smoke, caramel, wet earth, cherries and cedar chest emerge. Still tannic, the wine is regal, powerful, structured and masculine. There is a beautiful sense of purity and harmony to the cassis laden finish. After 5 hours, the wine softened and became more pleasurable and interesting to drink. Although, it retained a bit of firmness to its personality. This is one of the few wines that transcend the vintage.
To get the most from this wine, if you have the patience, I'd give it more bottle age. It should start singing between 2016 and 2020. I said you'd need more patience! Imagine how original, futures purchasers feel...
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- Ruby color. It's in total harmony with a medium/full body. Polished texture with a long finish - Classic Llc Drank at Dovetail w Matt, cat and mark Dry and complete Followed w 1990 montrose, a monster!
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Whoa! This wine tastes no older than maybe 6 or 7 years. After opening the wine, I poured a small glass just to give it a try. Slammed shut. Double decanted for two hours. Some improvement, but you better be below your fourth decade of life if you ever want to experience this at full maturity. Heck, even the 96 is showing way better at this point. The nose reluctantly gives off aromas of fresh soil, cassis, red currants, tobacco, and some pencil. Pretty much the same thing on the massive palate, with some sour cherry thrown in. A huge, classic wine, I am going to score this on potential - but for a little less money I would buy 2005 Angelus as they should both be ready at about the exact same time (and the Angelus is a better wine.) 95+ Pts
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Wednesday Night at Domaine Wine Storage (Domaine - Washington, DC): Drank from a magnum. In a full line-up of very good bottles, this stood a few steps above the rest. Very complex and nuanced, this really deserves a serious decant and a full day of tasting because it's such a bold and changing wine. Lovely aromas of plums, blackberry, gunflint, wet leaves, forest floor and pickles. Still youthful on the palate, with fine tannins and a good amount of fruit extraction. Complex and evolving flavors of black cherry pits, moss, farm soil, cigar box... it keeps going. A stunning wine that still has more to show in the coming years. 95+
Didn't get enough time with this wine... it should have been decanted and given a few hours of air time... the wine came accross as tight and closed, quite firm and very young. I suspect based on the density and structural balance it is an "oustanding" bordering on "extraordinary" wine... it just wasn't singing the first hour or two it was open...
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Leoville Las Cases 2004 > 1982, with Michael Schuster (Bordeaux Index, London): Quite youthfull in colour. Jammy fruit, barnyard notes on the nose, earthy, forestfloor feel. On the palate it is a heavy wine, with fleshy, ripe fuit, rustic and with a lot of exctraction. Lacks the typical harmony of LLC but still a story of strength and right bank concentration. Quite a bit of life ahead of it although not sure it improoves much from here. 93-94
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Mature and Maturing Bordeaux (Oslo): Very dark, a tiny brown rim, deep core; smoke and minerals, flint, moderate fruit - dark, very youthful; minerals tight, long, balanced. Far too young.
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Damn, my last bottle. Totally closed when it was first opened. Decanted for an hour and the wine literally exploded out of the glass. Nose is rediculous. Smashed red berries and leather. Waves of tannins, but really smooth, silky tannins and a finish that just goes on forever. I wish I had more of this.
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Third bottle in the last 3 years and by far the best one. Drank alongside Mouton Rothschild 1986 (not a very good bottle?) and The Cos d'Estournel 1986 (95p). Still very young, but what a power and concentration in a very classical Bordeaux way. Autocratic, sovereign wine. Black berries, tobacco, cedar wood (cigar box), juicy meat, fresh mint, eucalyptus, licorice. A nose with so many different elements and nuances, that you almost get lost, but still very precise and well defined. Thick and mouthfilling on the palate; plesantly soft, but very present tannins promising a long further development. A long and lingering finish to die for. Although the wine is already showing incredibly well, something tells me that this wine will be really out of this world on my 75th birthday (in 2035...). I should have kept one for the occasion, but then: I still have 22,5 years to buy some more.
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Nice wine with black fruit, earth and pepper. I feel its a bit closed still. Decanted it for 2 hours but that was not enough. Not a great Las Cases but good enough.
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Deep, deep dark ruby with no signs of age. Intense cassis, vanilla, clove, cardamom and graphite on the nose. Incredibly concentrated and structured with abundant, very firm and fine-grained tannins. Wonderfully delineated and of impressive pedigree and class. A nearly perfect wine
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Magnum, decanted 1 hour. Dark garnet, big nose of complicated rose, with typical Bordeaux scents. Very strong. Huge black cherries, cassis, some licorice, elegant, mature, delightful.
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Very closed on the nose, only yielding a little black currant and liquorice. Young black currant fruit on the palate with a long very acidic aftertaste. Very intense with a super structure. Huge potential...
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Leoville Las Cases - Vertical Tasting (Le Sommelier, Copenhagen): Cabbage and meaty nose with a little yogurt. Does seem a little closed. Super intense black currant fruit on the palate with a massive structure. It seems very young but with a very long intense aftertaste. The wine seems to be in a great harmony and balance with some very aromatic black currant and a lot of spices. Beautiful wine! 98-99p
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enjoyed at Primland deep in the blue ridge mountains. perfect setting for a perfect bottle. great deep color. recent reviews are right on...no need to repeat.
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Decanted and drank over 3hours. Quite a wine. Incredibly young and powerful. Very tight at first but opened up during hour three. Layered, tobacco nose with smoke, earth and some red fruit. After a while, some sweetness emerged and this went from fairly rustic to silky. Long finish. Wait another 5yrs+.
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Tasted in double-blind fashion at Vintage Wines, Ltd. This bottle was kindly provided by M. Banker as a tribute to an old friend. The wine was presented in decanter and had been opened a few hours in advance of the tasting. The robe is opaque red/garnet and the moderately intense nose shows black currants, pipe tobacco, pencil shavings and menthol. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, huge well-integrated tannins, well-integrated alcohol and flavors mirroring the nose. The middle palate is rock-solid and the finish goes on and on. This 26-year-old wine remains youthful! Definitely a blockbuster which is now starting to open. Drink now-12/35.
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Killer Bordeaux Tasting (Kevin's House (Minneapolis)): Great showing. Dark in color. Wood, rose petals, strawberry, cherry spice cake and charcoal. Medium to long finish and fully integrated. Should drink well for a decade.
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Big Bordeaux III - Kickin' Ass & Takin' Names: Stunning Wines from 1986, 1990, 1996 + 2002 Cristal (Rocknroller's (Kevin's)): Very dark red/purple color. Slow ox for 2.5hrs and decanted for 5.5hrs. This had a scary cork, fully saturated and seeping, but still had high neck fill. The cork smelled ok and the first waft of the nose said I'm just fine. This was tight on opening and still tight after the long decant, but it really opened up quickly in glass (probably 15 - 30 minutes or so). Another perfumed nose with florals, ripe blueberries, ripe red berries, cassis, charcoal, spices, and light oak. The palate is immediately vibrant, rich, great acids. Elegant and concentrated, not the power of the '96. Blue and black fruits with some red fruit as well layer the palate, vanilla, spice, charcoal, cedar. Lifted. Long finish 90+ seconds. I vasilated on the '86 and '96 for WOTN, ultimately changing my mind after finishing the last drops of both wines. Younger and more shy than the '96! It is amazing how young this 1986 is, easily another 25 years to go. I would love to compare them again in another 5-10 years. My and group #2 WOTN.
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Another bottle, another tasting and different glass (ISO). Open nose with lots of toast, coffee, tar and creamy vanilla. Warm dark fruits with lovely cassis and plum aromas. Generous dark fruit, lots of tannins, a bit edgy, slightly dry and rustic, more powerful than elegant. Really enjoyable anyway.
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Epic Wine Dinner at Bourbon Steak (Washington DC): A fascinating nose of bottom-of-the-mug expresso combined with brininess and savory soy sauce. The fruit is ripe -- sweet blueberries, licorice, and tart currents. The palate is equally fascinating, with soft tannins, mouth-watering acidity, and great balance. Delightful.
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Dinner at home with Mrs L, TH, JL, VK, PH and David (At home): Absolutely stunning LLC, I was bowled over by the hypnotic bouquet of cassis, spice, tobacco and minerals that is so classically St Julien yet so much more open and forward than any 1986 bordeaux I've had. On the palate, silky smooth layers of ridiculously vibrant and forward dark/red fruit, reminding me of succulent blackberries and dates, with that touch of tar that is a perfect bitter balance to the sweet fruit. Not too young to drink, yet it's one of those wines that will be absolutely smashing when I turn 80 several decades from now
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Wines of Strength and Elegance - Kelvin and Marlene's Combined Birthday Dinner (Absinthe, Bukit Pasoh): This was mind-blowingly good. Too young even after a half a day of slow-oxygenation in an open bottle and another 3 hours in a decanter, but it still out-punched a top-notch 1986 Gruaud-Larose that was singing on the night. This had a wonderful nose, with tightly interwoven aromas of tobacco and spice, truffley earth and meat, and dark cassis tones floating out of the glass in a warm, deep, lush bouquet. Wonderful, yet if anything, the palate was even better. This was all grace and nobility, especially when compared with the Gruaud-Larose's earthy, rustic masculinity. There was beautiful definition and clarity to this wine wed to a tremendous amount of power in its deep flavours of dark fruit, cassis and tobacco spice. Almost first growth purity and transparency I would say, augmented by its pitch perfect balance and a fine-boned tannin structure that was just starting to mellow and soften out into a velvety robe. Such a classy wine this, very complete and effortless from the attack all the way into a long, superbly integrated finish, where a little waft of cigar smoke and mineral joined in the chorus of black fruit and spice that ran the length of the wine. While superb on the night, especially with a nice cut of Wagyu Cote de Beouf, there was clearly a sense that this was still at the cusp of maturity and had quite a bit more to reveal given enough time. At least a decade more I would say, by which time it should be absolutely stunning.
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Next to LLC 1982. Less pronounced than the 1982, classic Bordeaux, chocolate and nuts in the nose. Mature, herbs, nice ripe red fruits as cherry and prunes on the palate. Full of character, powerful wine. Long lingering. Should be opened at least 6 hours in advance.
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Decanted for 4-5 hours. Deep, dark purple, hardly any signs of age. A bit closed on the nose; dark berries, cedar, a hint of toffee and caramels, and after some time: bee-wax! Massive attack on the palate; robust, full-bodied, lots of dark fruit and red berries, medium + acid and very present, but soft tannins. Perfection in a bottle, but with decades still to go.
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Decanted for 6 hours and drank for 3 hours. The cork came out in 2 pieces which initially got me worried, but the wine turned out to be a wonderfully mature one. Totally melted tannins, 45+ seconds finish. Nose was a little weaker than the 1990, keeping it from a perfect score.
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Remarkable is the still purple hue in the wine. Beautiful bouquet with loads of cassis and beautiful oak. On the palate signs of maturity and also still a lot of potential. Very juicy cassis, some bell pepper, good and sticky tannin and pleasant bitterness. Develops in the glass. Of the three 1986 Léovilles this wine is clearly the youngest with most potential. No problem cellaring this until 2020++ and it will probably even improve a bit. 95+
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"Majestic". Deep red/burgundy color with a lighter tinged rim starting to give hints of orange. Complex nose with subtle red fruits, musty earth and pepper spice. Palate is complex and everychanging. The fruit was dark toned of stewed cherry, plum, and date. Good earth and farm notes with a deep flavor profile that shifted with each taste.smoke, tobacco, cedar undertones that I noticed from time to time. Tannins were not harsh, but dominant for the complexity of the rest of the wine. Wine was decanted and left in the cellar for an hour before serving and then consumed over the next couple hours.
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Aged Bordeaux dinner at Del Frisco's (Del Frisco's): Decanted for 1 hour. Pristine cork. For me, we did a huge injustice to this wine by not decanting it for at least 6 hours. It was way too tight, maybe even a bit shut down. The stuffing was there, but it needs another 10-15 years to come around.
This note was taken by another guest at the dinner, but I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment:
Wow, sooo youthful: This smells like a 5 year old Cab! Very, very wound, initially showing currants, licorice, ash and smoke, smothered by dense and chewy tannins in the mouth. A classic example of age worthy left bank Bordeaux! Wow, incredibly concentrated and not showing any signs of fatigue. This needs another 20 years in the bottle!
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Decanted for 3 hours and drank for 2 hours. The wine offers a very delicate balance. Nice perfume nose, very elegant, with strawberry and earth. tannins are soft and well integrated with a long finish. Wonderful wine at its peak but can certainly hold for years.
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The fill was base neck and the cork was sound. A healthy purple ruby color with no amber. A bit one dimensional on the nose, with notes of old barrels, black fruit, and earth. Medium bodied, quite high-toned in style, and a touch austere on the palate -- definitely lacking in charm, depth and class. This is my first experience with the '86 LLC, so perhaps this was not a representative bottle. Regardless, color me decidedly unimpressed.
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Superb. Quite young in all respects, but refined tannins and delicious fruit, long finish. Putting remaining 5 bottles on 5-year cycle over the next 25 years and hoping I live long enough to drink all 5. Better idea: Buy more and shorten the cycle.
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Fabulous wine. Deep garnet / plum. Huge nose of currants, cedar and lead pencil. Taste upon opening was tight as a drum -- but an hour in it was singing. Has a long life ahead -- seems just to be entering prime drinking window and could be here another 15+ years.
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1986 Bordeaux @ EWS: 1986 Leoville Las Cases (St. Julien) (98WA, 97IWC, 95WS) Inky dense nose, tight, smooth sleek mineral driven with underlying black fruit. Big ripe dense still young, almost lush sweet ripe fruit driven wine, smooth. packed, and long. Very impressive and long way to go before fully mature. Good complex. Elegant. 96-97 I need to Buy this wine!
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Another great bottle! Loads of cassis. All the luxurious element you can expect in a great Bdx. Just a touch of pleasant barnyard which adds to the complexity. Firm but round tannin. This wine will still be a feast a decade from now.
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Saturday night in the O.C. (Chez GlennK): Fantastic wine. Youthful, bright crimson-garnet, still showing some violet hue. Somehow the color was more vibrant than the others -- almost electric. Stunning bouquet of bright fresh currants, blackberries, pencil shavings, charcoal, earthy mushrooms. Full-bodied and seamless on the palate. GlennK and Gkapoor thought this was still on the upswing. Tied for first place tonight.
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Decanted for two hours. Deep and dark garnet with a slight brick and sanguine rim. Porcini mushroom, blackberry, tobacco and cassis, with some forest floor. Layered and dense, with a crystalline presence on the 60 second finish. Fresh and elegant tannins that are still evident; this shows a long life ahead. There's a tobacco and fruit element on the lustrous palate. What a perfect and auspicious time to drink this regal '86 delight of a Bordeaux. Again, First-Growth quality and really strutting her stuff. I love Las Cases! So much distinction and nobility, there is still a very intense and fresh quality that leaves you wanting more and more. Drink now -.
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Still very deep red, very deceptive for its age. Pulled the cork a few hours ago, then decanter, and still seems so young. Lovely bottle bouquet, fragrant and feminine. Lovely, ethereal. Palate still a little hard and minerally, buy this is a big wine with an expressive, expansive finish. Many years of evolution and life ahead. 5-13-17-8: 93/100.
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Private dinner with friends. (@ Restaurant): A copy of my note from September. I scored it two points higher this time because the wine is really great and still holding a promise for many years. (A coincidence; in 2006 I also tasted this wine beside Cos d’Estournel 1986 and then Cos was better; but no doubt we had a bad bottle of the Las Cases then, because it showed so much better now and in Sept. 2010!)
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Mouton 86 vs Las Cases 86 at the Papies: Needs decanting, pref 2hours to hit the peak. We opened and monitored it for 1.5 hours and the wine kept on improving so we would advive a good 2 hour decanting. Pls avoid filters and aerators. Lots of sediment too. Blockbuster wine, big, powerfull and very alive. Dark violet colour. Nose is big, open, red fruit with some roasted meat. Impressive and complex. On the palate it feels young, wine has another 20 good yrs ahead, but not overly tannic. Definitely mellows as time passes but looses none of its vibrancy. Dense wine with lots of finesse and intensity. We can go on and on here but the reality is that this is a pure great wine. Did i mention we just bought 2 more bottles
VS the Mouton it was very interesting to move from one to the other as time was passing and the wines improved and opened up. It was like moving from good to better and better still. Now at 1/3 of the price the LLC is the one to buy though.
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The Kesslers visit NYC and I roast a little piggy to go with some terrific wines. (Dougherty's): The Giacosa was a tough act to follow and this wine may have suffered a bit in comparison. It’s classic LLC, with sweet black fruit, cedar, herb and wet earth. Integrated and drinking well, it’s an enjoyable and respectable wine, but seems a bit devoid of character after the Giacosa. Low A-.
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Mature bouquet with also youthful cassis and lead pencil. On the palate also still youthful with cassis, lead pencil and soft but powerful tannin. Although the tannin in the finish is just a little bit drying, the cassis still dominates. Great wine!
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The 86 could be my favorite Las Cases to drink today and that is with some tough competition with the 85, and 90!. At least this bottle was. Filled with cedar, cassis, earth and dark berries, this full bodied, concentrated wine fills palate with ripe fruit. Still tannic, but with round tannins that feel good, this wine will age better than most people reading this note.
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The 1986 Léoville las Cases does not show the same signature crème de cassis mouthfeel of the 1982, 1990, and the young 1996 Léoville las Cases, but it does show that even more characteristic palate expression of layers unfolding vertically, or with depth in the wine. The nose shows aromas of cool menthol, rich aged dark tobacco (no green note), and a smoky undertone that is reluctantly coaxed from the glass. In the mouth, the wine is impeccably balanced, with an impressive muscular structure that shows no sharp edges, even if that creamy note is not there. Now the brooding suggestion of vertical layering here might well lead some to say the wine is simply not ready, I can’t help but feeling this is really the quintessential Léoville las Cases expression. This wine did nothing for Lou, but I still find myself beguiled by that intoxicating sensation of descent one gets with a great las Cases, as if plumbing the depths of the Marianas Trench. This seems to me a clear case where distinct styles of wine resonate very differently with different palates
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Opened 2 hours before drinking. Explosive nose, with spices all around, pretty big and not at its peak yet. Harsh tannin with huge long finish. Should be better in 4-5 years.
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Marine Room Leoville Las Cases Vertical Dinner (Marine Room Restaurant, La Jolla, CA): Decanted and serially tasted after approximately two hours. Opaque red/garnet robe. Clean, moderately intense nose of black currants, licorice, pencil shavings and assorted herbs. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, huge well-integrated tannins and flavors mirroring the nose. The finish goes on and on. Amazingly, this 23-year-old wine is still fairly tightly wound. It is a blockbuster of classic quality which will undoubtedly improve with further time in the bottle. It may ultimately merit a higher score. Drink 1/18-12/35.
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Unfortunately, after a long day of tasting, no detailed notes. However, this was hands down the WOTD. Drinking better and more resolved than the bottle I had a year ago. Wide open on the nose and integrated on the nose...is it the wine or the time of night that prevent description of individual notes...I can't say. I will say "perfumed dark fruit, some wood, hints of acidity, no trace of meat, obvious mint" on the nose. On the palate, absolutely smooth. The perfect yin/yang between bright and dark. Perfectly balanced fruit/structure, with a seductive hint of cassis/resin. Still some tannins, though fine and not particularly drying, on a medium-long finish. This is a very classy wine with years to go.
Smooth, resolved , delightful- yes. Richer mouthfeel, longer finish would propel this a couple points higher.
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One of the best bordeaux I have ever had. This layer cake of fruit, loam and warm spices kept unfolding over the 90 minutes or so that we were entranced by this bottle. Decanted for about 30 minutes, which was about right. Will last for 20 more years, in all probability.
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Had at 33 Saint Louis tasting night. Wow! This was everyone's favorite. Fragrant nose of black cherry, pepper, and stone. Silky mouthfeel, with an attack of cherry, raspberry, currant, and flinty stone. Totally integrated, mature Bordeaux. There was nothing wrong with this bottle of wine. The only shame was that it was the first bottle of the night, and just mowed everything else down.
