Community Tasting Note
-
J @ y H @ c k Likes this wine: 91 points
April 9, 2016 - Friends of ours invited us for dinner and said they were going to open a 1970 Beychevelle but when we arrived, they had decided to go with a 1976 Montrose. Fill was bottom neck or maybe a millimeter higher. I had brought my Durand in expectation of needing it for the Beychevelle. The cork cane out quite well, was soaked only about half way through, and did not crumble. Decanted into a narrow mouth decanter with very little sediment, but it was probably shaken up quite a bit when being carried from wine rack to counter etc. that day.
The color was perfect. NO BRICKING AT ALL and not even a hint of brownish red color. Sat in the decanter for about 20 minutes before drinking. The palate was exactly what I would have expected of a Montrose without the horsiness. Earthy with a bot of smooth saddle leather and even a bit of soft tobacco. Rebecca described it as a freshly plowed field and our hosts thought that was a perfect descriptor. There was no apparent fruit at the start, but as the wine took on air in the glass and the decanter over the next 30 minutes, some dark cherry fruit because to emerge. Excellent balance. Very smooth with no rough edges and no degradation from age.
This bottle was supposedly purchased as part of a mixed lot at a Christie's auction. I can't speak to storage or provenance, but it is difficult to believe that a bottle could have come out better after 40 years without having been stored at 42 degrees.
The 1976 vintage was nothing to write home about when it was first released, having been far overshadowed by everyone going crazy over the tannic 1975s that never really panned out and the 1976 Burgs that everyone was extolling at the time. I bought no 1976 Bordeaux at the time but have had a few over the years and the vintage always seems to play well above its initial expectations. Not quite the Mike Piazza of Bordeaux, but you get my drift.1 person found this helpful 4,058 views
1 Comment
-
dbenglis commented:
5/15/17, 12:24 AM - What a wonderful write up. My birth year. In St. Emilion now deciding whether to buy a good looking bottle. Best, David