St Emillion First Growths

Canapés

• 1996 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 94 Points

  France, Champagne

  Mid straw. Reasonably full on the nose. Just starting to round out and show a touch of honeyed oxidative character. A punch of ginger too. Nicely rich. Gets spicier with air. Lots on the attack and mid palate, maybe falls away a bit on the finish. Picky though. Very good. ****1/2

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

Rabbit lasagne and blanquette with tarragon and grain mustard

• 1995 Château Ausone 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Deep ruby. Relatively subdued dark fruit on the nose. Obviously younger than its peers. It has the slightly dry 95 tannin character, though this does seem to meld with air. Very attractive in parts but I'm not entirely convinced. Does it have the fruit, long-term, for the tannic frame? ***(*)

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1989 Château Cheval Blanc 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Nicely rich and plush in an elegant and understated way on the nose. Nicely mineral. Some mid-palate flesh and then a long finish. A green-tinged tobacco freshness. Harmonious. Long with just a pinch of sweetness to the fruit on the finish. *****

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1989 Château Angélus 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Deep garnet. Quite a full, rich nose. Lots of coffee and a nicely floral lift. Quite dense and plush upfront, but a little drier through the middle and finish. A little more showy upfront. ****

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1989 Château Pavie 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  A touch more mineral on the nose than the Angelus. Mid weight and nicely rounded. Fully mature and maybe even losing its fruit slightly. Damp earth. Fresh and quite minerally. Very drinkable. ****

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Bresse pigeon with steamed wild mushroom brioche bun and shallot purée

• 1998 Château Cheval Blanc 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Dense and fleshy nose. Very plush attack with a more mineral edge. Curious though; opens up to a very rubbery, mercaptan nose. Far better on palate than nose now. Ten minutes later the nose is clean again, and then a bit later a really bovril, beef stock nose. Ends up a very decent wine, but an aromatic roller coaster. **** 91—93 depending on the nose.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1998 Château Angélus 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Dense, rich, plush, plummy nose. Very rounded smooth and dense. A little drier on the finish. Sweet-fruited. Lots of oomph. Fun and quite sexy, but not subtle. ****

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1998 Château Pavie 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  A bit more intensity on the nose. Mineral with a good pinch of garriguey thyme. Similar on palate. There's a cool elegance to the plushness here. With air, significantly drier on the finish. A slight edge to it. Still, a very pleasant surprise though and a very decent wine. ****

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1998 Château Figeac 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Served blind. Classical style but lovely sweet fruit. Claret but no idea what. Nigel nails it as Figeac. Slightly lighter, more of a bright mid ruby. Sweet-fruited nose in a classical frame. Sweet and elegant. Some tannin on the finish initially, but this integrates nicely with food. A savoury acidity. Very attractive and no make up. A naturalness / freshness. Really lovely and characterful. ****1/2

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Roast fillet of beef with pancetta sardalaise potato, sautéed sweetbreads and thyme meat juices

• 1997 Château Ausone 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  A touch lactic initially, but this blows off. Quite cool and elegant on the nose. Fresh with a nice lift. The package tempered by the vintage.a wine to drink and enjoy the bottle rather than admire a glass. Not quite the stuffing, depth or length in the company, but a lovely fresh drink. ***1/2

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1999 Château Cheval Blanc 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Deep, dense ruby. An elegance but a density too. Opening up quite nicely and putting on weight whilst maintaining its freshness. Nicely savoury. Still quite light and dense. Maybe a touch dry on the finish. ****

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 Château Angélus 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Very creamy vanilla nose. Classy but oh so young. Very smooth and balanced though. Full throttle, sweet, but balanced. Impressive. Needs 20 years. **** 93+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 Château Pavie

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Decanted 24hrs. Dense and gloopy. You can almost see the splinters floating in it. General comment seems to be that it's along the lines of SHS. De trop. Too dry and oaky for the massive fruit. Can't see this working well even with time. Lacks the balance and harmony of the similarly big Angelus. No.

  Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

Tarte fine aux pommes, toasted almond ice cream

• 1988 Château d'Yquem 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  2 halves. Mid gold. Sweet. Lots of barley sugar up front. Not quite the shape or freshness though. Very good, but I prefer the 88 Climens. ****

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

A very interesting exercise. WOTN the 89 Cheval, followed for me by the 98 Figeac and then the 98 Angelus. I think Angelus just about ok to be promoted to 1erA. Pavie, no.