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1986 Bordeaux Night @ The Hawksmoor: deep dark inky color. on the nose it gave off barnyard, some licorice and some purple fruit. the mouth was big and bold, well balanced purple fruit, some wood/oak vanilla,some savory ntes, wine was in very good shape, was quite long and felt very young. give it more time
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Opaque purple, concentrated, excellent structure with a cassis and vanilla nose. The black fruit is a spicey, earthy, classic Bordeaux with iron and minerals helping to define the structure. Drinking this prime timer is jouney into old Bordeaux
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Decanted 2 hours and took to a celebratory dinner serving alongside Peter Michael Les Pavots 2001, both from Magnum. This was showing better than the younger wine by all accounts. Well balanced and elegant, still youthful enough to encourage another 5 years wait for my remaining magnum. Thoroughly enjoyable.
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A very subtle nose, from which some fruit can be coaxed. The real value of this wine lies in the palate. For an '86, the wine is surprisingly sweet and balanced. The tannins are present but not intrusive. Best '86 Bordeaux I've had yet.
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Opened this one as a result of a cellar reorg - cork seemed slightly elevated, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Dark in color. Sweet dark fruit, cedar and slight minerality on the nose. Notable sweet cedar box on the palate, which is medium bodied and very long on the finish. Still plenty acidity and tannins. Needs more time. 5-10 years? This will be a candidate to serve years from now at my 50th wedding anniversary (2036). In the meantime, the '86 Haut Brion drinks better at present. A few more bottles like this, and I could turn into a francophile!
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1986 Bordeaux in NYC: The Leoville Las Cases was pretty closed, but showed hints of ash/smoke on the nose which I've found on this estate before. Most thought the LLC has the depth of fruit to eventually come out alive.
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August 2008 at Bud Starr's St. Louis Tasting (Bud Starr's -- Clayton, Missouri): The first bottle was corked. Bud opened a second of the same wine, and in a very rare display of poor judgment, served a few degrees to warm. Some leafy Cabernet scents on the nose with a strong lead pencil note. Tannins are appealingly grippy, but the acidity was too much, throwing the wine out of balance, though not badly so. Not nearly the showing you would want for this wine -- a bit of a disappointment when it was revealed.
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Purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of licorice, berries, cherries and a hint of coffee. Flavors of berries and cherries at the moment but this wine is still not quite ready to strut it's stuff on the palate. Medium acidity, tannins and body. I'm speculating at the moment this wine is around the 96 point mark but I can easily see this wine garnering more points once it has a minimum of 3-5 more years in bottle. I'd hold myself.
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Classic cab nose, licorice, still young, ash, smoked meat. It has a great concentration, high acidity and noticeable yet well integrated tannin which will help this wine improve for at least another 20+ years.
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This bottle was much better then the last one. Huge tannins are still noticeable, needs another 10 years. Classic french cab nose, casis, pencil shavings and some dark berry's. Palate is really expansive, can't wait to have this when the tannins are more resolved.
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Nose: Florals! Roasted nuts made an appearance along with toasted oak vanillins; Cedar box notes along with an odd one - Tahini Paste (liked it, just never smelled it on a wine before). Other minor sweet notes and a little bit of leather. Some overripe fruit notes as well.
Taste: Peppery and vegetal. Still young and lots of grip.
Overall: An outstinding- wine. 94 points. Would like to spend more time with this wine.
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80s Bordeaux Birthday dinner (Cotes Du Rhone Bistro(Chicago, IL)): nose: very tight and first and unforgiving but starts to open up revealing a very interesting and precocious nose of anise(and lots of it), graphite, black currants, herbs, and a real nice core of dark red fruit tinged with some sweet spice tones
taste: as precocious as the nose was, this is the opposite with a huge explosion on the attack of anise, graphite, tobbacco, cedar box, and sour cherries. Very bold and distinct flavors on the palate
overall: tons of promise on this wine and it still needs to be layed down for another 15-20 years to really show what it has. When I was having this, I likened it to the 02 in some ways. This is an excellent wine with the hallmark 86 tannins that still very much exist with a big attack and finish. Still a very young wine, this one will be very interesting when it(if?) comes out of its shell
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Dinner at home with Barretts and Hendersons. Several 1986 Bordeaus. 86 Meyney, Lynch Bages, Cos, Leoville. Would rate them in that order. All decanted for 3 hours. Meyney a bit thin, tired on the nose. Lynch Bages -- always a crowd pleaser, also on the thin side. Cos and Leoville still with tons of fruit, great earthy tones on the nose. I could see both lasting many more years.
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NobleRottersSydney - 20th Anniversary - 'Wow!' wines (Alio's, Surry Hills): {cork, 13%} This wine was really brought in case the ['82] Ducru was off-song somehow, but we needed one red with the cheeses, so in the spirit of the moment, the cork came out. Solid garnet right the way to the rim. The initial aromas are of a slight sappiness, but then the solid, and ripe, cabernet cassis comes through. There’s very little secondary development, even at this age. The palate is equally puzzling; medium bodied in every way, and although wonderfully balanced, it remains obstinately austere, almost sullen. It’s like meeting Katherine Hepburn at a party, and when she finds out you’re not Laurence Olivier, she doesn’t want to talk to you. Good even structure right through to the back palate, but this wine really doesn’t want to play. Given the pedigree, I suppose you’d leave it another 15 years and revisit. After the dinner I checked some critics – Parker was effusive in his ’97 book, Broadbent (in 2000’s effort) called it a bit hard and unyielding.
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Very good, classic claret with a cool edge to it. Ripe cabernet fruit that was very very good, but tonight, not thrilling. Could still use some time in the cellar. (93+)
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eBob Angelus vs. Leoville Las Cases Vertical (Onesixtyblue): Full deep red color. Pale clear aroma of acidic black fruit and hints of graphite. Mmmmn. Big mouthful of black currant and cherry with firm tanins remaining. Nice and room for improvement.
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A lovely wine so doubt, but somewhat less than the professional glowing reviews, at least on my palate. The nose is a beauty--black fruit, spices and a light earthy dust. We decanted about two hours before dinner , which made a difference, as the wine clearly needed time to breath. the mouthfeel is full, with complex notes of vanilla and tar integrated with the fruit. Two characteristics keep this from the exceptonal lists: lack of sufficient concentration and intensity that I would expect, and a relatively short finish.
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Believe it or not, this was still too young. I've had two bottles of this is the past 3 months and both were too austere. I'm not going to burn another one for at least another 2 years.
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Drinking very well. Not incredibly complex, but a truly lovely wine. No formal notes taken, but this was an excellent wine thrown into a largely new world mix. Overall, this was one of the better wines of the night. Very nice, good minerality, nice earth notes, not fully mature, but mature enough to be drinking just right. 93-94
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Drank for my 50th birthday dinner at Whist. Great night. What a great wine. Still has a lot of years of life left. Still some strong fruit, deep earthy bouquet.
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Tasted this wine (blind) beside Cos d'Estournel 1986 and Gruaud Larose 1988. In my eyes this was the least impressive. I might have been too rigorous with the score, but it is what I wrote down at the moment. It was youthful compared to the Cos. Had a long aftertaste a lot of juice, cassis and was complex. An excellent wine!!! Although the Gruaud Larose was youthful as well, the Las Cases was much less impressive at the moment. I realize that this tasting note might say more about my tasting capabilities at this specific moment, than about this wine. But for me the other two wines were in more perfect harmony than the Las Cases.
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Beautifully elegant nose to this wine with some cedar/graphite, flowers, and warm/mushy cassis fruit. Very forward and ready compared to a wound up bottle I had last month. Balanced. Nothing dominating on the palate here -- good, clean beginning, middle, and end -- though, the finish was a bit shorter than one might like. Very solid showing.
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"Barbara Burlingame" Offline (Rotisserie Jules, London): Brooding dark purple colour, smokey ripe blackcurrent, massive depth but great balance, still quite tight, tannins are in check though. It shows a little like better bottles of Guraud Larose '86 tried recently, but a more amplified, balanced wine. Great, but slightest TCA lurking at back
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Offline with Barbara Burlingame (Rotisserie Jules, South Kensington): This bottle was ever so slightly TCA tainted (the smell was unmistakeable), but was impressive nonetheless. It showed impeccable balance and restrained power. Blackcurrant, leather and cigar tobacco, with a very silky texture and perhaps a slightly shorter finish than a perfect bottle would have. Great stuff, and still young.
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Some Recent Notes: Tuscany, Burgundy and St Julien; 8/11/2005-9/22/2005: After a couipke of totally closed bottles this is the fisrt time I've had this and tasted its greatness. The fruit is super ripe under the structure and clean, elegant and pure. A wonderful, complex mouthful of first growth quality, this is only going to get better. Serious cerebral claret.
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Deep and youthful color with no bricking. Powerful nose -- fresh berry, cassis, and cedar/cigar-box notes. Lush, mouthfilling, and very St. Julien. Really long and balanced. Great showing for this.
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Tasting. Huge, fresh black fruit aromas with a smoky, oaky character. Dense and backward black fruit on palate along with stern, structured tannins. Very long finish. Probably needs to 2015 to really show its charm.
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Tasted with friends along side a 1982 Leoville Las Cases. Red purple in the glass. This wine is still quite closed with aromas of black currant, cedar and chocolate. Still quite austere on the palate with hard tannins. Needs much more time.
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Berlin offline Deep purple. Intense, rich concentrated sweet fruit. It's full and powerful, with good acidity. The tannins emerge in the glass. It still seems youthful, but very long and refined. exc
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Seattle Tasting Group does 1990 & older Bordeaux (Seattle, WA, USA): This is stunningly youthful in color, purple to the edge. On the youthful nose there is cassis, mineral and graphite. Wow, this is a pure expression of Cabernet, so primary and still very tight and closed. So pure and focused right now. This has a LONG life ahead and will likely be far better in at least 10 years.
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5th place of 6, cheese on the nose again and dry desert earth and dark fruit, sharp taste, nice fruit, not my style, medium body and medium finish, need 5 years to peak.
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Wine tasting. Nose shows lots of primary fruit with some earthy elements with tobacco and leather. Palate shows lots of structure today slightly obscuring masculine black fruit, then licorice and spice on good finish.
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Tasted at vertical Leoville-Las Cases dinner at the University Club. Bright disc, with opaque ruby robe and red rim. Clean nose, showing intense ripe black cherry, plum, earth and anise. High acidity and ample (but fairly supple) tannins on the palate. Full-bodied, with similar flavors as nose. Long, slightly astringent finish. This is a huge wine which is fantastic and will clearly further reward the patient collector.
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I was first struck by the impenetrable color. This is the darkest ‘86 I've had this year, even darker and younger looking than perfectly stored Mouton. An interesting cedary, dusty aroma dominated, with hints of anise and fairly complex dark fruit. Absolutely massive and complex dark fruit took over in the mouth, with substantial, but not unbalanced, tannin and a huge finish. The giant is starting to wake, but is still a bit groggy.
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4/18/2024 - alamoave Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking very well. Started drinking shortly after decant, so last glass was the best, of course. I would give it a couple of hours out of respect. No hurry on this. At least 5 years left at peak levels.
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3/30/2024 - RobinTeo wrote: 93 Points
The one with Old Bordeaux (Praelum): Purposefully prepared and decanted by the great somms at Praelum, this must have been the most elegant Las cases I've ever drank! Cherry compote, rose water and soil opens on the bouquet with smoke, sage, prunes and tea leaves emerge on the palate. While this was elegant and ready to drink, it does feel like tannins are starting to overtake the fruit here, I would drink up over the next 5 years or so.
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3/22/2024 - bordeaux_bro Likes this wine: 98 Points
I have never been a fan of 1986 Bordeaux in the past, much preferring 1982/1989/1990, which I found to be much more consistent and accessible. Some of it is due to the more classical style that is inherently daunting to a newer wine drinker, but also due to the slow evolution of wines from the vintage. However these last two bottles - 86 Mouton last week and 86 LLC have thoroughly convinced me of the greatness that many critics see in these wines.
Compared to the Mouton, the LLC is relatively more evolved and open from the start. The nose is classical yet much more refined and even floral compared to the more brooding and primal Mouton. Color is garnet and not nearly as deep as the Mouton either. Yet, there’s great intensity in the palate, fine tannins and classical nose of cedar, mix of red and black fruit, and almost a Burgundian elegance to it all.
I preferred this today to the Mouton, but I expect the Mouton to exceed this.
Although more evolved, I suspect this will still easily last 2 decades.
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3/18/2024 - Rob Hansult Likes this wine: 94 Points
(94+ Points) Deep ruby garnet. Minty red cherry. Rich, tight, very intense, with a great salty/sappy ripe, gripping intensity. WOTN (for me)
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2/24/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 96 Points
The 1986 Léoville Las Cases remains a young wine, this example more expressive on the palate than on the nose. There’s a totally classic Las Cases profile of mixed red, blue, and black berries, potent yet perfumed and very pencilly. The finish lingers beautifully. An exciting showing, but tasting after tasting, the ‘86 Las Cases always seems to dangle the allure of what lies ahead.
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12/31/2023 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 96 Points
not blind
In brialliant shape. At his peak, still some primary aromas. The others at the table guessed younger. 96
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12/14/2023 - rocknroller wrote: 93 Points
CdB Committee Meeting: Dark red color. PNP, open an hour before serving. Drank a glass over 90 minutes. Cassis and dark berries with an in and out perfume, red cherry, lacquer, very dry, and a little brown sugar note showing through. A little more advanced bottle.
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11/29/2023 - garymouton Likes this wine: 96 Points
8 hour slo-ox. That being said, it was still opening up in the glass. This is likely a 60-100 year wine. Integrated tannins, but they are unmistakable and blend well with the fruit and secondary leather and earth. This is not a wine of finesse. Clearly big, old style Bordeaux reminiscent of its neighbor Leoville Barton, but with even more stuffing. This wlll likely be a 100 point wine for me in the next decade.
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11/12/2023 - jyensan Likes this wine: 96 Points
Drank with friends at Provence in Providenciales. Outstanding wine with firm tannins and moderate fruit. The meal was top 3 all time as well. Plenty left in this but at or just past peak.
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10/1/2023 - paul195 wrote: 94 Points
3 of 6 decanted @ 4:00 served @ 7:30 This was another excellent bottle of LLC. Has everything one should expect. See TN from bottle last year for details
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9/23/2023 - Mikkepenn Likes this wine: 95 Points
Took 1-2 hours to get the funk out. Very delicious and lots of dark fruit left.
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8/27/2023 - djhammond Likes this wine: 94 Points
This has never really matched the hype from the estate and critics. I even seem to recall that it was claimed this was the greatest Las Cases produced. However, it is completely outclassed by the 1982, 1989, and 1990, which are truly almost perfect wines. Admittedly, it is still relatively young for the vintage, but I do struggle to find any real complexity lying behind the tannic spine. That said, it is a glorious wine with notes of forest floor, plum, and cedar. Interestingly, I did find it more attractive a few years ago, when the fruit forgave some of its short comings. The nose is excellent, and the depth and balance on the palate are first rate. However, the finish is very lacking with little depth and length. It is very disappointing, particularly as other top left bankers from 1986 are really starting to strut their stuff. In terms of St Juliens, go for the Talbot at a fraction of the price, and it is an astounding wine. 94+
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7/27/2023 - the player Likes this wine: 95 Points
LLC will always be a first growth in my book. Cork fully soaked and smelled like perfumed cassis. Decanted and aerated for 90 minutes then drank over two hours. Blackish crimson color. Forward nose with age softening the austerity of the 86 left bank vintage, with black and red currants, leather, perfumed cassis, forest floor, cigar box and overall cool dark fruits. Great attack on the palate, not the typical muscular wine that LLC typically is, very dense but refined, extremely complex structure, good lift and acidity mid palate, finishes long and velvety. This has sufficient power balanced with great finesse, almost a blend of Latour and Margaux in one wine. Simply delicious and glad I have another case of 12 of this marvel.
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5/22/2023 - jmoore431 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted blind: Deeply colored; quite cedary at first, tobacco, horsey saddle leather, red courant at first turning overtly black fruited; cigar humidor, some drying, stern tannins still (characteristic of the ‘86s); the “eternal youth” reputation of the ‘86s may not be holding up; while “textbook” Bordeaux, this would have been splendid with a bit more rich, lush fruit.
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5/3/2023 - englishman's claret wrote: 95 Points
I found the fruit on the 86 las Cases evident at the outset (opened an hour before, decanted 45 minutes before), shutting down and then opening again. At its most articulate, this too shows a core of deep, cool cassis with a cedar, unsmoked cigar, and fennel profile, accented by a little beef blood. Here, too, this seems to unfold on the palate the more time it is given and the more attention it is paid.
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4/15/2023 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 93 Points
Unbelievably young, deep ruby coloured. Fresh, crispy fruit, complex, elegant, subtle fruit, chocolate, leather and toffee notes, with still strong mineral, herbal notes and tannins. Still evolving and built for the very long range.
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4/4/2023 - apg23 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Balanced and drinkable. Still in its prime.
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3/30/2023 - Mascarello59 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Shy nose to start with but this develops nicely in the glass with growing complexity. Cassis, match struck (?), christmas spices. Sleek and elegant but with considerable fruit left, tannins not yet resolved. Medium plus finish and a long balanced finish. The group's no 1 in this flight of 7 vintages.
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2/7/2023 - fcxj wrote: 86 Points
Thin.
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2/6/2023 - Fanjoy wrote:
Drinking perfectly. What a birthday wine!
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1/13/2023 - WildeMeeuw Likes this wine: 91 Points
Kleur: Diep donkerrood, zonder spoor van verkleuring. Aroma / bouquet: Fragiel - en na opening langzaam maar toch vooral zeker in kwaliteit afnemend - bouquet. Gronderig, een restant van jammig / gedroogd fruit. Smaak / Afdronk: Boterzacht. Zachte zuurgraad, zachte tannines, breekbaar maar met een prachtige harmonie. Die echter in het glas afneemt, waarna de wijn een wat hoekige finale vertoont… Algemeen / potentieel: Bijzondere wijn, grote klasse… Die ik echter iets eerder had moeten drinken. En dit is de tweede fles die bevestigt dat 2050 een te optimistische inschatting is van de drinkbaarheidshorizon. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Smaak / Afdronk: 15 + Algemeen / potentieel: 9 = 91/100
Colour: Deep dark red, without a trace of discolouration. Aroma / bouquet: Fragile bouquet, after opening slowly but certainly decreasing in quality. Earthy, a remnant of jammy / dried fruit. Taste / Aftertaste: Buttery smooth. Soft acidity, soft tannins, fragile but with a beautiful harmony. Which, however, diminishes in the glass, after which the wine shows a somewhat angular finale… General / potential: Special wine, great class… Which I should have drunk a little earlier. And this is the second bottle to confirm that 2050 is an overly optimistic estimate of the drinkability horizon. 50 + Color: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Taste / Aftertaste: 15 + General / potential: 9 = 91/100
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1/13/2023 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 94 Points
Opened in the morning, put cork back in and took to restaurant in the evening where we gave it another hour in the decanter. Bottom neck fill, cork with some dark mold on top but still tight and in good quality.
Still a fairly dark garnet in the glass with no browning towards the transparent rim. A beautiful nose with deep dark fruit and nicely integrated wood spices. The expected masculine palate, Pauillac like, with pencil lead, a touch of sous bois and dark fruit. Nicely integrated tannins. Very good length.
Would have rated it even higher if the wine had a little bit more concentration on the mid palate, which did not entirely match the nose in quality. Not sure if a longer decant would have helped as the wine felt resolved (and not tight by any means) and did not develop further towards the end of the dinner. Sommelier thought this was past, in my eyes just fine and at peak.
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12/8/2022 - alamoave Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still hitting on all cylinders. Voted about even with 1989 and 2000 vintages in a recent vertical tasting. No end in sight for this after a four hour decant. Pure class.
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12/7/2022 - Triforwine Likes this wine: 95 Points
Another venture into my med school graduation year. After the GL 86 on TG, I was feeling lucky. Last one of these we opened was flat, super tannic and pleasant but just not what it should have been. Another "stoic" St. J from a "stern" vintage.
This bottle perfect condition, low neck fill. Cork almost removed intact, one small piece fell in so I had to decant immediately. Low to moderate sediment in the bottom.
Color was darker than the 82 Palmer opened the day before. Garnet with lighter rim. Not an old looking wine but not dense like some of the more recent vintages of big St. Julien wines so color is showing some signs of age.
Aroma reticent and comes in and out but what there is was strikingly St. Julien to me. Nose Did not improve much with several hours but while in the decanter, there was a kitchen fire with a lot of smoke in the room so hard to be sure that didn't affect it.
