Tasting Group Dinner - Bordeaux at Heidi's
Heidi's, Minneapolis
Tasted Thursday, January 8, 2009 by Siggy with 908 views
Introduction
Dave Dalluge, Brad England, Chris Larson and I got together for an impromptu Thursday night Bordeaux dinner at Heidi's. We ended up with an eclectic and fun collection of wines, as there was not much advance planning. WOTN for me was Brad's '61 Calon-Segur, a beautiful mature bottle.
1979 Château Mouton Rothschild 85 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Tasted blind. Dave revealed that this was a First Growth, and I guessed early '80s Haut Brion. When we first double decanted this wine, it was brown/amber in color, and the nose was pruny, over-ripe, and riddled with VA. An hour later, the color had improved considerably, and the wine had added fruit, spice, and weight. At age 30, the '79 Mouton is clearly on the way down, although the initial palate still offers up nice red cherry fruit and complex, leafy secondary flavors, with totally resolved tannins. However, the finish turns sharply acidic. The acidity got more pronounced with air, and by the end of dinner this had really fallen apart. Drink up.
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1961 Château Calon-Ségur 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe
Surprisingly dark, youthful ruby. Intense black truffles and cherries on the nose. Rich, complex, harmonious, and elegant on the palate, with expressive, mature red cherry fruit and earthy flavors. Smooth, supple texture, with a softness that hints at this wine's 48 years of age. Long finish with fully resolved tannins. Did not fade over a 3+ hour dinner. Gorgeous and at its peak. WOTN for me.
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1996 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
A youthful, brawny, and delicious La Mission. Classic Graves scorched earth, smoke and dark cherries. Concentrated, prodigiously structured, and rich, with an impressively long finish accented by fine-grained tannins. Quite a bit of new oak that needs a few more years to integrate.
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1990 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 80 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
This wine lived up to its low expectations. Interesting nose of coffee, smoke, and dark cherries, but the palate is flat and short. Not overtly offensive, just boring.
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1990 Château Cos d'Estournel 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe
The second bottle from a recently acquired lot. This had some promising secondary flavors on the nose, but the palate was soft, plump and plummy, and full of oak. The good news was that this did reveal some classic St. Estephe leaf/tobacco personality on the finish. Still quite tannic. This was marginally better than the bottle I opened last month, but nowhere near as good as bottles I tasted a few years ago, from a different source. Others liked this much more than I.
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2003 Château Calon-Ségur 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe
Packed with dark cherry fruit and ripe tannins. Incredibly young and oaky, with a plush texture and a long finish. Very concentrated, but no overt heaviness or heat. This is a formidably endowed, structured wine that is currently only offering a glimpse of its true potential.
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2004 Château Haut-Bailly 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Terrific stuff. Floral, smoky nose. The palate is smooth and superbly balanced, revealing dark fruit and scorched earth flavors, buffered by ripe tannins on the long finish. This has a wonderful core of pure fruit, and is a terrific expression of its terroir. A steal at $36.
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2003 Château d'Arche Sauternes 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Concentrated flavors of tropical fruit and honey. This is intense yet well balanced, with 2001-like supporting acidity, and the style is more racy than plump/opulent. Long finish. I really liked this.
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1975 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Flawed
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Dicey cork. Cloudy and murky. At first this smelled like brown sugar and vanilla extract, and then the paint thinner/VA took over. I couldn't bear to taste this. Undrinkable and vile; definitely not a representative bottle.
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