The 1970 Claret Vintage

John G's
Tasted Thursday, July 27, 2006 by trankin with 1,441 views

Introduction

A great experience for me - my first real chance to taste a variety of mature bordeaux from many of the great producers. A group of 12 people, with 17 clarets from the 1970 vintage, plus a couple of other treats thrown in.

Flight 1 - Aperitif (1 Note)

A lovely aperitif to get the palates warmed up

Flight 2 - The first 1970 flight (3 Notes)

These were an interesting start for me. The Brane-Cantenac didn't do it for me, but the Lascombes was quite nice.

  • 1970 Château de Pez 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Raisiny, plummy, leather nose. On the palate - cherry, plum, and leather. Very elegant. A touch of cinnamon. A bit dusty.

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  • 1970 Château Brane-Cantenac 86 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Musty - there's some decent fruit, but it's hidden under an offputting nose of - is it ashtray? Beautiful silky cherries, but really not much else.

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  • 1970 Château Lascombes 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    The nose is somewhat muted to me, although others thought it was a beautiful nose. Gradually it emerged somewhat, but still just wasn't much there for me. On the palate, great fruit - black cherries and strawberries with good minerality - slate and some other minerals behind the fruit.

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Flight 3 - Ausone & Cheval (2 Notes)

Well - after having had the 83 & 81 at another tasting a few weeks ago - and LOVING the 83, I have to say I was very disappointed to find the 1970 to have been corked.

  • 1970 Château Ausone 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Granite and fruit on the nose. Bright red fruit. Nice, but kind of simple to me. Gradually some gravelly soil emerges. I kept going back and forth between liking it alot and finding it too simple.

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  • 1970 Château Cheval Blanc Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    There was a lot of debate as to whether this was corked or not - to me there was no question; and funnily enough I'm not very sensitive to TCA. Underneath the cork, limestone, red fruit. DQ

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Flight 4 - The "G"'s (2 Notes)

A couple nice wines

Flight 5 - A big step up (2 Notes)

Well, well, well....these wines were a big step up from the rest of the wines so far tonight (except the Lascombes). Definitely moving into better territory.

  • 1970 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Dark red fruits on the nose. A really really nice wine. Big complex red fruits. Still quite young. Good acids. Nice iron and earth.

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  • 1970 Château Léoville Las Cases 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Funky, earthy soil and dark fruit on the nose. Big bright red fruits and great earthy elements underneath - gravel, potting soil. Still young and vibrant. This is really an excellent wine.

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Flight 6 - WOW! (2 Notes)

The Palmer stuck with me for quite a while....until I got to the Petrus! If I had to only drink the Palmer, I'd be a very happy man.

It's possible that the Palmer clouded my judgement on the Mouton, although the Mouton just didn't quite do it for me.

  • 1970 Château Palmer 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    WOW! Gorgeous wine. Youthful, vibrant and acidic. Nose is gorgeous with loads of sweet ripe red plums. Great strawberries, gravel, slate, and a touch of earth. Really wonderfully complex, with great tannins. Outstanding wine.

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  • 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Nice nose, with very very nice red fruit. Compared to the Palmer, this is fairly simple (only comparatively). Relatively roundish, red wine with good earth and not alot of acid.

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Flight 7 - My first La Miss (2 Notes)

These were very nice wines - the La Miss in particular. I can see why people like these so much.

  • 1970 Château Haut-Brion 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Dark brooding nose with lots of earth. Even a bit of roquefort cheese. Nice wine with soil and dark red fruits predominant. Acids, tannins, and strawberries. Round, fully integrated, at peak.

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  • 1970 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Very light in color. Nice red fruit with a touch of horse on the nose. Wow! Totally different from the other wines. Great, soft wine. Complex finish - lingers for at least 30-40 seconds. Wonderful in an intellectual way.

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Flight 8 - Taste Break (1 Note)

Well - this was definitely a shock to the system, and a great break between flights of bordeaux. A very nice wine, but I didn't take proper notes. Not sure I could judge it properly at this point anyway.

Flight 9 - Back in action - and to some AMAZING wine!!! (2 Notes)

All I can say is WOW! These 2 wines were just unreal! I don't think it gets much better than this. The Petrus was my wine of the night by a good margin.

  • 1970 Pétrus 98 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    WOW! The nose is brooding, dark and deep. Just lovely and huge. Spectacular wine! SOooooooo young..... Enormous, beautiful fruit. Outstanding minerality. Wonderful acids. The finish goes on and on. Unreal! Yummmm! One of the most enjoyable wines I've ever had. Thought for a minute about giving my first 100 points ever.

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  • 1970 Château Latour à Pomerol 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    Dark, slightly sweet fruit. Excellent! Meaty, well wound wine. Great acids, tiny bit of sweetness in a very lovely way. 15-20 second finish. Beautiful wine.

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Flight 10 - Another amazing wine (2 Notes)

Unfortunately, we had a second corked bottle - the Latour. The Montrose on the other hand was just beautiful.

Flight 11 - And a port (1 Note)

Unreal nose, the wine let me down comparatively.

Closing

I found this to be a wonderfully educational and enjoyable evening. Really a great night.

My top wines were (in order):
Petrus
Latour a Pomerol
Palmer
Montrose
La Mission Haut Brion

Among the group (12 people total) there was a 3 way tie (3 votes a piece) between the Haut Brion, the La Mission, and the Petrus. Personally I'm a little surprised people liked the HB so much, but there were disagreements all night long on many of the wines.

Great night!

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