Mouthfeel is just amazing, that's the highlight with food it's incredible. Flavor was nice balance of red fruits and floral and earthy notes, some tobacco and low to medium acidity. But it's still holding back. Not a tannic beast but still the tannins do seem to block some of the flavor.
Great with lamb once we got to it after stopping the fire. Lovely with cheese. Pretty classic old St. Julien and I think I'm learning what the combo of 86 and "masculine" St. Julien is and I think we'll keep learning this for some time to come. I think Dream (and other expertss) are right-this is probably still too young. I wonder if this will go in and out of phase like a volcano in Hawaii or if it will erupt and change the landscape. Fantastic wine but I still think there is more development to come there so I am going to wait a few more years before trying another one.
95+ (+?)
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11/24/2022 - schan109 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted for 2 hours. Quite reserved nose. Palate more obvious after 2 hours from opening with iodine, iron and shows some structure. Still some fruit. Medium to long finishing. Best 3 hours after opening.
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11/5/2022 - Francophile1 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Eight Decades of Decadence: This is 100% Leoville Las Cases from 1986. It is a wound up tight ball of energy and as brutish as any from the rustic '86 vintage (maybe except for Mouton which is an even bigger beast). Incredible purity of fruit, iodine, blood, iron, with a structured frame and finish. To me, this wine needs 20 more years to hit its stride. It has all the stuffing to become a legend.
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9/24/2022 - Renevin Likes this wine: 96 Points
Très beau nez qui évolue constamment dans le verre. Viande fumée, confiture, feuille morte, terre. En bouche belle rondeur, tout en équilibre. Tanins encore bien presents. Finale sur le cuir. Belle longueur. Du grand vin
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8/23/2022 - kevinpatrick Likes this wine:
One Year Anniversary CLT Tasting Group (82 Giacosa, 86 Las Casas, 91 Heitz Matha's & More) (Charlotte, NC): Decanted for 2 hours before back in the bottle for 2 hours slo-ox prior to serving. What an amazingly aromatic nose – rustic red flowers both delicate and fierce. On the palate: bramble, cigar box, cedar, and forest floor showing great complexity and finesse traversing these flavor waves. Elegant balancing of primary and secondary flavors with a decided lean towards secondary. Long savory finish. A classic and proper claret – a Bordeaux drinker’s Bordeaux delivering at its apogee. What a wine.
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8/12/2022 - soyhead wrote:
nose - funky, with some barnyard
mouth - in spite of being a dark purple, this wine was juicy and fresh with an ephemeral lightness, which is why I presume the english called these _claret_ in the first place. Interestingly there isnt a lot of big fruit flavor here, rather other flavors dominate including pencil lead, earth, and tobacco. Nice wine but an acquired taste for sure.
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7/4/2022 - Shugs_Claret wrote: 93 Points
Aromatically vibrant on popping…dark fruit, tobacco leaf, coffee grounds. Palate was a tad less impressive. Velvety tannins with only moderate length, perhaps slightly thinning fruit. Defintely enjoyable but prefer both the 82 and 89.
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6/30/2022 - Yassine23 Likes this wine:
Served side by side with a Château Latour 96, both wines shown blind and triple decanted 4 hours prior to serving. The Las Cases showed better than the Latour until the last glass. Rich and round, I thought that this had a good proportion of Merlot due to that. Very long and elegant. In a good spot now but long life ahead. Loved it.
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6/7/2022 - Vinterest Angus Likes this wine: 95 Points
Double decanted for 3 hours. Last tried in 2016 when I was blown away by this wine. Perhaps it was the lofty expectation which this bottle was invariably never going to live up to, but it still didnt quite meet the score or sheer sense of delight I experienced last time (I gave it 96).
The tannic spine which many speak of didnt bother me at all in fact it was one of the positives. The fruit core was there but didnt offer quite the kaleidoscope of flavour that I recall last time. The length was there, suggesting this is still a fantastic wine, it just reminds you not to meet your heroes (a second time).
I was left thinking for the £ I think I prefer the 2003 Leoville B which always gives immense drinking pleasure for a fraction the cost, which I have fortunately stocked up on.
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6/1/2022 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - top 80s Bdx with Rhone ringers (Fix, St James, Sydney): {cork, 13%} [Gordon] Has been a pretty austere and forebidding mouthful in the past, this. But tonight there are definitely some cracks letting in the light. Spectacular cigar-box nose, but also powerful currant/black fruits underneath. Ripe palate, finally mellowing somewhat, although it would be perverse to call it anything other than full-bodied in a classic Medoc context. Medium acidity, medium/high dusty tannins. Relatively a bruiser of a wine, and if the structure seems likely to overwhelm the fruit in the end it’s going to be a hell of a fight. For me, the best example I’ve tasted; the even palate, long finish, the sense of powerful cabernet fruit all demand respect, even awe. Can take on the 86 Mouton for another fifty years or so.
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5/30/2022 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 89 Points
Light rust red color. Old world barnyard with delicate fruits, weathered saddle leather, feminine floral and light perfume notes. Earth and licorice …….. Somewhat flat and muted on the palate at first but starts to come around some, but lacking that wow factor and likely needs to be drunk.
p.s. snake river farms filets with charred brocclini and butter lettuce salad
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5/2/2022 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Pausing for the Cause 2022 (Chicago, IL): From magnum. In a charmless vintage from what I consider to be a charmless producer, there is suddenly a wine that belies all of that charmlessness. It's definitely a stern, structural wine, but there are all the hallmarks of great Bordeaux here. A surprising amount of black fruit on the back end, this is very large-scaled wine that's incredibly impressive now.
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1/8/2022 - LB88 wrote: 92 Points
Straight from chateau. At this stage this was far from ready to drink with visible tannins. Revisit in 5 or more years. Drank next to the sublime 83 cheval blanc this was in tough company
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12/10/2021 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Full-bodied, structured, burly, yet refined, there is good intensity and weight, along with an ever-present tannic spine that defines the character of the wine. This is quite classic in style. It is also as I mentioned still tannic, so either wait a decade, or allow it 2-3 hours of decanting.
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11/29/2021 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 94 Points
Pretty scarlet color. Wet tobacco leaves, fresh rain earth floor, stone, pencil shavings, cassis and raspberry somehow coupled with light perfume and floral notes. Quite an array of flavors and lovely minerality that makes your mouth water. Red meat juices and worn saddle leather. Saving a glass for tomorrow.
Day 2 - nose slightly muted compared to yesterday, but the wine is still drinking well.
p.s. homemade Italian sausage and pepperoni pizza
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11/28/2021 - Dibbs wrote: 99 Points
The wine was opened with a bunch of burgundy drinkers and was the unanimous WOTN. It’s scary how good this was, Jane Anson, got it absolutely right on the money when she scored this 100 points and so did Robert Parker. This is what statesmanly Bordeaux should be like, oozing confidence, grace, charm and sophistication. Don’t be shy to give this wine a lot of air as in at least 2.5hrs in the decanter and then more in the bottle. This is the Las Cases to own for current and future consumption, forget about the 1982. This is it!
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11/27/2021 - melvinyeowq Likes this wine:
Dinner with poulet de Bresse: This is going to sound churlish but finally a Las Cases that moved me. The nose showed a good balance between floral notes and earthiness, there was some hints of green according to others but I didn't pick up on it. A truly classic Bordeaux with remarkable freshness rather than the heaviness found in modern ones. A very seductive palate but with an imposing structure. Combined the best of 1982 and 1990.
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11/19/2021 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine: 95 Points
1986 Bordeaux plus some supplements (Restaurant Brunnenstube, Beinstein): Decanted for ~ 2,5h. Clear, deep youthful ruby color. Classic and quite youthful BDX nose with some Cassis, mineral notes, pencil shavings. Very dense and beautiful.
On the palate enormous pressure, density and power. Very young, lots of red and dark fruit, high and powerful tannin. Great tension and very long. Not as sexy and elegant as the 86 Margaux, but probably with the greater potential. I would assume that this wine could gain even more complexity with a few more years in the bottle. 94-95+
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11/19/2021 - Euoinos wrote: 97 Points
Nose of cassis, earth, lead pencil and cigar box. A bit withdrawn in the beginning but evolved nicely in the glass. Mature fruit with well integrated tannins. Very aristocratic feel. Pauillac like.
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11/1/2021 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 95 Points
Very acid forward at first, but with a bit of air the fruit came out. Pretty aromatics and nice dark fruit. While obviously a mature wine, this is still quite spry and youthful.
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10/23/2021 - paul195 wrote: 94 Points
#2 of 6 Based on my bottle last year Opened it early afternoon dumped it into a decanter at 4:00 back in the bottle at 5:30 and served it at 9:00. This is a large scaled LLC and well stored bottles really benefit for a long decant. This was a very correct bottle, dark and sultry brimming with cassis and dark fruits, long and serious. See prior TN for details
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10/18/2021 - Purple Tooth wrote: 93 Points
This is a big Las Cases in body and appearance, showing baked dark fruit, coffee bean, and slightly stewed notes. Its clearly an older style, as the wines that come later are generally more elegant and refined. At times a bit clumsy, showing some fatigue. The quality clearly diminished in the glass with time. This vintage always seems a little disjointed as we dig into the last third of the bottle, which is what I don't like about it. Its a total drink now, and in jeopardy of losing more freshness and the punch it needs to not be bogged down by the heavy body. DRINK
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10/3/2021 - Frank Schneider wrote: 93 Points
This was underperforming ! There was body and fruit, tannin and acid. There was everything nicely aged. But where was the fun ? I missed the wow effect from a wine of this renomme. This wasn t bad . I dont know. Had enough time to breathe. I ll keep my last bottle . Open in 2026 ! 93 ???
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9/28/2021 - onboisduvin Likes this wine: 93 Points
past the prime but still the essence of Las Cases.
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9/22/2021 - KTelaak_Buffalo Likes this wine: 94 Points
For a 35 year old wine, this couldn't have delivered better. After no more than an hour, it was just enjoyable and lovely (if lovely is even a descriptor). It drinks much younger than a 35 year old if tasted blind. Great blend of fruit and mature flavors. Smooth finish. No hard edges. A life changing wine? Probably not, but simply excellent nonetheless.
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9/17/2021 - europat55 wrote: 92 Points
Nose: 92; Palate: 92
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9/9/2021 - kevinpatrick Likes this wine:
Cork Vault September Bottle Share -- 85/86 Dunn, 86 LLC, 96/99 Drouhin, & More! (Charlotte, NC): A nice compliment to the 85/86 Dunn Cabernets tasted on the night. Slow-ox for 90 minutes before sampling. Classic Left bank Bordeaux at every phase: Aromas of tobacco, leather and brown leaves on the nose. Medium body and soft on the mouthfeel. Fully resolved tannins. This wine was right in its drinking window. Flavors of bramble, mushroom, and graphite. A delightful wine if only lacking greater complexity. No complaints about this wine but also not blown away by it. This was a very good wine that wanted to be savored in a relaxing atmosphere and not consumed as part of a varied line-up of 18 disparate wines.
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8/6/2021 - hargy Likes this wine: 91 Points
lovely wine, mature with the tannins fully resolved - not as complex as expected and somewhat one dimensional but delicious nonetheless
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7/22/2021 - wine-enthusiast Likes this wine: 92 Points
Low neck fill. Cork soaked 3/4 way up. Had to extract last piece. Rose hips, leather. Not intense, but really dark. Amazingly looked like a 10 year old BDX. Beautiful floral notes but a bit faded. Enjoyed with a friend who brought 2013 Tignanello and I thought they complemented each other.
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6/12/2021 - Isaac L Likes this wine: 95 Points
Very fresh, great colour, supple, perfectly balanced, tannins still very prominent. Still only middle aged with lots of upside. Perhaps just lacks a touch of je ne sais quoi or complexity to elevate it to stratospheric heights, but this is already a marvellous wine. A model St. Julien that trades punches with the First Growths with ease.
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6/4/2021 - Vmaster007 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Amazing wine, still in its youth. Great length, subtle spices and great complexity.
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6/4/2021 - jee27 wrote: 93 Points
Dégustation Open Dreamer Style chez Simon B: Servi dans la même vague que les Margaux 1995 et 1996, ce vin démontre énormément de concentration et pourra bénificier d'une garde prolongée on se demande quand ils vont être prêts ces 86! Très beau Bordeaux qui en donne beaucoup pour son niveau et n'a pas mal paru à côté des grands.
93-95 pts
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3/27/2021 - tjin Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tobacco, leather, and cedar on the nose. Notes of mushroom, graphite, and tar, with a silky smooth body and well-rounded structure. Graceful and ready to drink now.
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3/8/2021 - shaferguy91 wrote: 92 Points
Decanted 2 hours.
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2/26/2021 - Kim Gerner wrote: 93 Points
1986 vertical Bordeaux Grand cru Classé etc (19 wines) - Wine tasting dinner semi blind (Nordsjaelland): Extremely high tannin - after so many years! Savoury and Tertiary notes (among others nutty)
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2/13/2021 - liber Likes this wine: 97 Points
9th of 12, opened 2 hours, decanted one hour, perfect level, half travelled cork, if anything fresher than last bottle in March 19, very sophisticated and layered, nicely integrated tannins, though underlying tannic structure apparent on exit, bouquet still developing, again long life ahead though as ever with these 86s will the fruit live long enough? VF+ (19)...I think there is a good chance here!
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1/23/2021 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 96 Points
Despite a slow aeration, the wine appeared very primary, whether on the nose with blackcurrant or on the palate where it was thin with a hint of acid.
And then, suddenly, after the first drink, something unlocked. The nose became powerful, on precious wood, pencil lead and spices. The mouth changed completely. The touch is silky with a spherical material, soft and ample at the same time. The wine begins to loosen in the mouth and it is magnificent: structured and balanced, it gives everything in the mouth with a floral side to finish on a massive and kaleidoscopic peacock tail finish: sometimes saline, sometimes fruity, sometimes tobacco . the whole stretching over a very nice length.
Excellent
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12/31/2020 - NewFrenchClaret Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for around 4 hours.
This is a truly classical St Julien, with a rather reserved black fruited nose, with graphite and mint. It's not a powerful wine, but it's purposeful and pleasing. A really beautiful texture; so silky smooth, like a cold drink on a hot day. Long, delicious finish.
Just lacks a bit of complexity to propel it to greatness. Hopefully this will develop with time, but I'm not sure if any of us will be there to see it.
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12/18/2020 - jviz Likes this wine: 97 Points
One of the all time greats for a reason. This was brought by a friend, decanted for about 2.5 hours, then enjoyed rather quickly in zalto BDX stems.
I've heard it said that this vintage from LLC may "never come around" or is "hard as nails". I'm pretty tannin tolerant, but this wine certainly had the softness that one would desire in an aged Bordeaux. A recent 86 Gruaud Larose was certainly tougher structurally. Also, this 86 LLC had plenty of fruit and acid, and thus remained balanced. While perhaps 10 years from peak maturity, I found it relatively approachable and quite classic.
What a treat to taste this legendary wine.
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12/18/2020 - Nutty08 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Hard to believe how young this comes across. Brilliant dark crimson color--no bricking at all. Was pretty closed upon opening, a few hours later was giving up some typical bdx notes of cedar, leather spice and mint. What stood out from this St. Julian was pure crystalline red fruits (crème de cassis). Tannins were strong, but quite polished and fine for '86. Lengthy finish with a bit of coffee. Really strong 34yo bdx, but I have to think this is still on the upswing.
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11/26/2020 - Vine wrote: 100 Points
The best wine I have ever had? Yes. 34 years young and while it is drinking beautifully now, I’m sure it has many years of life ahead.
Full cork with no extraction problem; on the nose classic Bordeaux; the colour is a wonderful shade of mid-deep purple with no fade to the rim. In the mouth a subtle delicacy of incredible balance and a finish that goes on and on....this is the apex of fine Bordeaux.
I’ve had all the 1990 First Growths and the 1986 Mouton, and this, in MHO, tops them all.
Bravo to Leoville las Cases!
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11/21/2020 - PeterFrancis Likes this wine: 96 Points
This bottle was clearly ready for drinking. Decanted about an hour before being served it had good colour, still deep, then mature aromas on nose. On palate good depth, tannin present but not dominating. Long, concentrated and balanced (though with tannic firmness) on finish. Complex flavours I won't attempt to describe - but autumnal aspects showed. Gathered momentum in the glass and I will decant future bottles slightly further in advance.
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11/7/2020 - paul195 wrote: 95 Points
#1 of 6 Given the nature of LLC and the 1986 vintage, I left these alone since I bought them on release. Recent bottles of 1982 LLC and 1986 Margaux encouraged me to try one. I generally agree with Jeff Leve’s TN from earlier this year “...this wine is ready for drinking.” Decanted at 3:00, by dinner cassis soared from the glass, layers of dark red fruit, full bodied with a surprisingly silky texture and engaging acidity carrying this impressive LLC to a long finish. You go back for another sip and you really are faced with “soaring aromatics and a blast of ripe cassis”. Although quite different than the 1982 this is drinking really well, This makes me want to try the 1990 LLC soon
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10/24/2020 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 94 Points
Bordal à Carouge (Ducru, Las Cases, Vega, Sassicaia, GPL...) (Chez Anne et Claude): Double aveugle. Ouvert 1 heure avant dégustation.
A mis du temps, encore 2 heures, avant de bien se livrer, arômes de fruits noirs, âtre froid, sous-bois.
En bouche, complexe, souverain, masculin, belle longueur.
Bouteille conservée dans la même cave dès achat en primeur.
Tiendra encore 10 ans.
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10/4/2020 - Caruso Likes this wine: 98 Points
Cork 100% soaked, though stored at textbook conditons since release. VTS, just not in to neck anymore. Garnet, in thicker layers ruby . The nose is ready from the start without a decant. Maybe just wait ten minutes after pouring. Blueberries, amarena, earthy notes, campher, bay leaf, cassis, vanilla and caramel, cedar. On the palate less complex, but most of the scents you find here again. Some pencil shavings in the aftertaste, later forrestfloor. Refreshing acidity, that provides great balance. Some of the tannins are still there, but overall this is smooth and round, not stern nor hard. Really only a bit of adstringency in the long finish. Maybe this bottle is more advanced than others because of the corks condition, nevertheless the wine feels mature, full of energy, just hitting its plateau. I decant a part of the bottle, delivering a wine with less nuances, but not less maybe a bit more intensity. All in all I wouldn't recommend to decant this, but as often this is a questation of personal taste. If the cork is renewed this should hold through some more decades without getting better overall, but getting smoother and likely also less energetic. -2050+?, 5/14/19/10. What a great wine at 13% Vol. alc. also a step from the lighter 1982s to the more powerful and less elegant wines of the presence. 98 from the Wine Advocate (Neal Martin, 2016) and 100 from R. Parker in 2003.
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9/5/2020 - Somm David T Likes this wine: 96 Points
Every major holiday demands a celebratory wine. This Saturday Labor Day weekend, it’s a 1986 Leoville Las Cases.
The other weekend, we had Ribcap’s with a good Bordeaux & Napa Cabernet but, it was not what I was looking for with an Allen Brothers Ribcap. Allen Brothers steaks are the top 1% of beef in the country.
This 86 Leoville Las Cases started slow but, in short order excelled. The cork (not from my storage) made me hesitate to an extended decant. Even with the Durand corkscrew, it was a little tricky to remove the cork. However, the wine was still sound.
My favorite pairing is a Ribcap & an old Bordeaux. For me, no meal is slower or better. I grew up the youngest in a family of seven...raised by a single mother. My father passed away while I was four months conceived. So, we ate fast and fought for every scrap.
The nose reveals classic Bordeaux notes & style. Ripe, funky barnyard fruits of; cooked; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, strawberries, black plum, dark cherries, slight dry cranberries, pomegranate, blueberries & rhubarb. Steeped tea, cola/red licorice, anise, golden brown to slightly burnt pie crust, dark, rich, turned earth, dry stones, limestone, cedar notes, old tobacco, underbrush, graphite, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, bay leaf, hints of eucalyptus/mint, old, soft leather, touch of mushrooms, just a hint of band-aid/va, with bright, fresh & withering; dark, red, blue, purple flowers framed is soft violets.
