25 Years on: 1985 Cabernets and Bordeaux Blindtasted Pt. II

This proved to be the second weak field of 1985 Bordeaux and Cabernet in this 25 years on series for me, and I'm starting to be concerned about storage conditions for these older wines, which were pretty much all purchased on release. The Cos in particular, which I've had many times, including recently, was just not showing as beautifully as it should. Nonetheless, the Bordeaux took all three of the top spots in the tasting for the group, and for me, with the Rausan-Ségla coming out on top (instead of the Cos, which one would normally expect to be the best wine in this field). The Montelena shown much weaker than I would have expected too.

• 1985 Château Rausan-Ségla 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Group's #1 (my #1) – 16 pts; 7 firsts, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, 0 last places – medium bricking red violet color; mature, mushroom, herbaceous nose; mature, mushroom, tobacco, mineral palate; medium finish (gradually improved in the glass, in contrast to most of the wines in this tasting)

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• 1985 Château L'Arrosée 84 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Group's #2 (my #3) – 28 pts.; 0, 4, 3, 1 – bricking medium dark red violet color with pale meniscus; tobacco, weedy nose; very mature, smoke, roasted meat, tart black fruit palate; medium finish

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• 1985 Château Cos d'Estournel 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Group's #3 (my #2) – 31 pts.; 0, 2, 3, 0 - bricked dark red violet color; very mature, weedy, tobacco, roast coffee nose; mature, tart black fruit, charcoal, tangy, bell pepper palate; medium-plus finish (overly mature bottle; weakest showing ever of this wine for me, which I've had many times and usually score around 94 points)

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• 1985 Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series 83 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

  Group's #4 (my #4) – 37 pts.; 1, 1, 0, 1 – dark red violet color; odd, tart black fruit, balsamic nose; very mature, tart black fruit, tangy, balsamic palate; medium finish 83+ pts.

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• 1985 J. Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon Carol's Vineyard 83 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  Group's #5 (my #5) – 41 pts.; 0, 1, 2, 1 – dark red violet color; plum, cassis nose; cassis, tart red plum, mineral palate; medium finish (went downhill in the glass over the 90 minutes of our tasting)

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• 1985 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate 78 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #6 (my #6) – 42 pts.; 1, 1, 0, 0 – bricking medium dark red violet color; very mature, oxidized, mushroom, dried red fruit, tobacco nose; very mature, maderized, baked tart plum, tobacco palate; medium finish

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• 1985 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard 60 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #7 (my #7) – ? pts.; 0, 0, 1, 6 - bricking medium dark red violet color; earthy, bottle stink, bacterial problem nose; pinched, over-the-hill, tart red fruit, dill pickle palate; short-medium finish

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