1990 Bordeaux Horizontal

Wines were served by appellation, and we knew the content of the flight but not the order of the bottles. Premier crus and similar were decanted for about 6-8 hours, others a little less.

• 1990 Château La Fleur-Pétrus 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Blind. Dark fruit with some depth, otherwise a bit shy nose, a hint of spice; moderate length and fullness, good balance, drying finish, a bit bell pepper (some CF here?). Thought it was La Croix de Gay. Dissapointing.

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• 1990 Château La Conseillante 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Wonderful sweet-and sour smell, spice, deep fruit; Alas, only moderate body but good length, merely a hint of sweetness. Slim and elegant. There was a hint of TCA initially which grew in the glass and dominated the fruit after a while. Thus, there should be considerably better bottles out there.

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• 1990 Château Gazin Pomerol 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Blind. very ripe blackcurrant os the nose, clear/linear smalle; More rounded in the mouth, balanced and with fresh acidity and correct tannic finnish. Abundance of dark berries, although it is slightly on the extracted side it is still intense and food friendly.

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• 1990 Château La Croix de Gay 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Blind. Pronounced swet-and-sour smell, also a bit one-dimensional; good middle part of the tasting curve, moderate length, a bit simplistic.

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• 1990 Château Pavie 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Blind. Deep fruit, some development, elegant smell; extreme length, but above this it is the intensity that carries the wine, almost peacock tail finish. Structured and fresh, well integrated tannins.

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• 1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse) 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Blind. Deeply colored, sweet-and-sour and a bit one-dimensional smell, lots of dark berries; quite long, more dark berries in the mouth, somewhat extracted, simple finish.

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• 1990 Château Ausone Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Old drawer, champignon, cellar. Absolutely not right. Not corcked. 2 out of 2 misses with this wine, for different reasons.

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• 1990 Château Cheval Blanc 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Blind. Structured and subdued on the nose, very elegant on the nose; in the mouth it is very fresh, some bell peppers, pronounced but well integrated tannins. Most balanced and elegant. Extraordinary complex finish. Long life ahead.

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• 1990 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Celllar, mushroom - and the cork became more evident after a while. Bummer. Beneath is a fresh wine with even some complexity forcing its way through the musty odors.

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• 1990 Château Haut-Brion 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Blind. Tobacco, big fruit; It boasters a warm, earthy, and complex tastes. Still, very fresh, even some minerals, good tannins, structured, very good length. Not exactly a charmer, but a very good and food friendly wine.

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• 1990 Château Brane-Cantenac 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Blind. Very detailed aromas of camphor and spice, intriguing, minerals/smoke, some xtoc notes – a nose to delve in; not quite as intriguing in the mouth, long, fresh, a bit lacking in the finish, moderate body only

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• 1990 Château Margaux 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Blind. deeply colored, lots of minerals and bonfire smoke on the nose, very fine indeed, dark fruited, something hints at this being a bit closed; warm in the mouth, very fresh and deep dark fruit, very nicely balanced, most full bodied.

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• 1990 Château du Tertre 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Blind. Dark and more developed than others; warm mouth, wonderful finish, expansive, high extraction - but still on the fresh side.

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• 1990 Château Palmer 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Blind. Simpler than the others, decent length, warm and charming, fresh, Ok finish.

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• 1990 Château Beychevelle Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  Corked

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• 1990 Château Léoville Poyferré 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  Blind. Minerals and black currants, some smoke; violent fruit attack inn the mouth - well balanced with acid and tannins,lot fruit sweetness (but not sweet in any way), fresh and ling. Very intense. Wonderful wine.

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• 1990 Château Léoville Las Cases 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  Blind. Warmish presentation, verging on 'boiled', peculiar, some smoke and minerals, not very expressive, but a good West Bank wine.

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• 1990 Château Léoville Barton 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  Blind. Slightly exotic and fine-grained nose; dark berries, smoke, a bit on the extracted side, very convincing, powerful and structured.

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• 1990 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  Blind. Very good wine, but not too complex, slightly bretty, warmish.

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• 1990 Château Lynch-Bages Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Corked. Very impressive wine beneath, sappy dark fruit.

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• 1990 Château Latour Grand Vin 99 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Blind. Wonderful sweet-and-sour deep dark fruit, some mint, minerals and black currants, smokey, very complex; Even better in the mouth, unbelievable length, fresh, still some tannins – but not overly so and they are well integrated. The most impressive characteristic was an absolutely stunning finish.

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• 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Very good nose, a lot to like, exotic, some old wood, hint of forest floor and bonfire; fresh taste, slightly sweet, some development, a bit short and lacking a bit in concentration.

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• 1990 Château Mouton Rothschild 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Blind. Some brett, a bit exotic, both sweet and fresh in the mouth, moderate length, lacking in complexity.

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• 1990 Château Cos d'Estournel 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Blind. Most primary, fresh black currents, some complexity on the nose; powerful and intense, fresh, a slight burned note, slightly warm fruit.

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• 1990 Château Cos Labory 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Blind. Developed color, warm on the nose mixed with some greenness; violent acidity, sweet fruit, peculiar, a bit short, tannic finish. A good mouth full.

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• 1989 Château Calon-Ségur 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Blind. Exotic and deep, spicy, some brett; the wine is not completely integrated, and there is a gap between sweet fruit and sweetness. Not overly complex.

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• 1990 Château Montrose 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Blind. Very dark. Sweet fruit, warmish, not the longest, drying finish.

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• 1990 Château Suduiraut 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Blind. Darkly colored; orange peel and marzipan, some roasted almonds, exotic spices; burned sugar, moderate acidity, moderate length, some alcohol, but a wonderful fullness and a very fine finish.

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• 1990 Château Filhot 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Blind. Fresh, citrusy, intriguing nose with little botrytis, very clean wine, lacking a bit in intensity.

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• 1990 Château d'Yquem 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Blind. The lightest in color, by far, in the flight. Curious soapy when first smelled, but this blew off. Varnish, not the richest, but very elegant, clean and well balanced, extreme finish. Wowsa. I suspected this to be the Yquem, and this was a much less developed bottle than previous ones.

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• 1990 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Deeply spiced, varnish, fresh and long, on the comaratively sweet side, full yet elegant. A steal.

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We had our share of non-optimal bottles. Margaux, St. Julien and Pauillac impressed us. Some of the lesser wines performed very well. The freshness and structure were impressive across the board. The 1990 is a vintage were some wines have entered their drinking window, but the tasting should really be repeated in 10-25 years.