The palate is; smooth, elegant, ripe and juicy. The 86 still shows some baby, slightly tarry & teethe tannins. The structure, tension, balance and length are incredible. This 86 has years of life ahead of it if you enjoy them at this age and older as I do. Ripe, funky barnyard fruits of; cooked; blackberries, dark cherries, black, strawberries, black plum, dark cherries, slight dry cranberries, pomegranate, blueberries, faint raspberries notes, & rhubarb. Steeped tea, cola/red licorice, anise, golden brown to slightly burnt pie crust, crispy toast, dark, rich, turned earth, dry river stones, charcoal w/ ash, limestone/sandstone, dry clay, cedar notes, old tobacco with ash, underbrush, graphite, dry crushed rocks, dry top soil, bay leaf, some vegetal characteristics, hints of eucalyptus/mint, old, soft leather, touch of mushrooms, used expresso grounds, dark chocolate, caramel, mocha powder, hints of band-aid/va, with bright, fresh & withering; dark, red, blue, purple flowers framed is soft violets. The acidity is a gentle rain shower and perfect. The long finish defines elegance, balance in fruit & earth, well knitted and goes on for several minutes in perfect harmony ending with dry earth & juiciness over the top.
What a treat it is to drink Bordeaux of this age & older. I love the style of 80’s Bordeaux and really appreciate the 12-13% ABV of that decade. Wish that never changed.
Not sure this makes it to 2060 but, there is still plenty of life in it. Don’t be afraid to decant it 1-2 hours without question on well stored bottles.
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6/27/2020 - Ralf Jung wrote: 98 Points
Perfect , ripe and after one day still very good.
Needs some hours before drinking
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6/22/2020 - paulst Likes this wine: 90 Points
Loose cork; light and mature; soft; blackberry.
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5/14/2020 - the player Likes this wine: 93 Points
Must be the bottle as I was a bit underwhelmed and I have already drunk 7 of my previous bottles. Decanted and aerated for 90 minutes then drank over 2 hours. Cork fully soaked. Deep ruby color rather than bricking and nose of black currants, tobacco leaves, cigar box and cassis. Complex structure and well evolved however I sensed some greenness is the wine. Medium to full bodied on the palate meaning it may have been better to leave the wine longer in the decanter as the acidity and tannins are still quite present. Finish was rather long and hedonistic which was a surprise given austerity if the wine/vintage on the palate.
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4/26/2020 - MC wrote:
Decanted 3 hours. Incredibly dark in color and dark, cool fruits on the nose with some lead pencil. Over the evening (post the 3 hour decant) this really does not evolve much, staying a bit reserved but certainly well put together and representative of the vintage. While this is going to live forever, I am not sure it will hit the heights of the '86 Margaux tasted the night before. That might be unfair, and impacting my assessment of this wine, but for now I would call it a very good wine but just short of great for my palate. A-
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3/28/2020 - djhammond Likes this wine: 96 Points
This has the structure to stay here for the next 50 years but it is at its peak. It is a typically a Las Cases experience, and very typical of the year in general. It is a very robust and masculine in its profile with strong tannin, but with exceptional depth and a finish pushing 60 seconds. 96+
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3/22/2020 - drjb Likes this wine: 96 Points
96 Points
This is a delicious and classical bottle of Left Bank Bordeaux with a deep and clear crimson red colour and a rich and expressive nose of blackcurrants, creme de cassis, cedar, liquorice and a touch of mint and blackberry leaf. The palate is perfectly shaped with great length and drive combined with an extra depth of lovely soft fruit on the back palate that lifts this wine into the top league. A lovely balanced and pure glass of claret that gives a great deal of pleasure in a classical way.
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2/15/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
One of the wines of the vintage, the wine is ready for drinking. That being said, regardless of how long you decant the wine. there is no avoiding the stern, hard nature of the vintage. Full-bodied, concentrated and with soaring aromatics, the wine offers up a chewy, intense, rough and ready blast of ripe cassis.
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2/13/2020 - mnh wrote: flawed
Corked
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1/26/2020 - Horichdaslicht Likes this wine: 97 Points
Black fruit, acidity and firm but silky tannin in perfect balance, but still restrained. Opened up somewhat & gained weight on the palate after 5-6 hours in decanter. Blackish purple colour suggests to me that this still needs time to reveal it's full potential but proved a great match for Roasted Mushroom & Garlic Trottole. I feel this has 100-point potential but not quite there yet. 3-5 years?
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1/24/2020 - Bob H wrote:
Drinking very well tonight - now that I'm savoring this a little, even better than very well. Sorry I'm not more descriptive, but I'm enjoying the meal to much to get more detailed.
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1/14/2020 - erictayl wrote:
From memory- An extraordinary bottle of wine. Decanted 1 hr prior to dinner, then drank over 4 hrs with other 100 point wines. I should have decanted longer because it was just becoming special in the last hour.
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1/11/2020 - jkoenen wrote: flawed
corked?
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1/11/2020 - Zweder wrote: flawed
“Best Bottle” tasting in Fitzgerald, Rotterdam. (By JvT @ Fitzgerald): In the bouquet and on the palate very earthy and the slightly corked impressions seemed to disappear, but the wine was not fresh. So no score.
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11/28/2019 - Triforwine wrote: 90 Points
Paired with classic thankgiving dinner including a huge turkey, broccoli casserole, chestnut stuffing, sweet potato puree, Cranberry crumble, wild rice with dates and apricots, and later on cheese and desserts included apricot pie homemade, and store-bought fruit tart and a lame pumpkin pie.
Wine was opened at about 3pm with dinner planned about 6 but actually starting around 6:30
Bottles had mid-neck fill. Capsules fine. Corks both had what seemed to be yeast on the top. Both, but especially the first bottle was difficult to open with the Durand as the side arms had trouble advancing. The cork was really adherent to the glass. However, the cork came out wihout incident otherwise. IN succession , each bottle decanted and had light crimson color which darkened only slightly with time and air.
The nose was extremely reticent. You could get a sense of cassis and cherry and certainly some earthiness and tobacco but it is all really in the distance. So polished but just not robust. It was really hard to say if this is fruit fading or if it just isn’t ready, perhaps a little of both. I am not an expert and it seems this wine is in a relatively dumb phase but compared to some of the early drinking wines, it is not at all tannic and it doesn’t seem super concentrated so I am confused. The mouthfeel was plush and really complimented the meal and was best at the time we ate the cheese but still the complex nose and flavors though there seemed far away. It was excellent but I had expected so much more. I can’t give it more than a 90 right now but I am hoping that given the reputation of this wine, it is going to be improved. I am not sure if the yeast in the cork was a factor, the corks were almost saturated but they seemed OK and certainly not leaking and there wasn’t a hint of awkwardness to the wine, it had appropriate amount of sediment and definitely no cork on first or second nose, no maderization, no funk, no metallic and no bitterness. To me it seemed it is a wine with complexity that is off in the distance and I suspect it is still just a little too young. But is seems so light in weight and so not tannic that it is hard to call it young. But, maybe it is a burgeoning adolescent. I hope so. Certainly the wine seemed appropriately cellared so if it is just not quite ready, we should be in for a treat in a few years. Perhaps the food pairing was not ideal but there was something missing here from what should be a great wine.
90+
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11/24/2019 - ShadowIII Likes this wine: 99 Points
as close to perfection as you can get, youthful, dark fruits, currants, cassis, elegant, perfect balance, fine grained tannins, long finish, gorgeous
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8/28/2019 - Purple Tooth wrote: 93 Points
Very good at opening, with typical strong 1986 super dark iron clad fruit and thickness. Aromas of strong tobacco leaf and stewed red fruit dominate this muscular wine and show the same on the palate. It was exhaling and getting better and better and getting me very excited, but after about 3 hours, it started fading and getting disjointed and watering down. This is a good example of how some of the great wines of 1986 can't withstand the time needed to overcome the stubbornness of the tannic structure of the vintage. I would say drink this with no hurry over next 5 to 7 years, but, drink it swiftly without over swirling and over waiting. Drink
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8/13/2019 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 93 Points
Classified Bordeaux 33 years old and older (Yan's China Bistro, Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of tar, earth, leather, black cherry, and sweet fruit, more of the same on the palate, opened very slowly over 3 hours to brooding fruit, all commented it needs 5 year to be its best and is a 50 year wine, big body, disappointing as intensely concentrated but no excitement, and long finish. My #2 of 3. Uploaded photo.
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7/3/2019 - vintage52 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Fantastic wine. Textbook nose for mature Bordeaux, in the cedar/wet leaves spectrum. Impeccable balance, soft tannins, structured, weighty in the mid-palate, long finish. Will hold, but at its peak now.
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5/18/2019 - UFGators Likes this wine: 97 Points
This is really in the sweet spot drinking window. No decant needed. This has the backbone to last another decade but why wait?
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5/11/2019 - ToppoBDX Likes this wine: 91 Points
At its peak. Slightly oxidative. Tannins fully integrated. Palate feels fine but a little thin. Berry notes almost gone. Leathery, tobacco, wet grass, sherry and pencil/graphite notes.
My last bottle and felt it is time to drink up.
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3/9/2019 - liber Likes this wine: 96 Points
8th of 12, decanted 80 minutes, fully travelled cork near perfect level, now on plateau of maturity, slightly less energy to fruit than last bottle in May 14 but tannins now properly integrated, usual LLC class and complexity, cassis and mulberry fruit driven but now with attractive tertiary flavours developing, would expect less muted bouquet to develop from now, 20 years plus of life. VF (18.5).
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3/3/2019 - winotang Likes this wine: 94 Points
PNP from magnum. Wine still dark purple, with nose of graphite, black fruits and oak. Full bodied with well integrated tannins, sweet black fruits. Finish still rather tight.
Like other 86', tannins finally softening and the wine is starting to open up. Still needs a few years before it fully shows.
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1/19/2019 - LWI wrote: 95 Points
1986 Left Bank Bordeaux: Graphite, a hint perfume; very well balanced, full bodied and long, pleasant, wonderful and complex finish.
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1/17/2019 - GuWin wrote: 94 Points
Bordeaux 1986 Stock, Oslo: Fabelaktig god duft. Mørk frukt, snev av tobakk, mentol og solbær. Fløyelsmyk, veldig god konsentrasjon, stor og kompakt frukt, finkornet tanninstruktur. Åpen og drikkeklar.
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1/11/2019 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rather coiled and linear like a typical '86 and really needed lots of air to show itself. Then the classic black fruit sweetness of LLC emerges along with notes of graphite minerals and dark spices. The finish is tight but complex and the tannins are still fairly prominent suggesting more time is needed here. 93+
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1/1/2019 - no oak Likes this wine: 92 Points
We purchased our stash of the 1986 Las Cases in the early 1990's and the bottles have been properly cellared as long as we have owned them. We waited until now to open a bottle and in the glass, the wine is still so deep in color that it looks much younger than its age would suggest. Medium bodied with notes of cherries and cedar, with coffee and smoke appearing after being opened for 1 hour. Definitely drinkable, but still not at its peak. We'll wait at least 5 more years before opening another bottle.
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12/25/2018 - djhammond Likes this wine: 97 Points
This is now in a prime spot and is evolving rapidly, and I do feel less, rather than more aeration, is preferable. It is typical of the estate and of the vintage being all about blackcurrent, plum, and cedar, but with a robust tannin. The depth and complexity on the palate is outstanding, If a little short on the finish. It represents everything great about old school left bank Bordeaux, and is very masculine and here for the next 3 decades plus. An hour in the decanter is adequate.
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11/16/2018 - CarpeDiem! Likes this wine: 91 Points
Against an 88 and an 85 in a mini-verticale this bottle scored surprisingly “only” bronze. Medium to full bodied, complex and elegant, but the subtle fruit, chocolate, leather and toffee notes are overwhelmed by strong mineral and herbal notes dominating the finish. Worthwhile revisiting in a few years.
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10/26/2018 - RockinCabs wrote: 97 Points
Leoville Las Cases Dinner; 10/26/2018-10/27/2018 (Troquet on South): Nose: A joy to get your nose into the truffle, inky blackberry, cedar, anise and graphite nose of this wine. With a perfume that is the best of St. Julien with just a whiff of Paulliac it is hard not to love the 86.
Palate: Very complex, middle weighted and open tonight. Fleshy red and black fruit on the palate that compliments the tobacco and graphite. Just a bit of spice and bell pepper, then a cedar/anise pop at the back palate.
Finish: Faint few of the hard edges that some speak of, but retains grip and has persistent cedary loamy earth in the finish.
This is coming into an open phase for sure. I was lucky to taste this as part of a monovarietal flight with the component parts of the 1986 LLC. This final blend is a harmonious grand salute that delivers the best notes from the single varieties.
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10/26/2018 - englishman's claret wrote: 97 Points
My, my - is the 86 LLC starting to come around? Another recent bottle was so dumb, but this is beginning to really show what it has got. And it has got quite a lot, in fact. What depth, precision, weight, polish, and even a certain elegance there is in the curranty, mineral, cedar, inky nose. The palate shows a great depth of flavor with only medium weight and refreshing acidity. Of course, this is made all the more special by the fact that there are 4 more bottles of 1986 LLC alongside - a bottle each of pure, unblended varietals that went into the final blend.
1986 LLC Petit Verdot: Warm mahogany, furniture polish, biscuity, cedary nose. Peppery palate; lots of acidity.
1986 LLC Cabernet Franc: Explosively spicy; mint, thyme, camphor; eventually beef blood and an ultimate evolution into a quieter, more mellow aromatic profile.
1986 LLC Merlot: Mellow, fleshy, ripe raspberry rather than the plummy notes one is accustomed to from the pure Merlots of Pomerol.
1986 LLC Cabernet Sauvignon: Of course, this is most like the Grand Vin which is mostly cabernet sauvignon. But as lovely and virile as the CS is with its currant, mineral, inky personality the blend is even better.
Superb - thank you to Leoville Las Cases for bottling these separately.
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10/25/2018 - kr522 wrote: 98 Points
I love this wine, and it only seems to get better. it poured to a full and deep ruby color, it looked more like a 5 year old and drank like a 10-15 year old. layers of plum, raspberry, tobacco, and graphite. integrated and refined, it improved with air - even better on the 2nd day. Best LLC vintage I can recall, and would be great to drink aside the 82.
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10/13/2018 - Jz71 Likes this wine: 98 Points
From 375 ml. Wonderful. Lots of life ahead for this beauty.
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9/9/2018 - paulst Likes this wine: 93 Points
Loose cork but sweet blackberry and light coffee with balance complexity and smooth finish.
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8/31/2018 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Les Deux 2018 (Chez Gill): Final flight, 1st wine. I can't think of anything else I would want in a mature bdx. Just a glorious nose with loads of earth and spice, with a hint of dried and ripe fruit. On the palate, good acidity, more earth and spice and a long finish still. Just spot on; no need to contemplate, just enjoy.
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8/25/2018 - the player Likes this wine: 96 Points
Not sure bottle was 100% pristine but still a tremendous complex and fully evolved LLC with sweet tobacco leaves, wet earth, cassis, currants, excellent balance and acidity, medium to full bodied and long black currant and bitter chocolate finish.
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8/22/2018 - Alongfield wrote: 90 Points
Mild nose, rich color. Some leather and earth in the flavor. Lacking depth and complexity. Hard comparison to the 1990 Montrose we just finished.
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8/19/2018 - vinhslee wrote: 95 Points
The flavours are still mostly primary. Rich and deep flavours of blackcurrants, cedar, cassis, leather, tobacco and some spices. The tannins are firm and mature, will take time to resolve.
Put this away for another next 5-15 years and your patience will be rewarded.
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8/10/2018 - drjb Likes this wine: 96 Points
This is a delicious and classical bottle of Left Bank Bordeaux with a deep and clear crimson red colour and a rich and expressive nose of blackcurrants, creme de cassis, cedar, liquorice and a touch of blackberry leaf. The palate is perfectly shaped with great length and drive combined with an extra depth of lovely soft fruit on the back palate that lifts this wine into the top league. A lovely balanced and pure glass of claret that may be just peaking .. or maybe not !
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8/5/2018 - kingkanu wrote:
Come out come out wherever you are ! 32 years old and not a slight of being ready. It’s dense and concentrated, but that’s about all you can get. One for the next generations.
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8/3/2018 - pjaines wrote:
This wine is pretty much indestructible and it is still, even now, barely ready to drink. A regal whiff rises out of the glass then snaps shut and then nothing!! Nothing on the palate, or the nose. So clamped shut that it probably needs another 10 years to even mature. Crazy stuff. So frustrating because what does come out of the glass at times is sensationally good.
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8/1/2018 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 Points
From 750, this is still so young and just seems ready to burst forth but it isn't quite there yet. Even with a reasonably long decant, the classic cassis, cedar, and mineral LLC nose is buttoned up. But the constituents are there and the nose shows so much depth and polish. Hold it a few years more... when LLC finally shows itself, it's a beautiful thing.
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6/20/2018 - Eric Guido Likes this wine:
Joanne Bordeaux Trip 2018 (Bordeaux): (Limited Notes and no official scores, as this was blind tasting with Jean Hubert Delon.) Then the '86 hit the table and the room grew silent as the wine opened slowly in the glass, seeming to grow in depth and size yet completely balanced and pleasurable right now. There was a polished youthfulness to the fruit with a remaining crunch of residual tannin. It's drinking wonderfully, and easily falls into one of the top ten older Bordeaux drinking experiences of my life.
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4/24/2018 - King JR wrote: flawed
Completely disheartened! Have been saving this bottle for years since purchasing from private collector. Cork was soaked to the brim - swollen and protruding from bottle. Poured and decanted. Totally flat. Virtually no nose. I was crushed... I see others have succumbed to the same fate! So now I move on to my ‘89s. I am a bit fearful.
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4/19/2018 - Alex G. wrote:
Bright, more forward than 95 Haut Brion tonight. However it didn't have quite the finish or complexity. In time started to become more interesting, but ultimately lost in the shuffle of some exceptional wines.
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3/22/2018 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 96 Points
This wine was decanted for 2 hours before serving. It had its place in the evening having to follow 2 truly superb Burgs (Cathiard Murgers 05 and Rouget Echezeaux 02). This was my first experience with the 86 LLC and from prior experience with the chateau and the vintage I had a certain expectation in terms of what to expect - but the result was utterly surprising. After working through a very typical Bordeaux nose of barnyard and library with some nice iodine on the palate this was an absolute dancer with lovely acidity, a GREAT midpalate and it was only for a bit of a short finale that I am not scoring this higher. Hands down blind I would have NEVER guessed this to be a 86 LLC - it drank more like a high class 96. This is a 86 that is not in the least drying. It was almost chameleoneque showing neatly getting into line with the Burgundies. A wine that can be drunk now or for the next decades, although I felt it was in a lovely spot that night.
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2/27/2018 - ephorn Likes this wine: 93 Points
I felt this needed some air to come together balance wise. It tastes much younger than 32.
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2/14/2018 - Sean Tay wrote:
The wine looks ruby colored. It smells like toast, forest floor, mushroom and cedar.
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1/23/2018 - ricknat1 wrote:
This was a vertical tasting over dinner. I love Las Cases and fell its a tremendous value that in the best years approaches Grand Crus but is generally excellent and enjoyable. all of these wines fit the bill from the the sublime 82 and 90 downward. My ranking was as follows
82
90
86
89
83
96
85
95
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1/21/2018 - Blauweiss Likes this wine: 96 Points
Massiv nose with cassis, fresh herbs, green pepper, Tobacco and hints of chocolate. Rich and elegant!
On the palate full bodied, elegant in perfect balance. Rich dark berrie-fruit, hints of plum, stable ripe raspberries and licorice, great stuff.
I could sip on this for a loooong time!
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1/7/2018 - Chapel wrote: flawed
Removing the foil revealed a moldy cork. After removing the cork there was a dried dust on the bottle. The cork showed the wine had soaked through it. The wine tasted flat as if it was sitting in a glass on the counter several days. Due to the huge price point I took several hours to drink this with small sips and it NEVER improved.
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12/25/2017 - bordeaux456 Likes this wine: 96 Points
What a treat for Christmas! Opened two bottles, significant bottle differentiation however both were incredible. First sips were incredible and the wine evolved over the next 5 hours. Deep, inky colour. Lead pencil, graphite, touch of barnyard, cassis and pomegranate. Still quite tannic which leads me to believe that this wine still has at least 10 more years. Incredible. 96+
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12/10/2017 - Nanda wrote: 96 Points
Wine Flock Intro Retro - Cabs (Jordan's): Served double blind in what turned out to be a 86 BDX flight. The nose here is amazing -- classic aromas of dried plum, mineral, decaying earth and cigar box. The palate is so layered and elegant. Seems to be fully mature with still fresh and moderately concentrated fruit married to resolving, fine tannin. Terrific length and detailing.
