St. Estephe lunch

YH Beijing, SF
Tasted Sunday, November 9, 2025 by ohne_musik with 108 views

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

  • 2020 Château Lafleur Les Champs Libres 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux

    Lovely focused nose that feels more like chablis or one of the new school Vouvray producers like Guiberteau or Bernaudeau. Linear, compact, coiled, and bristling with tension. A bit of struck match reduction, followed by white flowers and bright lemon fruit draped around a vibrant core of savory minerals. Elevated acidity married to textural richness and substantial heft. Drinks well now (especially after a few hours of air) but one suspects it will gain complexity with a decades or two sideways. 93+

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  • 1989 Château Meyney 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Love this! A great way to start the lunch, whetting the palate for the bigger wines to come. This is old school cru bourgeois at its best -- clean on the nose, a very complete wine, with beautiful red fruits, juicy acidity, and a bit more structure than the 88. Very clean, not a whiff of brett.

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  • 1988 Château Meyney 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Classic old claret. Showing a beautifully tertiary nose, with smoky mineral, pressed flowers, old library books, a touch of leather. Palate feels just a bit tired, with the mixed red and black fruit fading a touch; ultimately it lacks the balance and density that take the 89 to the next level. 88 palate, 93 nose.

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

  • 1989 Château Montrose 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    A terrific bottle. Nose is in the perfect place, with peony/black flowers. Palate is crancherry acidity, with some evolved notes of old books and cassis, but the overall impression is one of sappy freshness, and a wine that is still climbing towards its peak. Really lovely St Estephe stoniness and gently grippy tannins on the finish. Noses ahead of the '00 for WOTD, but just by the smallest of margins.

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  • 1990 Château Montrose 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    A terrific wine that on all accounts is a powerhouse, but just a step behind the 89 in terms of balance and excitement. Part of this is the vintage, as I prefer 89 to 90 stylistically at most estates. This is more open, richer and more evolved than the 89, with bigger fruit and structure. Cassis, tobacco, and black tea make it feel a bit more evolved than the 89. Super clean bottle though - nary a trace of brett!

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  • 1990 Château Cos d'Estournel 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Disappointing relative to expectations. Nothing overtly wrong, maybe has not seen the best storage (private cellar purchase from K&L), but slightly muddled nose of red fruit and flowers. Palate is rich, black plummy fruit drying out a bit. Simply outclassed by the other wines on the table.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

  • 1986 Château Cos d'Estournel 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Excellent showing, making up for the '90. This felt far younger (10+ years), with driving acidity, red fruit, with hints of asian spice and dried flowers lingering long after the swallow. Still some 86 tannins on this, but the aromatics and vigorous fruit put everything in balance. Very classy wine.

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  • 1995 Château Montrose 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Classic 95 wine, and I appreciate it for what it is. A touch austere and reserved, without the generosity of fruit and amplitude of the bigger years. That said, there's some really lovely delicate floral notes to accompany the restrained cherry fruit, accompanied by plenty of crushed rock. A bit tight and tannic but opens up over the course of lunch. I think a better wine on its own than in a flight of heavy-hitting years.

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  • 1996 Château Calon-Ségur 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Classic old school St Estephe at peak! Lovely purple fruits (cassis, mulberry), pipe tobacco and worn leather. Midweight density, and doesn't quite hit the highs of the '00, but zero complaints about this wine - it's flat out delicious.

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Flight 4 (3 Notes)

  • 2000 Château Montrose 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Focused and abundant bouquet of cherries, violets, a bit of vanilla, and just a touch of heat on the nose. The complete package in the mouth - vibrant acidity, a panoply fruits ranging from redcurrant to cherry, orange peel, blond tobacco, chalk and crushed rock. Super fine tannins that have more in common with modern-era (2016+) Montrose than the Montrose of yore. This is super classy and refined, like the young Audrey Hepburn.

    The overall impression is strikingly similar to the 89, just a decade younger, with finer tannins and ever so slightly larger scaled. While this is more ready than the other 2000s we've tried recently (PLL, PB, LMHB, etc), it still is just hitting its stride and may eclipse the 89 with another decade or two.

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  • 2000 Château Calon-Ségur 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    Pleasantly surprised by how well this showed - a much more complete wine than the bottle I had a few years back. Red fruit, flowers and wet stone on the nose. Intensely stony on the palate, with pretty (borderline seductive) red fruit, good density, and is punching in a different weight class than the 96.

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  • 2001 Château Calon-Ségur 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

    This wine shows a strong kinship to the 2000, but comes across as more extracted and tannic - to the extent that there's maybe a bit of unwanted astringency. It could be that this hasn't fully emerged from adolescence (which is surprising given how accessible other '01s have been), but it doesn't feel as balanced as its older siblings. Still, it's good juice.

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