1986 Bordeaux Night @ The Hawksmoor

A great night organized in london at the Hawksmoor Steakhouse. most wines were double decanted between an hour and 5 hours before dinner.
we started off with a glass of 1995 Paillard BdB (crisp clean easy drink) and 1990 Pol Roger (more developed with a touch of oxidation coming in)
The food was great and a special congrats to Linden and alex for tackling a kilo and a half of Prime Rib and to Dan and David for giving a good attemp at the kilo of chateaubriand

• 1986 Château Gruaud Larose 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Dark color, smelled fresh and youthful, touch of flowers/lavender at first, then gun metal, earthy graphite and maybe a bit of tobacco. in the mouth this was a big chewy wine, very strong mineral flavor, and graphite, very well balanced, long wine. i think this one is still on the upswing.

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• 1986 Château Talbot 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  dark color, peppery black fruits on the nose, perhaps a bit of casis. in the mouth this was all silky tannins, medium weight well balanced wine, with a touch of sweet fruits, and beautiful minerals. i think most people at the table were surprised at how well this drunk. great to try next to its sibling the Gruaud. evolving well, tied for WOTF

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• 1986 Château Beychevelle 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  purplish color, great nose of cedar and some fennel, silky smooth in the mouth, delicate tannins but they are there for sure. i thought this wine was very elegant and a pleasure to drink. the balance was great. tied for WOTF at the table

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• 1996 Château Léoville Barton 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  dark color, almost purple/black. strong glass filling nose of graphite, cedar, dark fruit. this was the first of the wines that was a bit of a hussy, big dense meaty concentrated in the mouth, lots of minerals , some dark casis and a bit of pepper mixed in, surrounded by some nice solid tannins. this wine is still on the way up and should be for a while. it wasn't my highest rated wine of the flight but it was my WOTF as i really think ten or more years down the road this wine will be awesome.

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• 1986 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  dark color, bit of cardboard on the nose. not really sure this was corked but think it was and/or not a great bottle...

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• 1986 Château Palmer 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  slight lightening around edges but still young looking in the glass. on the nose it gave off some reddish fruits and plumswith a touch of cedar wood, in the mouth this was just sublime, silky and very long. the tannins were soft and well integrated the minerally fruit was bright and vibrant. i had this 2 or 3 years ago and thought it was nice then but now it is really really hitting its stride. i would have loved a big glass of this wine, tied for WOTN for me

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• 1986 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  clean med dark color, red fruits on the nose, in the mouth this had a beautiful sensual feel to it, very long wine, showing tart red fruits, velvety soft merlot, very well balanced. easy to drink this now but i think will be even better years down the road. not quite as seductive as the Palmer in this flight but quite the temptress

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• 1986 Château Lynch-Bages 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  dark inky colored wine, big savory nose. in the mouth this was one of the bigger wines so far. showed great structure of tannins and minerals and well balanced dark fruits with a touch of sweetness. i thought this was a very long finish. this wine has years and years left on it

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• 1986 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  what a sneaky lady this was, a temptress....bottle gave up a red fruit candy nose, with some grapit. in the mouth it was bright and juicy red fruits, minerals , lead pencil and silky smooth tannins. very long very seductive, perfect balance.really great bottle of ducru. for me it was tied for WOTN with the Palmer and i think this bottle right now gave the first growths a run for their money.

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• 1986 Château Léoville Las Cases 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  deep dark inky color. on the nose it gave off barnyard, some licorice and some purple fruit. the mouth was big and bold, well balanced purple fruit, some wood/oak vanilla,some savory ntes, wine was in very good shape, was quite long and felt very young. give it more time

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• 1986 Clos du Marquis 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  mystery bottle, dark inky color, sweet dark fruit on the nose. in the mouth this was pleasant, had a nice creaminess to it. medium long, very nice to drink. was a good addition to the flight

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• 1986 Château Cos d'Estournel 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  second or third time having this wine in the past 12 mos and i always enjoy it. slight browning of color on this one but clean wine. on the nose it showed a bit of sweet red fruits and some smoke. in the mouth it gives a well balanced flavor of bold red fruits, tobacco (cigar) smoke and earthiness. medium weight with a long finish. very nice drink

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• 1986 Château Lafite Rothschild 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  garnet color. a great nose of lead, cedar, forest and some red fruits. the balance in the mouth was nearly perfect. a very concentrated but easy to enjoy mix of sweetish red fruits, pencil lead, shrooms, . long finish of flavor and silky tannins. this wine kind of sat in the glass and let you know it was queen of the table. easy to see why so many people rate this wine so high. it was easily WOTF and i can see why many voted it WOTN i just was so pleasantly surprised by the Palmer and Ducru that they pipped it for me, but i would love to revisit this Lafite many times over in the future

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• 1986 Château Mouton Rothschild 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  dark color on the wine. some gamey nose to go with the cedar. very well balanced in the mouth , not as big as i expected and a bit one dimensional , showed some purple fruit and a bit of smoke. i do not think this was a great example of 86 Mouton

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• 1986 Château Margaux 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  dark purple color..nose of black fruits, blackcurrants. in the mouth this was medium weight, silky blackcurrants, nicely concentrated, some mocha or chocolate. very long and still evolving. after the Palmer i was expecting quite a bit from the big sister Margaux and although it was a fantastic bottle of wine i think there are fuller more robust examples of this wine out there

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• 1986 Château Climens 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  lemon yellow, medium weight / mouth feel. somewhat tropical mouth , with a bit of apricots mixed in. also found some sulfer on the nose and the mouth. pleasant sweet wine but not great

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• 1986 Château d'Yquem 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  golden yellow. nose is pineapple and sweet fruits. medium to heavy weight in the mouth. gives off glycerine, quince, apricots and some nice creme brulee. a good bottle of yquem but not great. nice way to end the evening though

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