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12/10/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
Chicago Wine Flock..."Bordeaux and Cali Cab from Jordan" (Chez Whitehead - Northbrook IL): Tasted double blind in what turned out to be a 1986 Left Bank Bordeaux flight (all open 2 hours with a quick double decant). Spice hints with plenty of ripe fruit aromas. Black currant and cherry with liqueur hints and cigarbox. Excellent balance and persistence. So enjoyable. Clearly the class of the flight.
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12/3/2017 - Winevestor Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautiful aged Bordeaux. Great bouquet with earth, leather, and faint fruit. Medium bodied, dark blue fruit and great complexity in the mouth. This is not going to get any better and is close to the end. I had it over two nights and the second night was not as good. Very lucky to have this icon in the cellar.
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10/29/2017 - djhammond Likes this wine: 97 Points
After reading other notes, I have to say that I have never had bottle variance with this wine and have obviously been fortunate. This is my favourite Las Cases that is drinking at present, bearing in mind I have yet to sample my 2000 and 2005 to date. I personally feel that this is starting to reach its full maturity and certainly has evolved in the last year. Possessing a beautifully deep nose of blackcurrent, plum and cedar, the wine is elegant but still very left bank with good fruit matched with graphite and good tannin. The depth and balance on the palate is superb and completed with a 30+ second finish. I would actually score this wine higher but for a slight imbalance and sourness towards the end of the finish. It does need a couple of hours in the decanter and will stay here for years and hopefully keep improving.
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10/14/2017 - Zweder wrote: 96 Points
Dave's 40th birthday. My most exclusive tasting ever!!! (@ Bottles; Sas van Gent, Netherlands): In the bouquet still dark berries like cassis and elegant oak. On the palate a bit dusty and earthy at first. Overall a beautiful and classical wine with good black fruits, acidity, elegance and a great length. The tannin still has some bite, so no hurry!
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10/8/2017 - Bob H wrote:
Popped and poured a small taste prior to dinner later today.
Complex nose, with black and red fruits and a tobacco note.
This still has a modest tannic presence - 30 years after the vintage, and slowly approaching peak maturity. More black- fruited than red on the palate with decent supporting acidity- very likeable, and a wine that will probably be capable of another 10-20 years of aging.
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10/6/2017 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 95 Points
Some wines are clearly at their peak, and this is one of them. It's firing on all cylinders and doesn't let up. The fruit is so fresh, so pure. Lots of creme de cassis, fresh cedar, graphite, leather, truffle, and cigar box. Powerful and yet so graceful on the palate, with a silky mouthfeel. Long finish with crisp acidity but a sense of roundness with its soft tannins. Highly recommended to enjoy this now.
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9/22/2017 - the player Likes this wine: 95 Points
Outstanding wine and more open than many other 86s. On the nose cassis, asphalt, dark berries and ink, ruby red color with some bricking. Aerated for an hour or so in the decanter and drank over 2 hours. Full bodied entry on the palate, rich texture, supple yet powerful, good complexity and structure to the wine, great acidity and balance, coats the palate and finishes with a note of dark berries and bitter chocolate. Truly enjoyable. 3 bottles left!
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8/5/2017 - paulst Likes this wine: 89 Points
Light and undeveloped; rather bland; some blackberry. Loose wet cork.
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6/11/2017 - paulst Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tar and rubber; layered and complex; blackberry and earth; sweet finish.
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5/13/2017 - BLam Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very classic wine from Bordeaux with nosing of plum, caramel, tobacco integrated with smooth tannins. The color didn't show the old wine rim but cloudy. Enjoyable for drinking but not as great as RP marked.
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5/7/2017 - gsmm wrote: 93 Points
Extremely powerful tannins that seemed to round off after a few hours in the decanter. Very enjoyable although it shut down when we had the remaining wine the next day. I think it still needs time for the tannins to integrate better.
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4/28/2017 - Billigan wrote: flawed
Cork soaked all the way to the top and the wine had been tainted as a consequence. Ouch!
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4/27/2017 - Keith Levenberg wrote:
Leoville Las Cases with Pierre Graffeuille (Ripple): A bigger wine and a more muscular and layered wine than either the 1989 or 1990 -- much stronger family resemblance to the 1996. But like the 1996 I did not find this wine nearly ready to drink. The tannins are still very powerful and drying on the palate. It's a red-fruited wine inflected with a bit of earth and wood that's segued past the barrel or cedar stage into something more suggestive of antique furniture. But this is nowhere near as developed or ready to go as the '89 or '90 -- probably a decade away for my tastes, which means the '96 might need 20.
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4/26/2017 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
Léoville Las Cases dinner with Pierre Graffeuille (Ripple Restaurant in DC): Incredibly youthful yet complex nose displaying intense cassis, ink, a hint of plum starts to develop, cigar, ash, cedar, caramel and lead pencil. Excellent concentration, beautifully layered, silky and polished, tobacco and cassis driven palate impression, bright acidity, nicely integrated tannins and a lovely long finish with cedar at the end. This is very similar to the 96 but I find this to be a big richer/oilier where the 96 is purer and more precise. Exceptional showing. It is finally reaching the first stage of the youthful peak.
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4/15/2017 - paulst Likes this wine: 97 Points
Cedar; deep and balanced; layered; earth; outstanding; long finish.
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2/26/2017 - asgerG wrote: 91 Points
Dark deep red, slim yellow edge, 5.5. Surprisingly youngish looking.
Immediately after decanting the wine is surprisingly closed for a 30+ years old Bdx. Just giving off the classic pencil like notes.
4h after decanting the bouquet is a bit more open but still not really exciting.
However, the last glass 6h after decanting is more genorous starting to show more complexity, flowery notes on top of the pencil.
The palate is reflecting the bouquet, still firm tannins, long intense but elegant finish. This would propably gain by cellaring 10years more, but the cork of this bottle was practically soaked all the way - so risky to wait.
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2/8/2017 - Papies wrote:
Double decanted and were not really impressed. Went for a different wine in the end and only had this the day after so decanted for 24hrs. Still the same issue. Healthy yes but muted and dull, like having a great tenor who refuses to sing. In the last 7 years we have tried this wine 4 times now and we have had this sort of mix reaction where singing bottles are superb (94-97 levels) but also we hit a few sleepers. Bottle variation or just our luck. On the day we wouldn't rate more than 88 but will refrain from doing so as we don't think its a characteristic bottle for the wine.
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2/5/2017 - Sonoma Duck wrote: flawed
Metallic nose, stripped of all fruit. I hate buying a wine at release, cellaring it well for 29 years and then find out it is corked.
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1/22/2017 - ajogmartin wrote: 92 Points
Still powerful tannins after 30 years. Developed, mature fruits. Very nice. Will jeep and improve for some years yet.
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1/13/2017 - Collector1855 wrote: 92 Points
During a Commanderie de Bordeaux tasting dinner. Clearly past peak. As in so many 86, after 30 years the tannins have finally softened but the little fruit they had is also gone... Here we have at least some nice aromas left of mint, dark fruit, forest floor. Still, the mouth feel is a bit lean. Decent but not great. I was never a fan of neither the '86 or '88 Bordeaux.
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12/24/2016 - paulst Likes this wine: 95 Points
Leather nose; subtle and elegant blackberry; long sweet finish.
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12/19/2016 - Vinterest Angus Likes this wine: 96 Points
Sensational. 3 hour decant allowed some of the funk to blow off before the wine really opened up and started to display the most heady bouquet. Then drunk over another 2 hours and improving all the way through. Clearly 10+ years left. Need to find some more.
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11/6/2016 - fine137 wrote: flawed
Corked and cooked
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11/4/2016 - 49RockVino wrote: 96 Points
Umm, this wine rocks. Great structure, lively tannins. If it had a little more fruit it would be 98-100 territory. Drank at 90 minutes; next bottle will see 3 hour decant. Handily beat an 82 Lafite tonight.
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11/3/2016 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): Another LLC that is way too young. A classic LLC nose, intense cassis, ink, ash and lead pencil. Exceptional concentration, beautifully layered fruit, youthful intense cassis fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity, nicely integrated sweet tannins and an incredibly long finish. It is drinking well in very youthful ways but will need another ten to twenty years to show a bit more tertiary elements. Impressive showing.
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10/31/2016 - djhammond Likes this wine: 97 Points
A stunning wine finally entering its drinking plateau. A restrained nose of old leather and blackberry gradually opens up on the palate to reveal subtle smooth berry flavours balanced perfectly by slightly acidic tannins. It gives a smoothness without losing its typical masculinity completed with a lingering finish. This does need a 3 or 4 hour decant and possibly will continue to improve, but is drinking magnificently now.
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10/14/2016 - PEKB Likes this wine: 95 Points
Bordeaux 1986 single blind tasting at Grappe, Stockholm. With Mr Carl-Jan Granqvist and Mr Johan Edström.
Concentrated, youthful, hints of fresh mint, prominent but classy tannins. Very good.
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10/12/2016 - FamilyLarsson wrote: 95 Points
Lånar vad jag skrivit tidigare då det helt stämmer överens med även denna flaska.
Väldigt mörk och kompakt i färgen för att vara en Bordeaux med denna ålder. I doften underbara lite dammiga, stalliga toner med fin frukt och cigarrlåda. I smaken fin mogen frukt med svarta vinbär och lite plommon. Väldigt koncentrerat och ungdomligt med otroligt bra balans med underbara silkiga tanniner och lång fin eftersmak.
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9/23/2016 - kr522 wrote: 98 Points
For anyone not getting a peak experience out of this wine, make sure you decant for well over an hour. We decanted for 3 hours and it was in a perfect place - just hitting high notes from start to finish. Typical 86 power with well integrated tannins and expressive complex fruit.
Magnificent
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9/16/2016 - Collector1855 wrote: 92 Points
66x Parker 100-Pointers from Bordeaux 1947-2010 tasted blind (Switzerland): Tasted blind. Medium garnet. Nose of earth, blue fruit, pine, a touch of barnyard. Medium bodied with softer structure than the first two wines but still quite meager and drying tannins. I had better bottles of this in the past but it was quite a tannic experience every time. While better than the Lafite and Mouton 1986, still not really impressive. There was also a discussion on the table whether this bottle was representative or not. In any case, it confirms my numerous past experiences with the rustic, over-rated 1986 vintage. Group score: 18.03, group rank: 29/64
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9/13/2016 - G_H wrote: 96 Points
This is a masterpiece, delicate and elegant in weight yet incredibly powerful and opulent in aromatics. This has an incredible amount of life ahead!
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9/1/2016 - senex Likes this wine: 99 Points
Delicate mature delicious. The nose is past its best but the mid palate and finish just wonderful and so minerally. We gave it an hour decant and then it just got better and better. If you can risk it give it longer than the hour but be warned it does not need it and is in a very good place right now.
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8/5/2016 - dimitripo Likes this wine: 98 Points
Honey
Toffee
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8/3/2016 - paulst Likes this wine: 89 Points
Light with cedar and blackberry; a bit tart; mature; soft sleek finish.
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7/30/2016 - ricknat1 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Classic Las Cases that I think is probably at its apogee right now. Smooth, silky, dark, rich and long. Very good bottle in a lineup that outshone it.
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6/18/2016 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Still a baby, tannic would love to taste in 20 years.
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6/14/2016 - fcxj wrote: 88 Points
Didn't enjoy this. Maybe served too cold, but just stayed closed with little drinking pleasure.
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6/14/2016 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Very floral aroma. Relatively lighter, fresher and more tart than other Bordeaux tasted blind. Took this to be right bank wine, which strangely finished last out of 7.
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6/5/2016 - Chapel Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow, was this a ride in a Cadillac !
Smooth bold powerful body that gracefully moved along the pallet from start to finish leaving favorable taste sensations at every check point.
We had Nortic Char that blended well with this wine.
The cork had darkened and I was concerned initially but that thought was retired. I let it breath a good 3-4 hours.
Again , wow! Excellent wine
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5/30/2016 - RayOB wrote: 94 Points
Drank in Hong Kong
Had alongside the '86 Gruaud Larose which was showing better on the night. Don't get me wrong this is a beautiful wine but there is some tannins in the palate that have still not integrated.
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5/26/2016 - the player Likes this wine: 97 Points
Best bottle so far. How can you trap nobility in a bottle? Well I would ask Leoville Lascases as they have done a marvellous job on this 30 year old. Amazingly youthful in color, decanted and let breathe for an hour. Ruby red, hardly any bricking. Outstanding nose of mature cigar tobacco, spices, star anise, mature black fruits this wine caresses the palate with multiple and complex layers and finishes very long. Truly a first growth.
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5/24/2016 - d'Auvenay wrote: 92 Points
Bottle breathed 1 hr and decanted for 3 hrs. Still very youthful and likely needs another 3-4 hrs of breathing before ready. A hint of mint, leather and berry. Easily last another 10 yrs or more.
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5/22/2016 - heiamat.no wrote: 95 Points
Nesen fremstår ren og frisk med mørk rødbærsfrukt, myntedrops, lær, tørkede roseblader og lakris. Juicy og presis frukt med fin friskhet, kompleksitet og dybde i smaken. Fremstår livlig, energisk og nesten silkemyk. Bærer fint med solid struktur og stødig grep i finish med modne tanniner. Mørk, dyp og tjærepreget finish med god lengde. Særs godt.
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4/8/2016 - wineguy1968 wrote:
My 1st old bourdeax. Drank at Jordans. Interesting smooth silky body a little thin though? Cigar box, leather. Fruit not very dominant. Eligant and complex with a long finish.
Drank along with an 09 Figeac and 12 Lynch Bages. Interesting to contrast the old with the new. The Las cases really called out how heavy the tannin was on the younger wines.
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3/31/2016 - Mtnmd1 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still almost youthful despite the decades. Well kept bottle, minimal age on the edge, outstanding
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3/18/2016 - glhackney wrote:
Na
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3/2/2016 - FamilyLarsson wrote: 90 Points
Har tidigare druckit fantastiska flaskor av detta vin, men denna gång är det inte riktigt med i matchen. Kraftfull vin med mörk frukt, lite gröna toner, blyerts, viss stallighet. Rätt gott om tanniner, påtaglig syra och mörk frukt men känns inte riktigt i balans.
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2/27/2016 - rmcnees Likes this wine: 93 Points
Initially closed and a bit flabby, needs decanting and a minimum of a couple hours to open and settle, better the next day ... and even better the day after that!
Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, beautiful floral bouquet, black berry and black cherry fruits with layers of cassis, bark, spice and earthy, leathery oak, subtle bell peppar with slight tangy bitterness turning to firm lingering tannins with a long long floral finish.
http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/02/dyquem-quintessa-saxum-highlight-otbn.html
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1/16/2016 - MEKWINE Likes this wine: 94 Points
LLC dinner at 10 Greek Street. In keeping with the one I had in mid-December ( Wimps. La Trompette). Dark fruits, leather, textured, concentrated and with a slight peppery and balsamic kick on the finish.
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1/6/2016 - Marc wrote: 96 Points
Great Wines to start the New Year (Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand): Drunk blind and next to the Mouton Rothschild 1982, this came across as slightly more monolithic but also deeply expressive of its vintage. Like most great 1986a I have drunk, this wine is stern, backwards and linear. It also hides its elevage in a way the Mouton, with its creamy oak and blackcurrants did not. The Leoville is very savory, mineral, dark and tannic. Very intense, very large-scaled. Incredibly complex but somewhat inexpressive, this is showing more bottle age character than the Mouton but it is also more backwards. I love the intellectual style of the wine and imagine that it will always be somewhat hard and structured when it finally enters its ultimate apogee of development. Always first growth standard. 96+
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12/18/2015 - In2wines Likes this wine: 97 Points
December 2012
This was an ex chateau release 2015, This most be the most powerfull of the vintage with Lafite and Mouton ... . . Darker than Dark, it looked like it was bottled 5 years ago, it almost also taste like it also.. . it is still a baby, if well stored bottles forget about it another 8-10 years.
The power blocks for secondary aromas at this stage, so it all about tannin and blackfruit, but under this there are so much more, and more to come, Mouton offers much more at this stage, is Mouton a bigger wine I am not sure, but both will probally be able to last 50-80 years ...
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12/18/2015 - Aglenardi wrote: flawed
May be flawed or improperly stored. Served from a magnum. Looks really tired and red/brownish on the rim. What a shame
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12/15/2015 - MEKWINE Likes this wine: 94 Points
WIMPS La Trompette Cornucopia 2015. Dark fruits, leather notes and mineral wet stones. This is a well structured and dense wine that went on for ages.
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12/12/2015 - Old Vino Likes this wine: 95 Points
30 years old and has just entered its prime drinking window
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12/5/2015 - clayfu wrote:
Beast of a wine, sat in the decanter for 3 hours. So dense and dark. Filled with graphite, leather and mocha covered fruit. Still really tannic on the back end but man it is such a big bodied wine that will still need a lot of time to really fill out its frame.
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11/30/2015 - the player Likes this wine: 95 Points
Needed 90 minutes in decanter to begin to open up. Beautifully complex nose of black currants, cassis, sweet tobacco, cigar tobacco, slight hints of graphite and leather, mocha. Medium to full bodied, excellent acidity, minerality and structure with a long mocha tinged inspiring finish and almost fully resolved tannins. A beauty.
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11/27/2015 - vindictive wrote:
bottle, fill and cork all good. I don't think this got much air before serving, so perhaps not fair to judge it. It is big and monolithic and it is a red wine. Not much more to say, it sat in the glass and seemed to tighten up. We were drinking this wine with a beef stew and it seemed to just stand guard over it without much enhancement of the dish. I would definitely decant this wine if you are going to try to drink it or really, just sell it and get a mid-level '66.
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10/23/2015 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 92 Points
Birthday Dinner at Yan's China Bistro with the wine group. 1986 Bordeaux tasting of four wines, nose of tar, earth, leather, black cherry, and sweet fruit, more of the same on the palate, opened very slowly, always seemed subdued, maybe five years from peaking, big body, very inky on the mid palate, intensely concentrated, long, inky finish. My #3.
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10/16/2015 - the player Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted and aerated for two hours and drank over another two hours. Cork fully soaked, pristine bottle. Still youthful color with slight bricking. Aromatic nose of sweet tobacco, cassis, blackberry leaf, and pencil lead, tingles the palate with its gentle entry, then gains weight and complexity mid palate, great acidity and backbone, this wine balances elegance with power, a difficult feat for a 1986. Finishes very long and sensuous, cassis and pencil lead Lafite style, first growth class, tannins fully integrated and a cassis and tobacco tinged sweet finish. Truly outstanding.
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10/3/2015 - baxter67 Likes this wine: 98 Points
This wine was the best claret I had tasted up to that date in 2015. My notes at the time said "Wow, but afterwards! Almost perfect. Understated, balance structure, complexity. Still full of black fruits. Magical." Five years and many clarets including first growths later it possibly still is. We were fortunate to taste the 86 and 96 (see separate note) together. I had a preference for the 86, Mrs B for the 96. In the next months we will repeat the tasting. The results will be interesting. *****
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9/26/2015 - wine-enthusiast wrote: 88 Points
I really wantetd to like this wine. It is dark, barely a trace of garnet on the edges. There is some fruit on the nose but graphite and hard edge of fruit. The taste is very closed still... hard dark and tannic still. I don't know if the fruit is ever going to come out. I hope it does. I vacuvinned it and tried two days later. Raisans , prunes, plums. I have one bottle left. Leoville is my favorite red bordeaux so i have hopes.
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9/5/2015 - the player Likes this wine: 95 Points
First growth material in such an austere vintage. Lovely balance and refinement to this wine, I guess 30 years is standard practice for LLCs to come of age. Beautiful deep ruby color, nose of blackberries, black currants, some earth, sweet tobacco, cassis and graphite. Lush entry on the palate, fruits coat the mid palate, excellent backbone and acidity, decent complexity, and an excellent long finish with super fine tannins. A beauty.
