Martin Weiner Lafite, Latour and Mouton Tasting–1959-2003
Chez Weiner, Westwood, California
Tasted Friday, April 27, 2007 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,108 views
Introduction
This was a delightful end to a five-month vintage Bordeaux drought for me. I'm thrilled to have so many fellow wine geeks in the Bay Area who are into Burgundy and Riesling, not to mention well-crafted new and old California wines, but I do sometimes miss the Bordeaux-dominated bashes that seem to be a more regular part of the L.A. fine wine world.
Martin put together a terrific lineup for the evening, to which a couple of generous Weiner-tasting regulars added beautifully stored bottles of '82 Mouton and '61 Lafite. My WOTN was the sexy and ethereal '61 Lafite, which was initially poured as a mystery wine. It was closely followed by the '82 Lafite, and then the '59 Latour, which was also in excellent condition and showing very well. Two wines were faulty—a very oxidized '64 Lafite, and a corked '86 Latour—which is, unfortunately, to be expected in a field of 25 mostly well aged bottles.
The 2003 Lafite and Leoville las Cases concerned me in that they were big, concentrated, mocha oak fruit bombs, that tasted more like recent vintages of Pavie or any number of over-engineered high-end California Cabs than they did first-growth Bordeaux. I want Bordeaux character, structure and ageability in my top Bordeaux, not Pride or Foley Claret wannabees. At least the '03 Lafite had the depth and consistency of fruit to hold its own against the toasted oak; the Leoville was quite overwhelmed by it. The '85 Lafite, Mouton and Latour were all wonderful, and the '75 Mouton and Lafite were holding up well, with the Lafite having a touch more complexity and a longer finish. And how wonderful to revisit both the '82 Mouton and Lafite in the same evening. All in all, a lovely return visit to old friends, both the gang in L.A. and top Bordeaux from great vintages.
As usual, Martin provided a dinner to complement the wines—rack of New Zealand Spring lamb and vegetables, and some great cheeses. But the focus was all on our top Medocs.
Flight 1 - Flight 1 (3 Notes)
Flight 2 - Flight 2 (3 Notes)
Flight 3 - Flight 3 (4 Notes)
Flight 4 - Flight 4 (2 Notes)
Flight 5 - Flight 5 (3 Notes)
Flight 6 - Flight 6 - 1985s (2 Notes)
Flight 7 - Flight 7 (3 Notes)
Flight 8 - Flight 8 (3 Notes)
Flight 9 - Sweetie (1 Note)
Closing
Robert and Jola
Traci, Virginia and Richard
1994 Château Lafite Rothschild 91 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Mushroom, leather nose; tasty, tart olive, tangy tart red fruit and leather palate, tight yet but with good acid; medium-plus finish 91+ pts. (100% Cabernet in '94)
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1998 Château Latour Grand Vin 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Tight leather nose; very tight on palate, with tart plum and red fruit, concentration, sweet tannins, needs another 7 years plus; medium-plus finish 89+ pts.
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1993 Château Mouton Rothschild 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Nice, mature iron and dried cherry nose; tasty mature tart cherry and iron palate with olive note, high acid and firm tannins; medium finish 92+ pts.
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