Deep ruby/garnet core, narow pale garnet rim. This has a classic claret nose - blackcurrant, tobacco, gravel notes - good depth of fruit, fresh acidity and grippy tannins on the good length finish. Excellent, probably one to drinkg sooner rather than later.
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1989 Bordeaux Horizontal - London (Piccolino, Exchange Square): One of two sourced at auction about 15 years ago. Very similar to one consumed around then. Charming nose with plenty of tobacco, some cedar and a little marron glacé sweetness. With air there's some beef pho to the nose as well. Palate is drying a little but there's still lots to like here with beautifully resolved tannins and lovely structure.
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Second of three bought during a cellar sale, with a like-new fill, very shiny capsule, and a perfect, very tight cork that was only soaked a quarter of an inch. Didn’t need the Durand at all but used it just to be safe.
Very dark, only showing some garnet while pouring. I decanted for sediment and it was off to the races with a glorious nose of black cherry pipe tobacco and a very silky, highly concentrated palate filled with notes of undergrowth, aged black cherry, tobacco, some soft red fruits, and a core of roasted black plums. The finish was very long.
This bottle was probably at the apex of its mature development phase. Everything was not only still there but more importantly still there in the right proportions so that the wine was in excellent balance—there were plenty of aged fruits to go with the perfect acidity and dusty tannins. A tour de force. There was a port-like note that came and went, suggesting, perhaps, that decline was imminent, but this did not detract very much. The only thing that could have elevated the score for me would have been a bit more nuanced complexity.
This really must have been a big, fruity, tannic monster in its youth, to still have such a high concentration of fruit and tannin. My first bottle from this lot (all the bottles had the same slip label), was thin and dried out. Just serves to remind what a gamble old bottles are. Just like a slot machine that you keep pumping coins into, hope springs anew with every pull of the cork…. I guess you’ve got to take your jackpots where you find them. This was a jackpot. 12.5% ABV (great; superior/****/18/95)
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Pnp- Very nice nose of leather, mushroom, ox blood and forest floor. Wonderful balance and integration. Long finish. Showed a touch better to my liking than the 2000 Haut Bailly enjoyed in parallel.
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3/2/2024 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine:
Opened with Bruce E. in Tucson and drunk there and in Bisbee. Still doing very well. Bruce was impressed.
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2/22/2024 - Paul D wrote: 92 Points
Deep ruby/garnet core, narow pale garnet rim. This has a classic claret nose - blackcurrant, tobacco, gravel notes - good depth of fruit, fresh acidity and grippy tannins on the good length finish. Excellent, probably one to drinkg sooner rather than later.
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2/22/2024 - Vinumming & Ahhing Likes this wine: 90 Points
1989 Bordeaux Horizontal - London (Piccolino, Exchange Square): One of two sourced at auction about 15 years ago. Very similar to one consumed around then. Charming nose with plenty of tobacco, some cedar and a little marron glacé sweetness. With air there's some beef pho to the nose as well. Palate is drying a little but there's still lots to like here with beautifully resolved tannins and lovely structure.
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1/25/2024 - Jake Barnes Likes this wine: 95 Points
Second of three bought during a cellar sale, with a like-new fill, very shiny capsule, and a perfect, very tight cork that was only soaked a quarter of an inch. Didn’t need the Durand at all but used it just to be safe.
Very dark, only showing some garnet while pouring. I decanted for sediment and it was off to the races with a glorious nose of black cherry pipe tobacco and a very silky, highly concentrated palate filled with notes of undergrowth, aged black cherry, tobacco, some soft red fruits, and a core of roasted black plums. The finish was very long.
This bottle was probably at the apex of its mature development phase. Everything was not only still there but more importantly still there in the right proportions so that the wine was in excellent balance—there were plenty of aged fruits to go with the perfect acidity and dusty tannins. A tour de force. There was a port-like note that came and went, suggesting, perhaps, that decline was imminent, but this did not detract very much. The only thing that could have elevated the score for me would have been a bit more nuanced complexity.
This really must have been a big, fruity, tannic monster in its youth, to still have such a high concentration of fruit and tannin. My first bottle from this lot (all the bottles had the same slip label), was thin and dried out. Just serves to remind what a gamble old bottles are. Just like a slot machine that you keep pumping coins into, hope springs anew with every pull of the cork…. I guess you’ve got to take your jackpots where you find them. This was a jackpot. 12.5% ABV (great; superior/****/18/95)
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12/16/2023 - The Wine Monkeys Likes this wine: 91 Points
Pnp- Very nice nose of leather, mushroom, ox blood and forest floor. Wonderful balance and integration. Long finish. Showed a touch better to my liking than the 2000 Haut Bailly enjoyed in parallel.
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