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9/1/2015 - d'Artagnan wrote: 94 Points
Un nez qui me paraissait un peu bretté à l'ouverture, imparfait, mais pas agressant. Ensuite il se livre mieux sur des notes de mine de crayon, sous-bois, cuir, charbon. Il évolue bien. La texture en bouche est magnifique, assez puissante et encore jeune, d'une grande longueur. Elle a beau être moins grande que les précédentes, ça reste super bon, un vin imposant, de style austère mais superbement équilibré. 94-95 pts
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8/29/2015 - cortoncharlie wrote: 93 Points
by personal taste not a big fan of 86 clarets in general as i found them a bit hard but this was an exception. full bodied and velvety. no drying finish just smooth round tannins. went down real easy and I looked for my next glass which rarely happens with claret for me. nose never really opened up even after 2 hours of air. i would decant for at least 4 hours next time. this bottle could be slightly tainted but i'm looking forward to give this one another try
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8/21/2015 - robertek wrote: 95 Points
Wonderful Bordeaux nose and in perfect harmony right now. It will hold for years so no hurry but certainly does not need anymore development.
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7/18/2015 - andtheodor wrote:
Tasted double blind. Sweet curranty nose, some stinky sock, some oak spice, and a bit of green. Smells a lot like old Cabernet. Palate leaves something to be desired, not particularly full or long. Ended up guessing a not particularly interesting 1990 Cali Cab. No rating here as this was not a representative bottle.
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7/10/2015 - rwilk_2000 wrote: 93 Points
Drank side by side with an '85 LLC. The 85 was more fully matured and ready to be drunk. The 86 was still tannic and seemed unresolved. All at the tasting agreed it still has years before it hits its peak which we all felt was very high. Hold 5-10 yrs.
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6/14/2015 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 96 Points
Big blind tasting of 17 big bottles. All of different Kind, style, Region and vintage. Together with mouton 1996 in One flight.
For me closed at this stage, just few fruits as typical cassis notes. Some leather, earth and truffles. Strong and fresh acidity. tannins firm and still present.will need 10 more years to Show All his skills.younger than the 1996 mouton in my opinion, but the mouton better at this stage. 96+
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6/2/2015 - the player Likes this wine: 97 Points
Outstanding wine. Decanted and aerated for an hour, then drank over another. Deep ruby, hardly any signs of aging. Excellent nose of blackberry leaf, black currants intermingled with graphite, cigar box and cassis. On the palate very complex yet very precise, medium to full bodied, masculine yet extremely refined, first growth material. Good acidity, velvety tannins well integrated and an excellent finish. What a wine!
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6/2/2015 - onboisduvin Likes this wine: 96 Points
Almost impeccable wine with woody taste and elegant fragrance.
2019/2/7 Powerful with maturity from aging. It has still many years in the drinking window.
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5/7/2015 - d'Artagnan wrote: 95 Points
Dreamer no 2: Un nez de boite à cigare et de cuir, avec des cerises rouges qui percent après une bonne aération. La bouche est d'un équilibre souverain, c'est un prince discret et élégant, avec tanins très fins. Superbe vin qui parait encore jeune. Alliage exceptionnel de puissance et de finesse, un vin dans un style intellos discret. 94-95 pts
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4/23/2015 - gsquireh Likes this wine: 97 Points
Perfect! Lead pencil dipped in cassis and roasted in spice. The aromatics are classic, sweet earth delineated black fruit, chocolate, licorice, fall cedar forest with a hint of smoke. Structured like a like Vanity Fair model.. perfect.
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4/19/2015 - WineCellarTV Likes this wine: 96 Points
Still tight, solid structured and youthful!
Dark, red fruit, (herbal) spices, leather, (autumn) forest floor and licorice. Silky in front, yet robust with present tannins and solid acidic backbone and long, dark finish. Drink from 2025 :-)
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3/27/2015 - ATBridge wrote:
A recent release ex-chateau bottle. I expected this wine to be tight and tannic, and I was completely wrong. A huge nose of sweet cassis jumps from the decanter and in turn the glass. The nose picks up some gentle earthy notes and a hint of graphite. A luxurious mouthfeel with more incredible sweet and pleasing dark fruit notes. The tannins are present, but not overwhelming in the slightest. This bottle is spot on. Will hold for decades, but tonight this bottle is the most approachable '86 I've drunk.
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2/28/2015 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 94 Points
Still has nice dark ruby color. Complex, but somewhat muted nose of cassis, spice, leather, forest floor, and licorice. Silky and mouth-filling. Tannins still prominent, nice acidic backbone. Lengthy finish. A very nice wine, but perhaps I expected more. This wine has the structure to continue for 10+ years, and perhaps it will improve further. But right now, it is austere and lacks a bit of charm. For a 1986 wine to seem this young is impressive, and this is no doubt a great wine. I just hope that it opens up a bit more.
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2/10/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
The moral of the story is... If you just wait 30 years for some wines to come around, they just might, which is exactly what happened with this beauty. Of course, in today's world, 30 years is an insane amount of time to wait for a wine. But in this case, the earthy, forest floor, tobacco, cedar chest and cassis nose puts your squarely in the Medoc. The tannins are starting to soften and the finish, with its sweet, cherries and spicy cassis is now a treat! This is good now, better in a few years and could be one of those legendary 100 year wines in the future.
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2/9/2015 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - top 86 Bdx (mostly) with Grange (360 Bar & Dining, Sydney): {cork, 13%} (Gordon) Well, there does appear to be some glacial development finally happening here. The lighting was low enough that I couldn’t properly judge colour any more, but this seemed plenty dark still. It has a polished leather and currant nose, not young, but hardly aged. This also had a chocolate and malt quality not unlike the two preceding St Juliens, but this was far richer, with assertive black fruit flavours, medium/high chalky tannins, and medium acid. It’s resolutely full-bodied for Bordeaux; it would qualify as full-bodied by pretty well any 30-year-old wine standard I should think. Dry palate, but rich, with a cedary quality to the long finish. Great richness on the mid-palate; all of which aids in the balance. Drink any time over the next twenty years – or longer – I reckon, on this showing. And give it a decent decant first.
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1/24/2015 - Francois Le Mouel Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very balanced wine. Still quite young, nose is still on the fruity side, the colour looked 10 years younger than the Montrose 1990 we had that night. Very Classic. Nice wine but lacking the WOW component.
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1/19/2015 - englishman's claret wrote: 93 Points
From half bottle. Decanted this and followed it at half hour intervals over the next 6+ hours. Like most wines of the era, started to peak at about an hour in and showed mild oxidation by hour 4.5 or so. This is very much in the Leoville las Cases mold, which you either like or you don't. Always impressive, but never really charming - no exception this time. At peak, the nose shows dense cassis, oak, and a floral touch. In the mouth, a beef blood, coal, a whiff of mint. I wonder whether this will ever really develop into something magical before the corks let go.
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1/9/2015 - Peliot wrote: 96 Points
(Tres Ninos '86 Horizontal) This wine was outstanding, at first showing red fruits and graphite and later on yielding coffee, hoisin sauce, blackberries and licorice. other tasters were picking up menthol. This had a beautiful and silky mouthfeel, fully resolved tannins. We all agreed that it showed its best early on and faded after 2.5 hours, but it was absolutely fantastic.
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12/25/2014 - cakie Likes this wine: 95 Points
Amazing wine, young still which is amazing. Massive strong and full of flavour its a tour de force of Cabernet. This is always rated by the experts as near perfect and Whilst I can't quite see that yet in 10 years this may be The best wine I've ever had. Christmas Day with goose and an hour decanted was stunning!
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12/25/2014 - astrauss wrote: flawed
Corked!
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12/19/2014 - d'Artagnan wrote: 93 Points
Lunch de Noël des anciens de C&S: Le nez est classique et trahit son origine. La bouche est dense et on remarque tout de suite ses tanins soyeux et son apparente jeunesse. Un style austère, fidèle au millésime, c'est frais et droit, avec une grande longueur qui n'appartient qu'aux grands vins. La finale est d'un équilibre impressionnant, très fine. Un grand Médocain très classique, un Prince d'élégance. Le seul bémol est qu'il n'est sans doute pas la bouteille quasi-parfaite goûtée récemment par les copains, mais c'est franchement très bon. 93-94 pts
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12/19/2014 - LFCHALA Likes this wine: 94 Points
Mini vertical ofChateau Leoville Las Cases. Were drunk wine of the vintage 1986, 1995, 1999 and 2000. All are elegantly. One thing became clear: they need a long aging and be aerated for a few hours. Thus, as expected, the older wines were more evolved. My order of preference: 1995, 1986, 2000 and 1999
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12/7/2014 - jbean007 Likes this wine: 94 Points
full, cedar and substance come to mind. decanted and left for 2 hours at dinner, it was just beginning to open up when we drank - so i would do longer. still has plenty of life left ~ 2025 (mine stored pristine at 57degrees).
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12/4/2014 - Jeffrey Silver Likes this wine: 98 Points
This is truly a super wine. Decanted tor 3hrs and yes it needs it! This is big stuff. Tabbaco and Cassis on the Nose. Taste had hints of lavender with chocolate and strawberries. The finish goes on for min and then some. I love this wine and I have a few magnums. If you have 750ml enjoy now but hold off on the magnums for a few more years.
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11/30/2014 - fatfishzsy wrote: 100 Points
满分酒绝非浪得虚名，开瓶封闭的厉害，丝毫香气没有，入口大酒风范尽显，雄壮大气复杂，单宁及其细腻并充满口腔，没有丝毫不愉悦感。醒酒器中四个小时打开，香气涌现，并非花果，而是黑色森林的感觉，入口甜美大架构，复杂，很多香气的感觉，但又难以表现，平衡。状态太好了，28年的酒，依然是宝石红。
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11/15/2014 - Amerique wrote: 95 Points
Delicious, rich black cherry fruit with earth, cassis, and leather flavors, excellent structure, long finish
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10/9/2014 - FamilyLarsson wrote: 95 Points
En riktigt bra Bordeaux!
Väldigt mörk och kompakt i färgen för att vara en Bordeaux med denna ålder. I doften underbara lite dammiga, stalliga toner med fin frukt och cigarrlåda. I smaken fin mogen frukt med svarta vinbär och lite plommon. Väldigt koncentrerat och ungdomligt med otroligt bra balans och lång fin eftersmak.
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9/9/2014 - melzar wrote: 90 Points
From 750: My wine group, the Red Pigs of Ithaca NY blind vertical tasting of LLC. My biggest disappointment from a group of highly regarded wines. This wine showed more fruit than any of the other vintages. (78 79 82 85 90 95 00 07) As expected tannins were high. The fruit more than balanced the tannin, and was perhaps even a little over ripe. All the other vintages held their own or opened in the glass over two plus hours, while the 86 fell apart and became a little clumsy. Toward the end stewed fruit with very little acidity became the flavor profile. Not sure where this wine is going. I hope this bottle was atypical.
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8/4/2014 - hiker_guy Likes this wine:
One of my top 2 of the evening. Rich on the nose and palate with lots of structure and depth. I'd have a hard time choosing between this one and the '86 Mouton.
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7/20/2014 - mukden wrote: 92 Points
YESish. Not sure it is worth the price (€200), but a good wine. Saddeley, cedar, pencil box development, with decreased aciditiy; fruit reasonable. Interesting case of an old bordeaux; more academic than visceral.
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7/11/2014 - MC wrote:
VHS fill. Decanted 3 hours. On opening, the nose was great but beyond that nothing much to show. After the 3 hour decant this was still tight and a bit austere, but a bit more of the dark fruit, graphite, earth was showing. Was good with food but my guess is this needs some time still do deliver on the promise. A-/?
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6/27/2014 - robertek wrote: 95 Points
Very good and powerful wine with an amazing youthful feel to it. I am sure this will last for many more years but think that it is in its prime now. I will for sure drink my remaining bottles within a year or two.
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6/27/2014 - Christoffer78 Likes this wine: 100 Points
A perfect example of a perfect wine starting to show some age and maturity. The nose first reveals sweet, ripe cassis fruit and then boysenberry, red fruit and a whiff of baked sweet apple. There are secondary tones of honey melon and spice. Lovely beeswax emerges after some time in the glass. There are just so many layers to be found if you are just patient... The palate is silky, velvety with some pretty noticeable tannins, but this effort certainly is a classy example of integration and balance which is still vigorous and very much alive. It combines power and elegance in the most remarkable way. I find no flaws in this effort at all, but I believe it will develop further, if given some more cellar time. The integration, power and balance certainly makes this a perfect wine.
(Tasted in a flight with 1986 Léoville Las Cases, 1994 Phelps Insignia, 2003 Léoville Poyferré and 2003 Cos d'Estournel.)
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5/23/2014 - liber Likes this wine: 97 Points
7th of 12, all recent notes at least very fine, good fill, decanted an hour - bright garnet, amazingly little lightening on rim, classy nose with secondary notes of cedar and graphite overlaying black fruit, medium bodied, lovely ripe fruit and tannins now absorbed, fine grip, length and persistence, still youthful and will probably still improve, in 2012 preferred by some at dinner to the outstanding 82. Very fine plus (19/20).
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4/13/2014 - cfk49 wrote: 93 Points
Cellared since release. Suffered some by being served next to an extraordinary bottle of the 1982. There's depth aplenty for the dark fruit here, but the wine is still tannic and somewhat austere. Check back in another 5-10 years.
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3/13/2014 - bengti Likes this wine: 96 Points
A lovely St Julien, with that classic restained elegance, this durable vintage also hinted at a lot of power left in the bottle. Complex aromas of spice, leather, chocolate, cherry, with a high note of distinct fruit. Subtle finish. Overall impression is this could still evolve.
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2/22/2014 - renapen wrote: flawed
the wine cork fell apart and the wine was spoiled
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2/13/2014 - Cheungtp wrote: 93 Points
Farewell wine dinner for Samson (Stanley Deli @ TST): Solid dark ruby, looks younger than it's actual age. Perhaps lacking a proper decant, still rather tight on the nose and palate. Yet with extended air time in the glass, notes of tobacco, cassis, leather and spice are easy to spot. Solid structure, excellent balance, and tannis are still prominent. Certainly has a long life ahead and should get better.
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2/3/2014 - BVal wrote: 93 Points
Color: deep ruby -> medium ruby rim with garnet. Impressive nose of cassis, leather, oak, cedar. Palate was still moderately tannic with notes of chocolate, cedar and anisette. Great, hulking structure; concentrated with a decently long finish. This still has plenty of time though I think it won't get any better than it is currently.
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1/17/2014 - Wine_lvr Likes this wine: 94 Points
"Best of the Best" Tasting (Switzerland): Tasted blind, 0.75 bottle, double decanted 3hrs back into original bottle:
Clear ruby showing some signs of aging. Rich sweet nose of plums and ripe red berries, hints of herbs. Wine is very long, but at the same time still has plenty of dry tannins and quite a bit of acidity. The sweetness and elegance is here but will they last long enough until the tannins and acidity settles down? Lets wait and hope.
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1/1/2014 - Marc wrote: 97 Points
New Year's Day Long Italian Lunch (Eketahuna, New Zealand): Closed nose- sauve texture - so refined- quite young -
oak totally subsumed into the fruit. Perfect today but this gives the
impression of being timeless. Slightly austere but the finish is all
class. This is great. This is the absolute essence of cassis. Iron ore. Will it make
100? Very tannic and dry at end - betraying its vintage character.An easy 97 points with lots of upward potential.In a cold cellar this should outlive most of us.
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12/31/2013 - wowwine Likes this wine: 94 Points
A funky oaky aroma at first, then opened to silky lead pencil with lots of backbone. Still a sleeping beauty in my opinion. Decanted and sat for an hour before the first sip. Over a period of three hours the wine evolved in the glass as expected. Fruit is fading and the transformation is only going to get better. I will not open another one for at least three years. The acid on this wine will carry it to a new dimension, my prediction for thirty year perfection, with a higher rating.
The wine looks Garnet colored. The legs are Slow. It smells like and Red Currant plum and hints of tobacco.
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12/7/2013 - jshufelt wrote: 94 Points
half bottles, grazing, pecking, rooting (Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY): Dark reddish-black in the glass. A surprisingly pronounced blast of fresh cut grass and herbs on the nose, but on the palate, the fruit and raw materials are all there. Hints of currants, cedar, caramel, coffee, and smoke flit in and out of the picture as we drank this. The word 'beguiling' comes to mind.
Out of a 375, I wasn't expecting a 27-year old wine to show like a 2-year old wine, but that's essentially where this was. I think this will eventually deliver a profound drinking experience, but I can't begin to guess how far in the future that might be.
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10/24/2013 - Topper wrote: 93 Points
The fruit is gone, but not the thrill. Gripping wine with terrific secondary flavors of stone, tobacco, and earth with a hint of brett (which I never really mind). I personally wouldn't keep this much longer but it's a nice lesson in aged bordeaux.
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9/5/2013 - FamilyLarsson wrote: flawed
Den här flaskan var inte riktigt frisk så att jag hoppar över att sätta något relevant betyg. Den var inte i närheten av den flaska som jag drack i början av sommaren
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9/5/2013 - Ramberg wrote: 92 Points
Not anywhere near the bottle I had a few month back.
This is a little off and perhaps not 100% correct compared to that one (even thought it comes from the same crate, that has been stored at the same place).
The nose displays some bad cheesiness and alcohol with brett.
On the palate it showed mainly acid, with somewhat dead fruit and a touch of pepper on the short finish.
Opened up slightly during the dinner, and perhaps showed a hint of what it should be, had the bottle been as the last one.
Did not deliver as it should, and was a bit of a disappointment when revealed what it was in the glass.
Still, picked up and ended with a much better impression.
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8/21/2013 - Woodcock Likes this wine: 96 Points
Out of the Jereboam - perfect.
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8/3/2013 - Old Vino wrote: 92 Points
no notes at time of consumption. enjoyable but a "no-surprise" bottle
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7/2/2013 - nortonnose Likes this wine: 95 Points
I'm shocked at how ready-to-drink this 86 was. Had next to 86 Montrose at restaurant, and decanted neither. I'm sure if we had the patience to decant for hours, the wine would've shown even better; I thought it was fabulous regardless. Wonderful cassis, full rich dark fruit on the palate. If there is any nitpick, mine is that the finish was only 'medium' in length. Otherwise, this was superb! Thanks Ed!
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6/13/2013 - Ramberg wrote: 96 Points
Best Las Cases I’ve had.
Absolutely gorgeous bottle of Bordeaux!
Dry expressive nose with gravel and dust, stable, pencil, hay, grass, cigar box, tobacco, cedar wood .
Currant and sweet cassis both on the nose and on the palate.
The great fruit filled palate expresses young fruit, somewhat tart, full bodied with a super long and beautiful finish.
Still showing as young, as seems to be the case with most Las Case vintages I’ve tried.
However, this is much more ready to drink than the 1982 and 1996 I’ve had this spring.
A great bottle, with a great future ahead, as this still show youth!
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4/21/2013 - renapen Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opened after an hour, perhaps ore decanting would have been better.
Rich liquorice, currant and cassis notes.
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3/30/2013 - kflex Likes this wine: 95 Points
Ruby red with no signs of age whatsoever. Elegantly restrained in the nose, with Cassis and some tar. Crisp and aristocratic on the palate, with a very warm finish that seems never to end. A stunning - and still young - wine that will last for decades to come.
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2/18/2013 - johnh1001 wrote: 95 Points
Decanted and drank over 4 hours. Obviously didn't wait another 5 years to try this, but same result as the last time. Will this ever be ready?? Very dense and tight. Layered, tobacco nose with smoke, earth and some red fruit. After a while, some sweetness emerged and this went from fairly rustic to silky. Long finish.
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1/12/2013 - Paco55 wrote: 98 Points
2 hour decant and still very young and vibrant with a long life ahead. After 4 hours it mellowed and complex smooth Bordeaux characteristics shone though. What a wine - wish I had more. Seriously sublime and visceral experience which is very hard to do justice in these notes.
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1/11/2013 - LWI wrote: 95 Points
20 Vintages of Château Léoville Las Cases: Meaty, more developed than another recent bottle. Complex, tobacco, intense and long . Promising, rating for now.
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1/11/2013 - GuWin wrote: 95 Points
Léoville Las Cases Grand Tasting (At Kim Aa's place, Ulvøya, Norway): Vivid, fresh ruby color, almost no hints of age. Multi-layered and complex aromas of cedar, red and dark berries, bee-wax. Compact, tight, evolving in the mouth, full bodied, pronounced flavour intensity and high tannin level. So good it's hard to swallow. Will evolve further for ages, and far from the top
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12/30/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
With a blood red, ruby color, the wine looks regal, sitting in the glass. After two hours in the decanter, scents of sweet cassis, tobacco, smoke, caramel, wet earth, cherries and cedar chest emerge. Still tannic, the wine is regal, powerful, structured and masculine. There is a beautiful sense of purity and harmony to the cassis laden finish. After 5 hours, the wine softened and became more pleasurable and interesting to drink. Although, it retained a bit of firmness to its personality. This is one of the few wines that transcend the vintage.
