Beat the 1990 Latour

Instructive and fun tasting with cellartracker friends over a Chinese dinner. Theme was to bring a better wine than the 90 Latour generously brought by Dibbs. Showed the limitations of blind tastings and the importance of proper preparation of the wines as only the Latour and the Unico had been (extensively) decanted. The other wines got a fairly short slow ox' only and hence showed a fair bit of evolution throughout the evening.

• 1989 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único 93 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Garnet with bricking towards the rim. A bit of a roasted quality on the nose. Initially fairly tannic and not very aromatic but opened up later with more air. Very bright aromatically indeed then. Clearly still a long life ahead. The favorite at the table and while I liked it it did not really speak to me that night.
  Had this initially as the 88 Mouton given the tannins and muted aromatics, then the 90 Latour as the wine opened up, and only decided on Unico after revisiting later when it became clear that this was no Bordeaux.

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• 2006 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

  Lighter color in the glass than the other wines, somewhere between ruby and garnet. Some whole clusters on the nose, ripe and sweet red and dark fruit, initially I was getting a touch of cardboard but faded as the wine opened up and got more aromatic. Easy to identify as the Burgundy in the line up. Dujac made sense given the ripeness of the fruit, but a very impressive effort for a not easy year. Lovely.

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• 1988 Château Mouton Rothschild 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Medium garnet, sous bois, a green touch on the palate which was clearly less ripe than the other Bordeaux. Tannins well integrated. Medium length. I liked this clearly more than others as it was the least popular wine at the table. A perfect luncheon claret for me, in a very positive sense. I could drink this every day. Dibbs called this immediately as the 88 Mouton and we had to concur.

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• 1990 Château Latour Grand Vin 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Dark garnet. An oxidative whiff on the nose and hence I was immediately convinced that this must be the Unico. An earthy nose, very good density on the palate, later some pencil lead, tannins are still in place but well integrated. Medium finish. Revised my guess and admitted my error only after revisiting all the wines, when it became clear that another wine was not a Bdx. Would rate higher if there was not that oxidative whiff on the nose, which I find very unusual for a left bank Bdx at only 30 years.

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• 1990 Château Lynch-Bages 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Six years since my last bottle and this has barely moved. The most youthful wine together with the 06 Dujac that evening. Only gave it a slow ox of about 45 min but this needs a proper decant. Started a bit thin with lots of freshness, and only filled out after about 90 min in the bottle. A very classically styled Pauillac. Love it.

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• 1985 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Nose with some roasted meat flavours. Bright and explosive fruit on the palate with plenty of acidity. Perhaps slightly out of balance and a touch too lean on the palate to counter the acidity. Good length. Was easy to call as the Hermitage.

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• 1912 Château Latour Grand Vin

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Brought this as an additional mystery wine out of competition. High shoulder fill. Both producer and vintage clearly readable on the top of the capsule. One of the few times when I did not manage to get the cork out in one piece with the Durand. Let the wine stand in the open bottle for about 45 min as the nose seemed a little off initially. A clear light bronze color in the glass, could have been a very old white based on the color alone. Oxidative nose but not too bad, on the palate this was as clean as the color though, no fruit whatsoever left. Interesting experience but hard to rate on the usual scale.

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Impressive consistency of the wines. Group had the Unico fairly clearly as the winner, for me it was though to really pick a wine as all were very good and more a matter of personal preferences.