To get the most from this wine, if you have the patience, I'd give it more bottle age. It should start singing between 2016 and 2020. I said you'd need more patience! Imagine how original, futures purchasers feel...
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12/21/2012 - Kbrumback wrote: 95 Points
- Ruby color. It's in total harmony with a medium/full body. Polished texture with a long finish - Classic Llc
Drank at Dovetail w Matt, cat and mark
Dry and complete
Followed w 1990 montrose, a monster!
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12/5/2012 - Jamie Manley wrote: 95 Points
Whoa! This wine tastes no older than maybe 6 or 7 years. After opening the wine, I poured a small glass just to give it a try. Slammed shut. Double decanted for two hours. Some improvement, but you better be below your fourth decade of life if you ever want to experience this at full maturity. Heck, even the 96 is showing way better at this point. The nose reluctantly gives off aromas of fresh soil, cassis, red currants, tobacco, and some pencil. Pretty much the same thing on the massive palate, with some sour cherry thrown in. A huge, classic wine, I am going to score this on potential - but for a little less money I would buy 2005 Angelus as they should both be ready at about the exact same time (and the Angelus is a better wine.) 95+ Pts
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11/28/2012 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 95 Points
Wednesday Night at Domaine Wine Storage (Domaine - Washington, DC): Drank from a magnum. In a full line-up of very good bottles, this stood a few steps above the rest. Very complex and nuanced, this really deserves a serious decant and a full day of tasting because it's such a bold and changing wine. Lovely aromas of plums, blackberry, gunflint, wet leaves, forest floor and pickles. Still youthful on the palate, with fine tannins and a good amount of fruit extraction. Complex and evolving flavors of black cherry pits, moss, farm soil, cigar box... it keeps going. A stunning wine that still has more to show in the coming years. 95+
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10/31/2012 - markjanes wrote:
Didn't get enough time with this wine... it should have been decanted and given a few hours of air time... the wine came accross as tight and closed, quite firm and very young. I suspect based on the density and structural balance it is an "oustanding" bordering on "extraordinary" wine... it just wasn't singing the first hour or two it was open...
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10/25/2012 - Papies wrote: 94 Points
Leoville Las Cases 2004 > 1982, with Michael Schuster (Bordeaux Index, London): Quite youthfull in colour. Jammy fruit, barnyard notes on the nose, earthy, forestfloor feel. On the palate it is a heavy wine, with fleshy, ripe fuit, rustic and with a lot of exctraction. Lacks the typical harmony of LLC but still a story of strength and right bank concentration. Quite a bit of life ahead of it although not sure it improoves much from here. 93-94
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10/19/2012 - LWI wrote: 95 Points
Mature and Maturing Bordeaux (Oslo): Very dark, a tiny brown rim, deep core; smoke and minerals, flint, moderate fruit - dark, very youthful; minerals tight, long, balanced. Far too young.
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10/9/2012 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 97 Points
Damn, my last bottle. Totally closed when it was first opened. Decanted for an hour and the wine literally exploded out of the glass. Nose is rediculous. Smashed red berries and leather. Waves of tannins, but really smooth, silky tannins and a finish that just goes on forever. I wish I had more of this.
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10/8/2012 - svdheijden wrote: 97 Points
Third bottle in the last 3 years and by far the best one. Drank alongside Mouton Rothschild 1986 (not a very good bottle?) and The Cos d'Estournel 1986 (95p). Still very young, but what a power and concentration in a very classical Bordeaux way. Autocratic, sovereign wine. Black berries, tobacco, cedar wood (cigar box), juicy meat, fresh mint, eucalyptus, licorice. A nose with so many different elements and nuances, that you almost get lost, but still very precise and well defined. Thick and mouthfilling on the palate; plesantly soft, but very present tannins promising a long further development. A long and lingering finish to die for. Although the wine is already showing incredibly well, something tells me that this wine will be really out of this world on my 75th birthday (in 2035...). I should have kept one for the occasion, but then: I still have 22,5 years to buy some more.
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10/6/2012 - St Paul wrote: 94 Points
Nice wine with black fruit, earth and pepper. I feel its a bit closed still. Decanted it for 2 hours but that was not enough. Not a great Las Cases but good enough.
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9/29/2012 - Julia7ich wrote: 99 Points
Deep, deep dark ruby with no signs of age. Intense cassis, vanilla, clove, cardamom and graphite on the nose. Incredibly concentrated and structured with abundant, very firm and fine-grained tannins. Wonderfully delineated and of impressive pedigree and class. A nearly perfect wine
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9/29/2012 - Papies wrote:
Magic Number 6 - 2006,1996,1986,1976,1966 (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Not a representative bottle and having tasted this in the past (Scored 97) in true form we were dissapointed to find a muted wine with little give. Not flawed but nowhere close to what a proper 86 LLC can be. Shame really.
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9/2/2012 - vine20 wrote: 97 Points
Magnum, decanted 1 hour. Dark garnet, big nose of complicated rose, with typical Bordeaux scents. Very strong. Huge black cherries, cassis, some licorice, elegant, mature, delightful.
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7/23/2012 - prufrocksabogado wrote: 93 Points
nice but not overwhelmingly so.
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6/23/2012 - canan wrote: 98 Points
Leoville Las Cases - Vertical Tasting (Le Sommelier, Copenhagen): Different than the other bottle in this tasting. This was only decanted a few hours while the other was decanted 12+ hours.
Very closed on the nose, only yielding a little black currant and liquorice.
Young black currant fruit on the palate with a long very acidic aftertaste. Very intense with a super structure.
Huge potential...
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6/23/2012 - canan wrote: 98 Points
Leoville Las Cases - Vertical Tasting (Le Sommelier, Copenhagen): Cabbage and meaty nose with a little yogurt. Does seem a little closed.
Super intense black currant fruit on the palate with a massive structure. It seems very young but with a very long intense aftertaste.
The wine seems to be in a great harmony and balance with some very aromatic black currant and a lot of spices.
Beautiful wine! 98-99p
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6/9/2012 - gsb88 wrote: 95 Points
enjoyed at Primland deep in the blue ridge mountains. perfect setting for a perfect bottle. great deep color. recent reviews are right on...no need to repeat.
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5/28/2012 - johnh1001 wrote: 95 Points
Decanted and drank over 3hours. Quite a wine. Incredibly young and powerful. Very tight at first but opened up during hour three. Layered, tobacco nose with smoke, earth and some red fruit. After a while, some sweetness emerged and this went from fairly rustic to silky. Long finish. Wait another 5yrs+.
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5/11/2012 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 96 Points
Tasted in double-blind fashion at Vintage Wines, Ltd. This bottle was kindly provided by M. Banker as a tribute to an old friend. The wine was presented in decanter and had been opened a few hours in advance of the tasting. The robe is opaque red/garnet and the moderately intense nose shows black currants, pipe tobacco, pencil shavings and menthol. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, huge well-integrated tannins, well-integrated alcohol and flavors mirroring the nose. The middle palate is rock-solid and the finish goes on and on. This 26-year-old wine remains youthful! Definitely a blockbuster which is now starting to open. Drink now-12/35.
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5/5/2012 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 95 Points
Killer Bordeaux Tasting (Kevin's House (Minneapolis)): Great showing. Dark in color. Wood, rose petals, strawberry, cherry spice cake and charcoal. Medium to long finish and fully integrated. Should drink well for a decade.
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4/28/2012 - rocknroller wrote: 97 Points
Big Bordeaux III - Kickin' Ass & Takin' Names: Stunning Wines from 1986, 1990, 1996 + 2002 Cristal (Rocknroller's (Kevin's)): Very dark red/purple color. Slow ox for 2.5hrs and decanted for 5.5hrs. This had a scary cork, fully saturated and seeping, but still had high neck fill. The cork smelled ok and the first waft of the nose said I'm just fine. This was tight on opening and still tight after the long decant, but it really opened up quickly in glass (probably 15 - 30 minutes or so). Another perfumed nose with florals, ripe blueberries, ripe red berries, cassis, charcoal, spices, and light oak. The palate is immediately vibrant, rich, great acids. Elegant and concentrated, not the power of the '96. Blue and black fruits with some red fruit as well layer the palate, vanilla, spice, charcoal, cedar. Lifted. Long finish 90+ seconds. I vasilated on the '86 and '96 for WOTN, ultimately changing my mind after finishing the last drops of both wines. Younger and more shy than the '96! It is amazing how young this 1986 is, easily another 25 years to go. I would love to compare them again in another 5-10 years. My and group #2 WOTN.
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4/25/2012 - Finare Vinare wrote: 94 Points
Another bottle, another tasting and different glass (ISO). Open nose with lots of toast, coffee, tar and creamy vanilla. Warm dark fruits with lovely cassis and plum aromas. Generous dark fruit, lots of tannins, a bit edgy, slightly dry and rustic, more powerful than elegant. Really enjoyable anyway.
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4/18/2012 - davidwhitedc wrote: 96 Points
Epic Wine Dinner at Bourbon Steak (Washington DC): A fascinating nose of bottom-of-the-mug expresso combined with brininess and savory soy sauce. The fruit is ripe -- sweet blueberries, licorice, and tart currents. The palate is equally fascinating, with soft tannins, mouth-watering acidity, and great balance. Delightful.
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3/27/2012 - ilee wrote: 97 Points
Dinner at home with Mrs L, TH, JL, VK, PH and David (At home): Absolutely stunning LLC, I was bowled over by the hypnotic bouquet of cassis, spice, tobacco and minerals that is so classically St Julien yet so much more open and forward than any 1986 bordeaux I've had. On the palate, silky smooth layers of ridiculously vibrant and forward dark/red fruit, reminding me of succulent blackberries and dates, with that touch of tar that is a perfect bitter balance to the sweet fruit. Not too young to drink, yet it's one of those wines that will be absolutely smashing when I turn 80 several decades from now
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3/9/2012 - Mingmong wrote: 94 Points
Wonderful nose, musky undergrowth, earth and leather. Good balance, ripe red fruit, earth and smooth elegant balanced wine. Very good.
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3/9/2012 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
Wines of Strength and Elegance - Kelvin and Marlene's Combined Birthday Dinner (Absinthe, Bukit Pasoh): This was mind-blowingly good. Too young even after a half a day of slow-oxygenation in an open bottle and another 3 hours in a decanter, but it still out-punched a top-notch 1986 Gruaud-Larose that was singing on the night. This had a wonderful nose, with tightly interwoven aromas of tobacco and spice, truffley earth and meat, and dark cassis tones floating out of the glass in a warm, deep, lush bouquet. Wonderful, yet if anything, the palate was even better. This was all grace and nobility, especially when compared with the Gruaud-Larose's earthy, rustic masculinity. There was beautiful definition and clarity to this wine wed to a tremendous amount of power in its deep flavours of dark fruit, cassis and tobacco spice. Almost first growth purity and transparency I would say, augmented by its pitch perfect balance and a fine-boned tannin structure that was just starting to mellow and soften out into a velvety robe. Such a classy wine this, very complete and effortless from the attack all the way into a long, superbly integrated finish, where a little waft of cigar smoke and mineral joined in the chorus of black fruit and spice that ran the length of the wine. While superb on the night, especially with a nice cut of Wagyu Cote de Beouf, there was clearly a sense that this was still at the cusp of maturity and had quite a bit more to reveal given enough time. At least a decade more I would say, by which time it should be absolutely stunning.
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3/9/2012 - Alex H wrote: 91 Points
More succulent than the larose. Good sexy black fruits with spice and the more u drink the more It grows on u. Good mid palate
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2/10/2012 - Ary wrote:
Next to LLC 1982. Less pronounced than the 1982, classic Bordeaux, chocolate and nuts in the nose. Mature, herbs, nice ripe red fruits as cherry and prunes on the palate. Full of character, powerful wine. Long lingering. Should be opened at least 6 hours in advance.
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1/5/2012 - Dsos wrote: 93 Points
Decanted for 4-5 hours. Deep, dark purple, hardly any signs of age. A bit closed on the nose; dark berries, cedar, a hint of toffee and caramels, and after some time: bee-wax! Massive attack on the palate; robust, full-bodied, lots of dark fruit and red berries, medium + acid and very present, but soft tannins. Perfection in a bottle, but with decades still to go.
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11/21/2011 - jackspsp wrote: 98 Points
Decanted for 6 hours and drank for 3 hours. The cork came out in 2 pieces which initially got me worried, but the wine turned out to be a wonderfully mature one. Totally melted tannins, 45+ seconds finish. Nose was a little weaker than the 1990, keeping it from a perfect score.
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10/22/2011 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Acker Merrall Inaugural Chicago Auction (Trump International Hotel): Still very primary and highly structured, showing great potential. 1986 in a nutshell.
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10/22/2011 - psmith wrote:
Acker Auction Chicago (Sixteen Restaurant): Stern '86 frame, but with enough density to match. Masculine styling. Still very primary. Nice elements.
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9/18/2011 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Remarkable is the still purple hue in the wine. Beautiful bouquet with loads of cassis and beautiful oak. On the palate signs of maturity and also still a lot of potential. Very juicy cassis, some bell pepper, good and sticky tannin and pleasant bitterness. Develops in the glass. Of the three 1986 Léovilles this wine is clearly the youngest with most potential. No problem cellaring this until 2020++ and it will probably even improve a bit. 95+
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9/3/2011 - Grenik wrote: 95 Points
"Majestic". Deep red/burgundy color with a lighter tinged rim starting to give hints of orange. Complex nose with subtle red fruits, musty earth and pepper spice. Palate is complex and everychanging. The fruit was dark toned of stewed cherry, plum, and date. Good earth and farm notes with a deep flavor profile that shifted with each taste.smoke, tobacco, cedar undertones that I noticed from time to time. Tannins were not harsh, but dominant for the complexity of the rest of the wine. Wine was decanted and left in the cellar for an hour before serving and then consumed over the next couple hours.
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8/30/2011 - dontime wrote:
Orlando Vintage Bordeaux Dinner (Del Frisco's Prime Steak - Orlando): Young and tight - and it's from 1986! Red fruit and spice notes with heavy tannins. Plenty of life left and deserves time in the glass if consumed now.
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8/30/2011 - caeleric Likes this wine:
Aged Bordeaux dinner at Del Frisco's (Del Frisco's): Decanted for 1 hour. Pristine cork. For me, we did a huge injustice to this wine by not decanting it for at least 6 hours. It was way too tight, maybe even a bit shut down. The stuffing was there, but it needs another 10-15 years to come around.
This note was taken by another guest at the dinner, but I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment:
Wow, sooo youthful: This smells like a 5 year old Cab! Very, very wound, initially showing currants, licorice, ash and smoke, smothered by dense and chewy tannins in the mouth. A classic example of age worthy left bank Bordeaux! Wow, incredibly concentrated and not showing any signs of fatigue. This needs another 20 years in the bottle!
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8/12/2011 - emkc wrote: 98 Points
Decanted for 3 hours and drank for 2 hours. The wine offers a very delicate balance. Nice perfume nose, very elegant, with strawberry and earth. tannins are soft and well integrated with a long finish. Wonderful wine at its peak but can certainly hold for years.
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8/11/2011 - tbabes wrote: 88 Points
The fill was base neck and the cork was sound. A healthy purple ruby color with no amber. A bit one dimensional on the nose, with notes of old barrels, black fruit, and earth. Medium bodied, quite high-toned in style, and a touch austere on the palate -- definitely lacking in charm, depth and class. This is my first experience with the '86 LLC, so perhaps this was not a representative bottle. Regardless, color me decidedly unimpressed.
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7/27/2011 - MatthewF wrote: flawed
Corked. Boo! Some sweet dark fruit poked through, but not worth suffering through with so many other great wines at the table.
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6/24/2011 - alamoave wrote: 95 Points
Superb. Quite young in all respects, but refined tannins and delicious fruit, long finish. Putting remaining 5 bottles on 5-year cycle over the next 25 years and hoping I live long enough to drink all 5. Better idea: Buy more and shorten the cycle.
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6/19/2011 - nvandyk wrote: 98 Points
Fabulous wine. Deep garnet / plum. Huge nose of currants, cedar and lead pencil. Taste upon opening was tight as a drum -- but an hour in it was singing. Has a long life ahead -- seems just to be entering prime drinking window and could be here another 15+ years.
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4/30/2011 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: flawed
Major League Bordeaux Tasting at Kevin's (Kevin's House): This bottle was a leaker and a shame at that. More research for screw caps with Bordeaux wines please.
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4/30/2011 - rocknroller wrote: flawed
The Big F-ing Show: Great Bordeaux from 1982 & 2000, 2002 Dom and 2001 Suduiraut & more in Mpls (Rocknroller's (Kevin's)): Mold on top of the cork. Cork was 100% saturated with clear seepage. Corked severely.
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4/11/2011 - KenK wrote: 96 Points
1986 Bordeaux @ EWS: 1986 Leoville Las Cases (St. Julien) (98WA, 97IWC, 95WS)
Inky dense nose, tight, smooth sleek mineral driven with underlying black fruit.
Big ripe dense still young, almost lush sweet ripe fruit driven wine, smooth. packed, and long. Very impressive and long way to go before fully mature. Good complex. Elegant.
96-97 I need to Buy this wine!
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3/25/2011 - Zweder wrote: 96 Points
Another great bottle! Loads of cassis. All the luxurious element you can expect in a great Bdx. Just a touch of pleasant barnyard which adds to the complexity. Firm but round tannin. This wine will still be a feast a decade from now.
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3/19/2011 - Javachip wrote: 97 Points
Saturday night in the O.C. (Chez GlennK): Fantastic wine. Youthful, bright crimson-garnet, still showing some violet hue. Somehow the color was more vibrant than the others -- almost electric. Stunning bouquet of bright fresh currants, blackberries, pencil shavings, charcoal, earthy mushrooms. Full-bodied and seamless on the palate. GlennK and Gkapoor thought this was still on the upswing. Tied for first place tonight.
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3/13/2011 - Matt Scott wrote: 96 Points
Decanted for two hours. Deep and dark garnet with a slight brick and sanguine rim. Porcini mushroom, blackberry, tobacco and cassis, with some forest floor. Layered and dense, with a crystalline presence on the 60 second finish. Fresh and elegant tannins that are still evident; this shows a long life ahead. There's a tobacco and fruit element on the lustrous palate. What a perfect and auspicious time to drink this regal '86 delight of a Bordeaux. Again, First-Growth quality and really strutting her stuff. I love Las Cases! So much distinction and nobility, there is still a very intense and fresh quality that leaves you wanting more and more. Drink now -.
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1/13/2011 - MicklethePickle wrote: 93 Points
Still very deep red, very deceptive for its age. Pulled the cork a few hours ago, then decanter, and still seems so young. Lovely bottle bouquet, fragrant and feminine. Lovely, ethereal. Palate still a little hard and minerally, buy this is a big wine with an expressive, expansive finish. Many years of evolution and life ahead. 5-13-17-8: 93/100.
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12/4/2010 - aegerter wrote: flawed
Flawed Bottle - Bummer!
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11/26/2010 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Private dinner with friends. (@ Restaurant): A copy of my note from September. I scored it two points higher this time because the wine is really great and still holding a promise for many years. (A coincidence; in 2006 I also tasted this wine beside Cos d’Estournel 1986 and then Cos was better; but no doubt we had a bad bottle of the Las Cases then, because it showed so much better now and in Sept. 2010!)
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11/16/2010 - Papies wrote: 97 Points
Mouton 86 vs Las Cases 86 at the Papies:
Needs decanting, pref 2hours to hit the peak. We opened and monitored it for 1.5 hours and the wine kept on improving so we would advive a good 2 hour decanting. Pls avoid filters and aerators. Lots of sediment too.
Blockbuster wine, big, powerfull and very alive. Dark violet colour. Nose is big, open, red fruit with some roasted meat. Impressive and complex. On the palate it feels young, wine has another 20 good yrs ahead, but not overly tannic. Definitely mellows as time passes but looses none of its vibrancy. Dense wine with lots of finesse and intensity. We can go on and on here but the reality is that this is a pure great wine. Did i mention we just bought 2 more bottles
VS the Mouton it was very interesting to move from one to the other as time was passing and the wines improved and opened up. It was like moving from good to better and better still. Now at 1/3 of the price the LLC is the one to buy though.
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10/9/2010 - BradKNYC wrote:
The Kesslers visit NYC and I roast a little piggy to go with some terrific wines. (Dougherty's): The Giacosa was a tough act to follow and this wine may have suffered a bit in comparison. It’s classic LLC, with sweet black fruit, cedar, herb and wet earth. Integrated and drinking well, it’s an enjoyable and respectable wine, but seems a bit devoid of character after the Giacosa. Low A-.
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8/20/2010 - jkoenen wrote: 94 Points
Hedonistic Diner, Part 2 (Restaurant Le Défi, Sprang-Capelle): Was stunned by the youthfulness and vivacity in this wine. Chewy, supportive tannines, fresh red fruit (seems even quite primary in its flavor profile). Fantastic. 18.5/20
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8/20/2010 - Zweder wrote: 94 Points
Mature bouquet with also youthful cassis and lead pencil. On the palate also still youthful with cassis, lead pencil and soft but powerful tannin. Although the tannin in the finish is just a little bit drying, the cassis still dominates. Great wine!
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6/24/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
The 86 could be my favorite Las Cases to drink today and that is with some tough competition with the 85, and 90!. At least this bottle was. Filled with cedar, cassis, earth and dark berries, this full bodied, concentrated wine fills palate with ripe fruit. Still tannic, but with round tannins that feel good, this wine will age better than most people reading this note.
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5/17/2010 - Luvwine1 wrote: flawed
I hate it when a great wine turns out corked. Phooey!
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1/17/2010 - CSteefel wrote:
The 1986 Léoville las Cases does not show the same signature crème de cassis mouthfeel of the 1982, 1990, and the young 1996 Léoville las Cases, but it does show that even more characteristic palate expression of layers unfolding vertically, or with depth in the wine. The nose shows aromas of cool menthol, rich aged dark tobacco (no green note), and a smoky undertone that is reluctantly coaxed from the glass. In the mouth, the wine is impeccably balanced, with an impressive muscular structure that shows no sharp edges, even if that creamy note is not there. Now the brooding suggestion of vertical layering here might well lead some to say the wine is simply not ready, I can’t help but feeling this is really the quintessential Léoville las Cases expression. This wine did nothing for Lou, but I still find myself beguiled by that intoxicating sensation of descent one gets with a great las Cases, as if plumbing the depths of the Marianas Trench. This seems to me a clear case where distinct styles of wine resonate very differently with different palates
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12/25/2009 - loverboy wrote: 94 Points
Opened 2 hours before drinking. Explosive nose, with spices all around, pretty big and not at its peak yet. Harsh tannin with huge long finish. Should be better in 4-5 years.
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11/7/2009 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 95 Points
Marine Room Leoville Las Cases Vertical Dinner (Marine Room Restaurant, La Jolla, CA): Decanted and serially tasted after approximately two hours. Opaque red/garnet robe. Clean, moderately intense nose of black currants, licorice, pencil shavings and assorted herbs. Full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, huge well-integrated tannins and flavors mirroring the nose. The finish goes on and on. Amazingly, this 23-year-old wine is still fairly tightly wound. It is a blockbuster of classic quality which will undoubtedly improve with further time in the bottle. It may ultimately merit a higher score. Drink 1/18-12/35.
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10/4/2009 - vanpe003 wrote: 95 Points
Anniversary Weekend - 2009; 10/2/2009-10/4/2009 (Minnesota): Ok. Finally. I opened up a bunch of '86 stuff tonight, nothing achieving a "WOW" factor. So back down to the cellar for something hopefully reliable. This one fit the bill.
Unfortunately, after a long day of tasting, no detailed notes. However, this was hands down the WOTD. Drinking better and more resolved than the bottle I had a year ago. Wide open on the nose and integrated on the nose...is it the wine or the time of night that prevent description of individual notes...I can't say. I will say "perfumed dark fruit, some wood, hints of acidity, no trace of meat, obvious mint" on the nose. On the palate, absolutely smooth. The perfect yin/yang between bright and dark. Perfectly balanced fruit/structure, with a seductive hint of cassis/resin. Still some tannins, though fine and not particularly drying, on a medium-long finish. This is a very classy wine with years to go.
Smooth, resolved , delightful- yes. Richer mouthfeel, longer finish would propel this a couple points higher.
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10/2/2009 - pakabear wrote: 96 Points
Loads of black fruit on this wine with huge structure, a good acidic backbone and fine tannins. Still a long life ahead for well stored examples.
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9/29/2009 - alamoave wrote: 98 Points
One of the best bordeaux I have ever had. This layer cake of fruit, loam and warm spices kept unfolding over the 90 minutes or so that we were entranced by this bottle. Decanted for about 30 minutes, which was about right. Will last for 20 more years, in all probability.
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5/27/2009 - eliotfagley wrote: 97 Points
Had at 33 Saint Louis tasting night. Wow! This was everyone's favorite. Fragrant nose of black cherry, pepper, and stone. Silky mouthfeel, with an attack of cherry, raspberry, currant, and flinty stone. Totally integrated, mature Bordeaux. There was nothing wrong with this bottle of wine. The only shame was that it was the first bottle of the night, and just mowed everything else down.
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5/26/2009 - reichken wrote: 92 Points
1986 Bordeaux Night @ The Hawksmoor: deep dark inky color. on the nose it gave off barnyard, some licorice and some purple fruit. the mouth was big and bold, well balanced purple fruit, some wood/oak vanilla,some savory ntes, wine was in very good shape, was quite long and felt very young. give it more time
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5/21/2009 - gsquireh wrote: 97 Points
Opaque purple, concentrated, excellent structure with a cassis and vanilla nose. The black fruit is a spicey, earthy, classic Bordeaux with iron and minerals helping to define the structure. Drinking this prime timer is jouney into old Bordeaux
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4/7/2009 - dream wrote: 90 Points
Monolithic. Needs tons more time. 90+
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2/15/2009 - 2p8h wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 2 hours and took to a celebratory dinner serving alongside Peter Michael Les Pavots 2001, both from Magnum. This was showing better than the younger wine by all accounts. Well balanced and elegant, still youthful enough to encourage another 5 years wait for my remaining magnum. Thoroughly enjoyable.
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1/15/2009 - BFG wrote: 93 Points
A very subtle nose, from which some fruit can be coaxed. The real value of this wine lies in the palate. For an '86, the wine is surprisingly sweet and balanced. The tannins are present but not intrusive. Best '86 Bordeaux I've had yet.
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1/12/2009 - tommydiesel wrote: flawed
Condition of cork was slimey, stained to the top, fill was good no sign of seepage. Wine was brick orange in color and muddy.
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12/23/2008 - wynnewood500 wrote:
Drinking very young considering the time in bottle. Tannins surprisingly dominent and nse restrained for a 20 year old bottle. Excellent!
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10/22/2008 - vanpe003 wrote: 96 Points
Opened this one as a result of a cellar reorg - cork seemed slightly elevated, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Dark in color. Sweet dark fruit, cedar and slight minerality on the nose. Notable sweet cedar box on the palate, which is medium bodied and very long on the finish. Still plenty acidity and tannins. Needs more time. 5-10 years? This will be a candidate to serve years from now at my 50th wedding anniversary (2036). In the meantime, the '86 Haut Brion drinks better at present. A few more bottles like this, and I could turn into a francophile!
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10/21/2008 - blanquito wrote:
1986 Bordeaux in NYC: The Leoville Las Cases was pretty closed, but showed hints of ash/smoke on the nose which I've found on this estate before. Most thought the LLC has the depth of fruit to eventually come out alive.
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8/12/2008 - BordeauxNut wrote: 90 Points
August 2008 at Bud Starr's St. Louis Tasting (Bud Starr's -- Clayton, Missouri): The first bottle was corked. Bud opened a second of the same wine, and in a very rare display of poor judgment, served a few degrees to warm. Some leafy Cabernet scents on the nose with a strong lead pencil note. Tannins are appealingly grippy, but the acidity was too much, throwing the wine out of balance, though not badly so. Not nearly the showing you would want for this wine -- a bit of a disappointment when it was revealed.
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7/18/2008 - Surfer714 wrote:
Great on palate, somewhat closed... VG overall
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7/6/2008 - wineismylife wrote: 96 Points
WIML96+++
Tasted July 6, 2008 at an offline.
Purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of licorice, berries, cherries and a hint of coffee. Flavors of berries and cherries at the moment but this wine is still not quite ready to strut it's stuff on the palate. Medium acidity, tannins and body. I'm speculating at the moment this wine is around the 96 point mark but I can easily see this wine garnering more points once it has a minimum of 3-5 more years in bottle. I'd hold myself.
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6/16/2008 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
Classic cab nose, licorice, still young, ash, smoked meat. It has a great concentration, high acidity and noticeable yet well integrated tannin which will help this wine improve for at least another 20+ years.
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6/14/2008 - pakabear wrote: 96 Points
This bottle was much better then the last one. Huge tannins are still noticeable, needs another 10 years. Classic french cab nose, casis, pencil shavings and some dark berry's. Palate is really expansive, can't wait to have this when the tannins are more resolved.
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5/17/2008 - Claudio161 wrote: 94 Points
Kdawgs birthday and tasting event (Cotes du Rhone Restaurant, Chicago, IL): Sight: Medium dark red wine; clear and high viscosity.
Nose: Florals! Roasted nuts made an appearance along with toasted oak vanillins; Cedar box notes along with an odd one - Tahini Paste (liked it, just never smelled it on a wine before). Other minor sweet notes and a little bit of leather. Some overripe fruit notes as well.
Taste: Peppery and vegetal. Still young and lots of grip.
Overall: An outstinding- wine. 94 points. Would like to spend more time with this wine.
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5/17/2008 - KeithAkers wrote: 93 Points
80s Bordeaux Birthday dinner (Cotes Du Rhone Bistro(Chicago, IL)): nose: very tight and first and unforgiving but starts to open up revealing a very interesting and precocious nose of anise(and lots of it), graphite, black currants, herbs, and a real nice core of dark red fruit tinged with some sweet spice tones
taste: as precocious as the nose was, this is the opposite with a huge explosion on the attack of anise, graphite, tobbacco, cedar box, and sour cherries. Very bold and distinct flavors on the palate
overall: tons of promise on this wine and it still needs to be layed down for another 15-20 years to really show what it has. When I was having this, I likened it to the 02 in some ways. This is an excellent wine with the hallmark 86 tannins that still very much exist with a big attack and finish. Still a very young wine, this one will be very interesting when it(if?) comes out of its shell
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3/23/2008 - pakabear wrote: 89 Points
Not the best example I've had of this wine. bitterness in the mid-palate and a shorter finish kept me from scoring this in the 90's.
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3/16/2008 - sbeeks wrote: 96 Points
Dinner at home with Barretts and Hendersons. Several 1986 Bordeaus. 86 Meyney, Lynch Bages, Cos, Leoville. Would rate them in that order. All decanted for 3 hours. Meyney a bit thin, tired on the nose. Lynch Bages -- always a crowd pleaser, also on the thin side. Cos and Leoville still with tons of fruit, great earthy tones on the nose. I could see both lasting many more years.
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2/4/2008 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - 20th Anniversary - 'Wow!' wines (Alio's, Surry Hills): {cork, 13%} This wine was really brought in case the ['82] Ducru was off-song somehow, but we needed one red with the cheeses, so in the spirit of the moment, the cork came out. Solid garnet right the way to the rim. The initial aromas are of a slight sappiness, but then the solid, and ripe, cabernet cassis comes through. There’s very little secondary development, even at this age. The palate is equally puzzling; medium bodied in every way, and although wonderfully balanced, it remains obstinately austere, almost sullen. It’s like meeting Katherine Hepburn at a party, and when she finds out you’re not Laurence Olivier, she doesn’t want to talk to you. Good even structure right through to the back palate, but this wine really doesn’t want to play. Given the pedigree, I suppose you’d leave it another 15 years and revisit. After the dinner I checked some critics – Parker was effusive in his ’97 book, Broadbent (in 2000’s effort) called it a bit hard and unyielding.
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1/6/2008 - Jadiii wrote: 95 Points
Excellent, complex, decanted for an hour, every sip got better, great long finish.
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12/14/2007 - Pmoreault wrote: 100 Points
Tres jeune et peu vieillir encore beaucoup de fruit mur excellent vin a boire en 2010
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12/4/2007 - astrauss wrote: 97 Points
Very simiilar in intensity to the 66 Latour. Another 100 year wine. Extreme core of fruit with loads of cedar and leather. Very very young!!
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8/25/2007 - jcgarcia wrote: 87 Points
Decanted for about 90 minutes. Drank at Le Paradou. Just not ready. Too thin and tannic for me.
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6/24/2007 - buckeye76 wrote: 98 Points
DEEP BLACKBERRY FRUIT IN THE NOSE AND FLAVOR WITH HINTS OF WOOD. NICE COMPLEXITY AND A VERY LONG FINISH.
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6/6/2007 - Surfer714 wrote:
Not yeilding anything at first. Few hours later started to open up some. Could use more time in the cellar.
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4/15/2007 - dbkitc wrote: 93 Points
Very good, classic claret with a cool edge to it. Ripe cabernet fruit that was very very good, but tonight, not thrilling. Could still use some time in the cellar. (93+)
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4/12/2007 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
eBob Angelus vs. Leoville Las Cases Vertical (Onesixtyblue): Full deep red color. Pale clear aroma of acidic black fruit and hints of graphite. Mmmmn. Big mouthful of black currant and cherry with firm tanins remaining. Nice and room for improvement.
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2/20/2007 - huntly wrote: 92 Points
A lovely wine so doubt, but somewhat less than the professional glowing reviews, at least on my palate. The nose is a beauty--black fruit, spices and a light earthy dust. We decanted about two hours before dinner , which made a difference, as the wine clearly needed time to breath. the mouthfeel is full, with complex notes of vanilla and tar integrated with the fruit. Two characteristics keep this from the exceptonal lists: lack of sufficient concentration and intensity that I would expect, and a relatively short finish.
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9/1/2006 - jcgarcia wrote: 89 Points
Believe it or not, this was still too young. I've had two bottles of this is the past 3 months and both were too austere. I'm not going to burn another one for at least another 2 years.
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8/20/2006 - ZeusCa wrote: 97 Points
Fantastic wine drank in Paris with Lorien. Was ready to drink, with nice balance
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8/11/2006 - trankin wrote: 93 Points
Drinking very well. Not incredibly complex, but a truly lovely wine. No formal notes taken, but this was an excellent wine thrown into a largely new world mix. Overall, this was one of the better wines of the night. Very nice, good minerality, nice earth notes, not fully mature, but mature enough to be drinking just right. 93-94
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7/29/2006 - sbeeks wrote: 97 Points
Drank for my 50th birthday dinner at Whist. Great night. What a great wine. Still has a lot of years of life left. Still some strong fruit, deep earthy bouquet.
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4/30/2006 - Zweder wrote: 89 Points
Tasted this wine (blind) beside Cos d'Estournel 1986 and Gruaud Larose 1988. In my eyes this was the least impressive. I might have been too rigorous with the score, but it is what I wrote down at the moment. It was youthful compared to the Cos. Had a long aftertaste a lot of juice, cassis and was complex. An excellent wine!!! Although the Gruaud Larose was youthful as well, the Las Cases was much less impressive at the moment. I realize that this tasting note might say more about my tasting capabilities at this specific moment, than about this wine. But for me the other two wines were in more perfect harmony than the Las Cases.
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2/15/2006 - BordeauxNut wrote:
Beautifully elegant nose to this wine with some cedar/graphite, flowers, and warm/mushy cassis fruit. Very forward and ready compared to a wound up bottle I had last month. Balanced. Nothing dominating on the palate here -- good, clean beginning, middle, and end -- though, the finish was a bit shorter than one might like. Very solid showing.
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2/13/2006 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 95 Points
"Barbara Burlingame" Offline (Rotisserie Jules, London): Brooding dark purple colour, smokey ripe blackcurrent, massive depth but great balance, still quite tight, tannins are in check though. It shows a little like better bottles of Guraud Larose '86 tried recently, but a more amplified, balanced wine. Great, but slightest TCA lurking at back
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2/9/2006 - Rani wrote: 93 Points
Offline with Barbara Burlingame (Rotisserie Jules, South Kensington): This bottle was ever so slightly TCA tainted (the smell was unmistakeable), but was impressive nonetheless. It showed impeccable balance and restrained power. Blackcurrant, leather and cigar tobacco, with a very silky texture and perhaps a slightly shorter finish than a perfect bottle would have. Great stuff, and still young.
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1/1/2006 - winefool wrote: 92 Points
Full rich red. Full rich complex nose. Nice rich palate. Tight, and should improve. 92 pts. 1/06
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9/26/2005 - PaulH wrote: 89 Points
Good Bordeaux nose of tobacco and cedar. Medium-light body, gritty monster tannins. Not really enjoyable. Will it ever be?
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8/28/2005 - The Wine Bum wrote:
Some Recent Notes: Tuscany, Burgundy and St Julien; 8/11/2005-9/22/2005: After a couipke of totally closed bottles this is the fisrt time I've had this and tasted its greatness. The fruit is super ripe under the structure and clean, elegant and pure. A wonderful, complex mouthful of first growth quality, this is only going to get better. Serious cerebral claret.
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8/3/2005 - MRichman wrote:
Leoville Las Cases in NYC (AOC Bedford): More tannic than the 1985 but has a sweet core. Minty with very pretty fruit. A bit course, needs time.
B++
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6/14/2005 - BordeauxNut wrote: 96 Points
Deep and youthful color with no bricking. Powerful nose -- fresh berry, cassis, and cedar/cigar-box notes. Lush, mouthfilling, and very St. Julien. Really long and balanced. Great showing for this.
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5/21/2005 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Tasting. Huge, fresh black fruit aromas with a smoky, oaky character. Dense and backward black fruit on palate along with stern, structured tannins. Very long finish. Probably needs to 2015 to really show its charm.
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2/4/2005 - maystom@gmail.com wrote: 93 Points
Tasted with friends along side a 1982 Leoville Las Cases. Red purple in the glass. This wine is still quite closed with aromas of black currant, cedar and chocolate. Still quite austere on the palate with hard tannins. Needs much more time.
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10/15/2004 - Jeff W wrote:
Berlin offline
Deep purple. Intense, rich concentrated sweet fruit. It's full and powerful, with good acidity. The tannins emerge in the glass. It still seems youthful, but very long and refined. exc
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3/12/2004 - Eric wrote: 94 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does 1990 & older Bordeaux (Seattle, WA, USA): This is stunningly youthful in color, purple to the edge. On the youthful nose there is cassis, mineral and graphite. Wow, this is a pure expression of Cabernet, so primary and still very tight and closed. So pure and focused right now. This has a LONG life ahead and will likely be far better in at least 10 years.
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5/21/2003 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 87 Points
5th place of 6, cheese on the nose again and dry desert earth and dark fruit, sharp taste, nice fruit, not my style, medium body and medium finish, need 5 years to peak.
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5/3/2003 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Wine tasting. Nose shows lots of primary fruit with some earthy elements with tobacco and leather. Palate shows lots of structure today slightly obscuring masculine black fruit, then licorice and spice on good finish.
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6/20/2002 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 94 Points
Tasted at vertical Leoville-Las Cases dinner at the University Club. Bright disc, with opaque ruby robe and red rim. Clean nose, showing intense ripe black cherry, plum, earth and anise. High acidity and ample (but fairly supple) tannins on the palate. Full-bodied, with similar flavors as nose. Long, slightly astringent finish. This is a huge wine which is fantastic and will clearly further reward the patient collector.
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1/20/2002 - Henman wrote:
Plummy and cassis nose.Intensive palate,lots of fruit,dense,great structure.
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6/5/1999 - MikeATL wrote:
I was first struck by the impenetrable color. This is the darkest ‘86 I've had this year, even darker and younger looking than perfectly stored Mouton. An interesting cedary, dusty aroma dominated, with hints of anise and fairly complex dark fruit. Absolutely massive and complex dark fruit took over in the mouth, with substantial, but not unbalanced, tannin and a huge finish. The giant is starting to wake, but is still a bit groggy.
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